Upanishads · Varāha 1.10
॥
Devanāgarī
त्वक्च रक्तं मांसमेदोमज्जास्थीनि निबोधत । कामक्रोधौ लोभमोहौ मदो मात्सर्यमेव च
Transliteration (IAST)
tvakca raktaṃ māṃsamedomajjāsthīni nibodhata | kāmakrodhau lobhamohau mado mātsaryameva ca
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
त्वक् च रक्तं मांसम्tvak ca raktaṃ māṃsamskin, blood, flesh
मेदः मज्जा अस्थीनि निबोधतmedaḥ majjā asthīni nibodhatafat, marrow, bones — know [these]
काम-क्रोधौ लोभ-मोहौkāma-krodhau lobha-mohaudesire and anger, greed and delusion
मदः मात्सर्यम् एव चmadaḥ mātsaryam eva caintoxication and envy, likewise
Translation
"Skin, blood, flesh, fat, marrow, bones — know [these as the six sheaths]. Desire and anger, greed and delusion, intoxication and envy…"
Version
962a1f036ed3 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The six bodily sheaths are named, and the list of the six enemies begins. Worth noting is that both lists number six and stand side by side: six layers of the body and six vices. This correspondence is, apparently, deliberate: as the body is composed of six, so too is its corruption of six.
Let us list the ari-shad-varga, "the sixfold enemy," for it is central in Indian practice: kama ("desire"), krodha ("anger"), lobha ("greed"), moha ("delusion"), mada ("intoxication, pride"), matsarya ("envy"). Worth examining is the order, for it is no accident and is, in substance, a chain. Desire, unfulfilled, turns to anger; fulfilled, to greed; greed breeds delusion; delusion, pride; pride, envy.
This chain is set out in the Gita in almost the same stages, discussed when reading the Yajnavalkya (20): "from attachment — desire; from desire — anger; from anger — bewilderment" (2.62–63). Let us add what the Vaishnava side says of the sixfold, and what constitutes its distinctive feature. It does not command their destruction; it commands their redirection. Desire — toward Him; anger — at one's own negligence; greed — for hearing; delusion — by Him; pride — that one serves; envy — of those who serve better.
This list appears in its books not as a jest, but as a rule; and its ground is the one already discussed more than once: the qualities of the soul are not destroyed, but rearranged.