Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Pūrva 4.46
॥
Devanāgarī
अन्ते पञ्चाक्षराण्येवं पुनरष्टदलं लिखेत् । तेषु नारायणाष्टार्णांलिख्य तत्केसरे रमाम्
Transliteration (IAST)
ante pañcākṣarāṇyevaṃ punaraṣṭadalaṃ likhet | teṣu nārāyaṇāṣṭārṇāṃlikhya tatkesare ramām
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अन्ते पञ्चाक्षराणि एवम्ante pañcākṣarāṇi evamat the end the five syllables — thus; lastly five syllables
पुनः अष्टदलम् लिखेत्punaḥ aṣṭadalam likhetagain let him write an eight-petalled one; let him draw once more the eight-leaved
तेषु नारायणाष्टार्णान्teṣu nārāyaṇāṣṭārṇānon them the eight syllables of Nārāyaṇa; on the petals Nārāyaṇa's eight syllables
लिख्य तत्केसरे रमाम्likhya tatkesare ramāmhaving written, in its filaments — Ramā; inscribing, in the whorl — Lakṣmī
Translation
At the end — the five-syllabled; and again let him write an eight-petalled lotus, on its petals the eight-syllable mantra of Nārāyaṇa, and in the whorl — Ramā the goddess.
Version
486f4101a8f6 · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second lotus, and on it is written not the mantra of Rāma but the mantra of Nārāyaṇa: “oṁ namo nārāyaṇāya”, eight syllables.
This is one of the chief Vaiṣṇava mantras, older than all the tāpanīs; the Subāla Upaniṣad is built entirely on the name of Nārāyaṇa, and its sixth khaṇḍa replaces all the gods in turn with this name.
Its appearance here means the same as the appearance of Vāsudeva in the thirty-fifth verse: Rāma is no separate deity of his own legend. Around Him are written the names by which the Vaiṣṇavas call the Highest.
Into the middle of the lotus is again inscribed ramā — Lakṣmī. So it was in the forty-second verse too; the book leaves not one circle without her.
The five-syllabled named at the start is, by all appearance, a mantra of five syllables closing the preceding row.
The next two verses will add two more lotuses — of twelve and sixteen petals — and on them two more mantras of Viṣṇu will be written. The diagram gathers around Rāma everything by which the Vaiṣṇavas name God.