Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Uttara 2.6
॥
Devanāgarī
प्राज्ञात्मकस्तु भरतो मकाराक्षरसंभवः । अर्धमात्रात्मको रामो ब्रह्मानन्दैकविग्रहः
Transliteration (IAST)
prājñātmakastu bharato makārākṣarasaṃbhavaḥ | ardhamātrātmako rāmo brahmānandaikavigrahaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
प्राज्ञात्मकः तु भरतःprājñātmakaḥ tu bharataḥand Bharata — in essence prājña; Bharata, though, by nature is prājña
मकाराक्षरसंभवःmakārākṣarasaṃbhavaḥarisen from the letter “m”; born of the letter “m”
अर्धमात्रात्मकः रामःardhamātrātmakaḥ rāmaḥRāma — in essence the half-measure; Rāma, whose essence is the half-vowel
ब्रह्मानन्दैकविग्रहःbrahmānandaikavigrahaḥwhose sole form is the bliss of Brahman; whose body is one bliss of Brahman
Translation
“And Bharata, arisen from the letter ‘m’, is in essence prājña; Rāma is in essence the half-measure, whose sole form is the bliss of Brahman.”
Version
6d959f26e39f · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The chart is completed: Bharata — “m” and prājña, deep sleep; Rāma — ardha-mātrā, the half-measure.
The half-measure is what remains of Oṁ when the three sounds have died away: no longer a sound, yet not silence. The Māṇḍūkya calls this state turīya — “the fourth” — and describes it by negations alone, as we shall read in the fourteenth paragraph.
And here, in the place where the Māṇḍūkya sets the unsayable, this book sets a name.
Consider the turn: brahmānandaika-vigraha — “whose sole form is the bliss of Brahman”. The word vigraha means precisely “body, form, figure”.
The Māṇḍūkya says of the fourth: “unseen, inexpressible, ungraspable, markless, unthinkable”. And here this fourth has a body, and that body is bliss.
Herein lies the whole difference between the two readings of Vedānta, and herein why the Vaiṣṇavas hold to these books. The negations of the Māṇḍūkya are lifted not by ascribing qualities to the fourth, but by saying: it is not empty. What cannot be grasped by the senses is bliss — and bliss is never no one's.
Note too the order of the brothers: waking, dream, oblivion — and Rāma above all three. In the tradition they stood just so: the three at His side, and He in the midst.