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Upanishads · Muktikā 2.27
॥
Devanāgarī
द्वे बीजे चित्तवृक्षस्य प्राणस्पन्दनवासने । एकस्मिंश्च तयोः क्षीणे क्षिप्रं द्वे अपि नश्यतः
Transliteration (IAST)
dve bīje cittavṛkṣasya prāṇaspandanavāsane | ekasmiṃśca tayoḥ kṣīṇe kṣipraṃ dve api naśyataḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
द्वे बीजे चित्त-वृक्षस्यdve bīje citta-vṛkṣasyatwo seeds of the tree of mind
प्राण-स्पन्दन-वासनेprāṇa-spandana-vāsanethe pulsation of breath and habit
एकस्मिन् च तयोः क्षीणेekasmin ca tayoḥ kṣīṇeand when one of the two is exhausted
क्षिप्रं द्वे अपि नश्यतःkṣipraṃ dve api naśyataḥquickly both too perish
Translation
«Two seeds has the tree of mind: the pulsation of breath and habit; and when one of the two is exhausted, both quickly perish».
Version
945428990ba5 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A remedy for the circle is given, and it is clever: it is enough to break one link. That is, one need not chase both — remove one, and the other falls of itself. This construction, I think, is sound and explains why these books offer two different paths that lead to one place.
The path of breath is yoga: one works with the body, and the mind is stilled. The path of habit is discernment: one works with the mind, and the breath is stilled. And by this verse, both are equally valid.
The Vaishnava side adds to the two a third and holds it best; and it is worth naming here, for this is its place. Its path is the path of hearing: not breath and not reasoning, but what has been heard. Its argument was cited at the previous verse: the circle is not broken from within but by what has come from outside; and hence it takes up not one of the two seeds, but plants a third.
Add what is worth saying of the image of the tree. The mind is called citta-vṛkṣa, «the tree of mind»; and this image is developed into a whole picture in the Gītā (15.1): an inverted tree, roots above, branches below, to be felled asaṅga-śastreṇa, «with the weapon of non-attachment». Worth noting that there too the tree is not uprooted but felled; and that afterward one is told to seek the place it grew from.