Shloka 29
Adhyāya 240: Indriya–Manas–Buddhi–Ātman — The Inner Hierarchy and Restraint (इन्द्रिय-मनस्-बुद्धि-आत्म-क्रमः)
एकाग्रचित्त योगी पर्वतकी सूनी गुफा, देवमन्दिर तथा एकान्तस्थ शून्य गृहको ही अपने निवासके लिये चुने ।।
ekāgracitto yogī parvatakī śūnyāṃ guhāṃ, devamandiraṃ tathā ekāntasthaṃ śūnya-gṛhaṃ caiva svanivāsāya vṛṇuyāt. nābhiṣvajeta paraṃ vācā karmaṇā manasāpi vā. upekṣako yatāhāro labdhālabdhe samo bhavet. sattva-saṃsevanād dhīro nidrām ucchettum arhati. vidvadbhir yogasya ye doṣāḥ kāmaḥ krodho lobho bhayaṃ pañcamaḥ svapnaś ca—teṣāṃ samyag ucchedaṃ kuryāt. krodhaṃ śamena jayet, kāmaṃ saṅkalpa-tyāgena parājayet; dhīraḥ sattva-guṇa-sevanena nidrāṃ nirākartuṃ śaknoti. yogasādhako manaḥ-vāk-kriyābhiḥ paratra nāsajyeta; sarvata upekṣā-bhāvaṃ dhārayet; niyataṃ bhojanaṃ kuryāt; lābha-hānau ca samabhāvaṃ rakṣet.
Vyāsa said: A yogin of one-pointed mind should choose for his dwelling a lonely mountain cave, a temple, or an empty house situated in seclusion. He should not cling to another—by speech, by action, or even by thought. Remaining detached, eating in a regulated manner, he should be even-minded in gain and non-gain. By cultivating sattva, a steady person becomes fit to cut off sleep. The wise declare five faults for the yogic path—desire, anger, greed, fear, and, as the fifth, sleep; he should uproot them completely. Let him conquer anger through calm self-restraint, defeat desire by abandoning mental constructions and intentions, and by resorting to sattva he can dispel sleep. Thus the practitioner should maintain indifference toward all, keep discipline in food, and preserve equanimity amid profit and loss.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Choose a secluded, simple dwelling; avoid attachment in thought, word, and deed; practice regulated eating and equanimity; and uproot the five yogic obstacles—desire, anger, greed, fear, and sleep—through calm restraint, renunciation of intention-driven craving, and cultivation of sattva.
In the didactic setting of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa instructs on yogic discipline: where a practitioner should live, how to relate to others without clinging, and which inner faults must be eliminated to stabilize meditation and ethical life.