Upanishads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 3,2.7
॥
Devanāgarī
मनो वै ग्रहः सः कामेनातिग्रहेण गृहीतः मनसा हि कामान् कामयते
Transliteration (IAST)
mano vai grahaḥ saḥ kāmenātigraheṇa gṛhītaḥ manasā hi kāmān kāmayate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मनोmanothe mind (manas); the mind; the mind
वैvaitruly; indeed
ग्रहःgrahaḥthe seizer; the organ of seizing
सःsaḥhe; that one
कामेनातिग्रहेणkāmenātigraheṇaby desire as over-grasper (kāmena atigraheṇa); by the desire-seizer; by desire
गृहीतःgṛhītaḥis grasped; is caught
मनसाmanasāwith the mind; with thought
हिhiindeed; truly
कामान्kāmānthe objects of desire (kāma, acc. pl.); desires; what is wished
कामयतेkāmayatethey desire (from √kam); they crave; they desire
Translation
The mind is a grasper; it is grasped by desire as the over-grasper: for by the mind one desires desires.
Version
1dbba39c4b27 · published Jul 27, 2026, 12:59:58 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The sixth pair is the deepest: mind and desire. We fancy the mind the master of the inner house — the Upaniṣad shows it to be the servant of kāma: thought runs wherever desire has pulled; the mind is the horse, desire the rider. It is not that a man thinks "about what he wants" — he wants, and therefore thinks.
Hence the futility of fighting thoughts head-on: while the rider lives, the horse will gallop. The work is done on the desire — purifying it, redirecting it, making it fall in love with the higher; a mind whose rider is a thirst for God gallops toward God as unstoppably as it once galloped toward vanity. The Gītā will call the mind "friend and enemy" (BG 6.5–6) — here is the root of both possibilities: everything depends on who is in the saddle.