Upanishads · Tripurā 7
॥
Devanāgarī
इमां विज्ञाय सुधया मदन्ती परिसृता तर्पयन्तः स्वपीठम् । नाकस्य पृष्ठे वसन्ति परं धाम त्रैपुरं चाविशन्ति
Transliteration (IAST)
imāṃ vijñāya sudhayā madantī parisṛtā tarpayantaḥ svapīṭham | nākasya pṛṣṭhe vasanti paraṃ dhāma traipuraṃ cāviśanti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
इमां विज्ञाय सुधया मदन्तीimāṃ vijñāya sudhayā madantīhaving known her, delighting with nectar
परिसृता तर्पयन्तः स्व-पीठम्parisṛtā tarpayantaḥ sva-pīṭhamflowing round, satisfying, their own seat
नाकस्य पृष्ठे वसन्तिnākasya pṛṣṭhe vasantion the ridge of the heavens they dwell
परं धाम त्रैपुरंparaṃ dhāma traipuraṃthe highest abode, the Tripura one
च आविशन्तिca āviśantiand they enter
Translation
«Having known her — delighting with nectar, flowing round — satisfying their own seat, they dwell on the ridge of the heavens and enter the highest abode, the Tripura one».
Version
bf7561475a02 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The goal is named, and it is named with two verbs worth setting down: vasanti, “they dwell,” and āviśanti, “they enter.”
Not “they dissolve,” not “they become her,” not “they cease to be” — they dwell and they enter. Both verbs presuppose one who has entered and a place into which he entered; and both are taken from the vocabulary of dwelling: one enters a house, one dwells in a house.
The expression nākasya pṛṣṭhe, “on the ridge of the heavens,” is the most ancient designation of paradise in Vedic speech and appears constantly in the Ṛgveda. Nāka means “firmament,” pṛṣṭha — “back, ridge, upper side”; and there one lives, rather than vanishing.
Let us compare this with what is disputed. Advaita doctrine takes as its limit a state in which there is neither one who enters nor a place; but the ancient verses — this one among them — describe the limit as an abode, to which one goes and in which one lives. The difference is not a nuance but lies in the very structure of the speech: around the word “abode” there inevitably gather those who dwell in it.
A separate word must be said about tarpayantaḥ, “satisfying.” It is from tṛp, “to be satisfied, to be content,” and in ritual denotes the offering of water to ancestors and gods — tarpaṇa. It is not themselves that are satisfied, then, but their own seat, that is, Her who is upon it; and only after that do they enter. The order here too is the same as in all these books: first offer, then enter.