Upanishads · Nṛsiṃha-tāpanī Pūrva 4.28
॥
Devanāgarī
ओं यो ह वै नृसिंहो देवो भगवान् ये च पञ्चाग्नयः भूर्भुवः स्वस्तस्मै वै नमो नमः
Transliteration (IAST)
oṃ yo ha vai nṛsiṃho devo bhagavān ye ca pañcāgnayaḥ 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
ये च पञ्चाग्नयःye ca pañcāgnayaḥand which are the five fires; and those that are the five agnis
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 the five fires. Earth, mid-air, heaven! To him be bow upon bow.
Version
71238583aef8 · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:39:50 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fourteenth name is “the five fires”.
The expression is double. In the rite these are the householder's three fires and two more. In the Upaniṣads, however, the pañcāgni-vidyā is a particular doctrine expounded by both the Chāndogya and the Bṛhadāraṇyaka: heaven is a fire, the cloud is a fire, the earth is a fire, man is a fire, woman is a fire; and in these five sacrifices, one after another, the round is accomplished, until water becomes rain, food, seed and offspring.
That is, “the five fires” is a name of the very circle of births.
And now it is called He.
We noted the same in reading the nineteenth mantra of the litany of the Rāma-tāpanī: one and the same thing is named both the river and the ford. Doxology does not fear such joinings, because it enumerates not essences but names.