Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Pūrva 4.64
॥
Devanāgarī
सप्तचत्वारिंशद्वर्णगुणान्तः सगुण: स्वयम् । राज्याभिषिक्तस्य तस्य रामस्योक्तक्रमाल्लिखेत्
Transliteration (IAST)
saptacatvāriṃśadvarṇaguṇāntaḥ saguṇa: svayam | rājyābhiṣiktasya tasya rāmasyoktakramāllikhet
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सप्तचत्वारिंशद्वर्णsaptacatvāriṃśadvarṇaforty-seven letters; forty-seven signs
गुणान्तः सगुणः स्वयम्guṇāntaḥ saguṇaḥ svayamwith the end of qualities, himself with qualities; having the bound of the guṇas, himself endowed with them
राज्याभिषिक्तस्य तस्यrājyābhiṣiktasya tasyaof him, anointed to the kingdom; of the one enthroned
रामस्य उक्तक्रमात् लिखेत्rāmasya uktakramāt likhetof Rāma, let him write in the order told; of Rāma, let him draw in the stated course
Translation
Forty-seven letters, with the bound of qualities, and Himself endowed with qualities; let him write in the order told, for Rāma anointed to the kingdom.
Version
d6c09b281a13 · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The code is finished, and the total is named: forty-seven letters.
Eight verses stuffed with names of powers and elements have come down to a number. The mantra is long, and therefore it is told on beads.
But the chief thing in the verse is not the number but two words set side by side: guṇānta and saguṇa.
Guṇānta — “the bound of the qualities”: He is beyond the three guṇas, beyond all of which the material world is made. Saguṇa — “endowed with qualities”.
Both are said of one, in one line, with no proviso whatever.
This is the book's answer to the seventh verse of its first Upaniṣad, where Brahman was named partless and bodiless, and the form — fashioned for the sake of the worshippers. Here it is said more briefly: He is both beyond qualities and with qualities.
Not “seems endowed”, not “assumes the look of the endowed” — outright saguṇaḥ svayam, “himself endowed”. The word svayam, “himself”, is set deliberately.
On this Vaiṣṇava Vedānta stands: the Lord's qualities are not borrowed from nature and not ascribed to Him by us; they are His own, and therefore “beyond the guṇas” does not mean “without properties”.
And at once — rājyābhiṣikta, “anointed to the kingdom”. All this is drawn for Him who sits on the throne in Ayodhyā.