Shloka 51

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 pañcamaṃ svapnam iti pañca doṣān āhuḥ, tān sarvathā samucchedayet | teṣu krodhaṃ śamena (manonigrahena) jayet, kāmaṃ saṅkalpatyāgena parājayet; tathā dhīraḥ sattvaguṇasaṃsevanena nidrām ucchettum arhati |

Translation

毗耶娑说道：恒常培育萨埵，坚毅之人便能断除睡眠。智者论瑜伽时宣说五种过失——欲、嗔、贪、惧，以及第五的睡/梦。应当尽皆连根拔除。其中，嗔当以安静的自制而降伏；欲当以舍弃强迫性的决意与贪求之意向而破除；同样，凭借萨埵的修习，志决之士亦能胜过睡眠。

Word by Word

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

• lethargy/drowsiness as an obstacle', 'ucchettum (uccheda)': 'to cut off, uproot, eradicate', 'vidvān': 'the wise, learned person', 'yoga': 'discipline of inner integration

• spiritual practice', 'kāma': 'desire, sensual craving', 'krodha': 'anger, wrath', 'lobha': 'greed, grasping', 'bhaya': 'fear', 'svapna': 'dream

• in context, sleep/dreaming as a fault/obstacle', 'doṣa': 'fault, defect, obstacle', 'śama': 'calmness

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

• often craving-driven mental construction', 'saṅkalpa-tyāga': 'abandonment of (craving-based) resolve/mental projections', 'parājayet': 'should defeat, overcome', 'sattva-guṇa': 'the quality of clarity and harmony'}

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Yoga requires uprooting five inner obstacles—desire, anger, greed, fear, and sleep/dreaming. Anger is mastered through śama (calm restraint of mind), desire through saṅkalpa-tyāga (dropping craving-driven intentions), and sleep is overcome by cultivating sattva (clarity and balance).

What is happening in the narrative?

In the didactic discourse of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa instructs on inner discipline: he lists specific psychological faults recognized by the wise in yogic practice and prescribes concrete methods to conquer them, emphasizing sattva as the basis for vigilance and self-mastery.