Adhyaya 90: Description of the Threefold Goddess-Power and Brahmā’s Hymn to Sṛṣṭi
Triśakti-varṇana (Sṛṣṭi–Vaiṣṇavī–Raudrī Devī-stuti)
Theological-Philosophical Discourse (Śakti, Cosmology, Mantra-ontology)
Framed as Varāha’s instruction to Pṛthivī (Varārohā/Viśālākṣī), the chapter teaches a triadic doctrine of śakti attributed to Śiva/Parameṣṭhin. Varāha first describes the primal creative power, Sṛṣṭi: white (śveta-varṇā), auspicious, and identified as ekākṣarā, the “single syllable” that is made of all phonemes (sarvākṣara-mayī). The same goddess is known through epistemic names—Vāgīśī, Sarasvatī, Vidyeśvarī, Amitākṣarā—linking speech, knowledge, and manifestation. The second power is Aparā/Vaiṣṇavī, red (rakta-varṇā), and the third is Raudrī, called parāparā. Brahmā then offers a formal stuti, praising her as svāhā/svadhā, as abiding in the oṃkāra, and as the generative source of beings. Implicitly, cosmic order is upheld by disciplined knowledge and speech, grounding worldly stability and Pṛthivī-centered stewardship in a regulated, all-pervading creative principle.
Primary Speakers
Key Concepts
Shlokas in Adhyaya 90
Verse 1
श्रीवराह उवाच । शृणु चान्यं वरारोहे तस्या देव्या महाविधिम् । या सा त्रिशक्तिरुद्दिष्टा शिवेन परमेष्ठिना ॥
Śrī Varāha said: “Listen further, O fair-hipped one, to the great ordinance/rite of that Goddess—she who was taught as the ‘threefold power’ by Śiva, the supreme lord.”
Verse 2
सर्वज्ञे त्वं वरारोहे सर्वसिद्धिप्रदायिनी । सिद्धिबुद्धिकरी देवि प्रसूतिः परमेश्वरि ॥
“You are all-knowing, O fair-hipped one, the giver of all siddhis. O Devī, you bring about accomplishment and understanding; you are the generative source, O supreme sovereign.”
Verse 3
त्वं स्वाहा त्वं स्वधा देवि त्वमुत्पत्तिर्वरानने । त्वमोङ्कारस्थितादेवि वेदोत्पत्तिस्त्वमेव च ॥
You are Svāhā; you are Svadhā, O Goddess; you are the very source of origination, O fair-faced one. You abide in the syllable Oṁ, O Goddess; and the arising of the Vedas is indeed you alone.
Verse 4
देवानां दानवानां च यक्षगन्धर्वरक्षसाम् । पशूनां वीरुधां चापि त्वमुत्पत्तिर्वरानने ॥
Of the gods and the Dānavas, of Yakṣas, Gandharvas, and Rākṣasas, and also of animals and plants—you are the source of origination, O fair-faced one.
Verse 5
विद्या विद्येश्वरी सिद्धा प्रसिद्धा त्वं सुरेश्वरी । सर्वज्ञा त्वं वरारोहे सर्वसिद्धिप्रदायिनी ॥
You are knowledge; you are the sovereign of knowledge—accomplished and renowned; you are the Lady of the gods. You are all-knowing, O noble-ascending one, the giver of every attainment.
Verse 6
सर्वगा गतसन्देहा सर्वशत्रुनिबर्हिणी । सर्वविद्येश्वरी देवी नमस्ते स्वस्तिकारिणि ॥
All-pervading, free from doubt, destroyer of every foe; sovereign of all knowledge, O Goddess—homage to you, maker of well-being.
Verse 7
ऋतुस्नातां स्त्रियं गच्छेद्यस्त्वां स्तुत्वा वरानने । तस्यावश्यं भवेत्सृष्टिस्त्वत्प्रसादात्प्रजेश्वरि । स्वरूपा विजया भद्रा सर्वशत्रुप्रमोहिनी ॥
Whoever, after praising you, O fair-faced one, approaches a woman purified by her season—of him there will certainly be progeny, by your favor, O Lady of creatures. You are true-form, victory, auspiciousness—one who confounds all enemies.
