Upanishads · Atharvaśiras 11
॥
Devanāgarī
यो वै रुद्रः स भगवान् ये चाष्टौ प्रतिग्रहास् तस्मै वै नमोनमः
Transliteration (IAST)
yo vai rudraḥ sa bhagavān ye cāṣṭau pratigrahās 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
ये च अष्टौ प्रतिग्रहाःye ca aṣṭau pratigrahāḥand which are the eight receivers; and those that are the eight pratigrahas
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 the eight receivers. To Him be homage and homage.
Version
f2156a891604 · published Jul 29, 2026, 3:17:52 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The tenth name is “the eight pratigrahas”, and it is dark.
Pratigraha means “acceptance, the receiving of a gift”; in the rite it is both the cup from which one sips in reply and the very custom of accepting an offering.
If the previous section named the eight drawing-cups, this one names the eight receiving ones: that with which one takes, and that with which one gives back.
There is another reading: the pratigrahas are counteracting powers, those that ward off the seizers. Then the pair comes out thus: eight that take hold of a man and eight that beat them off.
To choose between the readings by this one word is impossible, and I will not pretend it can be done.
The general structure matters more. The litany has now twice set a pair of opposites side by side: sun and moon, seizers and receivers. And each time both halves are referred to One.
The first section said the same in the first person: “I am the imperishable and the perishable”, “I am man, non-man and women”. The book consistently takes opposites in pairs.