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Upanishads · Muktikā 2.41
॥
Devanāgarī
प्रक्षीणचित्तदर्पस्य निगृहीतेन्द्रियद्विषः । पद्मिन्य इव हेमन्ते क्षीयन्ते भोगवासनाः
Transliteration (IAST)
prakṣīṇacittadarpasya nigṛhītendriyadviṣaḥ | padminya iva hemante kṣīyante bhogavāsanāḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
प्रक्षीण-चित्त-दर्पस्यprakṣīṇa-citta-darpasyaof one whose pride of mind is exhausted
निगृहीत-इन्द्रिय-द्विषःnigṛhīta-indriya-dviṣaḥwho has curbed the enemy senses
पद्मिन्यः इव हेमन्तेpadminyaḥ iva hemantelike lotuses in winter
क्षीयन्ते भोग-वासनाःkṣīyante bhoga-vāsanāḥhabits of enjoyment are exhausted
Translation
«Of one whose pride of mind is exhausted and who has curbed the enemy senses, habits of enjoyment are exhausted — like lotuses in winter».
Version
ceb8039abe5f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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A beautiful comparison is given: padminyaḥ iva hemante, «like lotuses in winter». Worth examining it, for it is more exact than it seems. A lotus in winter is not torn out and not cut: it withers of itself, for the warmth has gone.
And its root at the same time remains in the mud; with new warmth it will rise again. That is, the comparison says that habits wither with a change of conditions, not by destruction; and it honestly warns at the same time that the root is intact. This detail, I think, is worth attention and explains a common experience: a person who has changed his surroundings feels changed — but returning to the old ones finds everything as before.
The Vaishnava side holds precisely this, and it was said at Varāha (4.16) that a rut is not erased but overgrown by new driving. Add the first word: prakṣīṇa-citta-darpasya, «of one whose pride of mind is exhausted». Darpa means «pride, haughtiness»; and worth noting that it is named before the curbing of the senses.
That is, the order is this: first self-regard diminishes, then the senses obey; and this order, I think, is correct — the senses do not obey the proud, for he is proud of them too.