Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Uttara 3.16
॥
Devanāgarī
मुमूर्षोर्दक्षिणे कर्णे यस्य कस्यापि वा स्वयम् । उपदेक्ष्यसि मन्मन्त्रं स मुक्तो भविता शिव
Transliteration (IAST)
mumūrṣordakṣiṇe karṇe yasya kasyāpi vā svayam | upadekṣyasi manmantraṃ sa mukto bhavitā śiva
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मुमूर्षोः दक्षिणे कर्णेmumūrṣoḥ dakṣiṇe karṇeto the dying, in the right ear; to the one about to die, into the right ear
यस्य कस्य अपि वा स्वयम्yasya kasya api vā svayamto whomever it may be, thyself; to anyone without distinction, in person
उपदेक्ष्यसि मन्मन्त्रम्upadekṣyasi manmantramthou wilt teach my mantra; thou shalt declare my mantra
सः मुक्तः भविता शिवsaḥ muktaḥ bhavitā śivahe will become freed, O Śiva; he will be made free, Śiva
Translation
“To the dying, into the right ear, thou thyself wilt teach my mantra — to whomever it may be; and he will become freed, O Śiva.”
Version
2646ce798ac9 · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The promise is carried to its end, and here at last is explained what was said at the very start of the uttara-tāpanī.
In the second chapter of the first book it was said: “when a creature's breaths depart, Rudra expounds to him the ferrying Brahman.” Then we knew neither what that word was nor why Rudra speaks it.
Now both are known. The word is the six-syllable mantra of Rāma; and Śiva speaks it because he himself begged the right to do so.
The book, then, is closed in a ring: its last answer answers its first question.
Into the right ear — because so a mantra is transmitted, and because the dying man already hears poorly.
But the chief thing in the verse is three words: yasya kasyāpi vā, “to whomever it may be”.
Without distinction. Asking neither of birth, nor of merits, nor of faith. Just now, in the fourteenth paragraph, a condition was named — bhakti; here even it is absent.
This is why Kāśī is called the city of liberation, and why this place is so dear to the whole tradition. He who demanded that the secret not be given to the unenlightened commands that it be whispered to every dying person.
The word svayam — “thyself” — is added deliberately: Śiva does this in person, not through envoys.