Upanishads · Mahā 3.34
॥
Devanāgarī
स्वचित्तबिलसंस्थेन नानाविभ्रमकारिणा बलात्कामपिशाचेन विवशः परिभूयते
Transliteration (IAST)
svacittabilasaṃsthena nānāvibhramakāriṇā balātkāmapiśācena vivaśaḥ paribhūyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
स्व-चित्त-बिल-संस्थेनsva-citta-bila-saṃsthenaby the one lodged in the burrow of his own mind; by him who has settled in the cave of one's own consciousness
नाना-विभ्रम-कारिणाnānā-vibhrama-kāriṇāworking manifold delusions; producing every kind of beguilement
बलात् काम-पिशाचेनbalāt kāma-piśācenaforcibly, by the demon of lust; by main force, by the fiend of desire
विवशः परिभूयतेvivaśaḥ paribhūyatethe helpless one is overpowered; the will-less one is put to shame
Translation
“By the demon of lust, lodged in the burrow of his own mind and working manifold delusions, the helpless one is forcibly overpowered.”
Version
960d1d4c2b88 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second age is youth, and it is depicted as possession.
The image is sharp: kāma-piśāca, “the demon of lust”, and it lives in a bila — a “burrow, hole” of one's own mind.
The detail of the burrow deserves attention. The demon does not come from outside; it has lodged within you and beguiles from there.
The word vivaśa — “will-less, not in possession of oneself”. Here is named the chief trouble of youth as the book sees it: not that desire is strong, but that at this time a man does not belong to himself.
The Bhagavad-gītā in its third chapter says the same and by the same move: lust is the enemy seated in the senses, mind and reason, and from there it darkens knowledge.
Note too the word vibhrama, “delusion, whirling”. The demon does not so much compel as beguile: it shows what is not.