Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Pūrva 4.32
॥
Devanāgarī
उदग्दक्षिणयोः स्वस्य शत्रुघ्नभरतौ ततः । हनूमन्तं च श्रोतारमग्रतः स्यात्त्रिकोणगम्
Transliteration (IAST)
udagdakṣiṇayoḥ svasya śatrughnabharatau tataḥ | hanūmantaṃ ca śrotāramagrataḥ syāttrikoṇagam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
उदग्दक्षिणयोः स्वस्यudagdakṣiṇayoḥ svasyato the north and south of himself; at his left and right sides
शत्रुघ्नभरतौ ततःśatrughnabharatau tataḥŚatrughna and Bharata then; Śatrughna with Bharata
हनूमन्तम् च श्रोतारम्hanūmantam ca śrotāramand Hanumān, the listener; and Hanumān as the hearkener
अग्रतः स्यात् त्रिकोणगम्agrataḥ syāt trikoṇagamlet him be in front — going into the triangle; let him stand before — in the three corners
Translation
To the north and to the south of himself — Śatrughna and Bharata, and Hanumān, the listener, in front: so let the triangle be.
Version
175ed3b8e898 · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second triangle of the diagram. The first — in the tenth verse — was composed of Rāma, Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa in the forest; this one is composed around the throne.
Bharata and Śatrughna at the sides. Bharata is the one who ruled fourteen years with his brother's sandals set on the throne, himself living as a hermit. His place beside the enthroned one is by right.
And in front, facing Him, — Hanumān, and he is named with one word: śrotā, “the listener”.
Here everything converges. Rāma expounds — Hanumān listens. And therefore in the diagram he is not at the side but straight before the Lord: the listener stands nearest of all.
Note who is not between them. Neither brother nor wife — those are at the sides; opposite the face is the bhakta.
This is the book's answer to the question who is closest to God. Neither kinship nor merit sets one in front, but attention. The whole tradition knows the same measure: Hanumān, foreign by birth, a beast in form, proves the first.
The following verses will add circle after circle, and all the others — kings, gods, sages — will take their places beyond him.