Upanishads · Varāha 4.32
॥
Devanāgarī
शिवो गुरुः शिवो वेदः शिव देवः शिवः प्रभुः । शिवोऽस्म्यहं शिवः सर्वं शिवदन्यन्न किञ्चन
Transliteration (IAST)
śivo guruḥ śivo vedaḥ śiva devaḥ śivaḥ prabhuḥ | śivo'smyahaṃ śivaḥ sarvaṃ śivadanyanna kiñcana
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
शिवः गुरुः शिवः वेदःśivaḥ guruḥ śivaḥ vedaḥShiva is the teacher, Shiva is the veda
शिवः देवः शिवः प्रभुःśivaḥ devaḥ śivaḥ prabhuḥShiva is the god, Shiva is the lord
शिवः अस्मि अहं शिवः सर्वंśivaḥ asmi ahaṃ śivaḥ sarvaṃShiva am I, Shiva is all
शिवात् अन्यत् न किञ्चनśivāt anyat na kiñcanabesides Shiva there is nothing
Translation
"Shiva is the teacher, Shiva is the veda, Shiva is the god, Shiva is the lord; Shiva am I, Shiva is all; besides Shiva there is nothing."
Version
5b91df0f362d · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is an unexpected verse: in a book spoken by the Boar, that is, Vishnu, stands a confession of faith in Shiva. The contradiction here is no illusion, and deserves stating. In the third chapter it was said that darkness perishes hari-dinakrit-prabhaya na cha antarena, "by the light of Hari, and not otherwise" (3.11); here it says "besides Shiva there is nothing."
Both statements are exclusive, and both stand in one book, forty verses apart. The explanation, in my view, is simple, and the one we have given more than once: the book is a compilation, and pieces of different origin have entered it. This is confirmed too by the fact that this verse is a ready-made formula, found in abundance in Shaiva works: it is inserted whole, without adaptation.
Let us add what deserves saying of the subject itself, for this is its place. Vaishnava teaching neither rejects nor demeans Shiva; and his position was discussed at length when reading the Atharvashiras and the Panchabrahma. Let us briefly repeat: he is counted neither among souls nor among incarnations, but occupies a special position — the Brahma-samhita compares him to milk turned sour: the same substance, but a different property (5.45).
What it objects to is the equating; and this equating is exactly what such verses perform. Its rule is stated by the Padma Purana thus: vishnor ya anucha-varyena — whoever places the other gods on a level with Vishnu is pashandi, "an apostate." This strictness pertains not to the worship of Shiva, which it holds itself, but to equating: to worship — yes, to equate — no.