Shloka 39

Adhyāya 240: Indriya–Manas–Buddhi–Ātman — The Inner Hierarchy and Restraint (इन्द्रिय-मनस्-बुद्धि-आत्म-क्रमः)

Devanagari script

सत्त्वसंसेवनाद धीरो निद्रामुच्छेत्तुमरहति । विद्वानोंने योगके जो काम, क्रोध, लोभ, भय और पाँचवाँ स्वप्र--ये पाँच दोष बताये हैं उनका पूर्णतया उच्छेद करे। इनमेंसे क्रोधको शम (मनोनिग्रह) के द्वारा जीते, कामको संकल्पके त्यागद्वारा पराजित करे तथा धीर पुरुष सत्वगुणका सेवन करनेसे निद्राका उच्छेद कर सकता है

Transliteration

sattvasaṁsevanād dhīro nidrām ucchettum arhati | vidvān yogake ye kāma-krodha-lobha-bhayaṁ ca pañcamaṁ svapnam—ime pañca doṣāḥ proktāḥ—tān sarvathā ucchedayet | teṣāṁ madhye krodhaṁ śamena (manonigrahena) jayet, kāmaṁ saṅkalpatyāgena parājayet, tathā dhīraḥ sattvaguṇasaṁsevanena nidrāyā ucchedaṁ kartum arhati ||

Translation

ویاس نے کہا—سَتّو (صفائی و توازن) کی پرورش سے ثابت قدم مرد زائد نیند کو کاٹ پھینکنے کے لائق ہو جاتا ہے۔ یوگ میں بتائے گئے پانچ عیوب—کام، کرودھ، لوبھ، بھَے اور پانچواں سُوپن (خواب)—ان سب کو دانا سالک کو جڑ سے اکھاڑ دینا چاہیے۔ ان میں کرودھ کو شَم، یعنی ضبطِ نفس و نگہداشتِ دل سے مغلوب کرے؛ اور کام کو سنکلپ کی ضد اور چمٹاؤ چھوڑ کر شکست دے۔ یوں سَتّو پر قائم رہ کر دھیر مرد نیند پر فتح پاتا ہے اور ریاضت کے لیے موزوں بنتا ہے۔

Word by Word

• {'sattva-saṁsevana': 'cultivation/association with sattva (clarity, purity, balance)', 'dhīra': 'steadfast, self-possessed person', 'nidrā': 'sleep

• here, lethargy/excessive sleep as an obstacle', 'ucchettum / uccheda': 'to cut off, uproot, eliminate', 'vidvān': 'the wise, learned person', 'yoga': 'discipline of inner integration

• meditative/ethical practice', 'kāma': 'desire, craving', 'krodha': 'anger', 'lobha': 'greed, avarice', 'bhaya': 'fear', 'svapna': 'dreaming

• mental agitation in sleep, distraction', 'doṣa': 'fault, defect, obstacle', 'śama': 'calmness

• mental pacification, self-control', 'manonigraha': 'restraint of the mind', 'saṅkalpa': 'resolve, intention

• often obsessive mental construction', 'saṅkalpa-tyāga': 'abandonment of (binding) resolve/fixation', 'parājayet / jayet': 'should defeat / should conquer', 'sattva-guṇa': 'the sattva quality among the guṇas'}

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A yogic aspirant should uproot five inner obstacles—desire, anger, greed, fear, and dreaming—using specific remedies: anger through śama (calm self-restraint), desire through saṅkalpa-tyāga (dropping binding mental fixations), and lethargy/sleep through sustained cultivation of sattva.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on conduct and inner discipline, Vyāsa delivers a didactic teaching: he lists key psychological दोषs that hinder yoga and prescribes practical methods to conquer them, emphasizing sattva as the supportive foundation for wakeful, steady practice.