Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 38
॥
Devanāgarī
जात इत्यादिना परमात्मा शिव उच्यते । जातमात्रेण कामी कामयते काममित्यादिना पूर्णं व्याचक्षते । तदेव सुनवाम गोत्रारूढं मध्यवर्तिनामृतमध्येनार्णेन मन्त्रार्णान्स्पष्टीकृत्वा
Transliteration (IAST)
jāta ityādinā paramātmā śiva ucyate | jātamātreṇa kāmī kāmayate kāmamityādinā pūrṇaṃ vyācakṣate | tadeva sunavāma gotrārūḍhaṃ madhyavartināmṛtamadhyenārṇena mantrārṇānspaṣṭīkṛtvā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
जातः इति आदिनाjātaḥ iti ādinā«jāta» and the rest
परमात्मा शिवः उच्यतेparamātmā śivaḥ ucyatethe Highest Ātman is called Śiva
जात-मात्रेण कामी कामयते कामम्jāta-mātreṇa kāmī kāmayate kāmambarely born, the desirer desires desire
इत्य्-आदिना पूर्णं व्याचक्षतेity-ādinā pūrṇaṃ vyācakṣateby this and the rest, the full is explained
मध्य-वर्तिना अमृत-मध्येन अर्णेनmadhya-vartinā amṛta-madhyena arṇenaby the middle, immortal-middle sound
Translation
««Jāta» and the rest: the Highest Ātman is called Śiva. Barely born, the desirer desires desire — by this the full is explained. The same «sunavāma», having ascended to the lineage, by the middle, immortal-middle sound — having comprehended the sounds of the mantra…»
Version
60e2592fd44e · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The line contains a turn of phrase worth transcribing: jāta-mātreṇa kāmī kāmayate kāmam, «barely born, the desirer desires desire». Three words of the same root in a row — kāmī, «the desirer», kāmayate, «desires», kāmam, «desire» — form a device called yamaka, and are not mere ornament: they show that before us is one movement, taken from three sides — the agent, the act, and the object. What matters here is something else: barely born, the desirer already desires. Desire, then, is not acquired and not cultivated — it is present from the first minute. Anyone who has seen a newborn will confirm this: it can do nothing yet, but it already knows how to want.
From this observation follows the conclusion on which the path of bhakti rests. Since desire is innate, it cannot be abolished — it can only be given an object. Here lies the difference between the two roads: one bids one stop wanting; the other, to want something else.
Of the Highest, in this same line, it is said that He too, «barely born, desires» (the same was said at 6). Desire, then, is attributed to Him too — and so it is not a fault by nature, but only by direction.