Upanishads · Nṛsiṃha-tāpanī Pūrva 4.36
॥
Devanāgarī
ओं यो ह वै नृसिंहो देवो भगवान् यश्च कालः भूर्भुवः स्वस्तस्मै वै नमो नमः
Transliteration (IAST)
oṃ yo ha vai nṛsiṃho devo bhagavān yaśca kālaḥ 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 कालःyaḥ ca kālaḥand who is time; and the one who is kāla
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 time. Earth, mid-air, heaven! To him be bow upon bow.
Version
0e1c2e21a113 · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:39:50 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The twenty-second name is kāla, time, and with it begins the gravest row of the litany: time, Manu, death, Yama, the Ender.
In the Atharva-veda there is a separate hymn to Time, where it is called a horse with seven reins, and it is said that Time begot even Prajāpati.
We read the same in the twentieth section of the Atharvaśiras and in the thirty-fifth mantra of the Rāma-tāpanī.
All these books agree in one thing: time is not faceless, and therefore it is no enemy. Who knows whose it is ceases to fight it off.
Note that right after time Manu is named — the forefather of men and the giver of the law. The neighbourhood is telling: time and order stand side by side.