Devi Upanishad 28: Verse 28

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

मन्त्राणां मातृका देवी शब्दानां ज्ञानरूपिणी ।

ज्ञानानां चिन्मयातीता शून्यानां शून्यसाक्षिणी ॥

यस्याः परतरं नास्ति सैषा दुर्गा प्रकीर्तिता ।

तां दुर्गां दुर्गमां देवीं दुराचारविघातिनीम् ।

नमामि भवभीतोऽहं संसारार्णवतारिणीम् ॥२७–२८॥

Padapatha (Word Split)

मन्त्राणाम् । मातृका । देवी । शब्दानाम् । ज्ञान-रूपिणी ।

ज्ञानानाम् । चिन्मयी । अतीता । शून्यानाम् । शून्य-साक्षिणी ।

यस्याः । परतरम् । न । अस्ति । सा । एषा । दुर्गा । प्रकीर्तिता ।

ताम् । दुर्गाम् । दुर्गमाम् । देवीं । दुराचार-विघातिनीम् ।

नमामि । भव-भीतः । अहम् । संसार-अर्णव-तारिणीम् ।

Recitation with translationDevi Upanishad 28

IAST Transliteration

mantrāṇāṃ mātṛkā devī śabdānāṃ jñānarūpiṇī |

jñānānāṃ cinmayātītā śūnyānāṃ śūnyasākṣiṇī ||

yasyāḥ parataraṃ nāsti saiṣā durgā prakīrtitā |

tāṃ durgāṃ durgamāṃ devīṃ durācāravighātinīm |

namāmi bhavabhīto'haṃ saṃsārārṇavatāriṇīm ||27–28||

Translation

女神为诸咒之母字（mātṛkā），于一切言语中显为智慧之体。超越知识之上，祂即纯然觉知；于诸“空”之中，祂为“空”的见证者。无有高于祂者——故称为杜尔迦（Durgā）。我今顶礼杜尔迦，那难以逾越之女神，摧破恶行者；我畏惧世间流转，愿依祂度越轮回（saṃsāra）之海。

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Academic Translation

The Goddess is the matrix (mātṛkā) of mantras; of words she is of the form of knowledge. Beyond (even) knowledge, she is consciousness itself; of the voids, she is the witness of the void. Than her there is nothing higher—thus she is proclaimed as Durgā. That Durgā, the hard-to-cross Goddess, the destroyer of evil conduct—her I bow to, I who am afraid of worldly becoming, (she who is) the one who ferries across the ocean of saṃsāra.

Verse Context

• Brahman/Śakti as Cit (pure consciousness) and sākṣin (witness); Mokṣa (liberation)
• Mahavakya: Indirect: supports mahāvākya purport by identifying the supreme as pure consciousness (cit) and the witnessing Self; aligns with ‘prajñānaṃ brahma’ (Aitareya) in sense, though expressed theistically as Devī.
• Atharva
• Chandas: Mixed: largely anuṣṭubh-like pādas with devotional/prose-like expansion; not a strict single Vedic meter (late Upaniṣadic style).