Upaniṣads · Mahā 3.22
॥
Devanāgarī
यां यामहं मुनिश्रेष्ठ संश्रयामि गुणश्रियम् तां तां कृन्तति मे तृष्णा तन्त्रीमिव कुमूषिका
Transliteración (IAST)
yāṃ yāmahaṃ muniśreṣṭha saṃśrayāmi guṇaśriyam tāṃ tāṃ kṛntati me tṛṣṇā tantrīmiva kumūṣikā
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
याम् याम् अहम् मुनि-श्रेष्ठyām yām aham muni-śreṣṭhawhatever, O best of sages; whatsoever, O first among the silent
संश्रयामि गुण-श्रियम्saṃśrayāmi guṇa-śriyamwealth of virtues I acquire; estate of excellences I have taken up
ताम् ताम् कृन्तति मे तृष्णाtām tām kṛntati me tṛṣṇāeach of them my craving gnaws through; every such my thirst severs
तन्त्रीम् इव कुमूषिकाtantrīm iva kumūṣikāas a wicked mouse a string; just as a vile mouse a bowstring
Traducción
“Whatever wealth of virtues I acquire, O best of sages, my craving gnaws through every one — as a wicked mouse gnaws a string.”
Versión
2641a594c8c9 · publicado 29 jul 2026, 6:29:20 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The image is homely and therefore convincing: the mouse and the string.
The mouse does not eat the string — it has no need of it. It gnaws through it in passing, because it gnaws everything in its way. And the instrument falls silent.
So too with craving: it does not assault the virtues on purpose. It simply saws through everything a man has built in himself — patience, restraint, evenness — because it cannot do otherwise.
Note the word guṇa-śrī — “wealth of virtues”. Nidāgha does not deny that it accumulates in him. He says it does not hold.
Herein lies the trouble worth pondering for everyone who labours on himself: efforts are not lost through one great fall. They are worn away by the small, unceasing work of greed.