Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 81
॥
Devanāgarī
देवा ह वै भगवन्तमब्रुवन्देव गायत्रं हृदयं नो व्याख्यातं त्रैपुरं सर्वोत्तमम् । जातवेदससूक्तेनाख्यातं नस्त्रैपुराष्टकम् । यदिष्ट्वा मुच्यते योगी जन्मसंसारबन्धनात्
Transliteration (IAST)
devā ha vai bhagavantamabruvandeva gāyatraṃ hṛdayaṃ no vyākhyātaṃ traipuraṃ sarvottamam | jātavedasasūktenākhyātaṃ nastraipurāṣṭakam | yadiṣṭvā mucyate yogī janmasaṃsārabandhanāt
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
देवाः ह वै भगवन्तम् अब्रुवन्devāḥ ha vai bhagavantam abruvanthe gods said to the Lord
गायत्रं हृदयं नः व्याख्यातंgāyatraṃ hṛdayaṃ naḥ vyākhyātaṃthe heart of the gāyatrī has been explained to us
त्रैपुरं सर्व-उत्तमम्traipuraṃ sarva-uttamamthe Tripura one, the very best
जातवेदस-सूक्तेन आख्यातंjātavedasa-sūktena ākhyātaṃby the hymn to Jātavedas has been told
यत् इष्ट्वा मुच्यते योगीyat iṣṭvā mucyate yogīhaving honored what, is the yogī released
Translation
«The gods said to the Lord: the heart of the gāyatrī has been explained to us, the Tripura one, the very best; by the hymn to Jātavedas the Tripura octad has been told, — having honored which, the yogī is released from the bonds of birth and the cycle».
Version
692ef330fff4 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fourth part begins, and it opens with a summary of what has already been said: the heart of the gāyatrī (the first part), the Tripura octad from the durgā-sūkta (the second), the diagram and seals (the third). Now the third mantra will be asked about — the mṛtyuñjaya. The structure of the book is, then, this: three mantras were named at the very beginning (2–3), and a separate part is given to each. The composition is built to a plan, and the plan is kept — which is not often the case for books of this kind.
The expression gāyatram hṛdayam, «the heart of the gāyatrī», deserves a word of its own. Hṛdaya in the titles of compositions means not «heart» in the sentimental sense, but the core: what is within and what makes the whole alive. Dozens of texts are so named — «the heart of Rāma», «the heart of Nārāyaṇa» — and every time it means «the very essence of such-and-such».
An important promise is given here: mucyate yogī janma-saṃsāra-bandhanāt, «the yogī is released from the bonds of birth and the cycle». What is named is not bliss, not power, not authority, but release from repetition. This is exactly the goal every school disputes about; and they differ not on whether one must exit the cycle, but on what lies beyond that exit. Emptiness, merging, or a living meeting — a question this book will yet pose in its final lines, and will answer, as we shall see, unexpectedly.