Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 70
॥
Devanāgarī
पञ्च बाणाः पञ्चाद्या मुद्राः स्पष्टाः । क्रोमङ्कुशा । हसख्फ्रें खेचरी । हंस्रौ बीजाष्टमी वाग्भवाद्या नवमी दशमी च संपद्यत इति । य एवं वेद
Transliteration (IAST)
pañca bāṇāḥ pañcādyā mudrāḥ spaṣṭāḥ | kromaṅkuśā | hasakhphreṃ khecarī | haṃsrau bījāṣṭamī vāgbhavādyā navamī daśamī ca saṃpadyata iti | ya evaṃ veda
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पञ्च बाणाः पञ्च आद्याःpañca bāṇāḥ pañca ādyāḥfive arrows — the first five
मुद्राः स्पष्टाःmudrāḥ spaṣṭāḥmudrās, manifest
क्रोम् अङ्कुशाkrom aṅkuśā«krom» — the goad
हसख्फ्रें खेचरीhasakhphreṃ khecarī«hasakhphreṃ» — khecarī
वाग्भव-आद्या नवमी दशमी चvāgbhava-ādyā navamī daśamī cafrom vāgbhava — the ninth and tenth
यः एवं वेदyaḥ evaṃ vedawho knows thus
Translation
«Five arrows — the first five mudrās, manifest. «Krom» — the goad; «hasakhphreṃ» — khecarī… the ninth and tenth are composed. Who knows thus».
Version
737d1b04171c · published Aug 7, 2026, 5:19:24 AM UTC
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The seals are given their syllables, and the first five are called pañca bāṇāḥ, «five arrows». These are the arrows of Kāma, the god of love: in tradition they are floral, and each has its own name — lotus, aśoka, mango, jasmine, blue lotus. The five floral arrows are the five ways a person is caught: through sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch. This scheme is ancient, and in poetry it is worked out to the smallest detail — which arrow strikes truest at which time of year.
That the first five seals are called arrows means this: they strike at the senses. The fingers are formed in order to seize the sense that would otherwise seize you. This approach is not foreign to Vaishnava practice either, only the means differ. The senses are not told to fall silent; they are given something of their own: the eyes an image, the ears a name, the tongue consecrated food, the sense of smell tulasī and sandalwood. The Bhāgavatam says that the senses, occupied with Him, turn away from everything else on their own (11.14.26); and this is a different solution to the same problem the arrows are solving here.