Upanishads · Rudrahṛdaya 20
॥
Devanāgarī
रुद्रो दिवा उमा रात्रिस्तस्मै तस्यै नमो नमः । रुद्रो यज्ञ उमा वेदिस्तस्मै तस्यै नमो नमः
Transliteration (IAST)
rudro divā umā rātristasmai tasyai namo namaḥ | rudro yajña umā vedistasmai tasyai namo namaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
रुद्रः दिवा उमा रात्रिःrudraḥ divā umā rātriḥRudra — day, Umā — night
रुद्रः यज्ञः उमा वेदिःrudraḥ yajñaḥ umā vediḥRudra — sacrifice, Umā — the altar
तस्मै तस्यै नमः नमःtasmai tasyai namaḥ namaḥto him and to her, homage, homage
Translation
"Rudra — day, Umā — night: to him and to her, homage, homage. Rudra — sacrifice, Umā — the altar: to him and to her, homage, homage."
Version
6b002a3cd5e9 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Two pairs, and the second of them — "sacrifice and altar" — deserves special attention. Vedi is the altar, the platform on which the fire is laid out; yajña is the sacrifice itself. And it is said that he is the sacrifice, and she is that upon which the sacrifice is performed.
This distribution repeats what was in the eighth line about seed and womb, and repeats it from another side: the feminine principle is not what is offered, but the place without which nothing can be offered. This thought is central to the Vedic rite and is expressed in the very structure of the altar: without the vedi, there is no sacrifice, and the first thing done is to mark out and level the platform. The Vaiṣṇava side speaks of the same thing here, in the same terms, but with one important correction. Her sacrifice has one to whom it is offered; but in the pair "sacrifice and altar" there is what is offered and a place, but no receiver.
This correction is, in essence, the whole Vaiṣṇava teaching on sacrifice in one word. The Gītā says: "I am the enjoyer and lord of all sacrifices" (9.24), and adds that those who do not know this fall. That is, a rite that has only substance and place, but no person, turns out to be labor without an addressee.
The first pair, day and night, is of the kind that needs no explanation, and is good precisely for that. It reminds one that a couple is not only a union but also an alternation: one comes as the other departs, and both are needed.