Upanishads · Nṛsiṃha-tāpanī Pūrva 1.10
॥
Devanāgarī
क्षीरोदार्णवशायिनं नृकेसरिविग्रहं योगिध्येयं परं पदं साम जानीयाद्यो जानीते सोऽमृतत्वं च गच्छति
Transliteration (IAST)
kṣīrodārṇavaśāyinaṃ nṛkesarivigrahaṃ yogidhyeyaṃ paraṃ padaṃ sāma jānīyādyo jānīte so'mṛtatvaṃ ca gacchati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
क्षीरोदार्णवशायिनम्kṣīrodārṇavaśāyinamreclining on the ocean of milk; resting in the sea of milk
नृकेसरिविग्रहम्nṛkesarivigrahamhaving the form of the man-lion; whose body is a man with a mane
योगिध्येयम् परम् पदम्yogidhyeyam param padamcontemplated by yogins, the highest abode; pondered by yogins, the supreme step
साम जानीयात्sāma jānīyātlet him know by this chant; let him understand the sāman
यः जानीते सः अमृतत्वम् गच्छतिyaḥ jānīte saḥ amṛtatvam gacchatiwho knows attains immortality; the knower comes to deathlessness
Translation
The one reclining on the ocean of milk, having the form of the man-lion, contemplated by yogins, the highest abode — him let him know by this chant; who knows attains immortality.
Version
f5311f80e6a0 · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:39:50 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The answer to the question of contemplation: what to hold in the mind while uttering the mantra.
The form is given in three strokes, and all three deserve examination.
Kṣīroda-arṇava-śāyin — “reclining on the ocean of milk”. That is Viṣṇu's place: there He rests upon the serpent Śeṣa, and from there He comes at the call. From the ocean of milk the amṛta was churned; there too the gods go to ask for help.
Nṛ-kesari-vigraha — “whose body is a man with a mane”, the man-lion. Kesarin means “maned”, that is, a lion.
This joining is the whole of Nṛsiṃha: the one resting on the waters — and the one tearing open the pillar.
Yogi-dhyeya paraṁ padam — “contemplated by yogins, the highest abode”. The word padam we read in the last verse of the Kaivalya and in the ṛcs with which the Rāma-tāpanī ends: “that highest abode of Viṣṇu the wise ever behold”.
Note what is absent from the description. There is no torn Hiraṇyakaśipu, no blood on the claws, no threshold and twilight. Tradition remembers all that, but for contemplation the book gives something else: the reclining one, the contemplated one.
This is the measure of all the dhyānas in the śruti: the terrible remains in the form, but it is not fear that is contemplated.