Upanishads · Atharvaśiras 27
॥
Devanāgarī
यो वै रुद्रः स भगवान् यच् च सूक्ष्मं तस्मै वै नमोनमः
Transliteration (IAST)
yo vai rudraḥ sa bhagavān yac ca sūkṣmaṃ 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 सूक्ष्मम्yat ca sūkṣmamand which is the subtle; and that which is sūkṣma
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 subtle. To Him be homage and homage.
Version
6303b482e0ec · published Jul 29, 2026, 3:17:52 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Sūkṣma — “subtle”: what is not taken by the hand and not seen by the eye, yet acts.
So the Vedānta names the subtle body — mind, intellect, self-sense and the breaths — which stays with the soul when the gross one burns.
The thirty-third and thirty-fifth sections will return to this word: there will be the “subtle Puruṣa”, sūkṣmaḥ puruṣaḥ, and there it will be explained why the syllable Om is called subtle — “for, being pronounced, it grows subtle and enters all the limbs”.
Note that the subtle is not here called truer than the gross. Both stand in one formula, with one refrain.
This distinguishes such books from the teachings that declare matter a hindrance. Here it is named by His name — and hence is no hindrance.
The next pair will be of colour.