Upanishads · Rudrahṛdaya 15
॥
Devanāgarī
कार्यं विष्णुः क्रिया ब्रह्मा कारणं तु महेश्वरः । प्रयोजनार्थं रुद्रेण मूर्तिरेका त्रिधा कृता
Transliteration (IAST)
kāryaṃ viṣṇuḥ kriyā brahmā kāraṇaṃ tu maheśvaraḥ | prayojanārthaṃ rudreṇa mūrtirekā tridhā kṛtā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
कार्यं विष्णुः क्रिया ब्रह्माkāryaṃ viṣṇuḥ kriyā brahmāthe effect — Viṣṇu, the action — Brahmā
कारणं तु महेश्वरःkāraṇaṃ tu maheśvaraḥbut the cause — Maheśvara
प्रयोजन-अर्थं रुद्रेणprayojana-arthaṃ rudreṇafor the sake of purpose, by Rudra
मूर्तिः एका त्रिधा कृताmūrtiḥ ekā tridhā kṛtāone form was made threefold
Translation
"The effect — Viṣṇu, the action — Brahmā, but the cause — Maheśvara. For the sake of purpose, by Rudra, one form was made threefold."
Version
633e18ae3b7a · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is a verse that settles more than many others in this dispute: mūrtir ekā tridhā kṛtā, "one form was made threefold." That is, the three gods are not three persons, but one, divided for the sake of a purpose: prayojana-artham, "for the sake of need." This teaching is called trimūrti, "threefoldness of form," and it is a commonplace of all Indian traditions. It is usually set out thus: Brahmā creates, Viṣṇu preserves, Śiva destroys; and the difference between schools lies only in which of the three is taken as the true one, and the other two as his forms.
Here the true one is named Rudra, and this is stated directly: by Rudra the form is divided. The Vaiṣṇava side answers this not by denying the trinity, but by seeing in the trimūrti offices, not natures. The Bhāgavatam says that the Lord, joining with the guṇas, takes three names: with rajas, Brahmā; with sattva, Viṣṇu; with tamas, Rudra (1.2.23); and adds immediately that the good comes from sattva.
What is essential, however, is something else, and it deserves being said separately. In both cases the person is one; the dispute is over what to call him. And it follows from this that the dispute among worshipers is a dispute over the name of the One both sides consider unique — and so the hostility in it is doubly absurd.
Let us add that the word mūrti here means "form, image," and was discussed when reading the Tripurā-tāpanī (43). It is said, accordingly, not "the essence has divided," but "the form has been made threefold" — that is, this concerns manifestation, not essence.