Upanishads · Mahā 5.78
॥
Devanāgarī
पद्मिन्य इव हेमन्ते क्षीयन्ते भोगवासनाः तावन्निशीव वेताला वसन्ति हृदि वासनाः एकतत्त्वदृढाभ्यासाद्यावन्न विजितं मनः
Transliteration (IAST)
padminya iva hemante kṣīyante bhogavāsanāḥ tāvanniśīva vetālā vasanti hṛdi vāsanāḥ ekatattvadṛḍhābhyāsādyāvanna vijitaṃ manaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पद्मिन्यः इव हेमन्तेpadminyaḥ iva hemantelike lotuses in winter; just as the lotus beds in the cold season
क्षीयन्ते भोग-वासनाःkṣīyante bhoga-vāsanāḥthe inclinations to enjoyment perish; the leanings toward pleasures waste away
तावत् निशि इव वेतालाःtāvat niśi iva vetālāḥuntil then, like ghouls in the night; meanwhile, just as vampires in the dark
वसन्ति हृदि वासनाःvasanti hṛdi vāsanāḥthe vāsanās dwell in the heart; the inclinations inhabit the heart
एक-तत्त्व-दृढ-अभ्यासात्eka-tattva-dṛḍha-abhyāsātfrom firm practice upon the one truth; from steadfast application to the single reality
यावत् न विजितम् मनःyāvat na vijitam manaḥso long as the mind is unconquered; while consciousness remains unsubdued
Translation
“…the inclinations to enjoyment perish like lotuses in winter. But so long as the mind is not conquered by firm practice upon the one truth, the vāsanās dwell in the heart like ghouls in the night.”
Version
5ddceb02cdd4 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Two images, and they are opposite in feeling.
The first is peaceful: lotuses in winter. They are neither cut nor burnt; they perish of themselves, because another season has come.
The second is eerie: the vetāla — a ghoul, a risen corpse that in the legends lodges in dead bodies and roams by night.
The vāsanās are called ghouls, and the image is exact in two features. They are not alive — and yet they move. And they operate in the dark.
Note the condition under which the winter comes: eka-tattva-dṛḍha-abhyāsa — “firm practice upon the one truth”.
Not a war with the vāsanās, but concentration on one thing. Then the cold sets in for them.
The whole verse, then, poses a choice: either you hold to the one — and they wither, or it is night — and they walk.