Upanishads · Mahā 4.101
॥
Devanāgarī
तस्य चञ्चलता यैषा त्वविद्या वासनात्मिका वासनापरनाम्नीं तां विचारेण विनाशय
Transliteration (IAST)
tasya cañcalatā yaiṣā tvavidyā vāsanātmikā vāsanāparanāmnīṃ tāṃ vicāreṇa vināśaya
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तस्य चञ्चलता या एषाtasya cañcalatā yā eṣāthat restlessness of his which is; this very wavering of it
तु अविद्या वासना-आत्मिकाtu avidyā vāsanā-ātmikāis ignorance, made of vāsanās; is unknowing, woven of inclinations
वासना-पर-नाम्नीम् ताम्vāsanā-para-nāmnīm tāmher, whose other name is vāsanā; her, called otherwise the vāsanā
विचारेण विनाशयvicāreṇa vināśayadestroy by inquiry; exterminate through reflection
Translation
“That restlessness of the mind is ignorance, woven of inclinations; her, whose other name is vāsanā, destroy by inquiry.”
Version
caa854453a12 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Three words prove to be one: restlessness, ignorance, vāsanā.
This is an essential reduction. We are used to thinking ignorance a lack of information. Here it is said: ignorance is inclination, and inclination is the mind's trembling.
That is why information does not cure it.
And what does cure it is named: vicāra, “inquiry”. The second gatekeeper of 4.2.
Note why inquiry, and not effort of will. The vāsanā holds power because it is not examined: it acts before thought and therefore never falls under the light. Take it apart — and it loses its power, as a dream loses power when one begins to recall it.
The verb vināśaya — “destroy” — is imperative, like māraya in 4.93. In these verses the teacher speaks in short commands.