Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Uttara 3.15
॥
Devanāgarī
त्वत्तो वा ब्रह्मणो वाऽपि ये लभन्ते षडक्षरम् । जीवन्तो मन्त्रसिद्धाः स्युः मुक्ता मां प्राप्नुवन्ति ते
Transliteration (IAST)
tvatto vā brahmaṇo vā'pi ye labhante ṣaḍakṣaram | jīvanto mantrasiddhāḥ syuḥ muktā māṃ prāpnuvanti te
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
त्वत्तः वा ब्रह्मणः वा अपिtvattaḥ vā brahmaṇaḥ vā apifrom thee or from Brahmā; either from thee or from Brahmā
ये लभन्ते षडक्षरम्ye labhante ṣaḍakṣaramwho receive the six-syllabled; those who obtain the six syllables
जीवन्तः मन्त्रसिद्धाः स्युःjīvantaḥ mantrasiddhāḥ syuḥliving, let them be perfected in the mantra; while alive let them become siddhas of the mantra
मुक्ताः माम् प्राप्नुवन्ति तेmuktāḥ mām prāpnuvanti tefreed, they attain me; free, they come to me
Translation
“Who receive the six-syllable mantra from thee or from Brahmā, let them, while living, be perfected in the mantra; and, freed, they attain me.”
Version
47dee5e73e05 · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
It is named from whom the mantra is received: from Śiva or from Brahmā.
This is the pointer to succession. A mantra is not taken from a book and not found by oneself — it is received, and received from the one who holds it.
We read the same in the fourth Upaniṣad of the pūrva, where everything was addressed to the mantrin — “the possessor of the mantra” — and the last verse forbade passing it to the unready.
Then a word is spoken over which one should pause: jīvantaḥ, “living”.
Mantra-siddha — “perfected in the mantra” — one must become while alive, not after death. The fruit is not deferred.
And the last: muktā māṁ prāpnuvanti — “freed, they attain me”.
The word order here is the theology. First liberation, then the attaining of Him. That is, liberation is not the road's end but what makes the road possible: having cast off the fetters, they come to Him.
In this is the whole difference of the two understandings of mokṣa. One ends with liberation as dissolution; here, after liberation, there is He to whom they come — and there is the one who comes.