Upanishads · Pañcabrahma 24
॥
Devanāgarī
इत्येतद्ब्रह्म जानीयाद्यः स मुक्तो न संशयः । पञ्चाक्षरमयं शम्भुं परब्रह्मस्वरूपिणम्
Transliteration (IAST)
ityetadbrahma jānīyādyaḥ sa mukto na saṃśayaḥ | pañcākṣaramayaṃ śambhuṃ parabrahmasvarūpiṇam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
इति एतत् ब्रह्म जानीयात्iti etat brahma jānīyātlet one know this brahman thus
यः सः मुक्तः न संशयःyaḥ saḥ muktaḥ na saṃśayaḥwhoever [knows], he is free — there is no doubt
पञ्च-अक्षर-मयं शम्भुंpañca-akṣara-mayaṃ śambhuṃŚambhu, consisting of five syllables
पर-ब्रह्म-स्वरूपिणम्para-brahma-svarūpiṇamhaving the supreme brahman as his very form
Translation
"Whoever knows this brahman thus, he is free — there is no doubt; [let one know] Śambhu, consisting of five syllables, having the supreme brahman as his very form."
Version
0604639f87ac · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Pañca-akṣara, "the five syllables," is named — that is, namaḥ śivāya — and it was discussed when reading the Bhasma-jābāla. It is worth noting the structure of this mantra, for it is the same as that of the eight-syllable Vaiṣṇava mantra examined in the Tārasāra (1.7). Namaḥ — "homage." Śivāya — the dative case of the name.
That is, the mantra is a homage addressed to someone; and from its very first word it presupposes two. This consideration is worth keeping while reading the twelve verses to come, where it will be set out that there is no difference at all. The mantra this book prescribes is built so that it cannot be uttered without difference.
The Vaiṣṇava side points to precisely this every time sayings of unity from the ritual books are brought against her: the very practice of these same books requires two. Let us add what was said in the Tārasāra about the word namaḥ: it is derived from na mama, "not mine." Under this reading the mantra means: not mine — Yours; and everyone who utters it thereby renounces the very claim prescribed to him in the twenty-third verse.
The book does not notice this contradiction, and we do not hold it against her: nearly all such compositions are built this way. The reasoning goes one way, the practice another; and the practice, to my mind, is the more reliable, for it is not composed but formed.