Upanishads · Mahā 4.128
॥
Devanāgarī
मम पुत्रो मम धनमहं सोऽयमिदं मम इतीयमिन्द्रजालेन वासनैव विवल्गति
Transliteration (IAST)
mama putro mama dhanamahaṃ so'yamidaṃ mama itīyamindrajālena vāsanaiva vivalgati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मम पुत्रः मम धनम्mama putraḥ mama dhanammy son, my wealth; my offspring, my property
अहम् सः अयम् इदम् ममaham saḥ ayam idam mamaI am this very one, this is mine; I am he, this belongs to me
इति इयम् इन्द्रजालेनiti iyam indrajālenathus, by the conjurer's illusion; in this way, through the phantasm
वासना एव विवल्गतिvāsanā eva vivalgatiit is the vāsanā alone that prances; nothing but the inclination capers about
Translation
“‘My son’, ‘my wealth’, ‘I am this very one’, ‘this is mine’ — thus, by the conjurer's illusion, it is the vāsanā alone that prances.”
Version
49de80db0ab4 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A list of four turns, and all with one word: mama, “mine”.
My son. My wealth. I am this one. This is mine.
Recall 4.71: two words lead to bondage and to freedom. Here is shown how the first of them works in life.
The verb vivalgati — “prances, capers”. A word of the same root as valgat in 3.29, where craving “careered” about the yard.
The image of dancing is chosen exactly. The vāsanā does not reason and does not persuade; it dances — that is, it carries one along by movement, by rhythm, of itself.
And it is named indrajāla — the conjurer's phantasm (4.46). The conjurer does not argue with the spectator; he occupies his attention.
Note that among the four turns is also aham so'yam — “I am this very one”. Not only property is appropriated; a definite place is appropriated for oneself.