Tripura Upanishad
Translated by Dr. A. G. Krishna Warrier
Published by The Theosophical Publishing House, Chennai
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Om ! Speech is rooted in my thought (mind) and my thought is rooted in my speech.
Be manifest, patent, to me; be ye two, for me, the lynch-pins of the Veda.
Let not Vedic lore desert me.
With this mastered lore, I join day with night.
I shall speak what is right; I shall speak what is true.
Let that protect me; let that protect the speaker.
Let that protect me.
Let that protect the speaker, protect the speaker !
Om ! Peace ! Peace ! Peace !
1. Three cities are there, and pathways three for all.
(On the dais of Fortune) are letters a, ka, tha and others.
In them there dwells, never-ageing, ancient,
The exceeding grandeur of the gods.
2. Subject to Her whose sources are nine
Shine forth the centres nine and Yogas nine,
Nine deities and regents of the planets nine,
Gentle healing deities nine and gestures nine.
3. The One she was, the Foremost;
She was the nine, the nineteen and the twenty-nine;
The forty, she; may the radiant energies three,
As fond mothers love, encircle me.
4. In the beginning was upblazing Light;
Gloom and Motion stretched athwart the Ageless;
The Moonlight gladness and delights; these spheres
Adorn indeed (the knowers of Brahman).
5. Of the three lines, abodes, three worlds and three spheres
With triple constituents (She is the prop).
This group of three among the sheaths is prime.
In diagram drawn with mystic words
The God of Love with Fortunes Goddess dwells.
6. The Exhilarating and the Proud,
The Auspicious, the Lucky and the Lovely,
The Perfected, the shy, the Witty One,
The Gratified, the chosen and the Full,
The Wealthy, the Forbidden, the Graceful,
The Eloquent (These on Consciousness do wait).
7. Attended thus the Power of Consciousness
Is drunk with the draught of Immortality;
Knowing Her and worshipping Her throne
(Her devotees) on heavens great vault do dwell
And enter the supreme Triple City.
8. Desire, the womb, the Digit of Desire,
The Wielder of the Thunderbolt, the Cave,
Ha sa, the Wind, the Cloud, the King of Heaven,
Yet again the Cave, sa ka la and maya
Such is the primeval Wisdom, embracing all,
Mother of the vast universe.
9. Uttering in secret Her three basic letters
The sixth, the seventh and the eighth
Lauding the Lord, the theme of the Upanishads,
The Seer, the Fashioner, the Free to Will,
(Seekers) achieve the state of Immortality.
10. The Mother of the Universe sustains
Her abode the Destroyers Face, the Circle of the Sun,
The core of sounds, the span of time,
The Eternal, half the lunar month;
With sixteen (She sustains the core of their abode).
11. Or, worshipping the digit of desire in its manifold forms,
Enthroned in the three cavernous homes and in symbols
Of the rounded breasts and face set in the spheres,
The man of desires gains that which he wants.
12. Dressed fish, goats flesh,
Cooked rice, pleasure of sex,
Who offers to the Goddess great,
Merit and success for himself achieves.
13. With (Sarasvati) fair and (Lakshmi), Worlds Mother,
(Gauri), roseate, primeval Power, withdrawer of the world,
Binds with noose creatures who grasp, and tread
Attachments path; and swiftly smites with bow and arrows five.
14-15. The Power of Consciousness and desires Lord,
Lord of auspicious powers, coequals both,
Of equal prowess, in energy equal,
Grant gifts to the fortunate here.
Of the two, the un-ageing Power, the worlds womb,
With offering of knowledge pleased,
Removes the aspirants twofold sheath.
With mind averted from illusions sphere
He becomes Creator, Protector,
Withdrawer of the world;
Nay, one with Cosmic Being.
16. This is Tripuras great Upanishad,
Imperishable, which, in glorious words
The Rig, Yajus, Saman and Atharvan
And other forms of knowledge laud.
Om, Hrim, Om, Hrim thus ends the secret doctrine.
Om ! Speech is rooted in my thought (mind) and my thought is rooted in my speech. Be manifest, patent, to me; be ye two, for me, the lynch-pins of the Veda. Let not Vedic lore desert me. With this mastered lore, I join day with night. I shall speak what is right; I shall speak what is true. Let that protect me; let that protect the speaker. Let that protect me. Let that protect the speaker, protect the speaker ! Om ! Peace ! Peace ! Peace !
Here ends the Tripura Upanishad, included in the Rig-Veda.