Shloka 34

Matsya Purana — The Burning of Tripura: Maya’s Triple Fortresses and the Boon that Leads to S...

Devanagari script

राजतस्योपरिष्टात्तु सौवर्णं भविता पुरम् एवं त्रिभिः पुरैर्युक्तं त्रिपुरं तद्भविष्यति शतयोजनविष्कम्भैर् अन्तरैस्तद्दुरासदम् //

Transliteration

rājatasyopariṣṭāttu sauvarṇaṃ bhavitā puram evaṃ tribhiḥ purairyuktaṃ tripuraṃ tadbhaviṣyati śatayojanaviṣkambhair antaraistaddurāsadam //

Translation

Above the silver city there shall arise a golden city. Thus, endowed with three cities, it will be called “Tripura,” the Triple City. With intervening gaps of a hundred yojanas, it will be exceedingly hard to assail.

Word by Word

• rājatasya: of the silver (city)

• upariṣṭāt: above/over

• tu: indeed

• sauvarṇam: golden

• bhavitā: will come to be/will be

• puram: city/fortified town

• evam: thus

• tribhiḥ: with three

• puraiḥ: cities

• yuktaṃ: joined/endowed

• tripuram: Tripura (threefold city)

• tat: that

• bhaviṣyati: will be

• śata-yojana-viṣkambhaiḥ: with spans/intervals of a hundred yojanas

• antaraiḥ: with intervening spaces/gaps

• tat: that (Tripura)

• durāsadam: hard to approach/assail, impregnable

Speaker

• Suta Goswami (Puranic narrator), recounting the description within the Matsya Purana’s architectural-cosmological narrative

Entities Mentioned

• Tripura

Tags

• Vastu Shastra
• Fortification
• City Planning
• Tripura
• Puranic Architecture

FAQs

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

This verse does not describe Pralaya; it focuses on architectural-cosmological description of Tripura’s three-tiered cities and their defensive separation.

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

It supports rajadharma indirectly by emphasizing strategic fortification and protected urban planning—key concerns for a king responsible for security, governance, and defense of settlements.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

The verse highlights a three-city (Tripura) conception with vertical ordering (gold above silver) and vast intervening distances (hundred-yojana intervals), underscoring an ideal of near-impregnable fortification and planned spatial separation.