Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Uttara 4.17
॥
Devanāgarī
ओं यो ह वै श्रीरामचन्द्रः स भगवान् यानि च पञ्चमहाभूतानि भूर्भुवः सुवस्तस्मै वै नमो नमः
Transliteration (IAST)
oṃ yo ha vai śrīrāmacandraḥ sa bhagavān yāni ca pañcamahābhūtāni bhūrbhuvaḥ suvastasmai vai namo namaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ओं यः ह वै श्रीरामचन्द्रःoṃ yaḥ ha vai śrīrāmacandraḥOṁ. He who is Śrī-Rāmacandra; Oṁ. The very one who is Śrī-Rāmacandra
सः भगवान्saḥ bhagavānhe is the Lord; he indeed is Bhagavān
यानि च पञ्चमहाभूतानिyāni ca pañcamahābhūtāniand the five great elements; the five great first-elements
भूर्भुवः सुवःbhūrbhuvaḥ suvaḥearth, mid-air, heaven; bhūḥ, bhuvaḥ, svaḥ
तस्मै वै नमः नमःtasmai vai namaḥ namaḥto him be bow upon bow; to him worship and worship
Translation
Oṁ. He who is Śrī-Rāmacandra — He is the Lord, and He is all the five great elements. Earth, mid-air, heaven! To him be bow upon bow.
Version
ba1741e8fa39 · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The seventeenth mantra names the five elements: earth, water, fire, air and space.
This is the world's stuff — that of which everything visible is made, including the body.
The list, then, has reached the very bottom. It began with the non-dual Brahman, went through the gods, scripture, souls, breath, mind and death — and now has named earth and water.
Note that the elements are listed in all these books in a fixed order — from the subtlest to the grossest or the reverse — and the order means an unfolding: from space air, from air fire, from fire water, from water earth.
We read this in the first khaṇḍa of the Subāla, where the world unfolded exactly so.
Here there is no unfolding: it is said simply that all five are He.
And with this is abolished the question otherwise unavoidable: if He is consciousness, whence unconscious matter? The second verse of the second Upaniṣad of the pūrva answered it by distinguishing powers; here — no answer is given, but a bow.