Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 71
॥
Devanāgarī
अथातः कामकलाभूतं चक्रं व्याख्यास्यामो ह्रीं क्लीमैं ब्लू।च्ं स्रौमेते पञ्च कामाः सर्वचक्रं व्यावर्तन्ते
Transliteration (IAST)
athātaḥ kāmakalābhūtaṃ cakraṃ vyākhyāsyāmo hrīṃ klīmaiṃ blū|cṃ sraumete pañca kāmāḥ sarvacakraṃ vyāvartante
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथ अतः काम-कला-भूतं चक्रंatha ataḥ kāma-kalā-bhūtaṃ cakraṃnow the cakra, become the portion of desire
व्याख्यास्यामःvyākhyāsyāmaḥwe shall explain
ह्रीं क्लीम् ऐं ब्लूं स्रौम्hrīṃ klīm aiṃ blūṃ sraumhrīṃ, klīm, aiṃ, blūṃ, sraum
एते पञ्च कामाःete pañca kāmāḥthese five are desires
सर्व-चक्रं व्यावर्तन्तेsarva-cakraṃ vyāvartanteturn the whole cakra
Translation
«Now we shall explain the cakra that has become the portion of desire: hrīṃ, klīm, aiṃ, blūṃ, sraum — these five desires turn the whole cakra».
Version
ad88325b66ac · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Five bīja, «seed-syllables», are named, and it is said that they vyāvartante, «turn, rotate» the whole cakra. These syllables are among the most commonly used in tantra: hrīṃ is called the Goddess's seed (māyā-bīja), klīṃ — the seed of desire (kāma-bīja), aiṃ — the seed of speech (vāgbhava). They have no meaning in the ordinary sense: they are not words, but sounds assigned a meaning.
Here lies a distinction worth pausing over. There are mantras made of sentences — «bow to Lord Vāsudeva», «I have come to refuge», the gāyatrī; and there are mantras made of assigned sounds, which mean nothing in themselves. The former are understood by the one who utters them, the latter are not. And an important consequence follows: repeating a sentence, a person says it every time and can say it more or less sincerely; repeating an assigned sound, he says nothing, but merely produces an effect.
Vaishnava practice, for this reason, holds to names and sentences. «Hare Kṛṣṇa» is an address — a call by name, understood even by a child; and one who repeats it knows to whom he is speaking, not only what effect he is producing.