Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Uttara 4.22
॥
Devanāgarī
ओं यो ह वै श्रीरामचन्द्रः स भगवान् या सरस्वती भूर्भुवः सुवस्तस्मै वै नमो नमः
Transliteration (IAST)
oṃ yo ha vai śrīrāmacandraḥ sa bhagavān yā sarasvatī 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
या सरस्वतीyā sarasvatīwho is Sarasvatī; the one who is Sarasvatī
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 she who is Sarasvatī. Earth, mid-air, heaven! To him be bow upon bow.
Version
448d39f0838f · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The twenty-second mantra opens a row of four feminine names: Sarasvatī, Lakṣmī, Gaurī, Jānakī.
Sarasvatī is the goddess of speech and knowledge, the wife of Brahmā; and it is Brahmā himself who praises her here.
It is worth noting that this mantra stands right after “knowledge”: first vidyā in the abstract, then she herself by name and in person.
This is the general move of the whole chapter, and it is visible already. The abstract and the personal are set side by side as one.
In the third paragraph of the fifth Upaniṣad of the pūrva Sarasvatī was worshipped under the name Vāṇī, “Speech”, and I noted: without her there is no one to speak, for the rite is all of utterance.
Here she is named Rāma.
The masculine gender with a feminine name in these formulas gives no trouble: the subject is one for all forty-seven mantras, and it is Rāmacandra. The doxology says: she too is He.