Upanishads · Bhāvanā p10
॥
Devanāgarī
कामक्रोधलोभमोहमदमात्सर्यपुण्यपापमया ब्राह्म्याद्यष्टशक्तयः
Transliteration (IAST)
kāmakrodhalobhamohamadamātsaryapuṇyapāpamayā brāhmyādyaṣṭaśaktayaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
काम-क्रोध-लोभ-मोह-kāma-krodha-lobha-moha-desire, anger, greed, delusion
मद-मात्सर्य-पुण्य-पाप-मयाःmada-mātsarya-puṇya-pāpa-mayāḥarrogance, envy, merit, and sin
ब्राह्मी-आदि-अष्ट-शक्तयःbrāhmī-ādi-aṣṭa-śaktayaḥare Brāhmī and the other eight powers
Translation
Desire, anger, greed, delusion, arrogance, envy, merit, and sin are Brāhmī and the other eight powers.
Version
f7d2824a069f · published Aug 6, 2026, 6:48:41 PM UTC
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A bold equation is set: the eight mātṛkā, "mother-goddesses," are equated to eight states of a person, and six of the eight are bad. The list is: desire, anger, greed, delusion, arrogance, envy — the famous ṣaḍ-ripu, "six enemies," of which all these books speak; and to them are added puṇya and pāpa, "merit and sin." This addition is notable. Merit is placed in the same row as the vices; and this is not carelessness but a position these books state directly: both sin and merit equally hold a person in the cycle, only the first pulls down and the second up, but neither lets go. The Muṇḍaka says of sacrifices: "these boats are unsteady" (1.2.7).
Now to what cannot be agreed with. To equate anger and envy to goddesses is to say that the bad in a person is them; and then there is nothing to struggle against, for there is nothing there to struggle against. The Vaiṣṇava side reads this passage differently and draws here a distinction that is necessary to draw. Anger and greed are indeed powers, and His powers; but a power turned the wrong way is not a deity but corruption. The Gītā says of desire and anger that they are "born of passion, insatiable, and are great evil; know it here as the enemy" (3.37) — and the word vairin, "enemy," is said directly. One can struggle with an enemy; one cannot with a goddess.