Upanishads · Nṛsiṃha-tāpanī Pūrva 4.8
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ सावित्री गायत्र्या यजुषा प्रोक्ता तया सर्वमिदं व्याप्तं घृणिरिति द्वे अक्षरे सूर्य इति त्रीणि आदित्य इति त्रीणि । एतद्वै सावित्रस्याष्टाक्षरं पदं श्रियाभिषिक्तं य एवं वेद श्रिया हैवाभिषिच्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
atha sāvitrī gāyatryā yajuṣā proktā tayā sarvamidaṃ vyāptaṃ ghṛṇiriti dve akṣare sūrya iti trīṇi āditya iti trīṇi | etadvai sāvitrasyāṣṭākṣaraṃ padaṃ śriyābhiṣiktaṃ ya evaṃ veda śriyā haivābhiṣicyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथ सावित्री गायत्र्या यजुषा प्रोक्ताatha sāvitrī gāyatryā yajuṣā proktāthen the Sāvitrī, spoken with the gāyatrī and the yajus; next the sāvitrī, proclaimed by gāyatrī and yajus
तया सर्वम् इदम् व्याप्तम्tayā sarvam idam vyāptamby it all this is pervaded; by it this whole is permeated
घृणिः इति द्वे अक्षरेghṛṇiḥ iti dve akṣare“ghṛṇi” — two syllables; “ghṛṇi” — two syllables
सूर्यः इति त्रीणिsūryaḥ iti trīṇi“sūrya” — three; “sūrya” — three
आदित्यः इति त्रीणिādityaḥ iti trīṇi“āditya” — three; “āditya” — three
एतत् वै सावित्रस्य अष्टाक्षरम् पदम्etat vai sāvitrasya aṣṭākṣaram padamthis is the eight-syllable word of Savitṛ; here is the eight-syllable pada of savitṛ
श्रिया अभिषिक्तम्śriyā abhiṣiktamanointed with prosperity; besprinkled with Śrī
यः एवम् वेद श्रिया अभिषिच्यतेyaḥ evam veda śriyā abhiṣicyatewho so knows is anointed with prosperity; the one who understands is besprinkled with Śrī
Translation
Then the Sāvitrī, spoken with the gāyatrī and the yajus: by it all this is pervaded. “Ghṛṇi” — two syllables, “sūrya” — three, “āditya” — three: this is the eight-syllable word of Savitṛ, anointed with prosperity. Who so knows is himself anointed with prosperity.
Version
49dde84bc96f · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:39:50 AM UTC
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The second limb: the Sāvitrī — and not the one everyone knows.
The usual Sāvitrī is the Gāyatrī of the Ṛg-veda, “may we meditate on the desirable radiance of Savitṛ”. Here another is named, of eight syllables: ghṛṇiḥ sūrya ādityaḥ — “heat, sun, Āditya”.
Two syllables, three and three — eight in all; the count agrees.
This is an ancient solar utterance, and it is spoken to this day in the worship of the sun.
Note why a book about Nṛsiṃha needed it.
Because Nṛsiṃha came out of the pillar at sunset, “neither by day nor by night”; and because the first mark of him in the descriptions is heat. The word ghṛṇi means precisely “glow, the sun's heat”.
And further: the eight-syllable word is called śriyā abhiṣiktam — “anointed with prosperity”. Anointing, abhiṣeka, is the rite of enthronement. That is, this pada is not merely rich in meaning: it has been raised to a dignity.
The sixth paragraph of the first Upaniṣad said the same, and there the same fruit was promised: the knower too is anointed.