Upanishads · Atharvaśiras 9
॥
Devanāgarī
यो वै रुद्रः स भगवान् यश् च सोमस् तस्मै वै नमोनमः
Transliteration (IAST)
yo vai rudraḥ sa bhagavān yaś ca somas tasmai vai namonamaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यः वै रुद्रःyaḥ vai rudraḥhe who is Rudra; the one who is Rudra
सः भगवान्saḥ bhagavānhe is the Lord; he indeed is the Bhagavān
यः च सोमःyaḥ ca somaḥand who is Soma; and the one who is Soma
तस्मै वै नमः नमःtasmai vai namaḥ namaḥto him be homage and homage; to him obeisance and obeisance
Translation
He who is Rudra — He is the Lord, and He is Soma. To Him be homage and homage.
Version
4fc5a984cbeb · published Jul 29, 2026, 3:17:52 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The eighth name is Soma: the moon, and at the same time the juice of the sacrificial plant.
Both senses live in this word inseparably. A whole maṇḍala of the Ṛgveda is devoted to Soma; he was pressed, strained and drunk, and he also wanes and waxes in the sky.
The link between the two senses is ancient: the moon was conceived as the cup from which the gods drink — hence it wanes; and toward the new moon it is filled again.
Paired with the previous name, the everlasting dyad emerges: sun and moon, fire and moisture, that which burns and that which slakes.
The Vaiṣṇava books know this pair under the name agnīṣoma and build their description of the world on it; so does the sixth verse of the fourth upaniṣad of the pūrva-tāpanī of the Rāma-tāpanī.
Here the pair is simply named — and both its halves are referred to One.
The next two names will concern the planets, and they are strangely built.