Upanishads · Mahā 3.29
॥
Devanāgarī
पङ्क्तिबद्धेन्द्रियपशुं वल्गत्तृष्णागृहाङ्गणम् चित्तभृत्यजनाकीर्णं नेष्टं देहगृहं मम
Transliteration (IAST)
paṅktibaddhendriyapaśuṃ valgattṛṣṇāgṛhāṅgaṇam cittabhṛtyajanākīrṇaṃ neṣṭaṃ dehagṛhaṃ mama
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पङ्क्ति-बद्ध-इन्द्रिय-पशुम्paṅkti-baddha-indriya-paśumwith the cattle of the senses tied in a row; where the livestock of the senses is stalled in rows
वल्गत्-तृष्णा-गृह-अङ्गणम्valgat-tṛṣṇā-gṛha-aṅgaṇamwith a courtyard where craving prances; with a yard about which thirst careers
चित्त-भृत्य-जन-आकीर्णम्citta-bhṛtya-jana-ākīrṇamcrowded with the servantry of thoughts; packed with the household staff of musings
न इष्टम् देह-गृहम् ममna iṣṭam deha-gṛham mamathis body-house is not dear to me; this dwelling-body is not to my liking
Translation
“With the cattle of the senses tied in a row, with a courtyard where craving prances, packed with the servantry of thoughts — this body-house is not dear to me.”
Version
4964c80d3565 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The image of the house is unfolded into a detailed homestead, and every part is in place.
The senses are cattle, tied in a row at the trough. The precision is in the word paṅkti-baddha, “bound in rows”: the senses are not free, they are tethered — and yet it is they that feed the household.
Craving careers about the yard — valgat means “prances, kicks”, like an unbroken horse.
The thoughts are servantry, and there are too many of them: ākīrṇa, “packed full”. Each is doing something, each demands orders.
And the master amid all this is that very selfhood from the previous verse.
The verse is worth remembering as a picture of the ordinary human condition: not a prison, not a torture, but precisely a noisy homestead where no one is master by right and everyone is busy.