उपनिषद् · Yājñavalkya 12
॥
देवनागरी
जन्मपल्वलमत्स्यानां चित्तकर्दमचारिणाम् । पुंसां दुर्वासनारज्जुर्नारीबडिशपिण्डिका
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
janmapalvalamatsyānāṃ cittakardamacāriṇām | puṃsāṃ durvāsanārajjurnārībaḍiśapiṇḍikā
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
जन्म-पल्वल-मत्स्यानांjanma-palvala-matsyānāṃfor the fish in the pond of birth
चित्त-कर्दम-चारिणाम्citta-kardama-cāriṇāmwandering through the mud of consciousness
पुंसां दुर्वासना-रज्जुःpuṃsāṃ durvāsanā-rajjuḥfor men, the rope of bad habit
नारी-बडिश-पिण्डिकाnārī-baḍiśa-piṇḍikāwoman is the lump of bait on the hook
अनुवाद
For the fish in the pond of birth, wandering through the mud of consciousness — for men, the rope of bad habit — woman is the lump of bait on the hook.
संस्करण
78ecdd266596 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The image of fishing, and it is worth noting its construction, for it is unexpectedly precise. Three things are named: fish — men; the rope of bad habit — durvāsanā-rajju; bait — woman. That is, the fishing line is named the caught one's own bad habit.
The word vāsanā means "trace, imprint, habit," from vas, "to dwell, to be steeped in"; and in these books it denotes what remains in a person from former deeds and pulls him to repeat them. With this construction of the image, the blame again turns out not to lie with the bait: the fish is pulled by its own line. But it is worth noting that the speaker himself does not draw this conclusion and continues to blame the bait.
Let us add what the Vaiṣṇava side says of vāsanās, for this is her chief concept in describing hindrances. She calls them anartha, "the unneeded," and counts four kinds: remnants of former deeds, remnants of former desires, offenses, and weaknesses. And she says they are removed not by struggle but in the course of service: anartha-nivṛtti stands, for her, as the third step, after faith and community, and comes of itself (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.4.15).
The reason given is this: a habit is displaced by another habit, not by prohibition. Hence her whole work consists in starting something new — listening, singing, serving; and the old falls away as it is left no time.