उपनिषद् · Tripurātāpinī 66
॥
देवनागरी
तृतीयाङ्कुशाकृतिरिति । प्रातिलोम्येन पाणी सङ्घर्षयित्वाङ्गुष्ठौ साग्रिमौ समाधाय तुरीया । परस्परं कनीयसेदं मध्यमाबद्धे अनामिके दण्डिन्यौ तर्जन्यावालिङ्ग्यावष्टभ्य मध्यमानखमिलिताङ्गुष्ठौ पञ्चमी
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
tṛtīyāṅkuśākṛtiriti | prātilomyena pāṇī saṅgharṣayitvāṅguṣṭhau sāgrimau samādhāya turīyā | parasparaṃ kanīyasedaṃ madhyamābaddhe anāmike daṇḍinyau tarjanyāvāliṅgyāvaṣṭabhya madhyamānakhamilitāṅguṣṭhau pañcamī
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
तृतीया अङ्कुश-आकृतिः इतिtṛtīyā aṅkuśa-ākṛtiḥ itithe third has the shape of a goad, thus
प्रातिलोम्येन पाणी सङ्घर्षयित्वाprātilomyena pāṇī saṅgharṣayitvāhaving rubbed the palms in reverse order
अङ्गुष्ठौ स-अग्रिमौ समाधायaṅguṣṭhau sa-agrimau samādhāyahaving joined the thumbs with the forefingers
तुरीयाturīyāthe fourth
मध्यमा-नख-मिलित-अङ्गुष्ठौ पञ्चमीmadhyamā-nakha-milita-aṅguṣṭhau pañcamīwith the thumbs joined at the nails of the middle fingers — the fifth
अनुवाद
«The third has the shape of a goad, thus. Having rubbed the palms in reverse order and having joined the thumbs with the forefingers — the fourth. …with the thumbs joined at the nails of the middle fingers — the fifth».
संस्करण
264288e3f58d · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The seals are described with a precision rarely met in books of this kind: which finger over which, where the nail, where the joint. Reading this from the book and forming the fingers by the description is possible, and it will most likely come out right. One of them is called aṅkuśa-ākṛti, «having the shape of a goad». The goad is the very implement the Goddess holds in her hand (33): a short hook used to guide an elephant.
This image deserves pausing over. An elephant is not guided by force — it is stronger than any person; it is guided by a hook near the very ear, that is, by a small effort in the right place. And that one of the seals repeats this hook says more about its purpose than any interpretation: it is a sign not of force, but of precision.
The same accounts for why the description is so full of small details. The difference between two seals can be a single joined nail; and this is not pedantry, but an acknowledgment that in such matters the small thing decides.