स सर्वसंपत्तिभूतं प्रथमं निवृत्तिकारणं द्वितीयं स्थितिकारणं तृतीयं सर्गकारणमित्यनेन करशुद्धिं कृत्वा त्रिपुराविद्यां स्पष्टीकृत्वा जातवेदसे सुनवाम सोममित्यादि पठित्वा महाविद्येश्वरी विद्यामाचक्षते त्रिपुरेश्वरीं जातवेदस इति
sa sarvasaṃpattibhūtaṃ prathamaṃ nivṛttikāraṇaṃ dvitīyaṃ sthitikāraṇaṃ tṛtīyaṃ sargakāraṇamityanena karaśuddhiṃ kṛtvā tripurāvidyāṃ spaṣṭīkṛtvā jātavedase sunavāma somamityādi paṭhitvā mahāvidyeśvarī vidyāmācakṣate tripureśvarīṃ jātavedasa iti
«The first — the cause of cessation, the second — the cause of maintenance, the third — the cause of creation; having performed purification of the hands by this, and having comprehended the vidyā of Tripurā, having recited «To Jātavedas let us pour soma» and the rest — they call the vidyā of the great Mistress of sciences, Tripureśvarī».
bd70ae139abe · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Three causes are named, and their order is the reverse of the usual: first nivṛtti, «cessation», then sthiti, «maintenance», and only then sarga, «creation». Usually the count runs the other way — creation, maintenance, dissolution; but here it goes from end to beginning, in keeping with what was said a line above about reading vilomena, «in reverse order». Counting backward has meaning in tantra: it denotes a return. Creation unfolds from the subtle to the coarse; the return goes the other way, and hence it is counted from the end.
The second thing worth noting is kara-śuddhi, «purification of the hands». This is the rite with which every tantric act begins: the fingers are touched with syllables so that the hands become fit for the work. This custom deserves a kind word even apart from any ritual. To begin a task by putting one's hands in order is simply humanly reasonable: a person has one body, and it is involved in everything, and one who sits down to important work unwashed and unready usually does it carelessly.