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Upanishads · Muktikā 2.40
॥
Devanāgarī
तावन्निशीव वेताला वल्गन्ति हृदि वासनाः । एकतत्त्वदृढाभ्यासाद्यावन्न विजितं मनः
Transliteration (IAST)
tāvanniśīva vetālā valganti hṛdi vāsanāḥ | ekatattvadṛḍhābhyāsādyāvanna vijitaṃ manaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तावत् निशि इव वेतालाःtāvat niśi iva vetālāḥso long, as at night, like ghouls
वल्गन्ति हृदि वासनाःvalganti hṛdi vāsanāḥhabits leap about in the heart
एक-तत्त्व-दृढ-अभ्यासात्eka-tattva-dṛḍha-abhyāsātfrom firm practice of a single truth
यावत् न विजितं मनःyāvat na vijitaṃ manaḥas long as the mind is not conquered
Translation
«So long as, through firm practice of a single truth, the mind is not conquered, habits leap about in the heart, like ghouls at night».
Version
04bc10dd2d28 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A comparison strong and vivid is given: niśīva vetālāḥ valganti, «leap about, like ghouls at night». A vetāla is a kind of spirit that inhabits dead bodies; it was spoken of at Gāruḍa (2.16), where they stood in a list of things warded against. Worth noting that the comparison chosen is nocturnal.
Ghouls leap in the dark; and with dawn they are gone — not because they were driven off, but because it has grown light. That is, habits are named a begetting of darkness, not an independent power. This image, I think, is good and agrees with what was said at Mahāvākya (p8): one does not fight darkness, one dispels it; and a person warring with his own faults wars with an absence.
Add what is said of the means: eka-tattva-dṛḍhābhyāsāt, «from firm practice in a single truth». Worth noting the word eka, «one». That is, it is not the quantity of practices that wins but the singleness of the object; and this agrees with what was said at the twenty-fifth verse: the mind rushes about not from scatter but from what it pursues.
The Vaishnava side holds precisely this: its eka-tattva is a person, not a proposition; and it was said at Varāha (2.80) that if the mind is given something that holds it, it will hold the senses.