Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Pūrva 1.2
॥
Devanāgarī
स राम इति लोकेषु विद्वद्भिः प्रकटीकृतः । राक्षसा येन मरणं यान्ति स्वोद्रेकतोऽथवा
Transliteration (IAST)
sa rāma iti lokeṣu vidvadbhiḥ prakaṭīkṛtaḥ | rākṣasā yena maraṇaṃ yānti svodrekato'thavā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सः रामः इति लोकेषुsaḥ rāmaḥ iti lokeṣuHe is “Rāma” in the worlds; he is called Rāma among men
विद्वद्भिः प्रकटीकृतःvidvadbhiḥ prakaṭīkṛtaḥmade manifest by the knowing; disclosed by the learned
राक्षसाः येन मरणम् यान्तिrākṣasāḥ yena maraṇam yāntiby whom the rākṣasas go to death; from whom the demons perish
स्वोद्रेकतः अथवाsvodrekataḥ athavāor else from their own excess; or from their own arrogance
Translation
He is “Rāma” — so made manifest by the knowing in the worlds: the one from whom the rākṣasas go to death, or else perish from their own excess.
Version
4eb71eaab59c · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second interpretation of the name, and it takes another root: ram in the sense “to stop, to subdue”, and the syllable rā heard in the word rākṣasa.
It is said that from Him “the rākṣasas go to death”. But at once something is added that turns the thought over: “or else from their own excess”, svodrekataḥ. The word udreka means “overflow, surplus, swelling”: they perish because they have swollen.
This is an important proviso, and it does the book credit. One could have said simply: He slays the wicked. Instead it is said doubly — both from Him and from themselves. The demon perishes because he exalted himself; the meeting with Him only makes visible what has already happened within.
The whole tradition knows the same thought: evil destroys itself, and the Lord proves to be the one in whose presence this becomes seen. Hence in the third adhyāya of the Kauṣītaki it is said of the knower that his enemies “fall dead around him” — not “he kills them”.
Note too the turn “made manifest by the knowing”, vidvadbhiḥ prakaṭīkṛtaḥ. The name was not invented and not assigned: it was disclosed by those who knew. The interpretation of the name in this book is not a play of wit but a testimony.