Upanishads · Tārasāra 1.9
॥
Devanāgarī
ओमिति ब्रह्मा भवति । नकारो विष्णुर्भवति । मकारो रुद्रो भवति । नकार ईश्वरो भवति
Transliteration (IAST)
omiti brahmā bhavati | nakāro viṣṇurbhavati | makāro rudro bhavati | nakāra īśvaro bhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ओम् इति ब्रह्मा भवतिom iti brahmā bhavati'oṃ' is Brahmā
न-कारः विष्णुः भवतिna-kāraḥ viṣṇuḥ bhavatithe sound 'na' is Viṣṇu
म-कारः रुद्रः भवतिma-kāraḥ rudraḥ bhavatithe sound 'ma' is Rudra
न-कारः ईश्वरः भवतिna-kāraḥ īśvaraḥ bhavatithe sound 'na' is Īśvara
Translation
«'Oṃ' is Brahmā, the sound 'na' is Viṣṇu, the sound 'ma' is Rudra, the sound 'na' is Īśvara».
Version
7a4cf32cbead · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The eight syllables of the mantra are assigned to eight persons; here the first four are named. The syllables are counted thus: oṃ, na, mo, na, rā, ya, ṇā, ya — eight. It is worth noting that among the eight, Viṣṇu is named second, while the highest turns out to be the eighth — Paramātmā.
That is, in this very listing Viṣṇu is not the summit; and this is curious in a book devoted entirely to his name. The explanation, apparently, is this: the names are arranged not by rank, but by order of emanation — from the creator to the all-sustainer; and the eighth, Paramātmā, is the source of all the rest, including the second. The Vaiṣṇava side reads such listings exactly this way and distinguishes vyūhas, "arrangements": Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna, Aniruddha — and says that one and the same person appears in different positions without ceasing to be one.
Let us add that this mode of thought was already discussed when reading the Jābāla-darśana. A listing by syllables is a bandhu, "connection": eight syllables, eight persons — so, let us correlate them. Such correlation proves nothing and must not be taken for theology. But it accomplishes one useful thing, worth naming: it invests sound with content. One who utters the mantra does not merely produce syllables; he passes through a roster, and every syllable reminds him of something.