Upanishads · Nṛsiṃha-tāpanī Pūrva 4.45
॥
Devanāgarī
ओं यो ह वै नृसिंहो देवो भगवान् यश्च जीवः भूर्भुवः स्वस्तस्मै वै नमो नमः
Transliteration (IAST)
oṃ yo ha vai nṛsiṃho devo bhagavān yaśca jīvaḥ 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 जीवःyaḥ ca jīvaḥand who is the jīva; and the one who is the living being
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 jīva. Earth, mid-air, heaven! To him be bow upon bow.
Version
3476194517c8 · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:39:50 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The thirty-first name is jīva, the living being, and this is the most dangerous place in the litany for an inattentive reading.
It can be read two ways. One reading: there is no soul apart; there is only He. The other, which Vaiṣṇava Vedānta holds: the soul is of one essence with Him, but not identical.
For the second speaks this whole book.
Its fourteenth paragraph said what the whole litany is for: that He “become pleased and show his own Self”. One shows oneself to someone, not to oneself.
The eleventh paragraph of the first Upaniṣad said: the one who has learned “in this very body is freed from the round and frees others”. One frees others, not oneself.
And the fifteenth paragraph of the second Upaniṣad: for sva-bhaktas, “his own devotees”, He kills death by mere remembrance. His devotees — so there is someone who is devoted.
The sense, then, is this: that by which the jīva lives is He; our nature is one — conscious, not material. Hence one may say that He is the jīva.
The last name of the litany will add to this the last word.