Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 74
॥
Devanāgarī
भगाङ्ककुण्डं कृत्वाग्निमाधाय पुरुषो हविषा हुत्वा योषितो वशीकरोति । वर्तुले हुत्वा श्रियमतुलं प्राप्नोति । चतुरस्रे हुत्वा वृष्टिर्भवति । त्रिकोणे हुत्वा शत्रून्मारयति । गतिं स्तम्भयति
Transliteration (IAST)
bhagāṅkakuṇḍaṃ kṛtvāgnimādhāya puruṣo haviṣā hutvā yoṣito vaśīkaroti | vartule hutvā śriyamatulaṃ prāpnoti | caturasre hutvā vṛṣṭirbhavati | trikoṇe hutvā śatrūnmārayati | gatiṃ stambhayati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
भग-अङ्क-कुण्डं कृत्वाbhaga-aṅka-kuṇḍaṃ kṛtvāhaving made a pit marked with a womb
पुरुषः हविषा हुत्वाpuruṣaḥ haviṣā hutvāa man, having poured an offering
योषितः वशी-करोतिyoṣitaḥ vaśī-karotisubjugates women
वर्तुले हुत्वा श्रियम् अतुलां प्राप्नोतिvartule hutvā śriyam atulāṃ prāpnotihaving poured into the round one, obtains incomparable good fortune
त्रि-कोणे हुत्वा शत्रून् मारयतिtri-koṇe hutvā śatrūn mārayatihaving poured into the triangular one, kills enemies
Translation
«Having made a pit marked with a womb-sign and set fire, a man, having poured an offering, subjugates women. Having poured into the round one — obtains incomparable good fortune; into the square one — rain follows; into the triangular one — kills enemies, paralyzes movement».
Version
9258d522300d · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Here too one must speak plainly, for what is said concerns living people. Yoṣitaḥ vaśīkaroti, «subjugates women»: the rite is performed so that a woman will cease to control herself. This is wrong, and wrong not because it is done with fire and mantra, but because it is done without her knowledge and against her will. No qualification helps here: a person who has been bewitched has not chosen; and everything worth anything in relations between people is worth exactly as much as it has been chosen.
Vaishnava books speak of this more plainly than is usually supposed. The Bhāgavatam names vaśīkaraṇa and acts like it among what those possessed by passion occupy themselves with, and does not approve of them; and the Gītā names it a mark of a bad disposition when a person wants what is another's for his own sake. Everything taken from another without his consent is taken by force — and a mantra here only stands in for a hand.
Worth noting too the structure of this list, for it is curious: the shape of the pit decides the outcome. A round one gives wealth, a square one rain, a triangular one death. The fire is the same; the difference is in the shape of the pit — and in this the whole character of such a practice is visible: it is impersonal. There is no one who weighs the request and decides whether to grant it; there is a mechanism that will work if done correctly.
Here lies the chief disagreement, deeper than any dispute over particular rites. Where a mechanism acts, there is no one to ask and no one to thank; where a person acts, a request can be refused — and that is exactly why it is worth something.