Upanishads · Tripurā 5
॥
Devanāgarī
तिस्रश्च रेखाः सदनानि भूमेस्त्रिविष्टपास्त्रिगुणास्त्रिप्रकाराः । एतत्पुरं पूरकं पूरकाणामत्र प्रथते मदनो मदन्या
Transliteration (IAST)
tisraśca rekhāḥ sadanāni bhūmestriviṣṭapāstriguṇāstriprakārāḥ | etatpuraṃ pūrakaṃ pūrakāṇāmatra prathate madano madanyā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तिस्रः च रेखाः सदनानि भूमेःtisraḥ ca rekhāḥ sadanāni bhūmeḥand three lines — the abodes of the earth
त्रि-विष्टपाः त्रि-गुणाः त्रि-प्रकाराःtri-viṣṭapāḥ tri-guṇāḥ tri-prakārāḥthree heavens, three guṇas, three kinds
एतत् पुरं पूरकं पूरकाणाम्etat puraṃ pūrakaṃ pūrakāṇāmthis city — the filler of fillers
अत्र प्रथते मदनः मदन्याatra prathate madanaḥ madanyāhere spreads Madana with Madanī
Translation
«And three lines — the abodes of the earth, three heavens, three guṇas, three kinds. This city is the filler of fillers; here Madana spreads out with Madanī».
Version
e30ff891530b · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The verse ends with what makes it worth examining all this geometry: pratathate madanaḥ madanyā, “Madana spreads out with Madanī.”
Madana is a name of Kāma, the god of love; Madanī is his feminine counterpart. And it is said that at the center of the city there spreads out not one, but two, and moreover the two are named separately, by masculine and feminine name.
The case of the second name is instrumental: not “Madana and Madanī,” but “Madana with Madanī.” The construction here is the same as in ordinary speech: “so-and-so came with his wife.” That is, the two are not folded into one, but go together, and one is named first.
This passage is worth comparing with what was said reading Tripurātāpinī (5, 17, 18): there the foundation of the world was called yoga, the “union” of two, and this was repeated four times. Here the same thing is said even more briefly — with a single instrumental case.
Worth noting too is the word pūraka, “filler,” from pūr, “to fill.” The city is called the filler of fillers — that is, that by which all filled things are full. This word is of the same root as pura, “city,” and as puruṣa; and the whole line plays on it: a city that does not contain, but fills.