उपनिषद् · Nṛsiṃha-tāpanī Uttara 4.4
॥
देवनागरी
वश्यां स्फुरन्तीमसतीं निपीड्य संभक्ष्य सिंहेन स एष वीरः
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
vaśyāṃ sphurantīmasatīṃ nipīḍya saṃbhakṣya siṃhena sa eṣa vīraḥ
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
वश्याम् स्फुरन्तीम् असतीम्vaśyām sphurantīm asatīmthe compliant, the quivering, the unreal; the obedient, the trembling, the non-existent
निपीड्यnipīḍyahaving pressed down; having crushed
संभक्ष्य सिंहेनsaṃbhakṣya siṃhenahaving devoured by the lion; having consumed by means of the lion
सः एषः वीरःsaḥ eṣaḥ vīraḥhe is the valiant; this one is the vīra
अनुवाद
“…having pressed down the compliant, the quivering, the unreal, and having devoured her by the lion — he is the valiant.”
संस्करण
95508571d07a · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 4:39:50 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The second verse, and in it one word gives the key: asatī — “the unreal, the non-existent one”.
Three definitions attend her: vaśyā — “compliant, subject”; sphurantī — “quivering, trembling”; asatī — “non-existent”.
This is a description of māyā, and an exact one. She is subject — for she does nothing of herself; she quivers — for she does not stand still; and she is “non-existent” — for she has no being apart from Him whose she is.
Recall the second paragraph of the third Upaniṣad of the pūrva, where māyā was named Nṛsiṃha's and said to create, guard and withdraw.
There she acted; here she is swallowed.
And here is the verse's last word: sa eṣa vīraḥ — “he is the valiant”.
Vīra is the second word of the mantra-rāja. That is, the riddle ends by naming by name: His valiance is that He has devoured this.
Note the verb saṁbhakṣya — “having devoured”. The same family as grāsa: the whole uttara-tāpanī speaks of swallowing.