Shiva Purana — Rudra Samhita, Shloka 27

त्रिपुरदाहवर्णनम् | Tripura-dāha-varṇanam

Description of the Burning of Tripura

Devanagari script

ददाह त्रिपुरस्थास्तान्दैत्यांस्त्रीन्विमलापहः । स आशुगो विष्णुमयो वह्निशल्यो महाज्वलन्

Transliteration

dadāha tripurasthāstāndaityāṃstrīnvimalāpahaḥ | sa āśugo viṣṇumayo vahniśalyo mahājvalan

Translation

အပြစ်ကိုဖျက်သိမ်းသော သန့်ရှင်းမြတ်သော အင်အားသည် တ్రိပုရ၌ နေထိုင်သော ဒೈత్య သုံးပါးကို လောင်ကျွမ်းစေ하였다။ အလျင်အမြန် သွားလာ၍ ဗိෂ္ဏု၏ အင်အားဖြင့် ပြည့်ဝကာ မီးစွဲသော ထိပ်ဖျားပါ မြားတံအဖြစ် တောက်လောင်ပြင်းထန်လေ၏။

Word by Word

• ददाह: burned up
• ददाह: क्रिया (मुख्यक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √दह् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect/लिट्), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन

• त्रिपुर-स्थाः: dwelling in Tripura
• त्रिपुर-स्थाः: विशेषण (qualifier of कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: त्रिपुर (प्रातिपदिक) + स्थ (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (त्रिपुरे स्थाः) विशेषणम् दैत्याः-शब्दस्य

• तान्: those
• तान्: कर्म (कर्म/Direct object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• दैत्यान्: demons (Daityas)
• दैत्यान्: कर्म (कर्म/Direct object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दैत्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), बहुवचन

• त्रीन्: three
• त्रीन्: विशेषण (qualifier of कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: त्रि (संख्या/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), बहुवचन; संख्याविशेषणम् दैत्यान्-शब्दस्य

• विमल-अपहः: the remover of impurity (epithet)
• विमल-अपहः: कर्ता (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विमल (प्रातिपदिक) + अपह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; समासः—बहुव्रीहिः (विमलं अपहन्ति इति/यस्य सः) कर्तृपद

• सः: he
• सः: कर्ता (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• आशुगः: swift-moving
• आशुगः: विशेषण (qualifier of कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आशुग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; विशेषणरूपेण

• विष्णु-मयः: pervaded by Vishnu / Vishnu-formed
• विष्णु-मयः: विशेषण (qualifier of कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विष्णु (प्रातिपदिक) + मय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (विष्णुना मयः/विष्णुरूपः)

• वह्नि-शल्यः: having fire as its barb/point
• वह्नि-शल्यः: विशेषण (qualifier of कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वह्नि (प्रातिपदिक) + शल्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (वह्निः शल्यं यस्य/वह्निशल्यः) विशेषणरूपेण

• महा-ज्वलन्: blazing greatly
• महा-ज्वलन्: विशेषण (qualifier of कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महा (प्रातिपदिक) + √ज्वल् (धातु)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (शतृ/Present participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; समासः—कर्मधारयः (महान् ज्वलन्)

Speaker

Suta Goswami (narrating to the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya)

Shaiva Theology

Tattva Level: pati

Shiva Form: Tripurāntaka

Characters & Entities

• Shiva
• Vishnu
• Tripura (three cities)
• Daityas

FAQs

What is the spiritual significance of this verse in the Shiva Purana?

Tripura represents entrenched impurity and bondage; the verse shows how Shiva’s purifying power (remover of mala) burns the root of demonic tendencies, pointing to liberation through divine grace rather than mere human effort.

How does this verse relate to the worship of the Linga or Saguna Shiva?

The blazing, sin-destroying force symbolizes Saguna Shiva’s active grace—worship of the Liṅga invokes the same purifying presence that destroys inner Tripura (ego, desire, and delusion) and restores dharma.

What ritualistic or meditative practice is suggested here?

Contemplate Shiva as vimalāpaha (remover of impurity) while doing japa of the Pañcākṣarī “Om Namaḥ Śivāya”; on Mahāśivarātri, combine it with Tripuṇḍra (bhasma) application and focused meditation on burning inner vices.