Upanishads · Kṛṣṇa 1.14
॥
Devanāgarī
द्वेषश्चाणूरमल्लोऽयं मत्सरो मुष्टिको जयः । दर्पः कुवलयापीडो गर्वो रक्षः खगो बकः
Transliteration (IAST)
dveṣaścāṇūramallo'yaṃ matsaro muṣṭiko jayaḥ | darpaḥ kuvalayāpīḍo garvo rakṣaḥ khago bakaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
द्वेषः चाणूर-मल्लः अयंdveṣaḥ cāṇūra-mallaḥ ayaṃhatred — this wrestler Cāṇūra
मत्सरः मुष्टिकः जयःmatsaraḥ muṣṭikaḥ jayaḥenvy — Muṣṭika, victory
दर्पः कुवलय-आपीडःdarpaḥ kuvalaya-āpīḍaḥpride — the elephant Kuvalayāpīḍa
गर्वः रक्षः खगः बकःgarvaḥ rakṣaḥ khagaḥ bakaḥarrogance — the rākṣasa, the bird Baka
Translation
"Hatred is this wrestler Cāṇūra, envy is Muṣṭika, pride is the elephant Kuvalayāpīḍa, arrogance is the rākṣasa, the bird Baka."
Version
ddbce3b975a7 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A mapping of demons, and it is, to my mind, the most useful passage in the book. Everyone Kṛṣṇa kills is named a vice: Cāṇūra is hatred, Muṣṭika is envy, Kuvalayāpīḍa is pride, Baka is arrogance. It is worth examining why such a reading is useful, and saying at the same time what it does not do.
It is useful in that it turns the story upon oneself. One who reads of the battle with the wrestlers stops being a spectator and becomes the battlefield. What it does not do is what is often attributed to it: it does not turn the story into an allegory and does not cancel the wrestlers; and this was discussed when reading the third verse.
Let us add what is worth noting in the very selection of vices. All four — dveṣa ("hatred"), matsara ("envy"), darpa ("pride"), garva ("arrogance") — are vices of relation to others, not to things. There is no greed, no lust, no laziness here.
This selection is no accident and corresponds to what the Vaiṣṇava side counts most dangerous. Her list of offenses against the Name, nāma-aparādha, begins with sādhu-nindā, "reviling devotees"; and the very first of ten is precisely a vice of relation to people, not to things. The reason given is this: vices in relation to things harm the person himself and pass with age; vices in relation to people harm others and strengthen with age.