Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 18
॥
Devanāgarī
तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं भर्गो देवः क्षीरं सेचनीयमक्षरं समधुघ्नमक्षरं परमात्मजीवात्मनोर्योगात्तदिति स्पष्टमक्षरं तृतीयं ह इति तदेव सदाशिव एव निष्कल्मष आद्यो देवोऽन्त्यमक्षरं व्याक्रियते
Transliteration (IAST)
tatsaviturvareṇyaṃ bhargo devaḥ kṣīraṃ secanīyamakṣaraṃ samadhughnamakṣaraṃ paramātmajīvātmanoryogāttaditi spaṣṭamakṣaraṃ tṛtīyaṃ ha iti tadeva sadāśiva eva niṣkalmaṣa ādyo devo'ntyamakṣaraṃ vyākriyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
क्षीरं सेचनीयम् अ-क्षरंkṣīraṃ secanīyam a-kṣaraṃmilk, poured out, imperishable
परमात्म-जीवात्मनोः योगात्paramātma-jīvātmanoḥ yogātfrom the union of the Highest Ātman and the jīva
तत् इति स्पष्टम् अ-क्षरंtat iti spaṣṭam a-kṣaraṃ«tat» — plainly a syllable
तृतीयं ह इतिtṛtīyaṃ ha itithe third — «ha»
आद्यः देवः अन्त्यम् अ-क्षरंādyaḥ devaḥ antyam a-kṣaraṃthe primeval god — the last syllable
Translation
«Milk, poured out, imperishable… from the union of the Highest Ātman and the jīva, «tat» is plainly a syllable; the third is «ha»; that is Sadāśiva, faultless, the primeval god — and he is explained as the last syllable».
Version
150bd54fddcd · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is a line worth parsing the obscure passages for: paramātma-jīvātmanoḥ yogāt, «from the union of the Highest Ātman and the jīva». The syllable arises from the union of two — the Highest and the soul: not from the fact that the soul is the Highest, not from the fact that it has dissolved into Him, but from their yoga, conjunction. This is already the fourth time in the book that the foundation is called a union, and every time it is a union of different things: Śiva and Śakti (5), sun and moon (17), the Highest and the jīva here.
The argument against advaita is given here by the book itself, and there is nothing to add. The word yoga cannot be applied to one thing alone; two things unite, and after uniting they remain two — otherwise there is no union but disappearance, and the word would be different. The line, moreover, opens with the word kṣīra, «milk». In Vaishnava literature milk is a constant image of what is given freely and in abundance: the cow does not give milk for herself. That the analysis of the highest syllable begins with the word «milk», and not «fire» and not «light», says more about the character of this book than its negations do.