Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 25
॥
Devanāgarī
तदूर्ध्वं कामकलामयम् । शक्त्यूर्ध्वं शक्तिमिति मानवी विद्या । चतुर्थे धामनि शिवशक्त्याख्यमन्यत्तृतीयं चेयं चान्द्री विद्या । पञ्चमे धामनि ध्येयेयं चान्द्री कामाधः शिवाद्यकामा
Transliteration (IAST)
tadūrdhvaṃ kāmakalāmayam | śaktyūrdhvaṃ śaktimiti mānavī vidyā | caturthe dhāmani śivaśaktyākhyamanyattṛtīyaṃ ceyaṃ cāndrī vidyā | pañcame dhāmani dhyeyeyaṃ cāndrī kāmādhaḥ śivādyakāmā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मदन-अधः शिवं वाग्-भवम्madana-adhaḥ śivaṃ vāg-bhavambeneath Madana — Śiva, the summit of speech
तत्-ऊर्ध्वं काम-कला-मयम्tat-ūrdhvaṃ kāma-kalā-mayamabove it — made of the portion of desire
शक्ति-ऊर्ध्वं शक्तिम् इति मानवी विद्याśakti-ūrdhvaṃ śaktim iti mānavī vidyāabove power — power: this is the manavī vidyā
चतुर्थे धामनिcaturthe dhāmaniin the fourth abode
शिव-शक्ति-आख्यम्śiva-śakti-ākhyamcalled Śiva and Śakti
Translation
«Beneath Madana — Śiva, the summit of speech; above it — made of the portion of desire; above power — power: this is the manavī vidyā. In the fourth abode — called Śiva and Śakti, another, a third; and this is the cāndrī vidyā…»
Version
c719966ded1e · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The distribution continues, and it is worth saying what all these «above» and «below» mean. The mantra is written in a column, its syllables arranged one above another, and when one says «beneath Madana — Śiva», this means the order in writing, not in the world. This matters for reading. One who takes «above» and «below» as a hierarchy will read out of this a teaching that Śakti is higher than Śiva or the reverse; but what is said is only the order in which the syllables are written. This mistake is common in reading tantric books, and it is worth naming: there has been much dispute about who is higher — Śiva or Śakti — resting on lines that state only that one syllable stands above another on the page.
Hence the rule the Vaishnava reading holds to: do not build theology on a diagram. A diagram is a diagram; a teaching is set forth in sentences, not by the arrangement of marks. And where this book sets forth things in sentences, it speaks of yoga, «union» (5, 17, 18), and never speaks of precedence at all.