Upaniṣads · Varāha 1.10
॥
Devanāgarī
त्वक्च रक्तं मांसमेदोमज्जास्थीनि निबोधत । कामक्रोधौ लोभमोहौ मदो मात्सर्यमेव च
Transliteración (IAST)
tvakca raktaṃ māṃsamedomajjāsthīni nibodhata | kāmakrodhau lobhamohau mado mātsaryameva ca
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
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
Traducción
"Skin, blood, flesh, fat, marrow, bones — know [these as the six sheaths]. Desire and anger, greed and delusion, intoxication and envy…"
Versión
962a1f036ed3 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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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.