Upanishads · Tripurā 10
॥
Devanāgarī
त्रिविष्टपं त्रिमुखं विश्वमातुर्नवरेखाः स्वरमध्यं तदीले । बृहत्तिथिर्दशा पञ्चादि नित्या सा षोडशी पुरमध्यं बिभर्ति
Transliteration (IAST)
triviṣṭapaṃ trimukhaṃ viśvamāturnavarekhāḥ svaramadhyaṃ tadīle | bṛhattithirdaśā pañcādi nityā sā ṣoḍaśī puramadhyaṃ bibharti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
त्रि-विष्टपं त्रि-मुखं विश्व-मातुःtri-viṣṭapaṃ tri-mukhaṃ viśva-mātuḥthree heavens, three faces of the mother of the world
नव-रेखाः स्वर-मध्यं तत् ईलेnava-rekhāḥ svara-madhyaṃ tat īlenine lines, the middle of the sound — that I praise
बृहत्-तिथिः दशा पञ्च-आदिbṛhat-tithiḥ daśā pañca-ādithe great day, the decad, beginning with five
नित्या सा षोडशीnityā sā ṣoḍaśīeternal, she — the Sixteenth
पुर-मध्यं बिभर्तिpura-madhyaṃ bibharticarries the middle of the city
Translation
«Three heavens, three faces of the mother of the world, nine lines, the middle of the sound — that I praise. The great day, the decad, beginning with five, eternal, she is the Sixteenth: she carries the middle of the city».
Version
bdb0b9721b19 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Ṣoḍaśī, “the Sixteenth,” is named — one of the chief names of the Goddess in this branch of tradition, and it is worth explaining where the number comes from.
The lunar month is divided into fifteen tithis, “days,” from new moon to full moon; and now, beyond the fifteen, a sixteenth is posited — the one that does not wane. The fifteen portions of the month wax and wane; the sixteenth, nityā, “eternal,” remains always.
This image is excellent and worth remembering. Everything visible in the month is what grows and wears away; and there is in it also that which no waning touches, and it is precisely this that carries the middle, pura-madhyaṃ bibharti.
The Vaiṣṇava side uses the very same reckoning and in the very same direction. The soul in these books is constantly likened to that which does not wane through all the changes of the body; the Gītā says that “weapons do not cut it, fire does not burn it” (2.23), and this thought stands on exactly the same observation: behind everything that waxes and wanes there is a sixteenth portion.
Worth noting too is the verb bibharti, “carries, holds.” Not “is the middle,” but carries the middle; and this again is a word about the bearer, not about what is borne.