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Upanishads · Muktikā 2.48
॥
Devanāgarī
द्वे बीजे चित्तवृक्षस्य वृत्तिव्रततिधारणः । एकं प्राणपरिस्पन्दो द्वितीयं दृढभावना
Transliteration (IAST)
dve bīje cittavṛkṣasya vṛttivratatidhāraṇaḥ | ekaṃ prāṇaparispando dvitīyaṃ dṛḍhabhāvanā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
द्वे बीजे चित्त-वृक्षस्यdve bīje citta-vṛkṣasyatwo seeds of the tree of mind
वृत्ति-व्रतति-धारणःvṛtti-vratati-dhāraṇaḥholding the vine of movements
एकं प्राण-परिस्पन्दःekaṃ prāṇa-parispandaḥone — the pulsation of breath
द्वितीयं दृढ-भावनाdvitīyaṃ dṛḍha-bhāvanāthe second — a firm imagining
Translation
«Two seeds has the tree of mind, that holds the vine of [its own] movements: one — the pulsation of breath, the second — a firm imagining».
Version
11faefd22238 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse repeats the twenty-seventh, but with a change: there the second seed was named habit, here — dṛḍha-bhāvanā, «a firm imagining». This change, I think, is for the better and is worth noting. Vāsanā is a trace left by the past; bhāvanā is what a person holds before himself now.
That is, the second seed is named not as the past but as the present: not what has accumulated, but what I imagine to myself today. And this, I think, matters more for the work: the past cannot be changed, but what one holds before one's eyes — can be changed. Add the word vratati, «vine, creeping plant».
The image is added to the earlier one: the tree of mind is entwined by the vine of its own movements. That is, the trouble is not only in the trunk, but in what twines about it; and anyone who has weeded a creeper knows it holds not by its own root but by another's trunk. The Vaishnava side adds its own to this, cited at Varāha (2.82): a dancing girl with a pot on her head remembers it not by effort but by habit.
That is, bhāvanā, a firmly held representation, is for it not a hindrance but a means: hold one thing before you, and the vine will wind about it.