Verse 8
तत्र सृष्टिः पुरा प्रोक्ता श्वेतवर्णा स्वरूपिणी । एकाक्षरेति विख्याता सर्वाक्षरमयी शुभा ॥
There, Creation was formerly described as white in hue, possessing its own essential form; renowned as “the One‑Syllabled,” auspicious, constituted of all syllables.
Verse 9
वागीशेति समाख्याता क्वचिद्देवी सरस्वती । सैव विद्येश्वरी देवी सैव क्वाप्यमिताक्षरा । सैव ज्ञानविधिः क्वापि सैव देवी विभावरी ॥
In some places she is called Vāgīśā; elsewhere the goddess is called Sarasvatī. She alone is the Goddess who is sovereign of knowledge; she alone, somewhere, is the one of immeasurable syllables. She alone, somewhere, is the ordinance of knowledge; she alone is the goddess Vibhāvarī.
Verse 10
यानि सौम्यानि नामानि यानि ज्ञानोद्भवानि च । तानि तस्या विशालाक्षि द्रष्टव्यानि वरानने ॥
The gentle names, and the names that arise from knowledge—those are to be regarded as hers, O wide‑eyed one, O fair‑faced one.
Verse 11
या वैष्णवी विशालाक्षी रक्तवर्णा सुरूपिणी । अपरा सा समाख्याता रौद्री चैव परापरा ॥
She who is Vaiṣṇavī—wide‑eyed, red in hue, of beautiful form—is called “Aparā”; and she is also Raudrī and Parāparā.
Verse 12
एतास्त्रयोऽपि सिद्ध्यन्ते यो रुद्रं वेत्ति तत्त्वतः । सर्वगेयं वरारोहे एकैव त्रिविधा स्मृता ॥
These three, too, become efficacious for one who knows Rudra in truth. This is to be sung everywhere, O noble‑ascending one: she is one alone, remembered as threefold.
Verse 13
एषा सृष्टिर्वरारोहे कथिता ते पुरातनी । तया सर्वमिदं व्याप्तं जगत् स्थावरजङ्गमम् ॥
O fair-hipped one, this ancient account of creation has been explained to you; by it this entire world—both the immovable and the moving—has been pervaded.
Verse 14
या सा आदौ वर्धिता सृष्टिर्ब्रह्मणोऽव्यक्तजन्मनः । तया तुल्यां स्तुतिं चक्रे तस्या देव्याः पितामहः ॥
That creation which was first expanded by Brahmā—whose origin is unmanifest—Pitāmaha (Brahmā) composed a praise equal to her, for that Goddess.
Verse 15
ब्रह्मोवाच । जयस्व सत्यसम्भूते ध्रुवे देवि वराक्षरे । सर्वगे सर्वजननि सर्वभूतमहेश्वरि ॥
Brahmā said: Be victorious, O you who arise from truth; O steadfast Goddess, O bearer of excellent syllables; O all-pervading one, mother of all, great sovereign over all beings.
Frequently Asked Questions
The text presents a philosophical model in which a single all-pervading power (śakti) manifests in three modes (sṛṣṭi, vaiṣṇavī/aparā, raudrī/parāparā). It links cosmic stability to disciplined knowledge and speech (Vāc/Sarasvatī), implying that orderly creation—and by extension the well-being of the terrestrial world addressed through Pṛthivī—depends on right understanding of the underlying creative principle.
No tithi, lunar phase, month (māsa), seasonal (ṛtu) timing, or calendrical ritual schedule is specified in the provided passage. The only temporal phrasing is cosmological (“ādau,” ‘in the beginning’) rather than liturgical.
Environmental balance is approached indirectly through cosmology: the chapter states that the primordial sṛṣṭi-śakti pervades the entire world (jagat), including stationary and moving beings (sthāvara-jaṅgama). By framing creation as universally suffused by a regulating principle grounded in knowledge and sacred sound, the narrative supports a Pṛthivī-oriented reading in which terrestrial order is maintained through alignment with that pervasive creative law.
The passage references Brahmā (Pitāmaha) as the speaker of the hymn and invokes Śiva/Parameṣṭhin as the authority who has indicated the triśakti. No royal dynasties, human genealogies, or named sage lineages appear in these verses.