Upanishads · Aitareya 2.5
॥
Devanāgarī
तत् उक्तम् ऋषिणा गर्भे नु सन् अनु एषाम् अवेदम् अहम् देवानाम् जनिमानि विश्वा शतम् मा पुरः आयसीः अरक्षन् अध श्येनः जवसा निरदीयम् इति गर्भे एव एतत् शयानः वामदेवः एवम् उवाच
Transliteration (IAST)
tat uktam ṛṣiṇā garbhe nu san anu eṣām avedam aham devānām janimāni viśvā śatam mā puraḥ āyasīḥ arakṣan adha śyenaḥ javasā niradīyam iti garbhe eva etat śayānaḥ vāmadevaḥ evam uvāca
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत्tatthat; this
उक्तम्uktamis said; has been declared
ऋषिणाṛṣiṇāby the ṛṣi; by the seer
गर्भेgarbhein the womb (garbha); in the belly; in the matrix
नुnunow; even
सन्sanbeing; abiding
अनुanuin succession; one after another
एषाम्eṣāmof these; their
अवेदम्avedamI knew; I came to know
अहम्ahamI; I myself
देवानाम्devānāmof the gods; of the divine powers
जनिमानिjanimānibirths (janiman); origins; genealogies
विश्वाviśvāall; entire
शतम्śatama hundred; a hundredfold
माmāme; myself
पुरःpuraḥfortresses (pur); strongholds; citadel-towns
आयसीःāyasīḥof iron (āyasī); iron-made; forged of iron
अरक्षन्arakṣanguarded; held fast
अधadhathen; thereupon
श्येनःśyenaḥa hawk (śyena); a falcon; a hawk-bird
जवसाjavasāswiftly (javas — 'speed'); with speed; at a dash
निरदीयम्niradīyamI flew out (nir-√dī — 'to fly forth'); I darted out; I burst free
इतिitithus; so saying
गर्भेgarbhein the womb (garbha); in the belly; in the matrix
एवevaprecisely; even
एतत्etatthis; the present
शयानःśayānaḥlying; abiding
वामदेवःvāmadevaḥVāmadeva; the sage Vāmadeva
एवम्evamthus; in this way
उवाचuvācasaid; declared
Translation
Of this the ṛṣi has said: "While still lying in the womb, I knew all the births of the gods. A hundred iron fortresses guarded me — but I burst out swiftly, like a hawk." So said Vāmadeva, while still lying in the womb.
Version
fa645feb8121 · published Jul 26, 2026, 7:36:16 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A testimony like lightning: a verse of the Ṛg-veda (4.27.1) in the mouth of Vāmadeva: garbhe nu sann anv eṣām avedam ahaṁ devānāṁ janimāni viśvā — "while still in the womb I knew all the births of the gods": knowledge can ripen before birth! Vāmadeva is a ṛṣi enlightened in the womb: the three births (the theme of the chapter!) he saw through and through without emerging from the first.
śataṁ mā pura āyasīr arakṣan — "a hundred iron fortresses guarded me": bodies, births, sheaths — the ramparts around the soul, a hundred bolts of embodiment; adha śyeno javasā niradīyam — "but I burst out swiftly, like a hawk": śyena, the falcon, is the image of a vertical dash (in the Vedas the falcon brings the soma down from heaven!): knowledge breaks through all the hundred walls at a single stroke.
Why is this verse here? It is the counterweight and the completion of the teaching on births: the chain of conceptions and deaths is sacred (the chapter has just sanctified it) — but it is not a sentence: from within the very first fortress — the womb — a flight is possible. Births continue the worlds; knowledge liberates from births: and both are dharma, and Vāmadeva, speaking out of the womb, is a living seal on the fact that the mercy of knowledge waits neither for age nor even for birth (Gītā 2.40: "on this path no effort is lost" — what was gathered in past lives sprouts even in the womb).