Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 3
॥
Devanāgarī
स नः पर्षदति दुर्गाणि विश्वा नावेव सिन्धुं दुरितात्यग्निः । त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे सुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनम् । उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान्मृत्योर्मुक्षीय मामृतात्
Transliteration (IAST)
sa naḥ parṣadati durgāṇi viśvā nāveva sindhuṃ duritātyagniḥ | tryambakaṃ yajāmahe sugandhiṃ puṣṭivardhanam | urvārukamiva bandhanānmṛtyormukṣīya māmṛtāt
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सः नः पर्षत्saḥ naḥ parṣatmay he carry us across
अति दुर्गाणि विश्वाati durgāṇi viśvāthrough all difficulties
नावा इव सिन्धुंnāvā iva sindhuṃas by boat across the sea
त्र्यम्बकं यजामहेtryambakaṃ yajāmahethe three-eyed we worship
उर्वारुकम् इव बन्धनात्urvārukam iva bandhanātas a cucumber from its stalk
मृत्योः मुक्षीय मा अ-मृतात्mṛtyoḥ mukṣīya mā a-mṛtātfrom death may I be released, not from immortality
Translation
«May he carry us across all difficulties, as by boat across the sea — Agni, [who is] beyond calamities. — «The three-eyed we worship, fragrant, increasing strength: as a cucumber from its stalk — may I be released from death, but not from immortality».
Version
bfd836466d1c · published Aug 7, 2026, 5:19:24 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Two mantras are cited in full, and both are still in daily use today. In the first, the durgā-sūkta, Agni is asked to carry across, nāvā iva sindhum, «as by boat across the sea»; the image of the crossing was discussed when reading Paśupata (1.19), and here again it presupposes two parties and two banks. The second is the mṛtyuñjaya, and it contains an image than which nothing better has been said of death anywhere: urvārukam iva bandhanāt, «as a cucumber from its stalk». A ripe cucumber detaches itself — it is not plucked, it falls off because it has ripened, and this detachment is not violence but completion. So too one asks for detachment from death: not «save by force», but let me ripen enough to fall off on my own.
And what is added makes the mantra flawless: mā amṛtāt, «but not from immortality». To fall off — yes; to perish — no; release is asked from death and not from life. This qualification answers at once the question that stands over this whole literature: what is asked of the limit — disappearance, or life.