Upanishads · Tārasāra 3.4
॥
Devanāgarī
ओं यो ह वै श्रीपरमात्मा नारायणः स भगवान्मकारवाच्यः शिवस्वरूपो हनूमान्भूर्भुवः सुवस्तस्मै वै नमोनमः
Transliteration (IAST)
oṃ yo ha vai śrīparamātmā nārāyaṇaḥ sa bhagavānmakāravācyaḥ śivasvarūpo hanūmānbhūrbhuvaḥ suvastasmai vai namonamaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
म-कार-वाच्यः शिव-स्वरूपःma-kāra-vācyaḥ śiva-svarūpaḥcalled by the sound 'm,' having the form of Śiva
हनूमान् भूः भुवः सुवःhanūmān bhūḥ bhuvaḥ suvaḥHanumān; earth, atmosphere, heaven
तस्मै वै नमः नमःtasmai vai namaḥ namaḥhomage, homage to him
Translation
«…called by the sound 'm,' having the form of Śiva, Hanumān; earth, atmosphere, heaven; homage, homage to him».
Version
0542d4e5d706 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Hanumān was discussed when reading the second pāda (2.8); here it is worth examining something else — the ending common to all eight mantras: tasmai vai namo namaḥ, "homage, homage to him." The word namaḥ is repeated twice. Such doubling in mantras is a known device and denotes intensification; but it is worth examining why it is homage, and not something else, that is intensified.
The reason, to my mind, is that homage is the one act a person can perform completely. An offering can be greater or smaller; knowledge can be fuller or scantier; service can be better or worse. But one can only bow fully: there is no such thing as a half-bow.
Hence the doubling here is not verbosity: it means that the act is repeated, not increased. The Vaiṣṇava side speaks of homage in detail and counts it among the nine kinds of service — vandanam, "obeisance" (Bhāgavatam 7.5.23). Let us add what it notes about it and what is worth knowing. Homage, its books say, is a bodily act, and in this lies its power: the mind can deceive, but the body cannot. A person may think one thing and say another; but having bowed before someone, he has already done something that cannot be undone by thought.
Hence in its practice bodily participation is insisted upon — bows, circumambulations, work with the hands; and a person who "bows in his heart" but does not bow with his body is there considered not yet to have begun.