Upanishads · Rudrahṛdaya 22
॥
Devanāgarī
रुद्रो वृक्ष उमा वल्ली तस्मै तस्यै नमो नमः । रुद्रो गन्ध उमा पुष्पं तस्मै तस्यै नमो नमः
Transliteration (IAST)
rudro vṛkṣa umā vallī tasmai tasyai namo namaḥ | rudro gandha umā puṣpaṃ tasmai tasyai namo namaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
रुद्रः वृक्षः उमा वल्लीrudraḥ vṛkṣaḥ umā vallīRudra — the tree, Umā — the vine
रुद्रः गन्धः उमा पुष्पंrudraḥ gandhaḥ umā puṣpaṃRudra — the fragrance, Umā — the flower
तस्मै तस्यै नमः नमःtasmai tasyai namaḥ namaḥto him and to her, homage, homage
Translation
"Rudra — the tree, Umā — the vine: to him and to her, homage, homage. Rudra — the fragrance, Umā — the flower: to him and to her, homage, homage."
Version
d40f678e3484 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Two of the most domestic pairs, and the second — "fragrance and flower" — overturns what one would expect. One would expect: he — the flower, she — the fragrance; for the flower is seen and the fragrance elusive, and the masculine principle in these books is usually given the unmanifest (10). But it is said the other way: he is the fragrance, she is the flower.
Read this way, it follows that what is manifest, visible, formed is She, and He is what issues from that form and cannot be seen, only heard. This image is fine, and was discussed when reading the Kāṭharudra (84): fragrance is the one property that spreads of itself. The flower stays in place; the fragrance travels through the air and reaches one who was not even looking for it.
The Vaiṣṇava side makes constant use of this image, in the same direction: the Lord's glory spreads like fragrance, and one who hears it hears it not because he sought it, but because it reached him. The first pair — tree and vine — is of the same order and entirely commonplace in India: the vine does not stand on its own, but twines around a tree and thereby rises to the light. This image is applied constantly in poetry to wife and husband; and, like every likeness, it says one thing and passes over another. It is worth saying only this: a tree without a vine is still a tree, but a vine without a tree is not a vine; and so this likeness, for all its antiquity, is not an equal one.