Upanishads · Nṛsiṃha-tāpanī Pūrva 4.24
॥
Devanāgarī
ओं यो ह वै नृसिंहो देवो भगवान् या विद्या भूर्भुवः स्वस्तस्मै वै नमो नमः
Transliteration (IAST)
oṃ yo ha vai nṛsiṃho devo bhagavān yā vidyā 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
या विद्याyā vidyāand she who is vidyā; the one who is knowing
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 vidyā. Earth, mid-air, heaven! To him be bow upon bow.
Version
8e0c6c1608ba · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:39:50 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The tenth name is vidyā, “knowledge, knowing”, and it closes the row of goddesses.
The word is feminine, and therefore stands in one row with Sarasvatī and Gaurī; but it means not a person, but that knowledge by which unknowing is removed.
We read the same pair — vidyā and māyā — in the fifth paragraph of the fifth Upaniṣad of the pūrva-tāpanī of the Rāma-tāpanī, where both were revered at the sides of the throne.
Note that here both halves are named: prakṛti in the previous paragraph and vidyā in this. That by which one is bound and that by which one is unbound — both are His names.
This is the trait by which such lists are recognised. They are never composed of the good alone: beside immortality stands death, beside knowing — the first ground, beside Lakṣmī — Kālakarṇī.