Tripura Sundari Ashtakamत्रिपुरसुन्दरी अष्टकं త్రిపురసున్దరీ అష్టకం த்ரிபுரஸுந்தரீ அஷ்டகஂ ತ್ರಿಪುರಸುನ್ದರೀ ಅಷ್ಟಕಂ ત્રિપુરસુન્દરી અષ્ટકં ত্রিপুরসুন্দরী অষ্টকং ତ୍ରିପୁରସୁନ୍ଦରୀ ଅଷ୍ଟକଂ ത്രിപുരസുന്ദരീ അഷ്ടകം

{|| tripurasundarI aShTakaM ||}
tripurasundarI aShTakam
Octad to tripurasundarI
by shrImad sha.nkarAchArya
Introduction
The transliteration of Sanskrit terms is according to
ITRANS scheme, which is close to the pronunciation.
The translation and commentary on this text can be found in
http://www.geocities.com/RodeoDrive/1415/tripura8-itx
Please direct all your suggestions and corrections to
mgiridhar at ucdavis.edu.
Before we begin, let us offer ourselves at the feet of
the Divine Mother, mahAtripurasundarI, who as Ishvara rules the
world but is none other than the indwelling spirit (Atman) within
us and which pervades us all that exists.
This introduction deals with the background on the name of
tripurasundarI . It is one of the best epithets to describe the Devi
meaning that she is the belle of all the three worlds . The word tripura
can be interpreted variously . The kAlikA purANa says that by the will of
pradhAna, the body of Lord Shiva became triple : the upper part became
Brahma, the middle part became ViShNu and the lower part became Rudra . As