Upanishads · Aitareya 1,2.2
॥
Devanāgarī
ताभ्यः गाम् आनयत् ताः अब्रुवन् न वै नः अयम् अलम् इति ताभ्यः अश्वम् आनयत् ताः अब्रुवन् न वै नः अयम् अलम् इति
Transliteration (IAST)
tābhyaḥ gām ānayat tāḥ abruvan na vai naḥ ayam alam iti tābhyaḥ aśvam ānayat tāḥ abruvan na vai naḥ ayam alam iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ताभ्यःtābhyaḥfor them; to them
गाम्gāma cow (go); a cow; a milch cow
आनयत्ānayatHe brought; He led up
ताःtāḥthey; those
अब्रुवन्abruvansaid; replied
नnanot; no
वैvaiverily; indeed
नःnaḥfor us; to us
अयम्ayamthis; the present one
अलम्alamenough (alam — 'sufficient'); sufficient; suitable
इतिitithus; so saying
ताभ्यःtābhyaḥfor them; to them
अश्वम्aśvama horse (aśva); a horse; a steed
आनयत्ānayatHe brought; He led up
ताःtāḥthey; those
अब्रुवन्abruvansaid; replied
नnanot; no
वैvaiverily; indeed
नःnaḥfor us; to us
अयम्ayamthis; the present one
अलम्alamenough (alam — 'sufficient'); sufficient; suitable
इतिitithus; so saying
Translation
He brought them a cow. They said: "This is not enough for us." He brought them a horse. They said: "This is not enough for us."
Version
2236d896475a · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:36:16 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The viewing of bodies. The Creator offers the deities-faculties the best of the animal world: gām — a cow (the most sacred and gentle of creatures) — na vai no 'yam alam — "this is not enough for us"; aśvam — a horse (the strongest and swiftest) — the same reply.
The gods' refusal is no caprice: in the body of a cow or a horse there are a mouth, an eye and an ear — but no room for a full unfolding: speech will not become a hymn in a cow, the mind will not become contemplation in a horse; the divine faculties are cramped in bodies built for grazing and running. An animal is not a "sub-human" but another, narrower setting of the same orchestra: the instruments are the same — the score is poorer.
The scene prepares the great "yes" of the following verse — and already now it teaches a reverent sobriety about bodies: a body is not a wrapping but a measure of the possible: the richer the dwelling, the more fully the divine can enter in. That is why the tradition calls human birth the rarest gift (Bhāgavatam 11.9.29: "the human body is a well-fitted boat, the guru its helmsman: he who does not cross the ocean in it is a slayer of himself").