Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 4
॥
Devanāgarī
शताक्षरी परमा विद्या त्रयीमयी साष्टार्णा त्रिपुरा परमेश्वरी । आद्यानि चत्वारि पदानि परब्रह्मविकासीनि । द्वितीयानि शक्त्याख्यानि । तृतीयानि शैवानि
Transliteration (IAST)
śatākṣarī paramā vidyā trayīmayī sāṣṭārṇā tripurā parameśvarī | ādyāni catvāri padāni parabrahmavikāsīni | dvitīyāni śaktyākhyāni | tṛtīyāni śaivāni
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
शत-अक्षरी परमा विद्याśata-akṣarī paramā vidyāthe hundred-syllabled highest science
त्रयी-मयी सा अष्ट-अर्णाtrayī-mayī sā aṣṭa-arṇāmade of three, eight-sounded
आद्यानि चत्वारि पदानिādyāni catvāri padānithe first four words
पर-ब्रह्म-विकासीनिpara-brahma-vikāsīnidisclosing the highest Brahman
द्वितीयानि शक्ति-आख्यानि तृतीयानि शैवानिdvitīyāni śakti-ākhyāni tṛtīyāni śaivānithe second called power, the third Śiva's
Translation
«The hundred-syllabled highest science, made of three [Vedas], eight-sounded — Tripurā, the Highest Mistress. The first four words disclose the highest Brahman, the second are called power, the third Śiva's».
Version
72512d3ba281 · published Aug 7, 2026, 5:19:24 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Three mantras are compounded and counted: the result is śatākṣarī, «hundred-syllabled». Counting syllables is a chief device of tantric literature: mantras are compounded, syllables are counted, and by the number a name is given — hundred-syllabled, eight-sounded, fifteen-syllabled. The number here serves as a certification: it shows that the composition is not arbitrary and that nothing has been added or removed.
The division too is declared: trayī-mayī, «made of three». Three mantras are taken from three domains — the gāyatrī from Savitṛ, the durgā-sūkta from Agni, the mṛtyuñjaya from Rudra — and distributed among three: the first words are Brahmā's, the second Power's, the third Śiva's. This triad is not theology but a mapping: it states which part of the mantra belongs to what, the way a diagram is marked out.
The number one hundred in Vedic speech usually means fullness, not an exact count. «Hundred-syllabled» means roughly «complete», as «thousand-headed» in the Puruṣa-sūkta means «boundless».