Upanishads · Mahā 3.20
॥
Devanāgarī
अप्यब्धिपानान्महतः सुमेरून्मूलनादपि अपि वह्न्यशनाद्ब्रह्मन्विषमश्चित्तनिग्रहः
Transliteration (IAST)
apyabdhipānānmahataḥ sumerūnmūlanādapi api vahnyaśanādbrahmanviṣamaścittanigrahaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अपि अब्धि-पानात् महतःapi abdhi-pānāt mahataḥeven more than drinking the great ocean; even than draining the vast sea
सुमेरु-उन्मूलनात् अपिsumeru-unmūlanāt apiand than uprooting Sumeru; and even than tearing Sumeru up by the root
अपि वह्नि-अशनात् ब्रह्मन्api vahni-aśanāt brahmanand than eating fire, O brāhmaṇa; and even than swallowing flame, O brāhmaṇa
विषमः चित्त-निग्रहःviṣamaḥ citta-nigrahaḥharder is the curbing of the mind; more toilsome is the subduing of consciousness
Translation
“Harder than drinking the great ocean, than uprooting Sumeru or swallowing fire, O brāhmaṇa, is the curbing of the mind.”
Version
e96bfd051b61 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Three impossibilities, as in verse 3.11 — but there they spoke of frailty, here of difficulty.
To drink the sea, to tear up the mountain, to eat fire. And all this is easier than mastering one's own mind.
The word viṣama means “uneven, grievous, intractable” — that which cannot be approached.
The Bhagavad-gītā in its sixth chapter, through Arjuna's lips, speaks in almost the same words: the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate, and to hold it is harder than the wind. And the answer given there is not “grit your teeth” but “by practice and dispassion”.
It is worth noting that Nidāgha complains to the teacher rather than taking the task on himself. In this there is already a right instinct: what cannot be taken by force is taken otherwise.