Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 96
॥
Devanāgarī
ऐं वागीश्वरि विद्महे क्लीं कामेश्वरी धीमहि । सौस्तन्नः शक्तिः प्रचोदयादिति । गायत्री प्रातः सावित्री मध्यन्दिने सरस्वती सायमिति निरन्तरमजपा । हंस इत्येव मातृका
Transliteration (IAST)
aiṃ vāgīśvari vidmahe klīṃ kāmeśvarī dhīmahi | saustannaḥ śaktiḥ pracodayāditi | gāyatrī prātaḥ sāvitrī madhyandine sarasvatī sāyamiti nirantaramajapā | haṃsa ityeva mātṛkā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ऐं वागीश्वरि विद्महेaiṃ vāgīśvari vidmaheaiṃ, let us know the mistress of speech
क्लीं कामेश्वरी धीमहिklīṃ kāmeśvarī dhīmahiklīṃ, let us contemplate the mistress of desire
सौस् तत् नः शक्तिः प्रचोदयात्saus tat naḥ śaktiḥ pracodayātsauḥ, may that Śakti impel us
गायत्री प्रातः सावित्री मध्यन्दिनेgāyatrī prātaḥ sāvitrī madhyandineGāyatrī in the morning, Sāvitrī at midday
सरस्वती सायम् इतिsarasvatī sāyam itiSarasvatī in the evening
Translation
«Aiṃ, let us know the mistress of speech; klīṃ, let us contemplate the mistress of desire; sauḥ — may that Śakti impel us. Gāyatrī in the morning, Sāvitrī at midday, Sarasvatī in the evening; continually — the unrepeated. «Haṃsa» — she is the mātṛkā».
Version
8dd081863688 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
It is explained why one mantra has three names: Gāyatrī in the morning, Sāvitrī at midday, Sarasvatī in the evening. This scheme is widely accepted and explains what otherwise looks like a confusion of names. Worth noting that the names change by time of day, not by substance. The mantra is one; but the morning, midday, and evening prayer are three different things, because they occur at three different hours, and the person in them is different.
This observation is more precise than it seems. In the morning one asks for a beginning, at midday for the strength to carry through, in the evening that what was done should not be lost; and anyone who has carried through any undertaking will recognize these three petitions. The sandhyā-vandana rite, performed three times a day, is arranged exactly this way and rests not on theology but on this daily cycle.
Vaishnava practice preserves the same division and the same foundation. The day is divided into eight parts, and each has its own occupation; and this is done not for the sake of strictness, but because life moves in circles, not in a straight line, and everything not tied to the circle falls out of it. In the new-composed gāyatrī cited here, two mistresses are substituted — of speech and of desire. This joining is constant in Śākta books: speech and desire are worshipped together, because desire becomes a deed through a word. The thought is correct from an everyday side too: everything a person has truly wanted, he sooner or later voices — and thereby most often gives himself away.