Upanishads · Varāha 2.33
॥
Devanāgarī
सर्वभूतान्तरस्थाय नित्यमुक्तचिदात्मने । प्रत्यक्चैतन्यरूपाय मह्यमेव नमोनमः
Transliteration (IAST)
sarvabhūtāntarasthāya nityamuktacidātmane | pratyakcaitanyarūpāya mahyameva namonamaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सर्व-भूत-अन्तरः-स्थायsarva-bhūta-antaraḥ-sthāyadwelling within all beings
नित्य-मुक्त-चित्-आत्मनेnitya-mukta-cit-ātmaneeternally free, conscious self
प्रत्यक्-चैतन्य-रूपायpratyak-caitanya-rūpāyahaving the form of inner consciousness
मह्यम् एव नमः नमःmahyam eva namaḥ namaḥto me, indeed — a bow, a bow
Translation
"To the one dwelling within all beings, eternally free, conscious self, having the form of inner consciousness — to me, indeed, a bow, a bow."
Version
a992096ec78f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The structure of this verse deserves examination, for it is curious: it is a bow to oneself. It is said mahyam eva namo namah, "a bow, a bow to me." This phrasing appears in nondualist works and is held the highest expression: the worshiper and the worshiped are one.
Let us say plainly what deserves examining here, for the examination is simple. A bow is an act requiring two by position: the one bowing and the one bowed to. It can be directed at oneself only as a figure of speech; in fact one cannot bow to oneself.
We examined the same in the Tarasara (3.10), where the line "I am Rama" ended with the words "to that one, a bow, a bow"; and there the bow was directed at Him. Here it is directed at the speaker; and hence this verse is, in my view, the most consistently nondualist passage in the whole book. Let us add, however, what deserves noting in the very list of definitions.
It says: sarva-bhuta-antah-sthaya, "to the one dwelling within all beings." That is, the one bowed to is defined through a relation to many: he is within all. Were he one, and the one bowing identical with him, the definition "within all" would make no sense: within whom?