Upanishads · Tārasāra 1.7
॥
Devanāgarī
ओमित्येकाक्षरमात्मस्वरूपम् । नम इति द्व्यक्षरं प्रकृतिस्वरूपम् । नारायणायेति पञ्चाक्षरं परंब्रह्मस्वरूपम्
Transliteration (IAST)
omityekākṣaramātmasvarūpam | nama iti dvyakṣaraṃ prakṛtisvarūpam | nārāyaṇāyeti pañcākṣaraṃ paraṃbrahmasvarūpam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ओम् इति एक-अक्षरम् आत्म-स्वरूपम्om iti eka-akṣaram ātma-svarūpam'oṃ' — one syllable, the essence of the self
नमः इति द्वि-अक्षरं प्रकृति-स्वरूपम्namaḥ iti dvi-akṣaraṃ prakṛti-svarūpam'namaḥ' — two syllables, the essence of nature
नारायणाय इति पञ्च-अक्षरंnārāyaṇāya iti pañca-akṣaraṃ'nārāyaṇāya' — five syllables
परं ब्रह्म-स्वरूपम्paraṃ brahma-svarūpamthe essence of the highest brahman
Translation
«'Oṃ' — one syllable, the essence of the self; 'namaḥ' — two syllables, the essence of nature; 'Nārāyaṇāya' — five syllables, the essence of the highest brahman».
Version
0aafff4caa84 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The mantra is broken into three parts, and this breakdown is, to my mind, the most remarkable point in the book. Oṃ — the self, that is, I. Namaḥ — nature, that is, matter. Nārāyaṇāya — the highest brahman, that is, Him.
Three words, and in them all three participants are laid out: soul, matter, God. It is worth examining what results from this, for a whole teaching results. The mantra begins with I, passes through matter, and ends on Him. And the middle word, namaḥ, is homage — that very act by which the soul gives itself over.
Vaiṣṇava commentators break down this mantra exactly this way and add one detail worth mentioning. The word namaḥ is derived from na and mama, "not mine"; and so homage means literally: "not mine." This etymology is not beyond dispute linguistically, but it is precise in meaning. To bow means to acknowledge that what you possessed does not belong to you.
Let us add what deserves noting here about the three principles in general. Vaiṣṇava teaching is called tattva-traya, "the three principles": cit (soul), acit (matter), īśvara (the Lord); and it is distinguished from the non-dual precisely by holding all three eternal. Here these same three are named, and named in a single mantra, one per word. So a person uttering it thereby pronounces the whole teaching, without knowing it; and in this, to my mind, lies the whole force of such short formulas.