उपनिषद् · Rudrahṛdaya 14
॥
देवनागरी
अस्य त्रैलोक्यवृक्षस्य भूमौ विटपशाखिनः । अग्रं मध्यं तथा मूलं विष्णुब्रह्ममहेश्वराः
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
asya trailokyavṛkṣasya bhūmau viṭapaśākhinaḥ | agraṃ madhyaṃ tathā mūlaṃ viṣṇubrahmamaheśvarāḥ
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
अस्य त्रैलोक्य-वृक्षस्यasya trailokya-vṛkṣasyaof this tree of the three worlds
भूमौ विटप-शाखिनःbhūmau viṭapa-śākhinaḥon the earth, with boughs and branches
अग्रं मध्यं तथा मूलंagraṃ madhyaṃ tathā mūlaṃthe top, the middle, and the root
विष्णु-ब्रह्म-महेश्वराःviṣṇu-brahma-maheśvarāḥare Viṣṇu, Brahmā, Maheśvara
अनुवाद
"Of this tree of the three worlds, [standing] on the earth, with boughs and branches, the top, the middle, and the root are Viṣṇu, Brahmā, and Maheśvara."
संस्करण
be857ff8047d · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The world is called a tree, and this is an ancient image: in the Gītā it is unfolded into a whole chapter — ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ-śākham, "with its root above and branches below" (15.1). Here the tree is mapped onto three: the top — Viṣṇu, the middle — Brahmā, the root — Maheśvara. It is worth noting the distribution, for it is no accident and recurs in these books. The root is that from which growth comes and which is not seen; the middle is the trunk, along which growth proceeds; the top is that toward which growth is directed and which is seen from afar.
Read this way, Viṣṇu's place is the limit of growth, not its beginning; and this is precisely what the Vaiṣṇava side says of Him: He is not the first cause in a chain of causes, but that for whose sake the chain exists. It is worth adding that the Gītā, in the chapter mentioned, commands this tree to be felled asaṅga-śastreṇa dṛḍhena chittvā, "with the firm weapon of non-attachment" (15.3), and then to seek the place "from which there is no return." That is, there the tree is what must be left behind, not what is worshiped; and the three named here stand not in the tree, but above it.
The image of the tree is also good because a tree grows, rather than standing still. The world in these books is never described as a finished structure: it is always growing, branching, shedding, and putting forth anew.