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Upanishads · Muktikā 2.6
॥
Devanāgarī
पौरुषेण प्रयत्नेन योजनीया शुभे पथि । अशुभेषु समाविष्टं शुभेष्वेवावतारयेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
pauruṣeṇa prayatnena yojanīyā śubhe pathi | aśubheṣu samāviṣṭaṃ śubheṣvevāvatārayet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पौरुषेण प्रयत्नेनpauruṣeṇa prayatnenaby human effort
योजनीया शुभे पथिyojanīyā śubhe pathilet it be directed onto the auspicious path
अ-शुभेषु समाविष्टंa-śubheṣu samāviṣṭaṃwhat has entered the inauspicious
शुभेषु एव अवतारयेत्śubheṣu eva avatārayetlet him bring down into the auspicious
Translation
«…by human effort let it be directed onto the auspicious path; and what has entered the inauspicious, let him bring down into the auspicious».
Version
d65d0d6ac16d · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The remedy is given, and worth noting is the verb by which it is named: yojanīyā, «let it be directed», from yuj, «to yoke, to join». That is, the river is not dammed and not drained, but directed; and the verb used is the same from which the word yoga comes. Add the second verb: avatārayet, «let him bring down», from ava-tṛ, «to lead down, to ferry across».
That is, what has entered the wrong channel is transferred into the right one; and this again is not destruction but transposition. Worth appreciating that both verbs are verbs of working with water, not of struggle: they direct, divert, transfer. The Vaishnava side holds precisely this and states it through its own rule, cited at Jābāla-darśana (4.9): desire departs not by prohibition but by a better taste.
And the verse of Gītā 2.59, cited more than once, is exactly this: for one who fasts, objects withdraw, but the taste remains, and it departs only paraṃ dṛṣṭvā, «having seen the higher». Add what follows from this for everyday practice, and what, I think, is worth holding onto. A person struggling with a habit is usually advised not to do it; and the advice is rarely workable, for the river keeps flowing.
The advice here is different: find where to let it go; and anyone who has replaced a bad occupation with a good one, rather than simply dropping it, knows this succeeds more often.