Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Uttara 5.26
॥
Devanāgarī
अवस्थात्रितयेष्वेवं मूलबन्धमघं च यत् । तत्तन्मन्त्रोपदेशेन सर्वमेतत्प्रणश्यति
Transliteration (IAST)
avasthātritayeṣvevaṃ mūlabandhamaghaṃ ca yat | tattanmantropadeśena sarvametatpraṇaśyati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अवस्थात्रितयेषु एवम्avasthātritayeṣu evamthus in the three states; likewise in the three conditions
मूलबन्धम् अघम् च यत्mūlabandham agham ca yatwhat evil is the root-bondage; and the sin that is the radical fetter
तत्तन्मन्त्रोपदेशेनtattanmantropadeśenaby the teaching of that very mantra; through instruction in this mantra
सर्वम् एतत् प्रणश्यतिsarvam etat praṇaśyatiall of it perishes; all of it is destroyed
Translation
“So too the evil in the three states that is the root-bondage — by the teaching of that very mantra all of it perishes.”
Version
1d34630d8950 · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse goes deeper than the last: mūla-bandha is named — “the root-bondage”.
This is no longer deeds or dreams, but that from which they grow: the bondage itself, the knot by which the soul is tied to its condition.
The Vedāntic books call it variously — avidyā, vāsanā, the knot of the heart. The Muṇḍaka says: “the knot of the heart is cut, all doubts are severed.”
And it is said by what it is removed: mantropadeśena — “by the teaching of the mantra”.
Here is a change that must not be missed. Before it was said: by proclaiming, by performance, by remembrance — that is, by what the man himself does.
Here — by upadeśa, by teaching: by what another does over him.
And this is right. One's own root one cannot cut down: the bound one will not untie himself, because the tying and the untying would be one and the same hand.
Hence the mantra is handed down from a teacher, as the fifteenth paragraph of the third chapter of the uttara insisted: “who receive the six-syllabled from thee or from Brahmā”.