Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 84
॥
Devanāgarī
तस्मादुच्यते यजामह इति । अथ कस्मादुच्यते सुगन्धिमिति । सर्वतो यश आप्नोति । तस्मादुच्यते सुगन्धिमिति । अथ कस्मादुच्यते पुष्टिवर्धनमिति
Transliteration (IAST)
tasmāducyate yajāmaha iti | atha kasmāducyate sugandhimiti | sarvato yaśa āpnoti | tasmāducyate sugandhimiti | atha kasmāducyate puṣṭivardhanamiti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथ कस्मात् उच्यते सुगन्धिम् इतिatha kasmāt ucyate sugandhim itinow why is «fragrant» said?
सर्वतः यशः आप्नोतिsarvataḥ yaśaḥ āpnotiobtains glory from every side
तस्मात् उच्यते सुगन्धिम् इतिtasmāt ucyate sugandhim itihence «fragrant» is said
अथ कस्मात् उच्यतेatha kasmāt ucyatenow why is it said
पुष्टि-वर्धनम् इतिpuṣṭi-vardhanam iti«increasing strength»?
Translation
«Now why is «fragrant» said? He obtains glory from every side — hence «fragrant» is said. Now why is it said «increasing strength»?»
Version
98225aebd97b · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Sugandhi, «fragrant», is explained through yaśas, «glory», and this explanation is precise, not forced. Fragrance is the only sensory property that spreads by itself. Light must be aimed, sound fades nearby, but a fragrance travels through the air in every direction and reaches one who was not even seeking it. Hence a person's good name has, from ancient times, been called a fragrance — and not only in Sanskrit.
This explanation is good also in that it shows how one ought to interpret. A word is taken, its real property is taken — and from the property a figurative meaning is derived. No syllables, no written forms: the analysis proceeds according to the nature of the thing.
Worth noting too the word sarvataḥ, «from every side». Glory comes not from one side — from admirers, from one's own — but from every side, including from those not favorably disposed. Such too is the nature of fragrance: it does not ask to whom it should go.
Vaishnava books use the same image constantly, and in the same direction. The Bhāgavatam says that the Lord's glory spreads like a fragrance — and that one who hears it hears it not because he sought it, but because it reached him. Preaching, in this understanding, is not persuasion, but an open door: the fragrance will go by itself.