Matsya Purana — Design and Splendour of Tripura: Maya’s Threefold Moving Fortress, Shloka 1

Devanagari script

*सूत उवाच इति चिन्तायुतो दैत्यो दिव्योपायप्रभावजम् चकार त्रिपुरं दुर्गं मनःसंचारचारितम् //

Transliteration

*sūta uvāca iti cintāyuto daityo divyopāyaprabhāvajam cakāra tripuraṃ durgaṃ manaḥsaṃcāracāritam //

Translation

Sūta sprach: So erschuf der Daitya, von sorgenvollen Gedanken erfüllt, durch die Kraft einer göttlichen List die Festung namens Tripura, die sich nach der Bewegung des Geistes bewegte und wirkte.

Word by Word

• sūta uvāca: Sūta said

• iti: thus

• cintā-yutaḥ: endowed with worry/anxious thought

• daityaḥ: the Daitya (asura)

• divya-upāya-prabhāva-jam: born of/produced by the power of a divine means/contrivance

• cakāra: made, constructed

• tri-puram: Tripura (the three cities)

• durgam: a fort, impregnable stronghold

• manaḥ-saṃcāra-cāritam: moving/acting in accordance with mental movement (mind-directed, will-driven).

Speaker

• Sūta (Sūta Goswami)

Entities Mentioned

• Sūta
• Daitya
• Tripura

Tags

• Tripura
• Asura
• Fortress
• Divine-contrivance
• Mythic-architecture

FAQs

What does this verse reveal about the creation or dissolution (Pralaya)?

This verse is not about cosmic Pralaya; it describes an extraordinary construction—Tripura—created through a “divine means,” highlighting supernatural engineering rather than dissolution.

How does this verse relate to the duties of a King or Householder?

Indirectly, it frames the theme of security and power: a king’s duty includes building defensible forts (durga), but the verse cautions that brilliance and strategy can be used for unrighteous aims when driven by anxious, self-serving intent.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

Architecturally, it foregrounds the idea of a durga (fortress) with extraordinary mobility—“mind-directed movement”—a mythic ideal of adaptive fortification that contrasts with standard Vāstu norms of fixed site-planning.