Explaination of the word "Umapati" in Narasimha Tapniye Upanishad

              prayers

I Offer salutation to my Dear Maa Janaki,Whom I adore the most. She is the Very cause of all causes, the Supreme shakti Who prevades Throughout millions of creation. May the dearest one Bless this post of mine.

The Supreme being is Narayana alone

After properly going through all the authentic Vedic Granths like Vedas, Epics, Upanishads,Vishnu Puran, Bhagwatam, Pancharatras and so on, an unbiased And Neutral reader will find, that The Supreme Being, who is sung Throughout these Shastras, is none other Than Lord Sriman Nārāyana alone. In this context, Maharīshī ved vyas has written :

सत्यं सत्यं पुनः सत्यंउद्ध्र्त्य भुजमुच्यते | वेदशास्त्रत्परं नास्ति न दैवं केशावत् परं ||

"Raising up my arms, I declare on oath that there is no scriptural textg reater than the Veda, and no deity superior to kesava. Again and again, this true, is true, is true." (Source : Harivamsa parva chapter , mahabharata)

Then again, in the very beginning of the Vyas Māhābhārata, It is clearly stated :

“In the Vedas, in the Ramayana, and in the sacred bharata, O chief of Bharata’s race, Hari is sung in the beginning, the middle and the end. That in which occur excellent statements relating to Vishnu, and the eternal Srutis, should be listened to by men desirous of attaining to the highest goal. This treatise is sanctifying. This is the highest indicator as regards duties; this is endued with every merit." (Source : Sri Vyas Māhābhārata, savargarohanika parva)

imp : even sri Adi shankaracharya has quoted this in his vishnu sahasranam bhasya

Lord Shri Hari Nārāyana is the Supreme deity sung throughout these scriptures I.e The Rāmāyana, Mahabharata and Vedas which are supposed to be the highest and most revered texts in Sanatan dharma.

in Srimad Bhagwat geeta chapter 15, The Lord himself says that he alone is the one who is to be known through the vedas, which he confirmed again in the Mahabharata :

"In the Rig veda, in the Yajurveda, in the atharvans and the samansin the Puranas and the Upanishads, as also in the treatises on Astrology, O Arjuna, in the Sankhya scriptures, in the Yoga scriptures, and in the treatises also on the Science of Life, many are the names that have been mentioned by the great Rishis. Some of those names are derivable from my attributes and some of them relate to my acts. Do thou hear, with concentrated attention, O sinless one, what the import is of each off those names (in particular) that have reference to my acts. I shall recite them to you." (Mahabharata, shanti parva, section CCCXLII)

Further, he never speaks something which is wrong, whatever he says is the final truth:

"I was never born. I never take birth. Nor shall I ever be born. I am the Kshetrajna of all creatures. Hence am I called by the name of Aja (unborn). I have never uttered anything base or anything that is obscene." (Source : Mahabharata, shanti parva, section CCCXLIII)

All names given in the four vedas, The Represent him alone, which are defined either by his attribute or by his acts. I have also explained this in This post, that How Agni, Indra, Viswakarma and soma are actually the names of God Narayana, whenever they Point towards the supreme being, rather than towards the attribute of a celestial God. 

The beholder of all names

The rig veda 1.164.46 mentions supreme being is only one, and he bears all the names. The Rig veda clearly mentions the fact that God Narayana alone is this supreme being :

yo naḥ pitā janitā yo vidhātā dhāmāni veda bhuvanāniviśvā | yo devānāṃ nāmadhā eka eva taṃ sampraśnambhuvanā yantyanyā ||10.82.3

"Father who made us, he who, as Disposer, knoweth all races and all things existing, Even he alone, the Deities' narne-giver,him other beings seek for information."

