Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 2
॥
Devanāgarī
सैवेयं भगवती त्रिपुरेति व्यापठ्यते । तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि । धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् परो रजसे सावदोम् । जातवेदसे सुनवाम सोममरातीयतो निदहाति वेद
Transliteration (IAST)
saiveyaṃ bhagavatī tripureti vyāpaṭhyate | tatsaviturvareṇyaṃ bhargo devasya dhīmahi | dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt paro rajase sāvadom | jātavedase sunavāma somamarātīyato nidahāti veda
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सा एव इयं भगवती त्रिपुराsā eva iyaṃ bhagavatī tripurāshe indeed is this Goddess Tripurā
तत् सवितुः वरेण्यंtat savituḥ vareṇyaṃof that Savitṛ, the desired
भर्गः देवस्य धीमहिbhargaḥ devasya dhīmahiradiance of the god, let us contemplate
धियः यः नः प्रचोदयात्dhiyaḥ yaḥ naḥ pracodayātwho our thoughts may impel
Translation
«She indeed is this Goddess called Tripurā. — «Of that Savitṛ's desired radiance of the god let us contemplate; who may impel our thoughts; beyond passion — savadom». — «To Jātavedas let us pour soma: he shall burn the hostile…»
Version
214fbeb08ddb · published Aug 7, 2026, 5:19:24 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Three mantras are cited, and the whole book will rest on them. The first is the gāyatrī (Ṛgveda 3.62.10), discussed when reading the Sūrya-upaniṣad (10). The second is jātavedase sunavāma somam (Ṛgveda 1.99.1), a mantra to Agni called the durgā-sūkta. The third is tryambakaṃ yajāmahe (Ṛgveda 7.59.12), the famous mṛtyuñjaya, «victorious over death».
The choice is not accidental. All three are among the most commonly used mantras of the Vedas, all three are known by heart to anyone with even a little schooling; and the book takes exactly these in order to read its own meaning into them. The device is named by its own word vyāpathyate, «is read as, is interpreted»: not «is», but «is read as» — and this word will recur.
Reading known verses in a new way is forbidden to no one: Rāmānuja and Madhva did this openly and at length. Such a reading is legitimate as long as it adds meaning, and illegitimate when it cancels the former one; this rule was discussed when reading the Adhyātma-upaniṣad (2.60). The gāyatrī, read as a mantra of the Goddess, remains a prayer that one's thoughts go rightly — and the book never denies this.