Upanishads · Tārasāra 2.7
॥
Devanāgarī
अकारादभवद्ब्रह्मा जाम्बवानितिसंज्ञकः । उकाराक्षरसंभूत उपेन्द्रो हरिनायकः
Transliteration (IAST)
akārādabhavadbrahmā jāmbavānitisaṃjñakaḥ | ukārākṣarasaṃbhūta upendro harināyakaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अ-कारात् अभवत् ब्रह्माa-kārāt abhavat brahmāfrom the sound 'a' arose Brahmā
जाम्बवान् इति संज्ञकःjāmbavān iti saṃjñakaḥcalled by the name Jāmbavān
उ-कार-अक्षर-संभूतःu-kāra-akṣara-saṃbhūtaḥarisen from the syllable 'u'
उपेन्द्रः हरि-नायकःupendraḥ hari-nāyakaḥUpendra, the chief of the monkeys
Translation
«From the sound 'a' arose Brahmā, called by the name Jāmbavān; from the syllable 'u,' Upendra, the chief of the monkeys».
Version
3970b0b07b92 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The roster begins, for whose sake the book was written: the eight parts of the syllable oṃ are identified with eight persons of the Rāmāyaṇa. This turn is unexpected and deserves appreciation. Only a moment ago came the most abstract analysis of fading sound; and suddenly it turns out that its first part is Jāmbavān, the old bear, Rāma's ally, and the second is Sugrīva, chief of the monkeys, here called Upendra and hari-nāyaka.
The word hari means both "Hari" (a name of Viṣṇu), "monkey," and "lion"; hari-nāyaka is "chief of the monkeys," and in the same word one also hears "the chief who is Hari." This play is deliberate and common in such books. It is worth saying what has happened here in substance. An abstract teaching about sound has been populated: the parts of the syllable have stopped being parts and become characters of a story.
The purpose, to my mind, is clear: to make contemplation of the syllable a contemplation of a community. One who utters oṃ finds himself not alone with a sound, but among those who surrounded Rāma. The Vaiṣṇava side holds such an arrangement as its own and states it in the rule discussed when reading the Jābāla-darśana (7.12). One ascends not by steps within oneself, but by closeness to a community; and for it the highest is described not as a state, but as a place among one's own.
Let us add that the choice of persons here is telling. Named first are a bear and a monkey — that is, animals, allies, servants. The ladder begins not with gods or sages, but with those who simply helped.