Upanishads · Nṛsiṃha-tāpanī Pūrva 4.10
॥
Devanāgarī
न ह वा एतस्यर्चा न यजुषा न साम्नार्थोऽस्ति यः सावित्रं वेदेति
Transliteration (IAST)
na ha vā etasyarcā na yajuṣā na sāmnārtho'sti yaḥ sāvitraṃ vedeti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
न ह वै एतस्य ऋचाna ha vai etasya ṛcāfor him neither by the ṛc; for him not through the hymn
न यजुषा न साम्नाna yajuṣā na sāmnānor by the yajus, nor by the sāman; nor through the yajus, nor the chant
अर्थः अस्तिarthaḥ astiis there any need; is there any use
यः सावित्रम् वेद इतिyaḥ sāvitram veda itiwho knows Savitṛ; for the one who knows savitṛ
Translation
For him who knows Savitṛ there is no need of the ṛc, nor of the yajus, nor of the sāman.
Version
61d603d549bc · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:39:50 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
One sentence, and it is sharper than the last.
It is said: who knows Savitṛ needs neither the Ṛg-veda, nor the Yajur-veda, nor the Sāma-veda.
This must be read exactly. Not “the Vedas are false” and not “they may go unhonoured”: it is said that the knower has no need of them — arthaḥ, “use, business”.
The difference is as between “the map is wrong” and “I need the map no longer, I have arrived”.
We read the same measure in the fourth paragraph of the first Upaniṣad, where the knower is called veda-pāraga — “one who has crossed the Vedas”; there I noted: not “may leave the Vedas unread”, but “has passed through and come out”.
Note too that this paragraph stands right after the ṛc that asked: “who does not know that, what is the ṛc to him?”
The two sayings fold into one. To the one who does not know, the hymn is useless; to the one who knows — no longer needed. It profits the one in between.