Adhyaya 130: Design and Splendour of Tripura: Maya’s Threefold Moving Fortress

Verse 1

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

Sūta said: Thus the Daitya, filled with anxious thought, by the power of a divine stratagem, fashioned the fortress called Tripura, which moved and functioned in accord with the motion of the mind.

Verse 2

प्राकारो ऽनेन मार्गेण इह वामुत्र गोपुरम् इह चाट्टालकद्वारम् इह चाट्टालगोपुरम् //

Along this prescribed route stands the enclosing rampart; here and there rise gopuras, the gateway-towers. Here is a gate with an upper pavilion of the cāṭṭālaka type (cāṭṭālaka-dvāra), and here a gateway-tower furnished with such an upper pavilion (cāṭṭālaka-gopura).

Verse 3

राजमार्ग इतश्चापि विपुलो भवतामिति रथ्योपरथ्याः सत्त्रिका इह चत्वर एव च //

“Let the royal highway here also be made broad.” Likewise, there should be streets and by-streets, charitable rest-houses (sattras), and here too the public squares (catvaras).

Verse 4

इदमन्तःपुरस्थानं रुद्रायतनमत्र च सवटानि तडागानि ह्य् अत्र वाप्यः सरांसि च //

“Here is the site of the inner palace; and here too is a sanctuary of Rudra. Here are wells and tanks; here are stepwells (vāpīs) and natural lakes as well.”

Verse 5

आरामाश्च सभाश्चात्र उद्यानान्यत्र वा तथा उपनिर्गमो दानवानां भवत्यत्र मनोहरः //

Here there should be pleasure-groves (ārāmas) and assembly halls (sabhās); likewise, gardens as well. In this place the approach and the exit-pathway becomes delightful—fit for the Dānavas (the royal and elite residents) to move about.

Verse 6

इत्येवं मानसं तत्राकल्पयत्पुरकल्पवित् मयेन तत्पुरं सृष्टं त्रिपुरं त्विति नः श्रुतम् //

Thus, there the knower of city-planning conceived it in his mind; by Māyā that city was fashioned—this is what we have heard—hence it is called Tripura, the “threefold city.”

Verse 7

कार्ष्णायसमयं यत्तु मयेन विहितं पुरम् तारकाख्यो ऽधिपस्तत्र कृतस्थानाधिपो ऽवसत् //

And that city, wrought of black iron (kārṣṇāyasa) and constructed by Māyā—there a lord named Tāraka dwelt, established as the ruler of that founded seat (the capital).

Verse 8

यत्तु पूर्णेन्दुसंकाशं राजतं निर्मितं पुरम् विद्युन्माली प्रभुस्तत्र विद्युन्माली त्विवाम्बुदः //

And that city, shining like the full moon—fashioned of silver—there Vidyunmālī was the lord; indeed, Vidyunmālī was like a rain-cloud charged with lightning.

Verse 9

सुवर्णाधिकृतं यच्च मयेन विहितं पुरम् स्वयमेव मयस्तत्र गतस्तदधिपः प्रभुः //

And that city which Māya had constructed—adorned and furnished with gold—Māya himself went there, becoming its sovereign lord and master.

Verse 10

तारकस्य पुरं तत्र शतयोजनमन्तरम् विद्युन्मालिपुरं चापि शतयोजनके ऽन्तरे //

There, the city of Tāraka lies at a distance of one hundred yojanas; and the city of Vidyunmālī too is separated by a gap of one hundred yojanas.

Verse 11

मेरुपर्वतसंकाशं मयस्यापि पुरं महत् पुष्यसंयोगमात्रेण कालेन स मयः पुरा //

Māya’s great city too was like Mount Meru in splendour; and in former times, that Māya accomplished it merely by choosing the proper time—when the asterism Puṣya was in conjunction.

Verse 12

कृतवांस्त्रिपुरं दैत्यस् त्रिनेत्रः पुष्पकं यथा येन येन मयो याति प्रकुर्वाणः पुरं पुरात् //

Just as the three-eyed one (Śiva) destroyed the Daitya’s Tripura, and just as Rāvaṇa’s Puṣpaka moved at will, so too Māyā the architect went wherever he wished—continually fashioning city after city.

Verse 13

प्रशस्तास्तत्र तत्रैव वारुण्यामालयाः स्वयम् रुक्मरूप्यायसानां च शतशो ऽथ सहस्रशः //

There, in many places, excellent abodes of Vāruṇī (the deity/power of Varuṇa and the waters) manifested of themselves—hundreds and even thousands—made of gold, silver, and iron.

Verse 14

रत्नाचितानि शोभन्ते पुराण्यमरविद्विषाम् प्रासादशतजुष्टानि कूटागारोत्कटानि च //

The cities of the foes of the gods shine, inlaid with jewels—adorned with hundreds of palaces, and made imposing with lofty mansions and peaked-roofed halls.

Verse 15

सर्वेषां कामगानि स्युः सर्वलोकातिगानि च सोद्यानवापीकूपानि सपद्मसरवन्ति च //

For all who dwell there, they become places that grant every desired enjoyment and even surpass the delights of all worlds—endowed with pleasure-gardens, tanks, wells, and lakes filled with lotuses.

