Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Uttara 2.15
॥
Devanāgarī
सदोज्ज्वलोऽविद्यातत्कार्यहीनः स्वात्मबन्धहरः सर्वदा द्वैतरहित आनन्दरूपः सर्वाधिष्ठानसन्मात्रो निरस्त अविद्यातमोमोहोऽहमेवेति संभाव्याहम्
Transliteration (IAST)
sadojjvalo'vidyātatkāryahīnaḥ svātmabandhaharaḥ sarvadā dvaitarahita ānandarūpaḥ sarvādhiṣṭhānasanmātro nirasta avidyātamomoho'hameveti saṃbhāvyāham
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सदा उज्ज्वलःsadā ujjvalaḥever radiant; unceasingly effulgent
अविद्यातत्कार्यहीनःavidyātatkāryahīnaḥfree of ignorance and its works; void of nescience and its fruits
स्वात्मबन्धहरःsvātmabandhaharaḥremoving the bonds of his own self; carrying off the fetters of one's own “I”
सर्वदा द्वैतरहितःsarvadā dvaitarahitaḥalways devoid of duality; constantly without the pair
आनन्दरूपःānandarūpaḥhaving the form of bliss; whose shape is joy
सर्वाधिष्ठानसन्मात्रःsarvādhiṣṭhānasanmātraḥpure being, the ground of all; one existence, the substrate of everything
निरस्तः अविद्यातमोमोहःnirastaḥ avidyātamomohaḥcast off is the darkness and delusion of ignorance; thrown off the gloom and beguilement of nescience
अहम् एव इति संभाव्य अहम्aham eva iti saṃbhāvya aham“it is I” — so having conceived, I; “I indeed” — so having affirmed, I
Translation
Ever radiant, free of ignorance and its works, removing the bonds of his own self, always devoid of duality, having the form of bliss, pure being — the ground of all, — and cast off is the darkness and delusion of ignorance: “it is I” — so having conceived…
Version
fab0fede57a1 · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
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From the Māṇḍūkya the book returns to its own and passes to that for whose sake all this was said: the union.
The definitions listed are all familiar already: radiant, free of ignorance, devoid of duality, having the form of bliss, pure being at the ground of all.
Then it is said: “cast off is the darkness and delusion of ignorance” — and there follows aham eva, “it is I”.
Here begins a place that must be read slowly, for on it the schools of Vedānta parted.
One reading: “I am That”, without remainder; between the soul and the Highest there is no difference, and the seeming difference is that very delusion just cast off.
The other reading, which Vaiṣṇava Vedānta holds: “it is I” is said of nature, not of person. The soul is of one essence with Him — it is conscious, not material — but not identical.
For the second reading speaks this very book. In the next paragraph, where the famous so'ham stands, Rāma will be named by name; and in the last chapter of the uttara-tāpanī it will be said that He “shows Himself” to the bhakta. One shows oneself to someone, not to oneself.
We read the same in the Gopāla-tāpanī, where the words “that am I” stood beside the promise “I shall give thee Myself”.