Upanishads · Mahā 3.22
॥
Devanāgarī
यां यामहं मुनिश्रेष्ठ संश्रयामि गुणश्रियम् तां तां कृन्तति मे तृष्णा तन्त्रीमिव कुमूषिका
Transliteration (IAST)
yāṃ yāmahaṃ muniśreṣṭha saṃśrayāmi guṇaśriyam tāṃ tāṃ kṛntati me tṛṣṇā tantrīmiva kumūṣikā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
याम् याम् अहम् मुनि-श्रेष्ठyām yām aham muni-śreṣṭhawhatever, O best of sages; whatsoever, O first among the silent
संश्रयामि गुण-श्रियम्saṃśrayāmi guṇa-śriyamwealth of virtues I acquire; estate of excellences I have taken up
ताम् ताम् कृन्तति मे तृष्णाtām tām kṛntati me tṛṣṇāeach of them my craving gnaws through; every such my thirst severs
तन्त्रीम् इव कुमूषिकाtantrīm iva kumūṣikāas a wicked mouse a string; just as a vile mouse a bowstring
Translation
“Whatever wealth of virtues I acquire, O best of sages, my craving gnaws through every one — as a wicked mouse gnaws a string.”
Version
2641a594c8c9 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The image is homely and therefore convincing: the mouse and the string.
The mouse does not eat the string — it has no need of it. It gnaws through it in passing, because it gnaws everything in its way. And the instrument falls silent.
So too with craving: it does not assault the virtues on purpose. It simply saws through everything a man has built in himself — patience, restraint, evenness — because it cannot do otherwise.
Note the word guṇa-śrī — “wealth of virtues”. Nidāgha does not deny that it accumulates in him. He says it does not hold.
Herein lies the trouble worth pondering for everyone who labours on himself: efforts are not lost through one great fall. They are worn away by the small, unceasing work of greed.