Rig Veda · Rig Veda (Shakta Upanishad group) · 16 mantras
Tripura Upanishad
Tripuropaniṣad
Central theme: Tripura Sundari and the Shodashi mantra — the cornerstone of the Sri Vidya tradition
A compact but exceptionally dense Shakta Upanishad of 16 mantras — one of the three foundational shruti texts of the Sri Vidya tradition (alongside the Tripuratapini and Bhavana Upanishads). Each of the 16 mantras is held to correspond to one of the 16 kalas of the moon and to one of the 16 syllables of the Shri Shodashi mantra, the most secret form of the Pancadashi addressing Tripura Sundari, the Goddess of the three cities (waking/dream/sushupti, or the three bindus of the Sri Yantra). Encodes the Sri Chakra geometry — nine interlocking triangles, the bindu at the centre as Maha Tripura Sundari — and the kamakala visualisation. Heavily commented by Bhaskararaya in his Saubhagya-bhaskara. Considered the most concentrated tantra within the orthodox Vedic canon.
Tripura Upanishad 1
त्रिपुरा परमेशानी जयति त्रिजगन्मयी । आदिमध्यान्तरहिता सच्चिदानन्दविग्रहा
Tripurā parameśānī jayati tri-jagan-mayī, ādi-madhyānta-rahitā sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahā
Victory to Tripura, the Supreme Sovereign, who is the form of the three worlds — without beginning, middle or end, whose body is being-consciousness-bliss.
The three cities are the three states of your own consciousness — Tripura Sundari sits as the bindu at their centre.