Upanishads · Nṛsiṃha-tāpanī Pūrva 4.3
॥
Devanāgarī
ओमित्येतदक्षरमिदं सर्वं तस्योपव्याख्यानं भूतं भवद्भविष्यदिति सर्वमोङ्कार एव यच्चान्यत्त्रिकालातीतं तदप्योङ्कार एव । सर्वं ह्येतद्ब्रह्मायमात्मा ब्रह्म सोऽयमात्मा चतुष्पात्
Transliteration (IAST)
omityetadakṣaramidaṃ sarvaṃ tasyopavyākhyānaṃ bhūtaṃ bhavadbhaviṣyaditi sarvamoṅkāra eva yaccānyattrikālātītaṃ tadapyoṅkāra eva | sarvaṃ hyetadbrahmāyamātmā brahma so'yamātmā catuṣpāt
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ओं इति एतत् अक्षरम्oṃ iti etat akṣaram“Oṁ” — this syllable; the syllable named Oṁ
इदम् सर्वम्idam sarvamis all this; is this whole
तस्य उपव्याख्यानम्tasya upavyākhyānamits exposition; the interpretation of it
भूतम् भवत् भविष्यत् इतिbhūtam bhavat bhaviṣyat itithe past, the present, the future; what was, what is, what shall be
सर्वम् ओङ्कारः एवsarvam oṅkāraḥ evaall is the Oṁkāra alone; everything is only the Oṁkāra
यत् च अन्यत् त्रिकालातीतम्yat ca anyat trikālātītamand what else is beyond the three times; and what other lies past the three times
तत् अपि ओङ्कारः एवtat api oṅkāraḥ evathat too is the Oṁkāra alone; that also is the Oṁkāra
सर्वम् हि एतत् ब्रह्मsarvam hi etat brahmafor all this is Brahman; since this whole is Brahman
अयम् आत्मा ब्रह्मayam ātmā brahmathis Ātman is Brahman; this ātman is Brahman
सः अयम् आत्मा चतुष्पात्saḥ ayam ātmā catuṣpātand this Ātman is four-footed; and this ātman has four feet
Translation
“Oṁ” — this syllable is all this. Its exposition is thus: the past, the present and the future — all this is the Oṁkāra; and what else is beyond the three times — that too is the Oṁkāra. For all this is Brahman; this Ātman is Brahman; and this Ātman is four-footed.
Version
5073e4139157 · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:39:50 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The examination of the praṇava begins, and the book takes for it the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad — entire, word for word, from the first verse to the seventh.
To the reader of this collection the device is familiar: the uttara-tāpanī of the Rāma-tāpanī does the same, citing the Māṇḍūkya in its paragraphs 7.9–7.14.
Two Vaiṣṇava books, independently of one another, take one and the same short Upaniṣad and set it inside themselves. Better than any argument, this shows what the Māṇḍūkya was for them: not one of twelve, but that to which everything reduces.
Its first verse stands here: “Oṁ — this syllable is all this.”
Then time: the past, the present, the future — all is the Oṁkāra; and what is beyond the three times — likewise.
Note this second move. It is not enough to say the syllable embraces time; it is said that it embraces also what is outside time.
And the conclusion in four words, each of which Vedānta has examined for centuries: ayam ātmā brahma — “this Ātman is Brahman”. One of the four great sayings.
The next four paragraphs will enumerate the four feet.