Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Pūrva 4.31
॥
Devanāgarī
मुद्रां ज्ञानमयीं याम्ये वामे तेजप्रकाशिनीम् । धृत्वा व्याख्याननिरतश्चिन्मयः परमेश्वरः
Transliteration (IAST)
mudrāṃ jñānamayīṃ yāmye vāme tejaprakāśinīm | dhṛtvā vyākhyānanirataścinmayaḥ parameśvaraḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मुद्राम् ज्ञानमयीम् याम्येmudrām jñānamayīm yāmyethe seal of knowledge — in the right; the mudrā of knowing on the right
वामे तेजप्रकाशिनीम्vāme tejaprakāśinīmin the left — the revealer of radiance; on the left the one shedding light
धृत्वा व्याख्याननिरतःdhṛtvā vyākhyānanirataḥholding them, absorbed in exposition; bearing them, engaged in explaining
चिन्मयः परमेश्वरःcinmayaḥ parameśvaraḥmade of consciousness, the Highest Lord; being of mind, the supreme Master
Translation
Holding in his right hand the seal of knowledge, and in his left — the revealer of radiance, He is absorbed in exposition: the Highest Lord made of consciousness.
Version
a7484a189838 · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse changes everything we have seen so far, and changes it unexpectedly.
In the hands there is no longer a bow. In the right — the jñāna-mudrā, “the seal of knowledge”: thumb and forefinger joined in a ring, the teacher's sign. In the left — “the revealer of radiance”.
And it is said: vyākhyāna-nirata — “absorbed in exposition”, that is, occupied with interpreting, with instruction.
He who bent the bow sits and teaches.
This is the most important turn of the whole book. The Rāmāyaṇa is remembered as a tale of a campaign; here on the throne sits a teacher, and the next verse will say who listens before Him: Hanumān.
And at once — two words set beside this: cinmaya and parameśvara, “made of consciousness” and “the Highest Lord”. Both have sounded already: the first in the very first verse of the book, the second in the eighth verse of this Upaniṣad — but there in the feminine, of Sītā.
Vaiṣṇava Vedānta returns to this image constantly. The Highest not only shows Itself — It explains Itself; and therefore there is a tradition, there is a teaching, there is this book. The uttara-tāpanī will be built outright as such an instruction.