Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 10
॥
Devanāgarī
धकारो धारणा । धियैव धार्यते भगवान्परमेश्वरः । भर्गो देवो मध्यवर्ति तुरीयमक्षरं साक्षात्तुरीयं सर्वं सर्वान्तर्भूतम् । तुरीयाक्षरमीकारं पदानां मध्यवर्तीत्येवं व्याख्यातं भर्गोरूपं व्याचक्षते
Transliteration (IAST)
dhakāro dhāraṇā | dhiyaiva dhāryate bhagavānparameśvaraḥ | bhargo devo madhyavarti turīyamakṣaraṃ sākṣātturīyaṃ sarvaṃ sarvāntarbhūtam | turīyākṣaramīkāraṃ padānāṃ madhyavartītyevaṃ vyākhyātaṃ bhargorūpaṃ vyācakṣate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ध-कारः धारणाdha-kāraḥ dhāraṇāthe sound «dha» — retention
धिया एव धार्यतेdhiyā eva dhāryateby understanding is he retained
भगवान् परम-ईश्वरःbhagavān parama-īśvaraḥthe Lord, the Highest Sovereign
भर्गः देवः मध्य-वर्तीbhargaḥ devaḥ madhya-vartī«the radiance of the god» — the middle one
तुरीयम् अ-क्षरं साक्षात्turīyam a-kṣaraṃ sākṣātthe Fourth, the syllable, directly
Translation
«The sound «dha» — retention: by understanding is the Lord, the Highest Sovereign, retained. «The radiance of the god» — the middle one, the Fourth, the syllable, directly the Fourth, all, contained in all…»
Version
f1410b479854 · published Aug 7, 2026, 5:19:24 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The parsing has reached the word dhīmahi, «may we contemplate», and it is explained through dhāraṇā, «retention». The linguistic explanation is correct: dhī and dhāraṇā are from the same root dhṛ, «to hold», and dhī, «thought», is, then, that by which one holds. The conclusion drawn from this is excellent: dhiyā eva dhāryate bhagavān, «by understanding is the Lord retained». Thought here is not an instrument of examination, but an instrument of holding, and what is held by it is Him.
This overturns the usual notion. It is usually supposed that thought catches its object, as a net catches fish; but it is said that it holds — as a hand holds what has been given to it. One holds, after all, not what one has caught, but what one has been entrusted with; and remembrance in bhakti is described, for this very reason, not as an effort of capture but as a reluctance to let go.
Dhāraṇā is, moreover, the sixth limb of eight-limbed yoga — the one that comes before contemplation: first retain, then contemplate.