This is repeated in Yajur veda also :

"He who is our father, our begetter, the ordainer, Who begot us from being unto being , Who alone assigneth their names to the gods, Him other beings approach for knowledge. Wealth they won by offering to him The seers of old like singers in abundance, They who fashioned these beings illumined and unillumined .In the expanse of space." (Taittiriya samhita 4.6.2)

Both these hyms are known as "Viswakarma suktam", but viswakarma here is God Narayana, which is confirmed by sri adi shankaracharya :

It talks of How creation rested on the Unborn's (Narayana's) navel in Rig veda 10.81-82 and How Brahma emerged from his navel and created the universe as per yajur veda taittiriya samhita 4.6.2. It is again mentioned how all Gods are children of Mahalakshmi (Bhu devi) and Narayana (prajapati) :

"This was in the beginning the waters, the ocean. In it Prajapati becoming the wind moved. He saw her, and becoming a boar he seized her. Her, becoming Viçvakarma, he wiped. She extended, she became the earth, and hence the earth is called the earth (lit. 'the extended'). In her Prajapati (vishnu) made effort. He produced the Gods, vasus, Rudras and adityas.The gods said to Prajapati, 'Let us have offspring.' He said [1], 'As I have created you by penance, so seek ye offspring in penance.' (yajur ved, Taittirya Samhita, 7.1.5)

Hence, Its a proven fact that Narayana is the one who gave Birth and Gave names to all Gods, which were his own originally. 

Explaining 'Umapati' in narasimha Tapniye Upanishad

Having Established the fact that Narayana alone is the supreme being, I will now address main topic. The Narasimha Tapniye Upanishad is an ancient vedic era Text, which has been quoted by Great acharyas like Sri Adi shankaracharya, Swami desika and Sri Ramanujacharya. As the name and the content says, It is dedicated to the Supreme being, Lord narasimha Swamy, the half man and half lion, who is none other than the supreme Godhead, Sriman Narayana vasudeva. But, on reading the Text, In the very first para we find the name "Umapati", which leads to a confusion that Narasimha here is not Sriman Narayana, but Lord shiva, where as the Truth is that Umapati here is none other than God Narayana only. There are two interpretations for this, lets see both of them.

Case 1 : Uma is not Devi paravati

We have already established the fact, that all names of The vedas are dedicated to narayana alone, so this must be Meant for him only. The word "Uma" Means "Fame" so Umapati actually means "The Lord of fame", and the Mahabharata says :

"Dismissed by the Supreme Soul, I have today come hither. In energy and fame and beauty, who else in the three worlds can equal Him than you two that have been born in the race of Dharma? He has told me the entire course of duties having reference to Kshetrajna. He has also told me of all those incarnations which he will, in the future, have in this world." (Source : Mahabharata, santi parva, section 344)

In the three worlds, no one is equal to him in fame. 

Case 2 : Uma means Devi paravati only

now lets Consider Uma here means Goddess Paravati only. So subsequently, The word "Umapati" means "The Lord of paravati" who is none other than Lord shiva. To explain this, Let us see what mahabharata says :

viṣṇuś cātmā bhagavato bhavasyāmita tejasaḥ tasmād dhanurjyā saṃsparśaṃ na viṣehur harasya te

"Vishnu is, again, the Soul of the Holy bhava (Rudra) of immeasurable energy. For this the touch of that bow-string became unbearable to the Asuras." (Source : Karna parva)

imp : Bhagwatpada Ramanujacharya quoted this in his vedartha sangraha

God Narayana vasudeva is the One who is the "aatma" of Lord shiva i.e his indweller. Again, in Shanti parva, Lord krishna says :

nArAyaNAtmako GYeyaH pANDaveya yuge yuge.  

"O Arjuna, know that in every yuga, Rudra has Nārāyana as his in-dweller!"

