Upaniṣads · Devī 11
॥
Devanāgarī
वियदाकारसंयुक्तं वीतिहोत्रसमन्वितम् । अर्धेन्दुलसितं देव्या बीजं सर्वार्थसाधकम्
Transliteración (IAST)
viyadākārasaṃyuktaṃ vītihotrasamanvitam | ardhendulasitaṃ devyā bījaṃ sarvārthasādhakam
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
वियत्-आकार-संयुक्तंviyat-ākāra-saṃyuktaṃjoined with the form of space
वीति-होत्र-समन्वितम्vīti-hotra-samanvitamendowed with fire
अर्ध-इन्दु-लसितंardha-indu-lasitaṃadorned with the half-moon
देव्याः बीजंdevyāḥ bījaṃthe seed of the Goddess
सर्व-अर्थ-साधकम्sarva-artha-sādhakamaccomplishing every purpose
Traducción
«Joined with the form of space, endowed with fire, adorned with the half-moon — the seed of the Goddess, accomplishing every purpose».
Versión
a41f076f4132 · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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Another riddle, but this time solvable without initiation, and it deserves examination, for it shows how such riddles are constructed.
Viyat, “space,” is in tantric notation the sound ha; vīti-hotra, “fire,” is ra; ardha-indu, “half-moon,” is the sign of the anusvāra, the dot over the line. Put together: ha + ra + i + dot = hrīm.
This is the māyā-bīja, the most famous of the seed-syllables in the Śākta books, and it is here also called sarva-artha-sādhaka, “accomplishing every purpose.”
Worth noting is that this riddle is not profound: it is simply a way to write a syllable without writing it. The same method is used in the Gaṇapati-atharvaśīrṣa, where “gaṃ” is likewise spelled out piece by piece.
A word should also be said about the syllable itself. Hrīm means nothing — it is not a word, but a designated sound; and the difference between sentence-mantras and mantras made of designated sounds was discussed examining the Tripurātāpinī (71). Let us add only an observation directly relevant to this book: eight lines on, it will itself turn to describing a form — with a lotus, three eyes, red garments — and will command contemplation of that form, not the syllable. The syllable serves as an entrance, the form is the object; and this order is constant in such books.