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Upanishads · Muktikā 2.13
॥
Devanāgarī
त्रिभिरेतैश्चिराभ्यस्तैर्हृदयग्रन्थयो दृढाः । निःशङ्कमेव त्रुठ्यन्ति बिसच्छेदाद्गुणा इव
Transliteration (IAST)
tribhiretaiścirābhyastairhṛdayagranthayo dṛḍhāḥ | niḥśaṅkameva truṭhyanti bisacchedādguṇā iva
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
त्रिभिः एतैः चिर-अभ्यस्तैःtribhiḥ etaiḥ cira-abhyastaiḥby these three, long practiced
हृदय-ग्रन्थयः दृढाःhṛdaya-granthayaḥ dṛḍhāḥthe firm knots of the heart
निःशङ्कम् एव त्रुट्यन्तिniḥśaṅkam eva truṭyantiwithout doubt break
बिस-छेदात् गुणाः इवbisa-chedāt guṇāḥ ivalike fibers at the cutting of a lotus stalk
Translation
«By these three, long practiced, the firm knots of the heart break without doubt — like fibers at the cutting of a lotus stalk».
Version
5c0f60ddaaef · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A comparison is given, beautiful and rare: bisa-chedād guṇā iva, «like fibers at the cutting of a lotus stalk». Worth examining it, for anyone who has broken the stalk of a lotus or a water lily has seen this with his own eyes. If the stalk is snapped, it does not part cleanly: between the halves stretch thin fibers, and they break not all at once but one by one, as the halves are drawn apart.
And it is said that the knots of the heart break the same way. That is, the breaking is described not as a blow and not as a severing, but as a slow parting with straining threads. This image, I think, is the most exact description of how a person parts from a habit or an attachment: the break has already occurred, the decision made, and yet the threads still hold, and each must be broken apart.
The Vaishnava side holds this image, and it was said at Yājñavalkya (12) that hindrances diminish one by one and gradually, not falling away all at once. Add what is said of the heart's knot elsewhere and worth comparing. The Muṇḍaka (2.2.8) and Bhāgavatam (1.2.21) say: bhidyate hṛdaya-granthiḥ... tasmin dṛṣṭe, «the knot of the heart is cut — when he is seen».
There it breaks from seeing, here — from long practice; and this difference is, in essence, the difference between the two halves of this book.