Shloka 44

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

Transliteration

sattvasaṃsevanād dhīro nidrām ucchettum arhati | vidvān yoge ye kāma-krodha-lobha-bhayaṃ ca pañcamaṃ svapnam—ime pañca doṣā uktās teṣāṃ pūrṇatayā ucchedaṃ kuryāt | teṣu krodhaṃ śamena (manonigrahena) jayet, kāmaṃ saṅkalpatyāgena parājayet; tathā dhīraḥ sattvaguṇasaṃsevanena nidrāyā ucchedaṃ śaknoti ||

Translation

Vyāsa said: By cultivating sattva, a steadfast person becomes fit to cut off sleep. A wise practitioner of yoga should completely uproot the five faults that are taught—desire, anger, greed, fear, and, as the fifth, dreaming. Of these, he should conquer anger through calm self-restraint (control of the mind), and defeat desire by abandoning compulsive resolve and craving-intent. Thus, through sustained reliance on the sattva quality, the resolute person can overcome sleep and remain wakeful in disciplined practice.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'sattva-saṃsevana', 'definition': 'cultivation/association with sattva

• nurturing clarity, balance, purity'}, {'term': 'dhīra', 'definition': 'steadfast, self-possessed, resolute person'}, {'term': 'nidrā', 'definition': 'sleep

• here, a hindrance to yogic vigilance'}, {'term': 'uccheda', 'definition': 'cutting off, eradication, complete removal'}, {'term': 'vidvān', 'definition': 'the wise one

• a discerning practitioner'}, {'term': 'yoga', 'definition': 'discipline of inner integration

• meditative and ethical practice'}, {'term': 'kāma', 'definition': 'desire, craving, sense-driven impulse'}, {'term': 'krodha', 'definition': 'anger

• reactive heat of mind'}, {'term': 'lobha', 'definition': 'greed

• grasping and insatiability'}, {'term': 'bhaya', 'definition': 'fear

• anxiety that destabilizes discernment'}, {'term': 'svapna', 'definition': 'dreaming

• mental projection that disturbs wakeful clarity'}, {'term': 'śama', 'definition': 'calmness, tranquility

• mind-restraint (manonigraha)'}, {'term': 'manonigraha', 'definition': 'control/discipline of the mind'}, {'term': 'saṅkalpa-tyāga', 'definition': 'abandoning (compulsive) resolve/intentions that feed desire

• renunciation of craving-driven volition'}, {'term': 'sattva-guṇa', 'definition': 'the guṇa of clarity and harmony

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A yogic aspirant should uproot five inner faults—desire, anger, greed, fear, and dreaming—and cultivate sattva. Anger is mastered through śama (calm mind-restraint), desire through saṅkalpa-tyāga (renouncing craving-driven resolve), leading to wakeful clarity that overcomes sleep as an obstacle.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction-setting, Vyāsa delivers a didactic teaching on inner discipline. He lists specific psychological impediments to yoga and prescribes concrete counter-practices—mind-restraint and renunciation of desire-intent—framed within the broader ethical program of self-mastery.