Upanishads · Mahā 1.6
॥
Devanāgarī
पश्चिमाभिमुखो भूत्वा भुवरिति व्याहृतिस्त्रैष्टुभं छन्दो यजुर्वेदो वायुर्देवता
Transliteration (IAST)
paścimābhimukho bhūtvā bhuvariti vyāhṛtistraiṣṭubhaṃ chando yajurvedo vāyurdevatā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पश्चिमाभिमुखः भूत्वाpaścimābhimukhaḥ bhūtvāhaving turned his face to the west; facing toward the sunset
भुवः इति व्याहृतिःbhuvaḥ iti vyāhṛtiḥ“bhuvaḥ” — the utterance; the vyāhṛti “bhuvaḥ”
त्रैष्टुभम् छन्दःtraiṣṭubham chandaḥthe traiṣṭubha metre; the metre traiṣṭubha
यजुर्वेदः वायुः देवताyajurvedaḥ vāyuḥ devatāthe Yajur-veda, the deity Vāyu; the Yajur-veda, the god vāyu
Translation
Having turned his face to the west: the utterance “bhuvaḥ”, the traiṣṭubha metre, the Yajur-veda, the deity — Vāyu.
Version
1c4e336ec1d8 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
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The west — “bhuvaḥ”, the triṣṭubh, the Yajur-veda, Vāyu.
The correspondence is exact in sense as well. Bhuvaḥ is the middle region, between earth and sky; and as its deity is named the wind, which lives in that very region.
The triṣṭubh is the metre of eleven syllables to the quarter, the most frequent in the Ṛg-veda after the gāyatrī.
Note that the Yajur-veda is given to the west. That Veda is the ritual one: in it are not hymns but formulas spoken during the act. And the quarter allotted to it is the one where the sun departs — the quarter of completion.
I will not strain this correspondence: the book does not explain it. But neither will I pass it by, for the whole chart is built on such matchings, and the reader has the right to see them.