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The Seventh Kanda of the third Prapathaka of the Taittiriya Samhita of the Yajur Veda explains various Yagnas (Vedic fire-rituals), and in particular, the third Prapathaka of this Khanda provides some of the hymns required for the Ashwamedha Yagna (horse ritual). Here is one of those hymns:

Hail! (To) meditation (I offer).

To that meditated upon hail!

Hail! (To) that which we meditate on (I offer).

To mind hail! Hail! (To) mind (I offer).

To Prajapati hail! To Ka hail! To Who hail!' To Whoever (katamásmai) hail!

To Aditi hail! To Aditi the great hail! To Aditi the gentle hail!

To Sarasvati hail! To Sarasvati the mighty hail! To Sarasvati, the purifying hail!

To Pusan hail! To Pusan guardian of travellers hail! To Pusan watcher of men hail!

To Tvastr hail! To Tvastr the seminal hail! To Tvastr the multiform hail!

To Visnu hail! To Visnu the Nikhuryapa hail! To Visnu the Nibhuyapa hail!

I'm interested in the last line, addressed to Vishnu. My question is, why is Vishnu called the Nikhuryapa and the Nibhuyapa? What do these words mean? Sanskrit dictionaries don't provide any help (they just say it's a name of Vishnu), and I don't think the name is in the Vishnu Sahasranama.

Does Sayana address this in his commentary on the Taittiriya Samhita? He usually provides (sometimes fanciful) etymologies for the names of gods.

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  • @Kesava - Sayana bhasyas though good, useful for for understanding the vedas, they are not great nor more esoteric, is my view. I have not seen much esoteric meanings in his bhasyas.
    – user808
    Commented Nov 21, 2015 at 11:24
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    @Krishna I'm not looking for some esoteric meaning, I just want the plain literal meaning.
    – Keshav Srinivasan ♦
    Commented Nov 21, 2015 at 15:00
  • Please change it to the Seventh Kanda, Third Prapathaka of Taittiriya Samhita.
    – Surya
    Commented Apr 12, 2016 at 8:23

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This translation of the Taittiriya Samhita with commentary gives the meanings of the names:

nikhuryapa: He who is gracious to those suffering from disease or effects of sin.
nibhūyapa: He who is gracious to those who are unable to do their work.

(Online version not available.)

However, Sayana's commentary doesn't seem to include the etymology, and neither name really looks composed of understandable Sanskrit words.

This academic journal article has the following to say:

enter image description here

So it seems to be a bit of a confusing passage.

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