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Upanishads · Muktikā 2.44
॥
Devanāgarī
अङ्कुशेन विना मत्तो यथा दुष्टमतङ्गजः । अध्यात्मविद्याधिगमः साधुसंगतिरेव च
Transliteration (IAST)
aṅkuśena vinā matto yathā duṣṭamataṅgajaḥ | adhyātmavidyādhigamaḥ sādhusaṃgatireva ca
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अङ्कुशेन विना मत्तःaṅkuśena vinā mattaḥwithout a goad, maddened
यथा दुष्ट-मतङ्गजःyathā duṣṭa-mataṅgajaḥlike a vicious elephant
अध्यात्म-विद्या-अधिगमःadhyātma-vidyā-adhigamaḥattainment of the science of the self
साधु-संगतिः एव चsādhu-saṃgatiḥ eva caand the company of the honest
Translation
«As a maddened, vicious elephant without a goad, [so is the mind]. Attainment of the science of the self and the company of the honest…»
Version
4267b3857648 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A list of four means begins, and it will occupy two verses; worth noting that the first named is not a technique at all. First — adhyātma-vidyā-adhigama, «attainment of the science of the self». Second — sādhu-saṅgati, «the company of the honest».
Third (in the next verse) — vāsanā-samparityāga, the abandonment of habits. Fourth — prāṇa-spanda-nirodhana, the restraint of the movement of breath. Worth appreciating that the second is company.
That is, among the means to subdue the mind is named not a practice or a technique, but the people one keeps. This detail, I think, is the best in this chapter, and the Vaishnava side holds it as its chief means; sādhu-saṅga was spoken of at Kṛṣṇa-upaniṣad (2.15) and Varāha (3.25). Let the argument from there be repeated, for it is to the point here: another's fault is seen from without, one's own is not seen from within; and hence intention alone is not enough — someone is needed who looks from without and speaks.
Add the comparison that opens the verse: the mind is a duṣṭa-mataṅgaja, «vicious elephant», and the technique is aṅkuśa, «goad». This image is constant in these books; and worth noting that a goad does not kill the elephant, but turns him. That is, even here what is envisioned is not destruction but guidance; and this again diverges from the word mano-nāśa, «destruction of mind».