Upanishads · Rudrahṛdaya 6
॥
Devanāgarī
ये नमस्यन्ति गोविन्दं ते नमस्यन्ति शङ्करम् । येऽर्चयन्ति हरिं भक्त्या तेऽर्चयन्ति वृषध्वजम्
Transliteration (IAST)
ye namasyanti govindaṃ te namasyanti śaṅkaram | ye'rcayanti hariṃ bhaktyā te'rcayanti vṛṣadhvajam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ये नमस्यन्ति गोविन्दंye namasyanti govindaṃwho bow to Govinda
ते नमस्यन्ति शङ्करम्te namasyanti śaṅkaramthose bow to Śaṅkara
ये अर्चयन्ति हरिं भक्त्याye arcayanti hariṃ bhaktyāwho worship Hari with devotion
ते अर्चयन्ति वृष-ध्वजम्te arcayanti vṛṣa-dhvajamthose worship the Bull-bannered One
Translation
"Whoever bows to Govinda, those bow to Śaṅkara; whoever worships Hari with devotion, those worship the Bull-bannered One."
Version
be4a0076517f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is a verse for whose sake this book is worth knowing by heart, and it is worth noting where it stands: in a Śaiva upaniṣad, spoken by Vyāsa to his own son. It is said directly: one who bows to Govinda bows to Śaṅkara; one who worships Hari with devotion worships Vṛṣadhvaja, "the one whose banner bears a bull." To read this as "it's all the same, and there's nothing to distinguish" would be wrong and shallow. Something else, more precise, is said: worship of one reaches the other — and this is said by one who could have claimed exclusivity.
It is worth noting the word standing with the second action: bhaktyā, "with devotion." Not every act of worship reaches; only that performed with devotion; and this qualification stands exactly where it is needed. The Vaiṣṇava side cites this verse gladly and draws from it her usual conclusion. It concerns not theology but conduct: hostility among worshipers is their own affair and has no bearing on those worshiped. One who reviles Śiva in the glory of Viṣṇu, by this verse, reviles Viṣṇu too; and the reverse.
Caitanya, in whom the teaching of Kṛṣṇa's supremacy is expressed more sharply than in anyone, himself worshiped Śiva at Kāśī and at Bhuvaneśvara and bowed to him as vaiṣṇavānāṃ yathā śambhuḥ, "the foremost of the Vaiṣṇavas" (Bhāgavatam 12.13.16). One did not hinder the other, and this, to my mind, is the finest commentary on the present verse.