Upanishads · Atharvaśiras 26
॥
Devanāgarī
यो वै रुद्रः स भगवान् यच् च स्थूलं तस्मै वै नमोनमः
Transliteration (IAST)
yo vai rudraḥ sa bhagavān yac ca sthūlaṃ 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
यत् च स्थूलम्yat ca sthūlamand which is the gross; and that which is sthūla
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 gross. To Him be homage and homage.
Version
c8844c4ab13d · published Jul 29, 2026, 3:17:52 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Sthūla — “gross, dense, thick”: what can be taken in the hand.
With this word the Vedānta names the material body and the material world — as against the subtle, which the next section will name.
The pair sthūla—sūkṣma is constant in these books and divides everything in two: what is seen, and what stands behind the seen.
The litany names both halves in turn, as it already named sun and moon, seizers and receivers, death and immortality.
Such is its method: to take opposites in pairs and give both to One.
Note that the first section did the same in the first person, and more sharply: “I am the imperishable and the perishable”, “I am man, non-man and women”.
And here is the book's whole answer to the question whence the world has two sides. Not because someone spoiled the good; because both sides are His.