Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 8
॥
Devanāgarī
सवितुर्वरेण्यमिति षूङ् प्राणिप्रसवे सविता प्राणिनः सूते प्रसूते शक्तिम् । सूते त्रिपुरा शक्तिराद्येयं त्रिपुरा परमेश्वरी महाकुण्डलिनी देवी । जातवेदसमण्डलं योऽधीते सर्वं व्याप्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
saviturvareṇyamiti ṣūṅ prāṇiprasave savitā prāṇinaḥ sūte prasūte śaktim | sūte tripurā śaktirādyeyaṃ tripurā parameśvarī mahākuṇḍalinī devī | jātavedasamaṇḍalaṃ yo'dhīte sarvaṃ vyāpyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सवितुः वरेण्यम् इतिsavituḥ vareṇyam iti«Savitṛ's desired» — thus
षूङ् प्राणि-प्रसवेṣūṅ prāṇi-prasavethe root «sū» — in the begetting of the living
सविता प्राणिनः सूतेsavitā prāṇinaḥ sūteSavitṛ begets the living
सूते त्रिपुरा शक्तिःsūte tripurā śaktiḥbegets Tripurā-Śakti
महा-कुण्डलिनी देवीmahā-kuṇḍalinī devīthe great Kuṇḍalinī Devī
Translation
««Savitṛ's desired»: the root «su» — in the begetting of the living; Savitṛ begets the living, begets power. She begets — Tripurā, the primeval Śakti, Tripurā, the Highest Mistress, the great Kuṇḍalinī Devī».
Version
97516c0d242b · published Aug 7, 2026, 5:19:24 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The parsing begins with genuine philology: sūṅ prāṇi-prasave, «the root su — in the begetting of the living». This is a reference to the dhātu-pāṭha, «the list of roots» of Pāṇini, where every root is named together with its meaning, and there su is indeed defined through prasava, begetting. This was discussed when reading the Sūrya-upaniṣad (10): Savitṛ means «impeller, the one who brings about birth», not «the shining one».
The support here is grammar, not assonance, and this does the book credit. An argument from a root is verifiable by dictionary and does not depend on the interpreter — it can be used in a dispute, while assonance cannot. The conclusion drawn is this: since Savitṛ begets, the begetting principle is Śakti, and so the book sees the Goddess in the word «Savitṛ». Half of this is correct: the begetting power truly is śakti, and the feminine gender of the word is not accidental.
The disagreement lies elsewhere. Power never belongs to no one — it has śaktimān, «one who possesses power», as discussed when reading Sāvitrī (2). The gāyatrī itself asks: «he may impel our thoughts», and the pronoun there is masculine; this is not a trifle, but exactly what the whole dispute turns on.