Upanishads · Nṛsiṃha-tāpanī Pūrva 5.4
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ द्वादशारं द्वादशपत्रं चक्रं भवति द्वादशाक्षरा वै जगती जगत्या संमितं भवति बहिर्मायया वेष्टितं भवति
Transliteration (IAST)
atha dvādaśāraṃ dvādaśapatraṃ cakraṃ bhavati dvādaśākṣarā vai jagatī jagatyā saṃmitaṃ bhavati bahirmāyayā veṣṭitaṃ bhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथ द्वादशारम् द्वादशपत्रम् चक्रम्atha dvādaśāram dvādaśapatram cakramthen a circle of twelve spokes and twelve petals; next a cakra of twelve spokes and petals
द्वादशाक्षरा वै जगतीdvādaśākṣarā vai jagatīfor the jagatī is of twelve syllables; since the jagatī has twelve syllables
जगत्या संमितम् भवतिjagatyā saṃmitam bhavatiit is measured by the jagatī; it is commensurate with the jagatī
बहिः मायया वेष्टितम् भवतिbahiḥ māyayā veṣṭitam bhavatioutside it is wrapped by māyā; without it is wound about by māyā
Translation
Then there is a circle of twelve spokes and twelve petals: for the jagatī is of twelve syllables, and by it it is measured; and outside it is wrapped by māyā.
Version
206e972778cb · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:39:50 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The third ring: twelve.
The ground is the jagatī metre, which has twelve syllables to the quarter.
Note that the number twelve in these books is never alone: twelve Ādityas, twelve months, the twelve-syllable mantra “oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya”, which the eighth paragraph of this Upaniṣad will inscribe on the twelve petals.
All these twelves converge on one ring.
And here is the sense of this whole count, if one looks at the five rings together: six — the year; eight — the gāyatrī; twelve — the jagatī; sixteen — the parts of the Puruṣa; thirty-two — the anuṣṭubh.
The diagram is built of measures. Not of things and not of images: of the metres of verse and the divisions of time.
The same trait we noted in the second Upaniṣad: the world is put together not out of stuff, but by measure.