कामो योनिः कमला वज्रपाणिर्गुहा हसा मातरिश्वाभ्रमिन्द्रः। पुनर्गुहा सकला मायया च पुरूच्यैषा विश्वमातादिविद्योम् ॥ १४ ॥
kāmō yōniḥ kamalā vajrapāṇirguhā hasā mātariśvābhramindraḥ | punarguhā sakalā māyayā ca purūcyaiṣā viśvamātādividyōm || 14 ||
Translation
Desire, the womb, Kamalā, the wielder of the thunderbolt, the secret; ha, sa; the wind, the cloud, Indra; again the secret; sa, ka, la, with Māyā: this, spoken in many ways, is the Mother of all, the primal knowledge, Brahman.
Word by word
- kāmaḥ
- desire (a code word for a letter)
- yōniḥ
- the womb (a code word)
- kamalā
- Kamalā, Lakṣmī (a code word)
- vajrapāṇiḥ
- the wielder of the thunderbolt, Indra (a code word)
- guhā
- the secret, the cave (a code word)
- hasā
- the letters ha and sa
- mātariśvā
- the wind (a code word)
- abhram
- the cloud (a code word)
- indraḥ
- Indra (a code word)
- punaḥ guhā
- again the secret
- sakalā
- the letters sa, ka, la
- māyayā ca
- and with Māyā (a code word)
- purūcī
- spoken in many ways
- ēṣā
- this
- viśvamātā
- the Mother of all
- ādividyā
- the primal knowledge
- ōm
- Brahman, Om
Meaning
This mantra speaks in code. Each name stands for a letter, and together they form the fifteen-syllable mantra of Śrī Vidyā (the Pañcadaśī), the mantra of Tripurasundarī. In the tradition it is received from a guru at initiation rather than read from a page, which is why the Upaniṣad veils it. The verse calls it the Mother of all and the primal knowledge.