Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 61
॥
Devanāgarī
तत्रोंकारपीठं पूजयित्वा तत्राक्षरं बिन्दुरूपं तदन्तर्गत व्योमरूपिणीं विद्यां परमां स्मृत्वा महात्रिपुरसुन्दरीमावाह्य । क्षीरेण स्नापिते देवि चन्दनेन विलेपिते
Transliteration (IAST)
tatroṃkārapīṭhaṃ pūjayitvā tatrākṣaraṃ bindurūpaṃ tadantargata vyomarūpiṇīṃ vidyāṃ paramāṃ smṛtvā mahātripurasundarīmāvāhya | kṣīreṇa snāpite devi candanena vilepite
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत्र ओंकार-पीठं पूजयित्वाtatra oṃkāra-pīṭhaṃ pūjayitvāthere, having worshipped the throne of the omkara
बिन्दु-रूपं व्योम-रूपिणीं विद्यांbindu-rūpaṃ vyoma-rūpiṇīṃ vidyāṃthe vidyā having the form of a point and the form of space
महा-त्रिपुर-सुन्दरीम् आवाह्यmahā-tripura-sundarīm āvāhyahaving invoked the great Tripurasundarī
क्षीरेण स्नापिते देविkṣīreṇa snāpite devibathed with milk, O Goddess
चन्दनेन विलेपितेcandanena vilepiteanointed with sandalwood
Translation
«There, having worshipped the throne of the omkāra, …having invoked the great Tripurasundarī [they say]: «Bathed with milk, O Goddess, anointed with sandalwood…»
Version
5545cb3d222f · published Aug 7, 2026, 5:19:24 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The pūjā, «worship», begins, and it is described materially: milk, sandalwood, leaves. The precise ritual verb used is āvāhya, «having invoked». Āvāhana, «invocation», is the first of the sixteen acts of worship — the one by which the deity is invited into the image.
An important distinction runs through this. One invokes, after all, one who may or may not come; to invoke space or a law is meaningless. The very first step of the rite, then, presupposes that before you is someone, not something.
The order of the sixteen services is the same in a Vaishnava temple too: invoke, seat, wash the feet, give water, bathe, dress, anoint, offer flowers, burn incense, show a lamp, feed, circumambulate, bow, see off. This is the order of receiving a guest, and there is nothing in it that would not be done for a dear person. Milk and sandalwood, moreover, are taken not as symbols: one bathes with milk because it is cool and pure, one anoints with sandalwood because it cools in the heat. Service consists in the guest being made comfortable — and this is the best thing that can be said about the worship of an image.