Upanishads · Nṛsiṃha-tāpanī Pūrva 4.2
॥
Devanāgarī
स होवाच प्रजापतिः प्रणवं सावित्रीं यजुर्लक्ष्मीं नृसिंहगायत्रीमित्यङ्गानि जानीयाद्यो जानीते सोऽमृतत्वं च गच्छति
Transliteration (IAST)
sa hovāca prajāpatiḥ praṇavaṃ sāvitrīṃ yajurlakṣmīṃ nṛsiṃhagāyatrīmityaṅgāni jānīyādyo jānīte so'mṛtatvaṃ ca gacchati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सः ह उवाच प्रजापतिःsaḥ ha uvāca prajāpatiḥPrajāpati said; and Prajāpati spoke
प्रणवम् सावित्रीम्praṇavam sāvitrīmthe praṇava, the Sāvitrī; the praṇava and the sāvitrī
यजुः लक्ष्मीम् नृसिंहगायत्रीम्yajuḥ lakṣmīm nṛsiṃhagāyatrīmthe Lakṣmī yajus, the gāyatrī of Nṛsiṃha; the yajus of Lakṣmī and the nṛsiṃha-gāyatrī
इति अङ्गानि जानीयात्iti aṅgāni jānīyātthese are the limbs, let him know; such are the aṅgas, let him understand
यः जानीते सः अमृतत्वम् गच्छतिyaḥ jānīte saḥ amṛtatvam gacchatiwho knows attains immortality; the knower comes to deathlessness
Translation
Prajāpati said: “The praṇava, the Sāvitrī, the Lakṣmī yajus and the gāyatrī of Nṛsiṃha — these are the limbs; so let him know them. Who knows attains immortality.”
Version
824b1a7a7104 · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:39:50 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The limbs are named: four.
The praṇava is the syllable Oṁ. The Sāvitrī is the eight-syllable utterance about the sun. The Lakṣmī yajus is the twenty-four-syllable mantra to Mahālakṣmī. The gāyatrī of Nṛsiṃha is the three-line address to Him himself.
Four — and such that the first three do not belong to Nṛsiṃha. Oṁ is common to all; the Sāvitrī is solar; the yajus is to the goddess.
This is worth noticing. The mantra-rāja does not surround itself with its own names: it takes what stands at the foundation of the Vedic rite without it, and makes them its limbs.
Note the order in which the book will examine them: the praṇava will take five paragraphs and absorb a whole Upaniṣad; the Sāvitrī — three; the yajus — two; its own gāyatrī — one.
The nearer to Him, the shorter. So it should be: of the distant one must explain; of one's own it is enough to speak.