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Upanishads · Jābāli 14
॥
Devanāgarī
यास्य तृतीया रेखा साहवनीयो मकारस्तमो द्यौर्लोकः परमात्मा ज्ञानशक्तिः सामवेदस्तृतीयसवनं महादेवो देवतेति त्रिपुण्ड्रं भस्मना करोति
Transliteration (IAST)
yāsya tṛtīyā rekhā sāhavanīyo makārastamo dyaurlokaḥ paramātmā jñānaśaktiḥ sāmavedastṛtīyasavanaṃ mahādevo devateti tripuṇḍraṃ bhasmanā karoti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
या अस्य तृतीया रेखाyā asya tṛtīyā rekhāwhichever is its third line
सा आहवनीयः म-कारःsā āhavanīyaḥ ma-kāraḥthat is the sacrificial fire and the sound “m”
तमः द्यौः लोकःtamaḥ dyauḥ lokaḥdarkness, the world of the sky
परम-आत्मा ज्ञान-शक्तिःparama-ātmā jñāna-śaktiḥthe Supreme Self, the power of knowledge
साम-वेदः तृतीय-सवनंsāma-vedaḥ tṛtīya-savanaṃthe Sāmaveda, the third pressing
महादेवः देवता इतिmahādevaḥ devatā itiMahādeva is its deity
त्रि-पुण्ड्रं भस्मना करोतिtri-puṇḍraṃ bhasmanā karotithus he makes the tripuṇḍra with ash
Translation
“Whichever is its third line is the sacrificial fire and the sound ‘m,’ darkness, the world of the sky, the Supreme Self, the power of knowledge, the Sāmaveda, the third pressing; and its deity is Mahādeva. Thus he makes the three lines with ash.”
Version
1797c795dee6 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The third line is given to Mahādeva, and it deserves note that tamas, “darkness,” stands beside it. This pairing is common in Śaiva books and is explained by the fact that destruction is given to Rudra, and destruction is accomplished through darkness. It is worth saying plainly, however, what results from such a distribution.
The Highest, in this mapping, turns out joined to the lowest of the three qualities; and, moreover, joined to the paramātmā, “the Supreme Self,” and to jñāna-śakti, “the power of knowledge.” That is, darkness and knowledge stand in one line, and it is worth saying why this is no contradiction within the teaching itself: destruction there is conceived as dissolution, and dissolution is a return to the unmanifest, whence knowledge also comes. Add, too, how the Vaiṣṇava side answers such mappings, for its answer here is short and rests on the same passage of the Bhāgavatam cited in the previous passage.
If the three are the administrators of the three qualities, then not one of them is the limit, for the qualities are properties of nature, not of the Highest. And the Bhāgavatam (1.2.24) adds: of the three, sattva is closest to the truth, for by it the truth is reached; but it too is a quality. That is, by its reckoning this mapping is correct within matter and does not hold beyond it; and the dispute is not over which of the three is greatest but over whether there is a limit outside the series.
Add, too, what deserves note as a merit of the construction itself: the three lines are the three sounds a, u, m, that is, the syllable om laid out on the face. One who has drawn the sign wears upon his forehead the word, uttered; and this is, to my mind, a beautiful conceit.