Shloka 49

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 yogake ye doṣāḥ kāmaḥ krodhaḥ lobhaḥ bhayaṃ pañcamaś ca svapnaḥ—ete pañca doṣān pūrṇatayā ucchedayet | eṣu krodhaṃ śamena (manonigrahena) jayet, kāmaṃ saṅkalpatyāgena parājayet, tathā dhīraḥ sattvaguṇasaṃsevanena nidrāyā ucchedaṃ kartum śaknoti |

Translation

毗耶娑说道：恒常培育萨埵（清明与平衡之德），坚毅之人便堪能断除过度的昏睡。智者宣说：修瑜伽有五种过失为其障碍——欲、嗔、贪、惧，以及第五的梦（与睡眠相系之迷妄）。当尽皆连根拔除。其中，嗔当以“奢摩”（寂静、摄心之制）而降伏；欲当以舍弃强迫性的意向与贪求之执而破除；而凭依萨埵之德不懈修持，志决之士亦能胜过睡眠与倦怠的牵引。

Word by Word

• {'sattva-saṃsevana': 'cultivation/association with sattva

• nurturing clarity, balance, and purity', 'dhīra': 'steadfast, self-possessed, resolute person', 'nidrā': 'sleep

• also lethargy and dullness that obstructs practice', 'ucchettum / uccheda': 'to cut off, uproot, eradicate', 'vidvān': 'the wise, learned person', 'yoga': 'discipline of inner integration

• meditative and ethical practice', 'doṣa': 'fault, defect, obstacle', 'kāma': 'desire, craving, sensual/egoic impulse', 'krodha': 'anger, wrath', 'lobha': 'greed, grasping', 'bhaya': 'fear, anxiety', 'svapna': 'dream

• here linked with sleep and dream-born distraction', 'śama': 'calmness

• restraint', 'manonigraha': 'control/discipline of the mind', 'saṅkalpa-tyāga': 'abandoning (compulsive) resolve/intentions

• renunciation of craving-driven plans', 'parājayet / jayet': 'should defeat / should conquer', 'sattva-guṇa': 'the quality of clarity, light, harmony'}

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Yoga is hindered by five inner defects—desire, anger, greed, fear, and dream/sleep-born distraction. They must be uprooted: anger through śama (mental restraint), desire through saṅkalpa-tyāga (renouncing craving-driven intentions), and lethargy/sleep through sustained cultivation of sattva.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the didactic setting of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa instructs on inner discipline. The focus is not external action but ethical-psychological training: identifying obstacles to yogic steadiness and prescribing concrete methods to overcome them.