Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Uttara 4.19
॥
Devanāgarī
ओं यो ह वै श्रीरामचन्द्रः स भगवान् ये पञ्चाग्नयो भूर्भुवः सुवस्तस्मै वै नमो नमः
Transliteration (IAST)
oṃ yo ha vai śrīrāmacandraḥ sa bhagavān ye pañcāgnayo 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
ये पञ्चाग्नयःye pañcāgnayaḥthe five fires; the five agnis
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 fires. Earth, mid-air, heaven! To him be bow upon bow.
Version
13e562b6d8b1 · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The nineteenth mantra names “the five fires” — pañcāgni.
The expression is double, and both senses fit. The first, ritual: the householder's three sacrificial fires and two more, between which the ascetic stands in the summer heat.
The second, Upaniṣadic, and it matters more. The Chāndogya and the Bṛhadāraṇyaka expound the doctrine of the five fires: heaven is a fire, the rain-cloud is a fire, the earth is a fire, man is a fire, woman is a fire; and in these five sacrifices, one after another, the round is accomplished — water rises, pours down as rain, becomes food, seed and offspring.
That is, “the five fires” is a name for the very circle of births.
And now it is named He.
Set this beside the fourth mantra, where He was named the tāraka — the ferry across the round. One and the same thing is named both the river and the ford.
Doxology does not fear such joinings, because it enumerates not essences but names.