Upanishads · Pañcabrahma p3
॥
Devanāgarī
वामदेव इति । किं वा पुनरिमे भगव इति
Transliteration (IAST)
vāmadeva iti | kiṃ vā punarime bhagava iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
वामदेवः इतिvāmadevaḥ iti"Vāmadeva"
किं वा पुनः इमेkiṃ vā punaḥ ime"what else is this"
भगवः इतिbhagavaḥ iti"Lord?"
Translation
"— 'Vāmadeva.' — 'What else is this, Lord?'"
Version
25ba406c353c · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The third face: Vāmadeva, "the beautiful god" or "the left god," for vāma means both "beautiful, dear" and "left." This double meaning is no accident and is worth examining. The left side in Indian usage is the feminine side: the consort is depicted to the left of the husband, and the image of Ardhanārīśvara, discussed when reading the Rudrākṣa-jābāla (2.2), is feminine on the left.
That is, Vāmadeva is a merciful and feminine face; and in the iconography he faces north and is linked with preservation. It is worth noting that the questioner's question has now changed: he says kiṃ vā punar ime, "what else is this," in the plural. The plural here is curious: the questioner, having heard three names, no longer asks "what next" but "what is all this together."
That is, a question arises in him about the relation of the named things to one another; and the book will resolve this question only in the sixteenth verse, where it says that all five are one. The Vaiṣṇava side considers this order of exposition — first the list, then the unity — correct, and makes use of it herself. The Bhāgavatam lists twenty-two descents and only afterward says: "all of them are parts and portions of the Puruṣa" (1.3.28).
This order, it is worth saying, is more sensible than the reverse. Beginning with unity makes the list superfluous; beginning with the list arrives at unity as a conclusion, and a conclusion holds more firmly than what was declared at the outset.