Tripura Rahasya

The Tripura Rahasya (Devanagari: त्रिपुरा रहस्य, Tripurā Rahasya) meaning The Mystery beyond the Trinity, is an ancient literary work in Sanskrit believed to have been narrated by Dattatreya to Parashurama. It is an ancient prime text is one of the treatise on Advaita school of classical Indian Metaphysics.

Tripura means three cities or the trinity. Rahasya means secret or mystery. In a sense there is no secret to be revealed. It is only due to our lack of wisdom that we do not experience our true nature. Therefore mystery would be a more appropriate translation. Thus Tripura Rahasya means the Mystery beyond the Trinity.The three cities or states of consciousness are waking (Jagrut), dreaming (Svapna) and Shushupti (deep sleep). The underlying consciousness in them all is called Sri Tripura, the Mother Goddess.

The Tripura Rahasya expounds the teachings of the supreme spiritual truth. The highest truth was first taught by Lord Shiva to Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu incarnated on earth as Sri Dattatreya, Lord of the Avadhutas, who taught this to Parasurama, who later taught it to Haritayana.

The Tripura Rahasya is a dialogue between Lord Dattatreya and Parasurama.It is also called the Haritayana Samhita after its author Haritayana, son of Harita.

It is said to consist of 12,000 slokas in three sections - The Mahatmya Khanda (Section on the Greatness of Sri Devi), Jnana Khanda (Section on Supreme Wisdom), and Charya Khanda (Section on Conduct). Of these the first consists of 6,687 slokas; the second of 2,163 slokas; and the third is not traceable.

Jamadagni was a Brahmin saint who lived in the forest with his wife Renuka and his sons, of whom Parasurama was the youngest, the most renowned and valiant. The country was then ruled by Haihayas, a certain clan of Kshatriyas. Some of them came into a clash with Parasurama, but fared the worse. They dared not challenge him afterwards. Their rancour, however, remained, and they could not resist their longing for revenge. They seized their opportunity when Parasurama was far away from the hermitage and attacked and killed his saintly father. On the son’s return, the mother narrated the unprovoked murder of the saint; she also desired that her husband’s body should be cremated on the banks of the Ganges and that she might perform Sati by mounting the funeral pyre.

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