Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Pūrva 3.2
॥
Devanāgarī
जगत्प्राणायात्मनेऽस्मै नमः स्यान्नमस्त्वैक्यं प्रवदेत्प्राग्गुणेनेति
Transliteration (IAST)
jagatprāṇāyātmane'smai namaḥ syānnamastvaikyaṃ pravadetprāgguṇeneti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
जगत्प्राणाय आत्मने अस्मैjagatprāṇāya ātmane asmaito this Breath of the world, this Self; to this breathing of the universe, the ātman
नमः स्यात्namaḥ syātlet there be a bow; may there be worship
नमः तु ऐक्यम् प्रवदेत्namaḥ tu aikyam pravadetand let “namaḥ” proclaim oneness; “namaḥ” though declares union
प्राक् गुणेन इतिprāk guṇena itiby the aforenamed quality; through the preceding property
Translation
To this Breath of the world, this Self, let there be a bow; and let the word “namaḥ” proclaim oneness — through the property named before.
Version
bb4314c5d095 · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
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The second and last verse of the third Upaniṣad, and it is about the word “namaḥ” with which every worship ends.
First it is named to whom the bow goes: jagat-prāṇa, “the Breath of the world”, and ātman, “the Self”. The first name is familiar from the Kauṣītaki, where prāṇa was declared Brahman and the whole third adhyāya proved its primacy. Here it is applied to Rāma.
And then the word namaḥ itself is spoken of, and spoken of unexpectedly: it “shall proclaim oneness”, aikyaṁ pravadet.
This explanation is old and rests on grammar. Namaḥ can be resolved as na + mama — “not mine”; the bow is a renunciation of appropriation. And in mantras of the form “to so-and-so namaḥ” the dative case and this word together set the worshipper and Him who is worshipped into one relation — and therefore the bow expresses not distance but bond.
Note how this lies upon the whole book. In the first Upaniṣad it was said that the form, the mantra and the yantra are fashioned “for the sake of the worshippers' work”. Here the last thing is added: the very word of the bow speaks not of His being far, but of there being oneness between Him and the one who bows.
The proviso “through the property named before” refers to the previous verse: this oneness is that very tanmaya, “made of Him”, by which Sītā and Rāma were named. As they are one with Him, so the worshipper partakes of them.