Upanishads · Nṛsiṃha-tāpanī Pūrva 4.14
॥
Devanāgarī
देवा ह वै प्रजापतिमब्रुवन्नथ कैर्मन्त्रैः स्तुतो देवः प्रीतो भवति स्वात्मानं दर्शयति तन्नो ब्रूहि भगवन्निति
Transliteration (IAST)
devā ha vai prajāpatimabruvannatha kairmantraiḥ stuto devaḥ prīto bhavati svātmānaṃ darśayati tanno brūhi bhagavanniti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
देवाः ह वै प्रजापतिम् अब्रुवन्devāḥ ha vai prajāpatim abruvanthe gods said to Prajāpati; the celestials spoke to Prajāpati
अथ कैः मन्त्रैः स्तुतःatha kaiḥ mantraiḥ stutaḥby what mantras then, praised; by which incantations lauded
देवः प्रीतः भवतिdevaḥ prītaḥ bhavatidoes the God become pleased; is the god made gracious
स्वात्मानम् दर्शयतिsvātmānam darśayatiand show his own self; and display himself
तत् नः ब्रूहि भगवन् इतिtat naḥ brūhi bhagavan ititell us that, O lord; declare that to us, master
Translation
The gods said to Prajāpati: “By what mantras, praised, does the God become pleased and show his own Self? Tell us that, O lord.”
Version
5810ff3a5acd · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:39:50 AM UTC
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The question for whose sake this whole Upaniṣad is written, and it is exactly the one Bharadvāja asks in the first paragraph of the fourth chapter of the uttara-tāpanī of the Rāma-tāpanī.
Two verbs, and both should be kept. Prīto bhavati — “becomes gracious, pleased”. Svātmānaṁ darśayati — “shows his own Self”.
Not “gives liberation” and not “opens knowledge”: he shows Himself.
The whole book has been moving to this. The first Upaniṣad parsed the mantra by words, the second explained each word, the third named its power and seed, the fourth listed the limbs. And now it is asked: with what shall we please Him?
Note the order of words in the question: first prīto bhavati, then darśayati. First he becomes pleased — then he shows Himself.
This is what Vaiṣṇava Vedānta calls samārādhana: it is not the effort of cognition that opens Him, but His own satisfaction. We read the ground for this in the second verse of the Kaivalya: “by faith, bhakti and contemplation know”.
The answer will take thirty-two paragraphs and will be a litany.