Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Pūrva 4.45
॥
Devanāgarī
केसरे चाष्टपत्रे च वर्गाष्टकमथालिखेत् । तेषु मालामनोर्वर्णान्विलिखेदूर्मिसंख्यया
Transliteration (IAST)
kesare cāṣṭapatre ca vargāṣṭakamathālikhet | teṣu mālāmanorvarṇānvilikhedūrmisaṃkhyayā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
केसरे च अष्टपत्रे चkesare ca aṣṭapatre caon the filaments and the eight petals; in the whorl and on the eight petals
वर्गाष्टकम् अथ आलिखेत्vargāṣṭakam atha ālikhetlet him then write the eight classes; let him inscribe the eight groups of letters
तेषु मालामनोः वर्णान्teṣu mālāmanoḥ varṇānon them — the letters of the garland-mantra; on them the signs of the rosary mantra
विलिखेत् ऊर्मिसंख्ययाvilikhet ūrmisaṃkhyayālet him write by the number of the waves; let him trace to the count of the waves
Translation
On the filaments and the eight petals let him write the eight classes of letters, and upon them — the letters of the garland-mantra, by the number of the waves.
Version
d6fe432ed8d1 · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The alphabet is written out to the end: after the vowels — the consonants, arranged by the eight vargas, “classes”.
These classes are the gutturals, palatals, dentals and the rest: so grammar charts the sounds by the place of their birth in the mouth. Eight groups, and all of them lie on the eight petals.
It comes out that the lotus around the name of Rāma is an exact chart of human speech — from the throat to the lips.
Then over them are written the letters of the mālā-mantra, “the garland mantra”: the long mantra told on beads. It will itself be given further on, in verses fifty-seven to sixty-four, and written there in a special code.
The last words — ūrmi-saṁkhyayā, “by the number of the waves” — are dark. The number of the waves in this count is usually six: hunger, thirst, sorrow, delusion, old age and death — the six waves across which the living one is carried.
If so, the direction means: arrange the letters by sixes. And then in the very arrangement of the writing is mentioned that for which all this is done — the crossing of the six waves.