Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Pūrva 4.27
॥
Devanāgarī
तदा रामः क्रोधरूपी तानाहूयाथ वानरान् । तैः सार्धमादायास्त्राणि पुरीं लङ्कां समाययौ
Transliteration (IAST)
tadā rāmaḥ krodharūpī tānāhūyātha vānarān | taiḥ sārdhamādāyāstrāṇi purīṃ laṅkāṃ samāyayau
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तदा रामः क्रोधरूपीtadā rāmaḥ krodharūpīthen Rāma, having the form of wrath; at that time Rāma, wrath embodied
तान् आहूय अथ वानरान्tān āhūya atha vānarānhaving summoned those monkeys; calling up the monkey host
तैः सार्धम् आदाय अस्त्राणिtaiḥ sārdham ādāya astrāṇitogether with them, taking up the weapons; with them, lifting the arms
पुरीम् लङ्काम् समाययौpurīm laṅkām samāyayauapproached the city of Laṅkā; came up to the town of Laṅkā
Translation
Then Rāma, embodied as wrath, summoned the monkeys and, taking up the weapons, together with them approached the city of Laṅkā.
Version
f884f1df2f16 · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The only place in the book where Rāma is called krodha-rūpin — “having the form of wrath”.
The turn is chosen exactly, and it deserves comparing with the others like it. In the fourteenth verse He was named “having the form of the end of the Ten-faced”; in the twelfth — kāma-rūpa, “taking form at will”. Everywhere -rūpin, “form”: wrath is a form, not a state.
The difference is essential. Wrath does not come over Him as it comes over us; He assumes it, as He assumed the dark colour and the bow.
And recall what stood in the eighth verse: prasanna-vadana, “with a bright face”. The one does not hinder the other, because both are forms.
And for what is the wrath? For Sītā. Not for an offence against himself — for her; and this is the one kind of wrath the tradition recognises in Him at all.
Note that even in wrath He summons the monkeys and goes with them. Wrath has not made Him a loner; he still wars with an army.