Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Pūrva 1.11
॥
Devanāgarī
ब्रह्मादीनां वाचकोऽयं मन्त्रोऽन्वर्थादिसंज्ञकः । जप्तव्यो मन्त्रिणा नैवं विना देवः प्रसीदति
Transliteration (IAST)
brahmādīnāṃ vācako'yaṃ mantro'nvarthādisaṃjñakaḥ | japtavyo mantriṇā naivaṃ vinā devaḥ prasīdati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ब्रह्मादीनाम् वाचकः अयम्brahmādīnām vācakaḥ ayamit signifies Brahmā and the others; this word points to Brahmā and the rest
मन्त्रः अन्वर्थादिसंज्ञकःmantraḥ anvarthādisaṃjñakaḥthe mantra named after its meaning; the mantra whose name matches its sense
जप्तव्यः मन्त्रिणाjaptavyaḥ mantriṇāis to be repeated by the mantra-knower; must be recited by its possessor
न एवम् विना देवः प्रसीदतिna evam vinā devaḥ prasīdatinot otherwise does the God show grace; without that the god is not gracious
Translation
This mantra, named after its meaning, signifies Brahmā and the others; and it is to be repeated by him who knows it — otherwise the God does not show grace.
Version
5634b2f8868b · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
From the form the book passes to the name: the fashioned form has its word, and this word is the mantra.
It is said that the mantra is anvartha-saṁjñaka — “named after its meaning”, that is, its name answers to what it signifies. This is the same position on which the Gopāla-tāpanī stood: a name is not a label but a compressed description.
And a requirement is added: japtavyo mantriṇā — “it is to be repeated by him who knows it”. The word mantrin means not anyone, but him to whom the mantra has been entrusted.
Then follows a proviso that sounds stern: “otherwise the God does not show grace”. It is easy to hear a bargain here — as if grace were bought by repetition. But the sense is other, and this whole Upaniṣad shows it: the form is fashioned “for the sake of the worshippers' work”, the mantra is given as the word of that form; to refuse it is to refuse the very way by which He Himself came out to meet.
The same measure the Gopāla-tāpanī keeps, where it is said that the utterer of the five-word mantra “even once” already receives his share, but that what makes utterance alive is bhakti, defined as the mind's striving without hopes of gain.
The next verse will explain the very word “mantra” by its roots — a device to which this book resorts constantly.