तस्य ह वै प्रणवस्य या पूर्वा मात्रा पृथिव्यकारः स ऋग्भिरृग्वेदो ब्रह्मा वसवो गायत्री गार्हपत्यः सा साम्नः प्रथमः पादो भवति । द्वितीयान्तरिक्षं स उकारः स यजुभिर्यजुर्वेदो विष्णुरुद्रास्त्रिष्टुब्दक्षिणाग्निः सा साम्नो द्वितीयः पादो भवति । तृतीया द्यौः स मकारः स सामभिः सामवेदो रुद्रा आदित्या जगत्याहवनीयः सा साम्नस्तृतीयः पादो भवति । यावसानेऽस्य चतुर्थ्यर्धमात्रा स सोमलोक ओङ्कारः सोऽथर्वणैर्मन्त्रैरथर्ववेदः संवर्तकोऽग्निर्मरुतो विराडेकर्षिर्भास्वती स्मृता सा साम्नश्चतुर्थः पादो भवति
tasya ha vai praṇavasya yā pūrvā mātrā pṛthivyakāraḥ sa ṛgbhirṛgvedo brahmā vasavo gāyatrī gārhapatyaḥ sā sāmnaḥ prathamaḥ pādo bhavati | dvitīyāntarikṣaṃ sa ukāraḥ sa yajubhiryajurvedo viṣṇurudrāstriṣṭubdakṣiṇāgniḥ sā sāmno dvitīyaḥ pādo bhavati | tṛtīyā dyauḥ sa makāraḥ sa sāmabhiḥ sāmavedo rudrā ādityā jagatyāhavanīyaḥ sā sāmnastṛtīyaḥ pādo bhavati | yāvasāne'sya caturthyardhamātrā sa somaloka oṅkāraḥ so'tharvaṇairmantrairatharvavedaḥ saṃvartako'gnirmaruto virāḍekarṣirbhāsvatī smṛtā sā sāmnaścaturthaḥ pādo bhavati
Of that praṇava the first measure is the earth, the sound “a”; it — with the ṛcs the Ṛg-veda, Brahmā, the Vasus, the gāyatrī, the householder's fire: it is the first quarter of the chant. The second — the middle region, the sound “u”; with the yajuses the Yajur-veda, Viṣṇu, the Rudras, the triṣṭubh, the southern fire: it is the second quarter. The third — heaven, the sound “m”; with the sāmans the Sāma-veda, the Rudras, the Ādityas, the jagatī, the offering fire: it is the third quarter. And the half-measure at the close, the fourth, — it is the world of Soma, the Oṁkāra; with the mantras of the atharvans the Atharva-veda, the fire of dissolution, the Maruts, virāṭ, Ekarṣi, the shining one: it is the fourth quarter of the chant.
a7484b65d131 · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 4:39:50 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
A chart of a kind the Upaniṣads have many of, and yet astonishing in its orderliness.
The four measures of the syllable Oṁ are taken — a, u, m and the half-measure — and to each a whole row is attached: a world, a Veda, a god, a class of gods, a metre, a sacrificial fire.
Earth — “a” — the Ṛg-veda — Brahmā — the Vasus — the gāyatrī — the gārhapatya. Mid-air — “u” — the Yajur-veda — Viṣṇu — the Rudras — the triṣṭubh — the dakṣiṇāgni. Heaven — “m” — the Sāma-veda — the Rudras and Ādityas — the jagatī — the āhavanīya. The world of Soma — the half-measure — the Atharva-veda — the Maruts — virāṭ — Ekarṣi.
Four columns, and everything converges on the four quarters of the mantra.
This device is called in the śruti bandhu — “bond”: to show that different fours are one. We read such charts in the third and eighth paragraphs of the first Upaniṣad; this one is the fullest of all.
Note where Viṣṇu stands: at the second measure, with the middle region. And the third is given to the Rudras and Ādityas.
That is, the book does not set its own God in the top cell. The chart goes by worlds, not by rank; and the fourth measure, the half-measure, is given to none of the three — it is the Oṁkāra as such.
The same trait we saw in the thirty-sixth section of the Atharvaśiras: three measures dealt out to Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Īśāna, and the fourth belonging to all the gods.