Upanishads · Nṛsiṃha-tāpanī Pūrva 4.31
॥
Devanāgarī
ओं यो ह वै नृसिंहो देवो भगवान् ये चाष्टौ वसवः भूर्भुवः स्वस्तस्मै वै नमो नमः
Transliteration (IAST)
oṃ yo ha vai nṛsiṃho devo bhagavān ye cāṣṭau vasavaḥ 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 अष्टौ वसवःye ca aṣṭau vasavaḥand which are the eight Vasus; and those that are the eight Vasus
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 eight Vasus. Earth, mid-air, heaven! To him be bow upon bow.
Version
4331f4cfd880 · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:39:50 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The seventeenth name is the eight Vasus.
Their name means “the good, the kindly”, and they signify the eight foundations of the world: earth, water, fire, wind, space, the moon, the sun and the stars.
One of them, Dyaus, was cursed and was born on earth as Bhīṣma; this story everyone remembers who has read the Mahābhārata.
The Vasus are listed here because with them begins the old answer to the question “how many gods are there?”. The Bṛhadāraṇyaka asks it and counts downward — from three thousand three hundred and six to thirty-three, then to six, three, one and a half, and at last to one.
Eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, twelve Ādityas and two besides — these are the thirty-three.
Our book takes the same count but goes not downward, but across: it does not reduce the many to one; it calls each by His name.