Upanishads · Bhasmajābāla 1.28
॥
Devanāgarī
एवमावर्तयेदुपनिषदमित्याह भगवान्सदाशिवः साम्बः सदाशिवः साम्बः
Transliteration (IAST)
evamāvartayedupaniṣadamityāha bhagavānsadāśivaḥ sāmbaḥ sadāśivaḥ sāmbaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
एवम् आवर्तयेत् उपनिषदम्evam āvartayet upaniṣadamthus let him repeat the upaniṣad
इति आह भगवान् सदाशिवःiti āha bhagavān sadāśivaḥthus said the Lord Sadāśiva
साम्बः सदाशिवः साम्बःsāmbaḥ sadāśivaḥ sāmbaḥwith Umā, Sadāśiva, with Umā
Translation
«Thus let him repeat the upaniṣad — thus said the Lord Sadāśiva, with Umā; Sadāśiva, with Umā».
Version
8cd149f33bbf · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The first chapter is sealed, and in its final word is what makes it worth reading to the end: sāmbaḥ, «with Umā». The word is made of sa, «with», and ambā, «mother»: literally «with the Mother». And it is repeated twice.
Worth noting that the speaker is named not simply «Sadāśiva» but Sadāśiva with Umā; that is, the name itself names not one but two. This custom is constant in Śaiva books, and it was discussed when reading Rudra-hṛdaya (17–23), where seven lines in a row bowed «to him and to her» separately. The word ambā, «mother», was discussed when reading Tripurātāpinī (44), and it was noted there that it is a domestic word: so a child calls its mother. And here the book, full of prescriptions about ash, about castes and threats, closes its first chapter with this domestic word — and repeats it twice, as one repeats something dear.
The Vaishnava side is not surprised by such a closing, for it has the same. Almost all the names of its Highest are double — Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, Sītā-Rāma, Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa; and the order in them, as noted when reading Rudra-hṛdaya (17), usually places the woman's name first. This coincidence is worth noting. Whatever was said in the middle of the book, on its last word both sides say the same thing: the Highest is not alone.