Upanishads · Nṛsiṃha-tāpanī Pūrva 4.9
॥
Devanāgarī
तदेतदृचाभ्युक्तम् ऋचो अक्षरे परमे व्योमन्यस्मिन्देवा अधिविश्वे निषेदुः। यस्तन्न वेद किमृचा करिष्यति य इत्तद्विदुस्त इमे समासत इति
Transliteration (IAST)
tadetadṛcābhyuktam ṛco akṣare parame vyomanyasmindevā adhiviśve niṣeduḥ| yastanna veda kimṛcā kariṣyati ya ittadvidusta ime samāsata iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत् एतत् ऋचा अभ्युक्तम्tat etat ṛcā abhyuktamthis is expressed by a ṛc; this is declared by the hymn
ऋचः अक्षरे परमे व्योमन्ṛcaḥ akṣare parame vyomanthe ṛcs are in the imperishable, highest heaven; the hymns are in the undecaying supernal space
यस्मिन् देवाः अधि विश्वे निषेदुःyasmin devāḥ adhi viśve niṣeduḥin which all the gods are seated; where all the celestials took their seat
यः तत् न वेदyaḥ tat na vedawho does not know that; the one not knowing that
किम् ऋचा करिष्यतिkim ṛcā kariṣyatiwhat will he do with the ṛc; what use to him is the hymn
ये इत् तत् विदुःye it tat viduḥbut those who know that; those, though, who know it
ते इमे समासतेte ime samāsatethey sit here together; here they abide side by side
Translation
This is expressed by a ṛc too: “The ṛcs are in the imperishable, highest heaven, in which all the gods are seated. Who does not know that — what will he do with the ṛc? But those who know that, they sit here together.”
Version
e5b81e40d3c5 · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:39:50 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The same ṛc with which the Rāma-tāpanī Upaniṣad ends, and it is cited here for the same reason.
The word akṣara means both “imperishable” and “syllable”; this double sense works in the verse: the hymns live in the syllable that does not perish.
Then a question that sounds like a reproach: yas tan na veda kim ṛcā kariṣyati — “who does not know that, what is the ṛc to him?”
One can know all the hymns and not know that in which they abide. Knowledge of words is not knowledge.
Note where this ṛc stands in our book. The eight-syllable Sāvitrī has just been named and the anointing with prosperity promised; and at once it is said: but who does not know that in which the Veda itself stands, to him even the hymn is of no profit.
This order — a promise, then a sobering — is constant in the śruti.
And the verse's end is peaceable: ya it tad vidus ta ime samāsate — “but those who know that, they sit here together”. Not “they merge” and not “they vanish”: they sit together.