Upanishads · Tārasāra 1.6
॥
Devanāgarī
स होवाच याज्ञवल्क्यः । ओं नमो नारायणायेति तारकं चिदात्मकमित्युपासितव्यम्
Transliteration (IAST)
sa hovāca yājñavalkyaḥ | oṃ namo nārāyaṇāyeti tārakaṃ cidātmakamityupāsitavyam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सः ह उवाच याज्ञवल्क्यःsaḥ ha uvāca yājñavalkyaḥand Yājñavalkya said
ओं नमो नारायणाय इतिoṃ namo nārāyaṇāya iti'oṃ namo nārāyaṇāya'
तारकं चित्-आत्मकम्tārakaṃ cit-ātmakamthe ferrying [mantra], whose essence is consciousness
इति उपासितव्यम्iti upāsitavyamthus it should be revered
Translation
«And Yājñavalkya said: 'Oṃ namo nārāyaṇāya' — the ferrying [mantra], whose essence is consciousness; thus it should be revered».
Version
8c6c0ce94353 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The mantra is named: oṃ namo nārāyaṇāya, "Oṃ, homage to Nārāyaṇa" — eight-syllabled, aṣṭākṣara, the chief Vaiṣṇava mantra alongside the twelve-syllabled one. It is worth breaking it into parts, since the book itself will do this in the following lines. Oṃ — an exclamation. Namaḥ — "homage," from nam, "to bend"; this was discussed when reading the Gaṇapati (10.1). Nārāyaṇāya — the dative case of the name Nārāyaṇa.
This name is interpreted two ways, and both interpretations are ancient. Nara means "water" — then Nārāyaṇa is "he whose abode is the waters"; nara also means "man, living being" — then "he whose refuge is the living" or "he who gives refuge to the living." The second interpretation deserves keeping, for it defines a relation. The name signifies not a property and not a power, but what He is for us: a refuge.
It is worth noting also the word cid-ātmaka, "whose essence is consciousness." The mantra is called not a sound and not a means, but conscious. This position is fundamental to Vaiṣṇava teaching and is stated in the rule abhinnatvāt nāma-nāminoḥ, "the name and the named are not distinct"; it was discussed when reading the Bhasma-jābāla (3p7).
Let us add what is embedded in the very structure of the mantra. It is a dative: "homage — to whom." That is, from its very first word it presupposes the one to whom it is addressed; and no abstract reading fits this structure.