Upanishads · Nṛsiṃha-tāpanī Pūrva 3.4
॥
Devanāgarī
तदेतदृषिणोक्तं निदर्शनं स ईं पाहि य ऋजीषी तरुत्रः श्रियं लक्ष्मीमौपलामम्बिकां गां षष्ठीं च यामिन्द्रसेनेत्युदाहुः तां विद्यां ब्रह्मयोनिं सरूपामीहायुषे शरणमहं प्रपद्ये
Transliteration (IAST)
tadetadṛṣiṇoktaṃ nidarśanaṃ sa īṃ pāhi ya ṛjīṣī tarutraḥ śriyaṃ lakṣmīmaupalāmambikāṃ gāṃ ṣaṣṭhīṃ ca yāmindrasenetyudāhuḥ tāṃ vidyāṃ brahmayoniṃ sarūpāmīhāyuṣe śaraṇamahaṃ prapadye
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत् एतत् ऋषिणा उक्तम् निदर्शनम्tat etat ṛṣiṇā uktam nidarśanamthis was spoken by the seer as testimony; this the ṛṣi declared in confirmation
सः ईम् पाहिsaḥ īm pāhiguard him; keep him
यः ऋजीषी तरुत्रःyaḥ ṛjīṣī tarutraḥwho is straight and who ferries across; the one who is upright and saving
श्रियम् लक्ष्मीम् औपलाम् अम्बिकाम्śriyam lakṣmīm aupalām ambikāmŚrī, Lakṣmī, Aupalā, Ambikā; Śrī, Lakṣmī, Aupalā and Ambikā
गाम् षष्ठीम् चgām ṣaṣṭhīm caand Gau, and Ṣaṣṭhī; Gau and Ṣaṣṭhī
याम् इन्द्रसेना इति उदाहुःyām indrasenā iti udāhuḥwhom they call Indrasenā; her whom they name Indrasenā
ताम् विद्याम् ब्रह्मयोनिम् सरूपाम्tām vidyām brahmayonim sarūpāmthat vidyā, the womb of Brahman, of one form with him; this vidyā, Brahman's matrix, connatural
ईहा आयुषे शरणम् अहम् प्रपद्येīhā āyuṣe śaraṇam aham prapadyefor life I go to her as refuge; for the sake of my span I resort to her shelter
Translation
This too was spoken by the seer as testimony: “Guard him, thou who art straight and who ferriest across; Śrī, Lakṣmī, Aupalā, Ambikā, Gau and Ṣaṣṭhī, her whom they call Indrasenā — that vidyā, the womb of Brahman, of one form with him, I take for refuge, falling down, for the sake of life.”
Version
dafd4268f3dc · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:39:50 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A verse in confirmation, and in it are listed the names of that very power of which the second paragraph spoke.
Śrī, Lakṣmī, Aupalā, Ambikā, Gau, Ṣaṣṭhī, Indrasenā — seven names, and all feminine.
That is, the māyā named the mantra's power is at once named by the names of the goddess. Not an abstract principle — Lakṣmī, Ambikā, Gau.
Note gām — “the cow”. We read this word in the fifth verse of the Māntrikā, where prakṛti was called “the cow without beginning and without end, milking all desires”; and there too stood vibhoḥ, “the Lord's”.
Here the same cow stands among the names of the vidyā.
And two definitions attend her, for whose sake the verse is cited: brahma-yoni — “the womb of Brahman”, and sa-rūpā — “of one form with him”.
The second settles the dispute. The power is not of another nature than He whose it is; it is connatural with Him.
And the last words: śaraṇam ahaṁ prapadye — “I go to the refuge, falling down”. The verb pra-pad, from which comes prapatti, the complete handing-over of oneself. We read it in the seventh and eighth verses of the Garbha Upaniṣad, where the one enclosed in the womb spoke so.