Upanishads · Nṛsiṃha-tāpanī Pūrva 5.5
॥
Devanāgarī
अथ षोडशारं षोडशपत्रं चक्रं भवति षोडशकालो वै पुरुषः पुरुष एवेदं सर्वं पुरुषेण संमितं भवति मायया बहिर्वेष्टितं भवति
Transliteration (IAST)
atha ṣoḍaśāraṃ ṣoḍaśapatraṃ cakraṃ bhavati ṣoḍaśakālo vai puruṣaḥ puruṣa evedaṃ sarvaṃ puruṣeṇa saṃmitaṃ bhavati māyayā bahirveṣṭitaṃ bhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथ षोडशारम् षोडशपत्रम् चक्रम्atha ṣoḍaśāram ṣoḍaśapatram cakramthen a circle of sixteen spokes and sixteen petals; next a cakra of sixteen spokes and petals
षोडशकलः वै पुरुषःṣoḍaśakalaḥ vai puruṣaḥfor the Puruṣa is of sixteen parts; since the puruṣa has sixteen portions
पुरुषः एव इदम् सर्वम्puruṣaḥ eva idam sarvamthe Puruṣa is all this; the puruṣa — this is everything
पुरुषेण संमितम् भवतिpuruṣeṇa saṃmitam bhavatiit is measured by the Puruṣa; it is commensurate with the puruṣa
मायया बहिः वेष्टितम् भवतिmāyayā bahiḥ veṣṭitam bhavatiit is wrapped by māyā outside; by māyā it is wound about without
Translation
Then there is a circle of sixteen spokes and sixteen petals: for the Puruṣa is of sixteen parts, and the Puruṣa is all this, and by him it is measured; and it is wrapped by māyā on the outside.
Version
6a0d4c0f3756 · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:39:50 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fourth ring: sixteen.
The ground is the doctrine of the sixteen parts of the Puruṣa, expounded at length by the Praśna Upaniṣad: fifteen parts are changeable and dissolve, and the sixteenth is unchanging.
There it is put thus: as rivers, entering the sea, lose name and form, so the fifteen parts pass into the Puruṣa, and He remains.
We read the same number in the tenth paragraph of the second Upaniṣad, where the verse of the Ṛg-veda called Him ṣoḍaśin, “the sixteenth”.
Note also the addition: puruṣa evedaṁ sarvam — “the Puruṣa is all this”.
This is the opening of the Puruṣa-sūkta, the most famous hymn about him. Three words, and in them the whole argument: since He is everything, the circle's measure too is He.
One ring remains, and it will be by the measure of the mantra itself.