Upanishads · Nṛsiṃha-tāpanī Pūrva 4.16
॥
Devanāgarī
ओं यो ह वै नृसिंहो देवो भगवान् यश्च विष्णुः भूर्भुवः स्वस्तस्मै वै नमो नमः
Transliteration (IAST)
oṃ yo ha vai nṛsiṃho devo bhagavān yaśca viṣṇuḥ bhūrbhuvaḥ svastasmai vai namo namaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ओं यः ह वैoṃ yaḥ ha vaiOṁ. He who; Oṁ. The very one who
नृसिंहः देवः सः भगवान्nṛsiṃhaḥ devaḥ saḥ bhagavānis the God Nṛsiṃha — he is the Lord; the god Nṛsiṃha is — he is Bhagavān
यः च विष्णुःyaḥ ca viṣṇuḥand who is Viṣṇu; and the one who is Viṣṇu
भूर्भुवः स्वःbhūrbhuvaḥ svaḥearth, mid-air, heaven; bhūḥ, bhuvaḥ, svaḥ
तस्मै वै नमः नमःtasmai vai namaḥ namaḥto him be bow upon bow; to him worship and worship
Translation
Oṁ. He who is the God Nṛsiṃha — He is the Lord, and He is Viṣṇu. Earth, mid-air, heaven! To him be bow upon bow.
Version
58c932676ebf · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:39:50 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second name is Viṣṇu, and in a Vaiṣṇava book it stands second, not first.
This is telling. The order of the litany is the same as in the Atharvaśiras: first Brahmā, then Viṣṇu, then Maheśvara. The book does not rearrange for its own sake.
Nor is there any need to. The subject of all thirty-two names is one — Nṛsiṃha; and Nṛsiṃha is Viṣṇu come out of the pillar.
That is, here the book calls its Lord by his own name, but as one of the thirty-two.
In this is the whole force of such a list. It neither exalts the named nor abases him: it shows that the names are many and the Named is one.
The same measure we noted in reading the fifth mantra of the litany of the Rāma-tāpanī, where Rāma was called “Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśvara”.