Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Uttara 3.6
॥
Devanāgarī
जन्मान्तरकृतान् सर्वान् दोषान् वारयतीति तेन वरणा भवतीति । सर्वानिन्द्रियकृतान् पापान् नाशयतीति तेन नासी भवतीति
Transliteration (IAST)
janmāntarakṛtān sarvān doṣān vārayatīti tena varaṇā bhavatīti | sarvānindriyakṛtān pāpān nāśayatīti tena nāsī bhavatīti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
जन्मान्तरकृतान् सर्वान् दोषान् वारयति इतिjanmāntarakṛtān sarvān doṣān vārayati iti“it wards off all faults done in other births”; “it turns away all sins of former lives”
तेन वरणा भवति इतिtena varaṇā bhavati ititherefore it is “Varaṇā”; hence she is called Varaṇā
सर्वान् इन्द्रियकृतान् पापान् नाशयति इतिsarvān indriyakṛtān pāpān nāśayati iti“it destroys all sins done by the senses”; “it wipes out all transgressions of the senses”
तेन नासी भवति इतिtena nāsī bhavati ititherefore it is “Nāsī”; hence she is called Nāsī
Translation
“It wards off all faults done in other births — therefore it is ‘Varaṇā’; it destroys all sins done by the senses — therefore it is ‘Nāsī’.”
Version
86cdbfe390f3 · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The solution — and it parses the rivers' names by their roots.
Varaṇā — from vṛ, “to ward off, to bar”: she who turns away. She turns away “faults done in other births”, that is, what was gathered before.
Nāsī — from naś, “to destroy, to ruin”: she who destroys. She destroys “sins done by the senses”, that is, what is being done now.
The distinction is exact and deserves attention. The past is warded off; the present is destroyed. With what has already happened nothing can be done — from it one is fenced; but what is being done now can be stopped.
And from this follows the chief thing, though it is not said outright. If Varaṇā and Nāsī are not rivers but two actions, then the place between them is no city either.
The next paragraph will say where it is.
Note, meanwhile, how the book handles names. It has done the same thrice already: the name of Rāma it parsed by the root rā, the name of Rāvaṇa by the root ru, the word “mantra” by man and trā. Every name with it proves a description.