Upanishads · Mahā 5.175
॥
Devanāgarī
उच्चैःपदाय परया प्रज्ञया वासनागणात् पुष्पाद्गन्धमपोह्यारं चेतोवृत्तिं पृथक्कुरु
Transliteration (IAST)
uccaiḥpadāya parayā prajñayā vāsanāgaṇāt puṣpādgandhamapohyāraṃ cetovṛttiṃ pṛthakkuru
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
उच्चैः-पदाय परयाuccaiḥ-padāya parayāfor the lofty state, with the supreme; for the sake of the high station, with the highest
प्रज्ञया वासना-गणात्prajñayā vāsanā-gaṇātinsight, from the throng of vāsanās; understanding, out of the host of inclinations
पुष्पात् गन्धम् अपोह्य आरम्puṣpāt gandham apohya āramas scent from a flower, swiftly drawing it off; like fragrance from a blossom, quickly detaching it
चेतः-वृत्तिम् पृथक् कुरुcetaḥ-vṛttim pṛthak kuruset the mind's movement apart; sunder the stirring of consciousness
Translation
“For the lofty state, with supreme insight set the mind's movement apart from the throng of vāsanās — as one draws the scent off a flower.”
Version
a2212df0cb85 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A strange image, and therefore memorable: to separate the scent from the flower.
That is the measure of the task's difficulty. The scent does not lie upon the flower; it is the flower, insofar as it is fragrant.
So too cetaḥ-vṛtti — “the mind's movement” — does not lie atop the vāsanās; it is them.
And yet the order is to separate.
Note the word āram — “swiftly, quickly”. The work is called not long but quick.
This agrees with what was said of the interval between two thoughts (5.5, 5.49): there the mind's movement is separated from its content of itself, and separated in an instant.
Vṛtti is Patañjali's word: the fluctuation of mind that is to cease.