Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 28
॥
Devanāgarī
अष्टमे धामनि वाग्भवमागस्त्यं वागर्थकलामयं कामकलाभिधं सकलमायाशक्तिः प्रभाकरी विद्येयम्
Transliteration (IAST)
aṣṭame dhāmani vāgbhavamāgastyaṃ vāgarthakalāmayaṃ kāmakalābhidhaṃ sakalamāyāśaktiḥ prabhākarī vidyeyam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अष्टमे धामनिaṣṭame dhāmaniin the eighth abode
वाग्-भवम् आगस्त्यंvāg-bhavam āgastyaṃAgastya's summit of speech
वाक्-अर्थ-कला-मयंvāk-artha-kalā-mayaṃmade of the portions of word and meaning
सकल-माया-शक्तिःsakala-māyā-śaktiḥthe entire power of māyā
प्रभाकरी विद्या इयम्prabhākarī vidyā iyamthis is the vidyā of Prabhākarī
Translation
«In the eighth abode — Agastya's summit of speech, made of the portions of word and meaning, called the portion of desire; the entire power of māyā — this is the vidyā of Prabhākarī».
Version
0a1af6dc200f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
In this line there is an expression worth pausing over: vāk-artha-kalā-mayam, «made of the portions of word and meaning». Vāk and artha, «word and meaning», form a constant and famous pair in Sanskrit literature: Kālidāsa opens the «Raghuvaṃśa» with a verse everyone knows — «for the sake of comprehending word and meaning I bow to the parents of the world, Pārvatī and Parameśvara, joined as word and meaning» (1.1). This thought is excellent. Word and meaning never occur apart: a word without meaning is noise, meaning without a word cannot be expressed. They cannot be identified, for the word «fire» does not burn, and they cannot be separated, for take away the meaning and there is no word.
Vaishnava theology uses this pair constantly, and not by accident: it is the best likeness of what it affirms. The relation of word and meaning is exactly what the measure «one or two» cannot capture: they are neither one nor two, and yet they have coexisted this way since infancy in every speaker. The word «portion» here too is not superfluous: it says kalā-mayam, «made of portions». Word and meaning are not divided in half but into a multitude of portions, entering into one another; anyone who has searched for the exact word knows that these portions can be divided a long while.