Upanishads · Tārasāra 3.10
॥
Devanāgarī
ओं यो ह वै श्रीपरमात्मा नारायणः स भगवांस्तत्परः परमपुरुषः पुराणपुरुषोत्तमो नित्यशुद्धबुद्धमुक्तसत्यपरमानन्ताद्वयपरिपूर्णः परमात्मा ब्रह्मैवाहं रामोऽस्मि भूर्भुवः सुवस्तस्मै नमोनमः
Transliteration (IAST)
oṃ yo ha vai śrīparamātmā nārāyaṇaḥ sa bhagavāṃstatparaḥ paramapuruṣaḥ purāṇapuruṣottamo nityaśuddhabuddhamuktasatyaparamānantādvayaparipūrṇaḥ paramātmā brahmaivāhaṃ rāmo'smi bhūrbhuvaḥ suvastasmai namonamaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सः भगवान् तत्-परः परम-पुरुषःsaḥ bhagavān tat-paraḥ parama-puruṣaḥthat Lord, transcendent, the supreme Man
पुराण-पुरुष-उत्तमःpurāṇa-puruṣa-uttamaḥthe ancient one, best of men
नित्य-शुद्ध-बुद्ध-मुक्त-सत्य-nitya-śuddha-buddha-mukta-satya-eternal, pure, awakened, free, true
परम-अनन्त-अद्वय-परिपूर्णःparama-ananta-advaya-paripūrṇaḥsupreme, infinite, non-dual, all-full
ब्रह्म एव अहं रामः अस्मिbrahma eva ahaṃ rāmaḥ asmi'I am brahman, I am Rāma'
Translation
«…that Lord, transcendent, the supreme Man, the ancient one, best of men, eternal, pure, awakened, free, true, supreme, infinite, non-dual, all-full Paramātmā — 'I am brahman, I am Rāma'; earth, atmosphere, heaven; homage, homage to him».
Version
f2fa73ccebbb · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Here is the hardest line in the book, and it must be examined without hiding anything: brahmaiva ahaṃ rāmo 'smi, "I am brahman, I am Rāma." This can be read as a declaration of identity, and it is so read. But the line must be read to its end, for it does not stop there. After the words "I am Rāma" stands: tasmai namo namaḥ, "homage, homage to him."
That is, in one sentence it is said "I am Rāma" — and homage is at once offered to Him. One cannot bow to oneself. And so this sentence, read as a declaration of identity, destroys itself in its second half.
A reading under which both halves remain in force is the very one discussed more than once: unity in essence with distinction in person. Let us add a second consideration, from the list of epithets itself. It lists: nitya ("eternal"), śuddha ("pure"), buddha ("awakened"), mukta ("free"), satya ("true"), parama ("supreme"), ananta ("infinite"), advaya ("non-dual"), paripūrṇa ("all-full").
All nine are definitions of the Lord, not of the one praying. The one praying is not eternal by his own experience, not pure by his own admission, and not free — otherwise he would not be praying for ferrying across. The Vaiṣṇava side knows such formulas and calls them ahaṃ-graha-upāsanā, "worship through the grasping of oneself"; this was discussed when reading the Jābāla-darśana (4.61). It recognizes such a practice as valid and ranks it below the others — below, because it ends on oneself.
Its own formula is shorter and built the other way around: dāso 'smi, "I am a servant." And it is notable that this whole book, having placed "I am Rāma" in its second-to-last line, ends it with the word namaḥ, that is, with the very word that throughout all these books means: not mine.