Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Uttara 5.32
॥
Devanāgarī
तद्विष्णोः परमं पदं सदा पश्यन्ति सूरयः । दिवीव चक्षुराततम्
Transliteration (IAST)
tadviṣṇoḥ paramaṃ padaṃ sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ | divīva cakṣurātatam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत् विष्णोः परमम् पदम्tat viṣṇoḥ paramam padamthat highest step of Viṣṇu; that supreme abode of Viṣṇu
सदा पश्यन्ति सूरयःsadā paśyanti sūrayaḥthe wise ever behold; the sages see unceasingly
दिवि इव चक्षुः आततम्divi iva cakṣuḥ ātatamlike an eye stretched across heaven; as an eye spread over the sky
Translation
“That highest abode of Viṣṇu the wise ever behold — like an eye stretched across heaven.”
Version
9e46421f39d2 · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second ṛc, and it is one of the best loved in the whole Vaiṣṇava tradition.
It is said: sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ — “the wise ever behold”.
The verb is the same as at the end of the fourth chapter of the uttara: sa devaṁ paśyati, “he sees the God”. The book ends with the same word with which it ended the previous chapter.
And sadā is added, “ever”. Not in the hour of contemplation and not after death: ever.
Then the comparison over which the interpreters dispute: divīva cakṣur ātatam — “like an eye stretched across heaven”.
It is taken two ways. Either: the highest abode is as plainly visible to the wise as the eye of heaven — the sun — is to everyone. Or: it is itself an eye spread over all, and the wise see it because it looks.
The second reading is deeper, and it is in the spirit of this book. They see not because they peer, but because they are looked upon.
Recall the first paragraph of the fourth chapter of the uttara: Rāma “shows his own Self”, svātmānaṁ darśayati. It is not man who procures the sight — He shows Himself.
The word sūri means “wise, inspired, bountiful”; so are called the poet-seers to whom the hymns were revealed.