Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 62
॥
Devanāgarī
बिल्वपत्रार्चिते देवि दुर्गेऽहं शरणं गतः । इत्येकयर्चा प्रार्थ्य मायालक्ष्मी तन्त्रेण पूजयेदिति भगवानब्रवीत् । एतैर्मन्त्रैर्भगवतीं यजेत् । ततो देवी प्रीता भवति । स्वात्मानं दर्शयति
Transliteration (IAST)
bilvapatrārcite devi durge'haṃ śaraṇaṃ gataḥ | ityekayarcā prārthya māyālakṣmī tantreṇa pūjayediti bhagavānabravīt | etairmantrairbhagavatīṃ yajet | tato devī prītā bhavati | svātmānaṃ darśayati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
बिल्व-पत्र-अर्चिते देविbilva-patra-arcite devihonored with bilva leaves, O Goddess
दुर्गे अहं शरणं गतःdurge ahaṃ śaraṇaṃ gataḥO Durgā, I have come to refuge
इति एकया ऋचा प्रार्थ्यiti ekayā ṛcā prārthyaso, having prayed with a single verse
ततः देवी प्रीता भवतिtataḥ devī prītā bhavatithen the Goddess becomes pleased
स्व-आत्मानं दर्शयतिsva-ātmānaṃ darśayatireveals her own self
Translation
«Honored with bilva leaves, O Goddess — O Durgā, I have come to refuge!» — so, having prayed with a single verse… Then the Goddess becomes pleased and reveals Herself».
Version
7ed0cedb0963 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is a line for whose sake it is worth analyzing this whole construction of diagrams: ahaṃ śaraṇaṃ gataḥ, «I have come to refuge». The word śaraṇa, «refuge», is chief in bhakti, and the same verb occurs in the Gītā's final instruction: «having abandoned all dharmas, come to Me alone for refuge» (18.66). It matters where it is placed. The whole book so far has been about syllables, triangles, circles, and mudras; and now, on reaching the matter itself, it utters a single line, and this line contains not a single syllable of a mantra — simply «I have come».
Still more important is the consequence: tataḥ devī prītā bhavati, «then the Goddess becomes pleased». Not from the diagram, not from the syllables, not from the mudras, but from these words; and after them — svātmānaṃ darśayati, «reveals Herself». By the testimony of the book itself, it is not the construction that reveals Herself, but refuge.
There is nothing to argue about here, and no need to deny the mudras: it is only said that they do not decide the matter — and this is said in the words of the very book that described them. And the verb prītā bhavati, «becomes pleased», is said of a person: it is someone who is pleased, and pleasure is a change in him, not in us.