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Upanishads · Dattātreya 2.4
॥
Devanāgarī
वशीकुरुवशीकुरु वौषडिति व्याहरेत् । आकर्षयाकर्षय हुमिति व्याहरेत् । विद्वेषयविद्वेषय फडिति व्याहरेत् । उच्चाटयोच्चाटय ठठेति व्याहरेत् । स्तम्भयस्तम्भय खखेति व्याहरेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
vaśīkuruvaśīkuru vauṣaḍiti vyāharet | ākarṣayākarṣaya humiti vyāharet | vidveṣayavidveṣaya phaḍiti vyāharet | uccāṭayoccāṭaya ṭhaṭheti vyāharet | stambhayastambhaya khakheti vyāharet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
वशी-कुरु वशी-कुरु वौषट् इतिvaśī-kuru vaśī-kuru vauṣaṭ iti"subdue, subdue" — "vauṣaṭ"
आकर्षय आकर्षय हुम् इतिākarṣaya ākarṣaya hum iti"attract, attract" — "hum"
विद्वेषय विद्वेषय फट् इतिvidveṣaya vidveṣaya phaṭ iti"set at odds, set at odds" — "phaṭ"
उच्चाटय उच्चाटय ठठ इतिuccāṭaya uccāṭaya ṭhaṭha iti"drive out, drive out" — "ṭhaṭha"
स्तम्भय स्तम्भय खख इतिstambhaya stambhaya khakha iti"paralyze, paralyze" — "khakha"
व्याहरेत्vyāharetlet him utter
Translation
«"Subdue, subdue" — let him utter "vauṣaṭ"; "attract, attract" — let him utter "hum"; "set at odds, set at odds" — let him utter "phaṭ"; "drive out, drive out" — let him utter "ṭhaṭha"; "paralyze, paralyze" — let him utter "khakha"».
Version
a2dd6a1e6663 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Here it must be said plainly, and without softening. What is listed is the ṣaṭ-karma, the “six acts” of tantric practice; and this is sorcery, not worship. Let us name them, for this list occurs often in later books, and every reader has a right to know what stands before him.
Vaśīkaraṇa — “subjugation”: to bring another's will under one's own. Ākarṣaṇa — “attraction”: to draw a person against their wish. Vidveṣaṇa — “setting-at-odds”: to sow enmity between two.
Uccāṭana — “driving-out”: to drive a person from a place, to drive them mad, to ruin them. Stambhana — “paralysis”: to deprive of motion, speech, or will. The sixth, māraṇa, “killing,” stands in the next passage.
Let us say our own word about them without evasion. This is not spiritual life in any sense; it is the use of the name of God against people, and there is no justification for it. Four of the six are aimed at breaking another's will; one at setting at odds those who were not quarreling; and all six presuppose that the one praying considers himself entitled to dispose of another's life.
The Vaiṣṇava side does not hold, and cannot hold, this, and its grounds deserve citing, for they are not a matter of squeamishness but of substance. First: the name is an address, not a tool; one who has turned it into a tool has turned not to Him, but to his own advantage. Second: its own definition of devotion is anukūlena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam, “favorably disposed cultivation for Kṛṣṇa's sake” (Rūpa Gosvāmī); and the word anukūla, “favorably disposed,” excludes any action designed to harm.
Third: its marks of one who has arrived are dayā, “compassion,” and sarva-bhūta-hite rataḥ, “rejoicing in the welfare of all beings” (Gītā 12.4); and a person uttering “set at odds, set at odds” fails these marks entirely. Let us add, too, what must be said honestly about the text itself. This passage is a later tantric insertion into a book that began with Brahmā's question about the crossing-over; and it bears no relation to the first chapter.
We translate it, for we translate the book in full and do not strike out what is uncomfortable; but the reader should know what is before him and what to do with it: not perform it.