Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Pūrva 1.13
॥
Devanāgarī
सोऽभयस्यास्य देवस्य विग्रहो यन्त्रकल्पना । विना यन्त्रेण चेत्पूजा देवता न प्रसीदति
Transliteration (IAST)
so'bhayasyāsya devasya vigraho yantrakalpanā | vinā yantreṇa cetpūjā devatā na prasīdati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सः अभयस्य अस्य देवस्यsaḥ abhayasya asya devasyaof this fearless God; of this god who gives fearlessness
विग्रहः यन्त्रकल्पनाvigrahaḥ yantrakalpanāthe form is the fashioning of the yantra; the shape is the construction of the diagram
विना यन्त्रेण चेत् पूजाvinā yantreṇa cet pūjāif worship is without the yantra; should honouring be without the diagram
देवता न प्रसीदतिdevatā na prasīdatithe Deity does not show grace; the god is not gracious
Translation
The form of this fearless Deity is the fashioning of the yantra; and if worship is performed without the yantra, the Deity does not show grace.
Version
aaa26edd79e1 · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The third link after the form and the mantra: the yantra, the diagram upon which worship is performed.
It is said outright: vigraho yantra-kalpanā — “the form is the fashioning of the yantra”. That is, the diagram does not depict the Deity and does not replace it: it is His form, laid out on a plane.
This is exactly what the Gopāla-tāpanī described when it gave the eight-petalled lotus with the triangles and the seed syllable in the middle, and placed upon it Kṛṣṇa together with his near ones, kin and treasures. There we saw the diagram; here the ground is given why it is such.
Three things, then, are set in one row: the form — for contemplation, the mantra — for utterance, the yantra — for worship. One and the same, taken by the eye, the voice and the hand.
The proviso is the same as with the mantra: “without the yantra the Deity does not show grace”. And it must be understood likewise. Not because God is fastidious about diagrams, but because worship without a place and without an image has nothing to address; and He is here named abhaya — “fearless”, that is, the giver of fearlessness. To receive that, one must come up to someone.
Here ends the first Upaniṣad of the pūrva-tāpanī — thirteen verses that have examined the name, the form, the mantra and the diagram.