Upanishads · Varāha 2.82
॥
Devanāgarī
पुङ्खानुपुङ्खविषयेक्षणतत्परोऽपि ब्रह्मावलोकनधियं न जहाति योगी । सङ्गीतताललयवाद्यवशं गतापि मौलिस्थकुम्भपरिरक्षणधीर्नटीव
Transliteration (IAST)
puṅkhānupuṅkhaviṣayekṣaṇatatparo'pi brahmāvalokanadhiyaṃ na jahāti yogī | saṅgītatālalayavādyavaśaṃ gatāpi maulisthakumbhaparirakṣaṇadhīrnaṭīva
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पुङ्ख-अनुपुङ्ख-विषय-ईक्षण-तत्-परः अपिpuṅkha-anupuṅkha-viṣaya-īkṣaṇa-tat-paraḥ apithough engaged in looking at object after object in succession
ब्रह्म-अवलोकन-धियं न जहाति योगीbrahma-avalokana-dhiyaṃ na jahāti yogīthe yogi does not abandon the thought of beholding brahman
सङ्गीत-ताल-लय-वाद्य-वशं गता अपिsaṅgīta-tāla-laya-vādya-vaśaṃ gatā apithough carried away by song, rhythm, and melody
मौलि-स्थ-कुम्भ-परिरक्षण-धीः नटी इवmauli-stha-kumbha-parirakṣaṇa-dhīḥ naṭī ivaa dancing girl remembers to guard the pot on her head
Translation
"Though engaged in looking at object after object in succession, the yogi does not abandon the thought of beholding brahman — as a dancing girl, carried away by singing, rhythm, tempo, and music, remembers to guard the pot on her head."
Version
698a498d4fbb · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is an excellent comparison, and it deserves examination, for it is, in my view, the finest in the whole book. A dancing girl dances with a pot on her head; she is carried away by the music, performs her dance, follows the rhythm — and all the while never for an instant forgets the pot. Forget it, and the pot falls; and hence this remembrance for her is not a separate thought, but something running beneath everything else.
Worth appraising is how precise the comparison is. It describes not concentration, in which one withdraws from everything, but double attention, in which one does one's own work while holding the main thing. And it answers an objection everyone raises: how is one to live, if one must remember constantly?
The answer: as the dancing girl dances. The Vaishnava side holds this comparison as its own and cites it constantly; and it explains its chief rule, discussed when reading the Jabala-darshana (7.4): to do everything for Him. Let us add what is implicit in the comparison, and spoken of less often.
The dancing girl holds the pot not by effort: she is accustomed, and this habit was gained by practice. The first time she walked slowly and did not dance. That is, double attention is a skill, not a gift; and anyone who has learned a craft knows that at first it occupies everything, and afterward frees the mind.