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Upanishads · Muktikā 2.46
॥
Devanāgarī
सतीषु युक्तिष्वेतासु हठान्नियमन्ति ये । चेतसो दीपमुत्सृज्य विचिन्वन्ति तमोऽञ्जनैः
Transliteration (IAST)
satīṣu yuktiṣvetāsu haṭhānniyamanti ye | cetaso dīpamutsṛjya vicinvanti tamo'ñjanaiḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सतीषु युक्तिषु एतासुsatīṣu yuktiṣu etāsuthese techniques being present
हठात् नियमन्ति येhaṭhāt niyamanti yewhoever by force restrains
चेतसः दीपम् उत्सृज्यcetasaḥ dīpam utsṛjyahaving cast away the lamp of consciousness
विचिन्वन्ति तमः अञ्जनैःvicinvanti tamaḥ añjanaiḥseek darkness with kohl
Translation
«Whoever, these techniques being present, restrains [the mind] by force — having cast away the lamp of consciousness, they seek darkness with kohl».
Version
c3b547344c70 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is a verse for the sake of which this whole part is worth reading, and the comparison in it is, I think, one of the best in the whole collection: cetaso dīpam utsṛjya vicinvanti tamo'ñjanaiḥ, «having cast away the lamp, they seek darkness with kohl». Worth examining it part by part, for it is layered. Añjana is the kohl by which the eyes are blackened; and it is black.
That is, the person has cast away the lamp and seeks in the dark — with a black means. First, he has cast away that by which he could have seen. Second, he seeks darkness, not a thing: that is, his very object of search is darkness.
Third, he seeks it with kohl, that is, with what is itself darkness: darkness sought with darkness. All together this means: violence against the mind is a threefold absurdity. And this is said directly of those who haṭhāt niyamanti, «restrain by force»; that is, of the haṭha-yogic usage spoken of at Varāha (4.39).
Worth noting that four verses earlier (2.42) this same book described gritted teeth and pressed limbs; and now it rejects this technique. The Vaishnava side holds precisely this as its constant argument, already voiced by Gītā 6.35, examined at Varāha (5.45): the mind is held abhyāsena vairāgyeṇa ca, «by practice and dispassion», not by force. And add: the lamp one is told not to cast away is, by its reading, the word one has heard; for the seeker on the way has no other light.