Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 73
॥
Devanāgarī
स सर्वं स्तम्भयति । नीलीयुक्तं चक्रं शत्रून्मारयति । गतिं स्तम्भयति । लाक्षायुक्तं कृत्वा सकललोकं वशीकरोति । नवलक्षजपं कृत्वा रुद्रत्वं प्राप्नोति । मातृकया वेष्टितं कृत्वा विजयी भवति
Transliteration (IAST)
sa sarvaṃ stambhayati | nīlīyuktaṃ cakraṃ śatrūnmārayati | gatiṃ stambhayati | lākṣāyuktaṃ kṛtvā sakalalokaṃ vaśīkaroti | navalakṣajapaṃ kṛtvā rudratvaṃ prāpnoti | mātṛkayā veṣṭitaṃ kṛtvā vijayī bhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
नीली-युक्तं चक्रं शत्रून् मारयतिnīlī-yuktaṃ cakraṃ śatrūn mārayatithe cakra with indigo kills enemies
गतिं स्तम्भयतिgatiṃ stambhayatiparalyzes movement
लाक्षा-युक्तं कृत्वाlākṣā-yuktaṃ kṛtvāhaving made it with lac
सकल-लोकं वशी-करोतिsakala-lokaṃ vaśī-karotisubjugates the whole world
नव-लक्ष-जपं कृत्वा रुद्रत्वं प्राप्नोतिnava-lakṣa-japaṃ kṛtvā rudratvaṃ prāpnotihaving performed nine hundred thousand repetitions, attains the state of Rudra
Translation
«The cakra with indigo kills enemies; paralyzes movement. Made with lac — it subjugates the whole world. Having performed nine hundred thousand repetitions, one attains the state of Rudra; surrounded by mātṛkās, it makes a victor».
Version
9993c54b6cd9 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is a place about which one must speak without any softening. Here it is directly described how to kill a person: a diagram written in indigo dye śatrūn mārayati, «kills enemies»; written with lac, it vaśīkaroti, «subjugates». The Vaishnava tradition does not accept this and does not look for interpretations to soften it. Some defenders of such passages say that «enemies» here mean vices, and «subjugation» power over one's own mind. Sometimes this is indeed so; but here beside it stands gatiṃ stambhayati, «paralyzes movement», and what is subjugated is sakala-loka, «the whole world» — and vices neither move nor make up a world. This is about people, and pretending otherwise is dishonest.
The objection to such practice is single and simple. One who casts a spell on a person takes judgment upon himself: he has decided this person must die, and has carried out the decision with hands not his own — the hands of a power he has summoned. The Gītā says that the fruit of a deed returns to the doer by the nature of things, not by anyone's caprice (18.14–15); and one who has brought about death does not escape this reckoning, but enters it first.
Worth noting too what the passage itself demands: nine hundred thousand repetitions. An enormous labor — years of life laid out for the sake of gaining power over others. Sadder than the deed itself is its price: the same labor, spent on hearing and service, would give, by the Bhāgavatam's promise, something entirely different — and that promise is given to those who have taken nothing from anyone.