Upanishads · Rudrahṛdaya 18
॥
Devanāgarī
रुद्रो ब्रह्मा उमा वाणी तस्मै तस्यै नमो नमः । रुद्रो विष्णुरुमा लक्ष्मीस्तस्मै तस्यै नमो नमः
Transliteration (IAST)
rudro brahmā umā vāṇī tasmai tasyai namo namaḥ | rudro viṣṇurumā lakṣmīstasmai tasyai namo namaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
रुद्रः ब्रह्मा उमा वाणीrudraḥ brahmā umā vāṇīRudra — Brahmā, Umā — Speech
रुद्रः विष्णुः उमा लक्ष्मीःrudraḥ viṣṇuḥ umā lakṣmīḥRudra — Viṣṇu, Umā — Lakṣmī
तस्मै तस्यै नमः नमःtasmai tasyai namaḥ namaḥto him and to her, homage, homage
Translation
"Rudra — Brahmā, Umā — Speech: to him and to her, homage, homage. Rudra — Viṣṇu, Umā — Lakṣmī: to him and to her, homage, homage."
Version
815260b4d6bb · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The string proceeds by couples, and in this line the two most famous ones are named: Brahmā and Sarasvatī (Speech), Viṣṇu and Lakṣmī. It is worth noting that a couple is taken as a whole each time. It is not said "Rudra is Viṣṇu," but: Rudra is Viṣṇu, and Umā is at the same time Lakṣmī; and homage is offered to both.
This device runs through the whole string and is, in essence, its thought. No highest person is conceived alone, but as a couple; and the substitution goes in pairs, for the members of a pair are not substituted separately. Vaiṣṇava theology stands on this and speaks of the same in her own terms. Śrī and Nārāyaṇa are inseparable, and He is called Śrī-pati, "the husband of Śrī" — a name discussed when reading the Devī (7). In Rāmānuja, this inseparability is elevated into a doctrine: Śrī is the mediatrix, and without Her one does not approach Him.
It is worth noting also that what is spoken of here is a correspondence of couples, not a merging of persons. Lakṣmī is named as what Umā is to Rudra — that is, a place in a relation is indicated, not identity of person. This distinction must be held firmly in such lists, otherwise everything merges and the list loses its point.
The word vāṇī, "Speech," stands beside Brahmā; and that Speech was generated by the gods was discussed when reading the Devī (5).