Upanishads · Nṛsiṃha-tāpanī Pūrva 1.4
॥
Devanāgarī
ऋग्यजुःसामाथर्वाणश्चत्वारो वेदाः साङ्गाः सशाखाश्चत्वारः पादा भवन्ति
Transliteration (IAST)
ṛgyajuḥsāmātharvāṇaścatvāro vedāḥ sāṅgāḥ saśākhāścatvāraḥ pādā bhavanti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ऋक् यजुः साम अथर्वाणःṛk yajuḥ sāma atharvāṇaḥthe Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma, Atharva; ṛc, yajus, sāman, atharvan
चत्वारः वेदाः साङ्गाः सशाखाःcatvāraḥ vedāḥ sāṅgāḥ saśākhāḥthe four Vedas with limbs and branches; the four Vedas with auxiliaries and recensions
चत्वारः पादाः भवन्तिcatvāraḥ pādāḥ bhavantiare the four quarters; are the four feet
Translation
The Ṛg-veda, the Yajur-veda, the Sāma-veda and the Atharva-veda — the four Vedas with their limbs and branches — are the four quarters.
Version
3df4347e7a44 · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:39:50 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The same count is laid on once more: now on the four Vedas.
In two paragraphs the book has given two superpositions. First the four worlds, now the four Vedas; and both fours have been laid upon the four quarters of one verse.
This is not repetition but a mode of proof. If the four of the universe and the four of revelation coincide with the four of the metre, then the metre is not accidental: it is the measure by which both are cut.
Aṅga — the six auxiliary sciences: pronunciation, ritual, grammar, word-explanation, metrics, star-lore. Śākhā — the school recensions, of which every Veda had many.
The list is deliberately full: not “the four Vedas”, but “with everything that belongs to them”.
The next paragraph is the shortest in the Upaniṣad and consists entirely of questions.