Verse 16

अशोकवनभूतानि कोकिलारुतवन्ति च चित्रशालाविशालानि चतुःशालोत्तमानि च //

They are set amid aśoka-groves, resonant with the calls of cuckoos; they have spacious and richly decorated halls, and the finest type of four-courtyard residences.

Verse 17

सप्ताष्टदशभौमानि सत्कृतानि मयेन च बहुध्वजपताकानि स्रग्दामालंकृतानि च //

And I too had them properly prepared—seventeen ground-level structures (or platforms), set out with many flags and pennants, and adorned with garlands and festoons.

Verse 18

किङ्किणीजालशब्दानि गन्धवन्ति महान्ति च सुसंयुक्तोपलिप्तानि पुष्पनैवेद्यवन्ति च //

There should be the sound of nets of tiny bells; the arrangements should be fragrant and grand, well-assembled and properly anointed/plastered, and also furnished with flowers and food-offerings (naivedya).

Verse 19

यज्ञधूमान्धकाराणि संपूर्णकलशानि च गगनावरणाभानि हंसपङ्क्तिनिभानि च //

There appear masses of darkness like sacrificial smoke, and also forms like brimming water-pots—shapes that seem to veil the sky, resembling rows of swans.

Verse 20

पङ्क्तीकृतानि राजन्ते गृहाणि त्रिपुरे पुरे मुक्ताकलापैर्लम्बद्भिर् हसन्तीव शशिश्रियम् //

In the city of Tripura, the houses, set in orderly rows, shone brilliantly; with strings of pearls hanging down, they seemed—as it were—to smile forth with the moon’s own radiance.

Verse 21

मल्लिकाजातिपुष्पाद्यैर् गन्धधूपाधिवासितैः पञ्चेन्द्रियसुखैर्नित्यं समैः सत्पुरुषैरिव //

Let it be continually made delightful with the pleasures of the five senses—pervaded with fragrance and incense, and with jasmine (mallikā), jāti and other flowers—balanced and harmonious, as though in the company of noble, even-minded persons.

Verse 22

हेमराजतलोहाद्यमणिरत्नाञ्जनाङ्किताः प्राकारास्त्रिपुरे तस्मिन् गिरिप्राकारसंनिभाः //

In that Tripura, the enclosing ramparts were inlaid and ornamented with gold, silver, and other metals, as well as gems and collyrium-like dark stone; those walls resembled the encircling fortifications of a mountain.

Verse 23

एकैकस्मिन्पुरे तस्मिन् गोपुराणां शतं शतम् सपताकाध्वजवतां दृश्यन्ते गिरिशृङ्गवत् //

In each city there were hundreds upon hundreds of gateway‑towers (gopuras), furnished with pennants and flags, appearing like mountain peaks.

Verse 24

नूपुरारावरम्याणि त्रिपुरे तत्पुराण्यपि स्वर्गातिरिक्तश्रीकाणि तत्र कन्यापुराणि च //

In Tripurā, those cities too were delightful with the charm of Nūpurā; they possessed a splendour surpassing even heaven, and there were also cities there known as Kanyāpurā.

Verse 25

आरामैश्च विहारैश्च तडागवटचत्वरैः सरोभिश्च सरिद्भिश्च वनैश्चोपवनैरपि //

“(A settlement/region) should be graced with pleasure‑gardens and recreation grounds, with tanks, banyan trees, and public squares; with lakes and rivers; and also with forests and cultivated groves.”

Verse 26

दिव्यभोगोपभोगानि नानारत्नयुतानि च पुष्पोत्करैश्च सुभगास् त्रिपुरस्योपनिर्गमाः परिखाशतगम्भीराः कृता मायानिवारणैः //

Tripurā’s exits and gateways were splendid—furnished with celestial luxuries and enjoyments, adorned with many kinds of jewels, and beautified with heaps of flowers. Around it were moats, hundreds of them, exceedingly deep, constructed as barriers to ward off deceptive māyā and hostile stratagems.

Verse 27

निशम्य तद्दुर्गविधानमुत्तमं कृतं मयेनाद्भुतवीर्यकर्मणा दितेः सुता दैवतराजवैरिणः सहस्रशः प्रापुरनन्तविक्रमाः //

Hearing of that superb plan of fortification—fashioned by Maya, whose deeds and prowess were wondrous—the sons of Diti, enemies of the king of the gods, gathered there by the thousands, possessed of boundless valour.

Verse 28

तदासुरैर्दर्पितवैरिमर्दनैर् जनार्दनैः शैलकरीन्द्रसंनिभैः बभूव पूर्णं त्रिपुरं तथा पुरा यथाम्बरं भूरिजलैर् जलप्रदैः //

Then Tripura became completely filled, as in former times—by those proud Asuras, crushers of their foes, mighty as mountains and like lordly elephants—just as the sky is filled by rain-bearing clouds laden with abundant waters.