Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 46
॥
Devanāgarī
देवा ह वै भगवन्तमब्रुवन्महाचक्रनायकं नो ब्रूहीति सार्वकामिकं सर्वाराध्यं सर्वरूपं विश्वतोमुखं मोक्षद्वारं यद्योगिन उपविश्य परं ब्रह्म भित्त्वा निर्वाणमुपविशन्ति
Transliteration (IAST)
devā ha vai bhagavantamabruvanmahācakranāyakaṃ no brūhīti sārvakāmikaṃ sarvārādhyaṃ sarvarūpaṃ viśvatomukhaṃ mokṣadvāraṃ yadyogina upaviśya paraṃ brahma bhittvā nirvāṇamupaviśanti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
देवाः ह वै भगवन्तम् अब्रुवन्devāḥ ha vai bhagavantam abruvanthe gods said to the Lord
महा-चक्र-नायकं नः ब्रूहिmahā-cakra-nāyakaṃ naḥ brūhitell us of the lord of the great cakra
सर्व-कामिकं सर्व-आराध्यंsarva-kāmikaṃ sarva-ārādhyaṃall-desired, worshipped by all
विश्वतः-मुखं मोक्ष-द्वारंviśvataḥ-mukhaṃ mokṣa-dvāraṃturned toward all sides, the door of liberation
परं ब्रह्म भित्त्वा निर्वाणम् उपविशन्तिparaṃ brahma bhittvā nirvāṇam upaviśantihaving pierced the highest Brahman, they enter nirvāṇa
Translation
«The gods said to the Lord: tell us of the lord of the great cakra — all-desired, worshipped by all, all-formed, turned toward all sides, the door of liberation, — having ascended which, yogīs, having pierced the highest Brahman, enter nirvāṇa».
Version
0d43a39bd76c · published Aug 7, 2026, 5:19:24 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The third part begins, and its subject will be the śrī-cakra, the most famous of the sacred diagrams. It is called mokṣa-dvāra, «the door of liberation» — that is, something one passes through, not something one arrives at. A door is not the goal; the goal is beyond it; and that the diagram is called a door, and not an abode, shows the measure of the book itself: it does not pass off its own means as the final limit.
The word viśvataḥ-mukha, «turned toward all sides», was discussed when reading Paśupata (2.61): mukha is «face», and so the phrase means «looking from everywhere», not «all-pervading». There is no need to hold a prejudice against the diagram. A diagram is an instrument of attention: an eye given something to rest on, rests. An image serves the same purpose, and the difference between them is that an image has a face, while a diagram has a structure.
Something else is promised here too: «having pierced the highest Brahman, to enter nirvāṇa». This turn, as at the twenty-third line, sets something above the highest Brahman; it will have to be examined where the book speaks of this in more detail.