Upanishads · Nṛsiṃha-tāpanī Uttara 1.2
॥
Devanāgarī
स्वप्नस्थानः सूक्ष्मप्रज्ञः सप्ताङ्ग एकोनविंशतिमुखः सूक्ष्मभुक् चतुरात्मा तैजसो हिरण्यगर्भो द्वितीयः पादः
Transliteration (IAST)
svapnasthānaḥ sūkṣmaprajñaḥ saptāṅga ekonaviṃśatimukhaḥ sūkṣmabhuk caturātmā taijaso hiraṇyagarbho dvitīyaḥ pādaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
स्वप्नस्थानः सूक्ष्मप्रज्ञःsvapnasthānaḥ sūkṣmaprajñaḥabiding in dream, cognising the subtle; stationed in dreaming, aware of the fine
सप्ताङ्गः एकोनविंशतिमुखःsaptāṅgaḥ ekonaviṃśatimukhaḥseven-limbed, nineteen-mouthed; of seven members, of nineteen gates
सूक्ष्मभुक् चतुरात्माsūkṣmabhuk caturātmāenjoying the subtle, fourfold; eater of the fine, of four selves
तैजसः हिरण्यगर्भःtaijasaḥ hiraṇyagarbhaḥTaijasa, Hiraṇyagarbha; Taijasa and Hiraṇyagarbha
द्वितीयः पादःdvitīyaḥ pādaḥthe second foot; the second quarter
Translation
Abiding in dream, cognising the subtle, seven-limbed, with nineteen gates, enjoying the subtle, fourfold — Taijasa, Hiraṇyagarbha: this is the second foot.
Version
41ee9b7f536a · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:39:50 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The second foot, and to the name of Taijasa is added what the Māṇḍūkya lacks: Hiraṇyagarbha.
This is the device of the whole uttara-tāpanī. The Māṇḍūkya described the states of one man; here to each state is attached the person of the universe corresponding to it.
Waking — Viśva and Vaiśvānara: the man awake and the universal gross body. Dream — Taijasa and Hiraṇyagarbha: the man in dream and the universal subtle. Deep sleep — Prājña and Īśvara, as the next paragraph will say.
That is, the particular and the universal are set side by side on every step.
Note that Hiraṇyagarbha, “the Golden Womb”, is in Vedānta the soul of the universe, the sum of all subtle bodies. We examined him in reading the thirty-seventh section of the Atharvaśiras.
And caturātmā is added — “fourfold”. Each foot is itself fourfold; the counting by fours in this book does not end.