Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Uttara 3.4
॥
Devanāgarī
वरणायां नास्यां च मध्ये प्रतिष्ठित इति
Transliteration (IAST)
varaṇāyāṃ nāsyāṃ ca madhye pratiṣṭhita iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
वरणायाम् नास्याम् चvaraṇāyām nāsyām cain Varaṇā and in Nāsī; in Varaṇā and Nāsī
मध्ये प्रतिष्ठितः इतिmadhye pratiṣṭhitaḥ itiit is established in the middle; it is founded between them
Translation
“It is established in the middle — between Varaṇā and Nāsī.”
Version
69345ff2b267 · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The answer sounds like a pointing on a map, and the first hearing takes it so.
Varaṇā and Asi are the two streams between which Kāśī lies, and from them, by common opinion, the city got its name Vārāṇasī. Anyone hearing this will decide that the holy city is meant.
The book counts on such an understanding — in order to demolish it two paragraphs later.
The device is borrowed from the Jābāla Upaniṣad, where Atri asks Yājñavalkya the same question and receives the same answer; there too is given the explanation that will now follow.
Note the word madhye — “in the middle”. It will repeat in the explanation, and the repetition is not accidental: the sought thing is always in the middle, between two.
We have seen this structure already in the fourth Upaniṣad of the pūrva, where on the diagram the seed syllable was set between the drawer's name and his need.
The next paragraph will be a short question, and after it — the solution.