Upanishads · Devī 16
॥
Devanāgarī
नमामि त्वामहं देवीं महाभयविनाशिनीम् । महादुर्गप्रशमनीं महाकारुण्यरूपिणीम्
Transliteration (IAST)
namāmi tvāmahaṃ devīṃ mahābhayavināśinīm | mahādurgapraśamanīṃ mahākāruṇyarūpiṇīm
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
नमामि त्वाम् अहं देवींnamāmi tvām ahaṃ devīṃI bow to you, the Goddess
महा-भय-विनाशिनीम्mahā-bhaya-vināśinīmdestroyer of great fear
महा-दुर्ग-प्रशमनींmahā-durga-praśamanīṃstiller of great calamity
महा-कारुण्य-रूपिणीम्mahā-kāruṇya-rūpiṇīmhaving the form of great compassion
Translation
«I bow to you, the Goddess, destroyer of great fear, stiller of great calamity, having the form of great compassion».
Version
776d61630870 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Three words in a row begin with mahā, “great”: great fear, great calamity, great compassion. This device is common in hymns and serves to build intensity; but it is worth seeing where the sequence ends.
It ends not with the greatness of power and not with the greatness of knowledge, but with mahā-kāruṇya-rūpiṇī, “having the form of great compassion.”
Kāruṇya is from karuṇā, “pity, compassion”; and among the properties ascribed to the Highest this word is the most unexpected, because pity presupposes the capacity to be moved. One whom nothing touches does not pity; and to be moved is possible only for one who has a heart and responds to something.
This is why the Vaiṣṇava reading insists on such words. The qualityless does not feel compassion: it has neither a heart to be moved nor a will to respond. Compassion is the property of a person — and moreover a property that cannot be ascribed to the Highest “conditionally,” for a conditional compassion saves no one.
Worth noting, too, is what stands in the middle of the sequence: mahā-durga-praśamanī, “stiller of great calamity.” The verb śam means “to subside, to grow calm”; a calamity is not destroyed, but stilled, as a wind grows still. The word is well chosen: calamity rarely vanishes — it stops tearing at one.