Upanishads · Tripurā 16
॥
Devanāgarī
इयं महोपनिषत्त्रैपुर्या यामक्षरं परमो गीर्भिरीट्टे । एषर्ग्यजुः परमेतच्च सामायमथर्वेयमन्या च विद्या
Transliteration (IAST)
iyaṃ mahopaniṣattraipuryā yāmakṣaraṃ paramo gīrbhirīṭṭe | eṣargyajuḥ parametacca sāmāyamatharveyamanyā ca vidyā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
इयं महा-उपनिषत् त्रैपुर्याःiyaṃ mahā-upaniṣat traipuryāḥthis great upaniṣad of Tripurā
याम् अक्षरं परमः गीर्भिः ईट्टेyām akṣaraṃ paramaḥ gīrbhiḥ īṭṭewhich the Imperishable, the highest, praises with speech
एषा ऋक् यजुः परम्eṣā ṛk yajuḥ paramshe is the Ṛgveda, the highest Yajurveda
एतत् च सामetat ca sāmaand this is the Sāmaveda
अयम् अथर्वाayam atharvāthis is the Atharvan
इयम् अन्या च विद्याiyam anyā ca vidyāand she is every other knowledge
Translation
«This is the great upaniṣad — the Tripura one — which the Imperishable, the highest, praises with His speech. She is the Ṛgveda, the highest Yajurveda, and this is the Sāmaveda; this is the Atharvan, and she is every other knowledge as well».
Version
98655faaa53f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The book ends by declaring its teaching to be all four Vedas at once, and beyond that, “every other knowledge.”
Declarations of this kind are common in later compositions, and one must take them soberly: it is easy to say “my teaching is all the Vedas,” but it cannot be proven, and this book itself offers nothing in confirmation.
But the verse contains a word more important than the declaration itself: gīrbhiḥ īṭṭe, “praises with speech.” And it says he praises, akṣaram paramaḥ, “the Imperishable, the highest.”
It is worth working out who here is praising whom. It is not a man praising the Highest — it is the Highest who praises this knowledge; that is, the Imperishable has speech, and He uses it, and there is an object that He praises.
Among the arguments this passage carries no little weight. One who praises makes a distinction: only that which is other than oneself, and which one approves of, can be praised. That which is without qualities neither praises nor blames, for that requires both judgment and speech; and so this line, inserted by the author for the glory of his own book, has turned out to be a testimony to a person.
Worth adding that the verb īḍ, “to praise, to invoke,” is the first word of the entire Ṛgveda: agnim īḷe purohitam, “Agni I invoke.” The book ends with the very word with which the collection begins — and this was likely done on purpose.