The epics and Vedas are filled with the fact, that the supreme soul Narayana is the indweller of All beings, of a Gods and this fact i.e Narayana being the indweller of Lord Shiva, has been said plenty of times in The Mahabharata and even all the Authentic Versions of the Ramayana. in shanti parva again, Lord krishna clears up everything by saying :

tasmin hi pUjyamAne vai devadeve maheshvare sampUjito bhavetpArtha devo nArAyaNaH prabhuH

 i.e It is Lord narayana within lord mahesvara, who is actually worshipped, when Mahesvara is worshipped. As a matter of fact, all mantras Nd all sacrifices dedicated to any deity, It is actually meant for God Narayana vasudeva only, as said in mahabharata. 

So as a conclusion, Even if we say that Umapati means Lord shiv, then also It is actually pointing towards Lord narayana, Who is the indweller of mahesvara and since everything is dedicated to him, He is addressed as umapati here. 

moreover, Goddess Mahalakshmi, who is the supreme Parasakti sung in vedas (as confirmed by sri adi shankaracharya and sri Parasara bhattar), is also known by the name of "uma".

Summary :

All names and portions in Vedas like Sri Rudram are of Lord Narasimha alone. Lord Narasimha is glorified with names like Shiva, Mahadeva, Umapati, and Pashupati etc in Narsimha Tapaniya upanishad (It is not a later added Upanishad. It is quoted by Sri Vedant Desikan in his Kamashiksashtakam and by Adi Shankara also in his Brihad aranayak Upanishad bhashya).  Sripada Madhvacharya in his Brahma Sutra bhashya quotes a statement from Brahmand Puran that how all names like Rudra, Mahadeva,Shiva etc  are of Lord Vishnu only. According to Padma Tantra 1.2.31, Lord Narsimha is Lord Sankarshan himself.  Same is said in Vishnu dharmottar Puran 3.78.5 that Lord Narsimha is manifestation of Sankarshan.  According to Srimad Bhagavatam 5.17.16- Lord Shiva always meditates on Sankarshan in his Samadhi. Since, Sankarshan is Narasimha Swamy himself , that's why Lord Shiva is meditation on Narsimha who is his own cause. This is further substantiated by Garuda Puran section CCXLI that Lord Shiva mediates on Lord Narsimha. Since Lord Shiva mediates on Lord Narsimha, that's why he got the names which were originally of Narsimha. Which means in the beginning all the names which Shiva bears were of Narasimha alone! Since Shiva mediates on Narsimha (who is sankarshan) in his Samadhi, that's why he acquired few qualities and got the names like Pashupati, Shiva, Mahadev which are originally of Lord narayana alone. The reason these names cannot be attributed to Shiva is because he is said to be absent in beginning of creation (eko hai narayan asin na brahma na ca shankarak)..Moreover - Rig Veda  7th mandal says that Rudra acquires power from Vishnu. This again proves our point because-  Since Rudra always meditates on Vishnu, that's why he acquired few qualities which are of Vishnu and so got those names.!

More points which explain why Narasimha here can't be Lord shiva

1. The very beginning of the Upanishad addresses the Lord as the being who is "half man and half lion". Throughtout the Sanatan Texts, the Only Man lion being is Lord narasimha, who is none other than Lord Narayana Keshav himself. Some guys might Use the name of sharaba avatar for this, But Then, sharaba was not half man half lion, It had The characteristics of a bird also and moreover, The story of sharaba is anti vedic and fit to be neglected. 
2. The Lord is again and again addressed as "Mahavishnu". It has been stated that Mahavishnu (or God narayana vasudeva) is the one who Incarnated as Lord narasimha, and it is quite evident that Vishnu refers to Lord vasudeva alone.
3. the incarnation of Lord vamana i.e the dwarf avatar is also mentioned, which cannot be attributed to lord shiva.
4. The Upanishad talks of Lord narasimha mantra, with references to the sudarshan chakra. Again, this cannot be Meant for Lord shiv.

Hence By this, i hope the fact of "Umapati" being narayana alone has been made clear by me, by the grace of My beloved Maa Janaki🙏

Om Namo Narayana!! Jai Jagadamba Bhumija mahesvari!!💖💖