Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 91
॥
Devanāgarī
सूरयो ब्रह्मादयो देवास इति सदा हृदय अदधते । तस्माद्विष्णोः स्वरूपं वसति तिष्ठति भूतेश्विति वासुदेव इति । ओं नम इति त्रीण्यक्षराणि । भगवत इति चत्वारि । वासुदेवायेति पञ्चाक्षराणि
Transliteration (IAST)
sūrayo brahmādayo devāsa iti sadā hṛdaya adadhate | tasmādviṣṇoḥ svarūpaṃ vasati tiṣṭhati bhūteśviti vāsudeva iti | oṃ nama iti trīṇyakṣarāṇi | bhagavata iti catvāri | vāsudevāyeti pañcākṣarāṇi
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सूरयः ब्रह्म-आदयः देवासः इतिsūrayaḥ brahma-ādayaḥ devāsaḥ iti«the wise» — the gods headed by Brahmā
सदा हृदये आदधतेsadā hṛdaye ādadhatealways hold in the heart
वसति तिष्ठति भूतेषु इति वासुदेवःvasati tiṣṭhati bhūteṣu iti vāsudevaḥdwells, abides in beings — Vāsudeva
ओं नमः इति त्रीणि अक्षराणिoṃ namaḥ iti trīṇi akṣarāṇi«om namaḥ» — three syllables
भगवते इति चत्वारिbhagavate iti catvāri«bhagavate» — four
Translation
««The wise» — that is the gods headed by Brahmā; they always hold it in the heart. Hence the own form of Viṣṇu is «dwells, abides in beings» — hence «Vāsudeva». — «Om namaḥ» — three syllables, «bhagavate» — four, «vāsudevāya» — five syllables».
Version
1949f9ae72da · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The name Vāsudeva is analyzed: vasati tiṣṭhati bhūteṣu, «dwells, abides in beings». This is nirvacana, interpretation by root, and the root taken is correct: vas means «to live, to dwell, to spend the night». The usual explanation of the name — «son of Vasudeva», by the father — is here given differently, by the root, and this is older and held in both traditions. The Viṣṇu-purāṇa and the Mahābhārata interpret it the same way: He is the One in whom everything dwells and who dwells in everything.
It is notable that the verb vasati is the very one from which come vāsa, «dwelling», and vasana, «a night's lodging». To dwell means to live somewhere permanently, not merely to be present. The difference is the same as between a resident and a passer-by: the passer-by happens to be in the house, the resident lives in it.
Then a count of syllables begins, and this count will yield twelve in the next line. This is the same device the book used in the first part — but now applied not to a derived mantra, but to one already complete and known to all. Worth noting too who is called sūrayaḥ, «the wise», in the Ṛgveda verse cited: brahmādayaḥ devāsaḥ, «the gods headed by Brahmā». Those who see «the highest step», then, are not nameless sages, but persons, each with his own name and his own story; and they hold this vision sadā hṛdaye, «always in the heart» — that is, they carry it with them, as one carries the memory of someone loved.