Upanishads · Atharvaśiras 16
॥
Devanāgarī
यो वै रुद्रः स भगवान् या च पृथिवी तस्मै वै नमोनमः । यो वै रुद्रः स भगवान् यच् चान्तरिक्षं तस्मै वै नमोनमः
Transliteration (IAST)
yo vai rudraḥ sa bhagavān yā ca pṛthivī tasmai vai namonamaḥ / yo vai rudraḥ sa bhagavān yac cāntarikṣaṃ 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
या च पृथिवीyā ca pṛthivīand who is the earth; and she who is pṛthivī
तस्मै वै नमः नमःtasmai vai namaḥ namaḥto him be homage and homage; to him obeisance and obeisance
यः वै रुद्रः सः भगवान्yaḥ vai rudraḥ saḥ bhagavānhe who is Rudra — he is the Lord; the one who is Rudra is the Bhagavān
यत् च अन्तरिक्षम्yat ca antarikṣamand which is the mid-air; and that which is the antarikṣa
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 earth. To Him be homage and homage. He who is Rudra — He is the Lord, and He is the airy space. To Him be homage and homage.
Version
44379126634b · published Jul 29, 2026, 3:17:52 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The edifice the litany was building with the utterances is now raised anew — out of the elements.
It says pṛthivī — “earth” — and antarikṣa — “the airy space”. The same two worlds that were called bhūḥ and bhuvaḥ, but named not by the word of the rite but by the thing.
In the edition from which our e-text is made, both sentences stand under one number; we keep it as printed, without re-dividing.
The difference between the two rows is worth holding. The utterance is that by which a world is called forth; the element is that of which it is made. The litany walks both rows, and in both finds One.
This device — naming one thing twice, from two sides — is constant in the Upaniṣads. The Chāndogya so analyses Om: first as a syllable, then as the udgītha, then as the sun.
The next section will name the third of the worlds — heaven, dyaus — and then come the waters and the fire-heat.