Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Pūrva 4.40
॥
Devanāgarī
एवमुद्देशतः प्रोक्तं निर्देशस्तस्य चाधुना । त्रिरेखापुटमालिख्य मध्ये तारद्वयं लिखेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
evamuddeśataḥ proktaṃ nirdeśastasya cādhunā | trirekhāpuṭamālikhya madhye tāradvayaṃ likhet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
एवम् उद्देशतः प्रोक्तम्evam uddeśataḥ proktamso it is told in outline; set forth in brief
निर्देशः तस्य च अधुनाnirdeśaḥ tasya ca adhunāand now — the detailed direction; now, though, the exact description
त्रिरेखापुटम् आलिख्यtrirekhāpuṭam ālikhyahaving drawn the three-lined enclosure; having traced the triple line
मध्ये तारद्वयम् लिखेत्madhye tāradvayam likhetlet him write two “tāras” in the middle; in the centre let him write two Oṁs
Translation
So it has been told in outline; and now — the detailed direction. Having drawn the triple enclosure, let him write in the middle the two syllables “tāra”.
Version
5a16276e588d · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse divides the fourth Upaniṣad in two, and does so openly.
Until now there was uddeśa — “exposition in outline”: the name, the form, the tale, the placing. Now begins nirdeśa — “exact direction”: how to draw and what to write.
This distinction is usual in the śāstras and useful: first say what the matter is, then show how it is done.
The first direction: trirekhā-puṭa — “the triple enclosure”, three nested lines framing the diagram.
The second: in the middle — two syllables tāra. This word means the Oṁkāra, and means literally “the ferrying, the saving one”.
So at the very core of the diagram stands not the image of Rāma but Oṁ. And this is exactly what the thirteenth verse of this chapter said: “a bow to him whose form is the beginning of the Vedas, a bow to the Oṁkāra”.
From here to the sixty-fourth verse will go the description of the writing: syllables, lotuses, petals, letters. To a reader unfamiliar with this craft much will remain dark, and the book itself admits it — the sixty-seventh verse will call all this a secret “hard even for the Lord”.