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Learning Sanskrit - Sacred Mantra-s: Dum̐ (Dum)

Durgā's Bījamantra











Transliteration IAST (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration) dum
ITRANS (commonly used online) du.N 
HARVARD-KYOTO (also commonly used online) du.m


द दुर्गावाचकं देवी उकारश्चापि रक्षणे।
विश्वमाता नादरूपा कुर्वर्थो बिन्दुरूपकः।
तेनैव कालिकादेवीं पूजयेद्दुःखशान्तये॥

Da durgāvācakaṁ devī ukāraścāpi rakṣaṇe|
Viśvamātā nādarūpā kurvartho bindurūpakaḥ|
Tenaiva kālikādevīṁ pūjayedduḥkhaśāntaye||

(The letter) "da" (da) is expressive (vācakam) of Durgā (durgā), and (ca) (this) goddess (devī) (is) also (api) the "u" letter (u-kāraḥ), oh Protector One (raksaṇe)! The mother (mātā) of the universe (viśva) has the appearance (rūpā) of nāda or half-moon (nāda) (while) that whose form (rūpakaḥ) (is) a dot or bindu (bindu) means (arthaḥ) "do!" (kuru). By means of that (seed-mantra) (tena eva), one should worship (pūjayet) goddess (devīm) Kālikā (kālikā) in order to alleviate (śāntaye) pain (duḥkha)||


  1. The Tantra-s are presented as a dialogue between Śiva and Śakti. Pretty generally, Śiva acts as the spiritual preceptor or guru, and Śakti as his disciple or śiṣyā. Varadātantra is no exception to the rule, which is proved by the word "rakṣaṇe" ("Oh Protector One!") occurring at the end of the first line. "Rakṣaṇe" is the Vocative case (singular) of "Rakṣaṇā" (Protector One), an epithet of Śakti. See Declension section for more information about cases (Vocative, Nominative, etc.).
  2. The word Durgā literally means "difficult to access". It is the name of a practically "inaccessible" goddess. She is very often identified with Kālikā (also known as Kālī), the terrifying black goddess. Of course, Durgā or Kālikā is a form in which the "only" Supreme Śakti or Power appears. This Supreme Śakti is called "Mother of the universe" in the second line.
  4. In this stanza, the Mother of the universe (i.e. the Supreme Śakti or Power of Lord Śiva) appears in the form of "nāda" (the half-moon in Anunāsika).
  5. Bindu or dot above the half-moon (nāda) means "kuru" or "do!" (2nd Person sing., Imperative Mood, Parasmaipada, of the root "kṛ" (to do) - See Verbs section for more information). According to my viewpoint, the entire seed-mantra is a kind of request to the goddess Durgā so that She may remove one's own sorrow: "Do it!" (i.e. "Alleviate my pain!"), which is corroborated by the third line "Tenaiva kālikādevīṁ pūjayedduḥkhaśāntaye" - "By means of that (seed-mantra) (tena eva), one should worship (pūjayet) goddess (devīm) Kālikā (kālikā) in order to alleviate (śāntaye) pain (duḥkha)".
  6. Bīja-s or seed-mantra-s are always monosyllabic.

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