Upanishads · Bhāvanā p23
॥
Devanāgarī
वश्यो वाणो रागः पाशः । द्वेषोऽङ्कुशः
Transliteration (IAST)
vaśyo vāṇo rāgaḥ pāśaḥ | dveṣo'ṅkuśaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
वश्यः वाणःvaśyaḥ vāṇaḥsubmission — the arrow
रागः पाशःrāgaḥ pāśaḥpassion — the noose
द्वेषः अङ्कुशःdveṣaḥ aṅkuśaḥaversion — the goad
Translation
Submission — the arrow; passion — the noose; aversion — the goad.
Version
0f74231a89e0 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Three instruments are distributed to three states, and the distribution is witty: rāga, "passion, attraction," is called a noose, and dveṣa, "aversion," a goad. The image is precise both ways. A noose pulls things toward oneself — so attraction: it draws in, coils around, and the more one struggles, the tighter it gets. A goad drives away and aside — so aversion: it does not attract but drives, and a person driven by aversion moves not where he wants but where he is prodded.
Hence in these books attraction and aversion are always named together and counted one misfortune in two forms. It is usually supposed that the misfortune lies in attraction alone, and that aversion to what is bad is praiseworthy; but it is said that both are instruments by which a person is led. The Gītā states this in its very definition: "in the object of every sense lie attraction and aversion; let a person not fall under their power, for they are his ambush" (3.34). The word paripanthin means "one standing on the road, a robber"; and both are placed together in ambush.
It is worth noting also the first of the three: vaśya, "submissiveness, being subject," is called the arrow. That is, what one is taken by is not force, but readiness to be taken; the arrow lands because there is somewhere for it to land.