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Upanishads · Muktikā 2.22
॥
Devanāgarī
वासनाहीनमप्येतच्चक्षुरादीन्द्रियं स्वतः । प्रवर्तते बहिः स्वाऽर्थे वासनामात्रकारणम्
Transliteration (IAST)
vāsanāhīnamapyetaccakṣurādīndriyaṃ svataḥ | pravartate bahiḥ svā'rthe vāsanāmātrakāraṇam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
वासना-हीनम् अपि एतत्vāsanā-hīnam api etatdevoid of habit, even this
चक्षुः-आदि-इन्द्रियं स्वतःcakṣuḥ-ādi-indriyaṃ svataḥeye and the other senses, by themselves
प्रवर्तते बहिः स्व-अर्थेpravartate bahiḥ sva-artheproceed outward to their object
वासना-मात्र-कारणम्vāsanā-mātra-kāraṇamhabit is merely their cause
Translation
«And even devoid of habit, this eye and the other senses proceed by themselves outward, toward their object; habit is merely their cause».
Version
edab940362b4 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Worth noting an honest reservation made here: the senses work even without habit. That is, the eye sees, the ear hears — not because it has grown accustomed, but because such is its structure; and the preceding verses, demanding a «habitless state», themselves qualify it here. This detail, I think, is worth attention and removes the usual perplexity.
One cannot expect the liberated to stop seeing and hearing; and hence «abandoning habit» is not the cessation of perception, but the cessation of what has stuck to it. The Vaishnava side holds precisely this, and its distinction was cited at Varāha (4.24): the senses do their work, and it is not their working that binds, but the claiming of it as one's own. Add what follows from this and what, I think, resolves half the disputes of this chapter.
If the senses move by themselves, then deeds too will be done; and hence the question never stands thus — to do or not to do. It stands otherwise: for whom and for what. And the Vaishnava side's answer was cited at Jābāla-darśana (7.4): do everything for him; and it was said at Saubhāgyalakṣmī (3.5) that where a deed is done for him, there is no reckoning of how much one has taken for oneself.