Upanishads · Devī 4
॥
Devanāgarī
तामग्निवर्णां तपसा ज्वलन्तीं वैरोचनीं कर्मफलेषु जुष्टाम् । दुर्गां देवीं शरणमहं प्रपद्ये सुतरां नाशयते तमः
Transliteration (IAST)
tāmagnivarṇāṃ tapasā jvalantīṃ vairocanīṃ karmaphaleṣu juṣṭām | durgāṃ devīṃ śaraṇamahaṃ prapadye sutarāṃ nāśayate tamaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ताम् अग्नि-वर्णां तपसा ज्वलन्तींtām agni-varṇāṃ tapasā jvalantīṃher, fire-colored, blazing with austerity
वैरोचनीं कर्म-फलेषु जुष्टाम्vairocanīṃ karma-phaleṣu juṣṭāmradiant, honored in the fruits of deeds
दुर्गां देवीं शरणम् अहं प्रपद्येdurgāṃ devīṃ śaraṇam ahaṃ prapadyeto the Goddess Durgā I come for refuge
सुतराम् नाशयते तमःsutarām nāśayate tamaḥshe beautifully dispels darkness
Translation
«Her — fire-colored, blazing with austerity, radiant, honored in the fruits of deeds — to the Goddess Durgā I come for refuge: beautifully does she dispel darkness».
Version
2f0a37f6575b · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Here is a verse familiar to anyone who has read the Mahānārāyaṇa: durgāṃ devīṃ śaraṇam ahaṃ prapadye, “to the Goddess Durgā I come for refuge.”
It is telling that, in a book of twenty-two lines, refuge is named twice — here and in the nineteenth — and both times with the same verb prapadye, “I come, I take refuge.” This is the very verb that stands in the final instruction of the Gītā and has given a whole path its name — prapatti, “surrender.”
Note the construction of the verse. Three lines are description: fire-colored, blazing, radiant, honored; the fourth is an act: I come. This is how every address is structured: first one names to whom one goes, then one goes.
The phrase karma-phaleṣu juṣṭā, “honored in the fruits of deeds,” means that she is invoked by those who want a fruit; and this is said without censure, as of an ordinary matter.
Note, too, the final half-verse: sutarām nāśayate tamaḥ, “beautifully dispels darkness.” What is promised is not that light will come, but that darkness will depart; and this is more exact. Darkness is not a thing that can be carried out: it departs by itself, the moment light is brought in — and hence one should ask not for the destruction of darkness, but for someone to come in with the fire.