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Upanishads · Bahvṛcā 3
॥
Devanāgarī
सैषा परा शक्तिः । सैषा शांभवीविद्या कादिविद्येति वा हादिविद्येति वा सादिविद्येति वा । रहस्यमोमों वाचि प्रतिष्ठा
Transliteration (IAST)
saiṣā parā śaktiḥ | saiṣā śāṃbhavīvidyā kādividyeti vā hādividyeti vā sādividyeti vā | rahasyamomoṃ vāci pratiṣṭhā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सा एषा परा शक्तिःsā eṣā parā śaktiḥshe is the highest power
सा एषा शाम्भवी विद्याsā eṣā śāmbhavī vidyāshe is the knowledge of Śambhu
कादि-विद्या इति वाkādi-vidyā iti vāor the knowledge beginning with “ka”
हादि-विद्या इति वाhādi-vidyā iti vāor beginning with “ha”
सादि-विद्या इति वाsādi-vidyā iti vāor beginning with “sa”
रहस्यम् ओं ओंrahasyam oṃ oṃthe secret: om, om
वाचि प्रतिष्ठाvāci pratiṣṭhāestablishment in speech
Translation
«She is the highest power; she is the knowledge of Śambhu — or the knowledge beginning with “ka,” or beginning with “ha,” or beginning with “sa.” The secret: om, om. In speech — [her] establishment».
Version
8971a83d58c2 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Three variants of the śrī-vidyā, the chief mantra of this school, are named: kādi, hādi and sādi — “beginning with ka, with ha, with sa.” These are three readings of the fifteen-syllable mantra, differing in their first syllable; and the schools that held them disputed among themselves. This is a matter of usage and need not be unpacked here; note only that the book lists all three as equal — that is, it is a later, conciliatory text.
Add the last words too: vāci pratiṣṭhā, “establishment in speech.” That is, the highest power is established in speech; and this, in a book belonging to the Ṛgveda and called “Bahvṛcā,” “rich in ṛcs,” fits well. The Vaiṣṇava side accepts this position and holds it as its own; that a name is that by which its object is accessible was discussed reading Hayagrīva (2.p4).
Add the word rahasya, “secret,” standing here too. We discussed it reading Jābāli (3) and said that one must distinguish what is predicated and what is transmitted with it: the former is the content, the latter what travels alongside it. Add too that here the secret named is om om, repeated twice.
That is, the secret turns out to be not hidden information but a sound everyone knows; and this, to my mind, is more honest than any concealment: the hidden thing is not what goes unsaid but what goes unheard.