Upanishads · Rudrahṛdaya 23
॥
Devanāgarī
रुद्रोऽर्थ अक्षरः सोमा तस्मै तस्यै नमो नमः । रुद्रो लिङ्गमुमा पीठं तस्मै तस्यै नमो नमः
Transliteration (IAST)
rudro'rtha akṣaraḥ somā tasmai tasyai namo namaḥ | rudro liṅgamumā pīṭhaṃ tasmai tasyai namo namaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
रुद्रः अर्थः अक्षरः सोमाrudraḥ arthaḥ akṣaraḥ somāRudra — meaning, Somā — syllable
रुद्रः लिङ्गम् उमा पीठंrudraḥ liṅgam umā pīṭhaṃRudra — the sign, Umā — the pedestal
तस्मै तस्यै नमः नमःtasmai tasyai namaḥ namaḥto him and to her, homage, homage
Translation
"Rudra — meaning, Somā — syllable: to him and to her, homage, homage. Rudra — the sign, Umā — the pedestal: to him and to her, homage, homage."
Version
bc66bf95085d · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The string ends with two pairs, and the first — "meaning and syllable" — is the very pair "word and meaning" discussed when reading the Tripurā-tāpanī (28). There, Kālidāsa's verse was cited: "I bow to the parents of the world, Pārvatī and Parameśvara, joined as word and meaning." Here the same is said more briefly and in the same order.
This likeness, as there, is the finest of all these books have at their disposal, because word and meaning can neither be identified nor separated: the word "fire" does not burn, but take away the meaning, and there is no word. The second pair — liṅga and pīṭha, "sign and pedestal" — is a direct description of what stands in a Śaiva temple: a pillar on a round base. This image is found throughout India, and much foolishness has been written about it from both sides.
Let us say a brief word about it, to the point. Liṅga means "sign, mark, token" — the same word that in grammar denotes gender, and in logic a mark by which one infers the invisible (smoke is the liṅga of fire). That is, the object is named a sign; and there is nothing in its very name but an indication that it points.
The Vaiṣṇava side does not worship before this image, and this is her custom, not an accusation. Let us add only what pertains to the present verse: here too the couple is preserved. The sign stands on a pedestal, and they are not depicted apart; that is, even in this, the most abstract of images, there are two.