तत् एतत् चतुष्पाद् ब्रह्म वाक् पादः प्राणः पादः चक्षुः पादः श्रोत्रम् पादः इति अध्यात्मम् अथ अधिदैवतम् अग्निः पादः वायुः पादः आदित्यः पादः दिशः पादः इति उभयम् एव आदिष्टम् भवति अध्यात्मम् च अधिदैवतम् च
tat etat catuṣpād brahma vāk pādaḥ prāṇaḥ pādaḥ cakṣuḥ pādaḥ śrotram pādaḥ iti adhyātmam atha adhidaivatam agniḥ pādaḥ vāyuḥ pādaḥ ādityaḥ pādaḥ diśaḥ pādaḥ iti ubhayam eva ādiṣṭam bhavati adhyātmam ca adhidaivatam ca
This Brahman is four-footed: speech is a foot, breath is a foot, the eye is a foot, hearing is a foot: this is with reference to oneself. Now with reference to the deities: Agni is a foot, Vāyu is a foot, the sun is a foot, the quarters of space are a foot. Thus both are taught: the inward and the divine.
69d85ee73f38 · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:08:21 PM UTC
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Brahman-as-mind is unfolded as four-footed: catuṣpād brahma — four feet within: speech, breath, the eye, hearing (the mind's four chief ministries!) — and four without: Agni, Vāyu, the sun, the quarters (their cosmic doubles, the familiar pairs of the Aitareya!).
The image of four feet is one of stability: the Brahman-upāsanā stands like a cow on four legs (the same metaphor as in the gāyatrī of 3.12!): the veneration does not hang from one faculty but walks on all four: by word, by life, by sight, by hearing. The next four verses will go through the feet by name — and each will shine with its own luminary.