Upanishads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 1,3.8
॥
Devanāgarī
ते ह ऊचुः क्व नु सः अभूत् यः नः इत्थम् असक्त इति अयम् आस्ये अन्तर् इति सः अयास्यः आङ्गिरसः अङ्गानाम् हि रसः
Transliteration (IAST)
te ha ūcuḥ kva nu saḥ abhūt yaḥ naḥ ittham asakta iti ayam āsye antar iti saḥ ayāsyaḥ āṅgirasaḥ aṅgānām hi rasaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तेtethose; these
हhasurely; as is known
ऊचुःūcuḥsaid; they uttered
क्वkvawhere; into which
नुnusurely; is it that
सःsaḥhe; that one
अभूत्abhūtwas; he was
यःyaḥwho; the one who
नःnaḥour; for us
इत्थम्itthamthus; in this way
असक्तasaktahe stood by us (from √sañj/sac — 'held to us'); he took our part; he stood by
इतिitithus; how
अयम्ayamthis; he
आस्येāsyein the mouth (āsya, loc.); in the mouth; in the mouth
अन्तर्antarwithin; between
इतिitithus; how
सःsaḥhe; that one
अयास्यःayāsyaḥAyāsya (ayāsya — 'of the mouth'); Āyāsya; Āyāsya
आङ्गिरसःāṅgirasaḥĀṅgirasa (āṅgirasa — 'the sap of the limbs'); Aṅgiras; Aṅgiras
अङ्गानाम्aṅgānāmof the limbs (aṅga, gen. pl.); of the body's limbs; the limbs
हिhiindeed; truly
रसःrasaḥthe sap (rasa); the living sap; rasa
Translation
They said: "Where was he, then, who stood by us thus?" — "Here he is, within the mouth." He is Ayāsya Āṅgirasa, for he is the sap of the limbs (aṅgānāṁ rasaḥ).
Version
2fdec7a15758 · published Jul 27, 2026, 12:39:35 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The victor is nameless and hidden: the gods themselves ask "where was" their defender, and find him "within the mouth" — nearer than near. The saving power was sought outside and was breathing in their own mouths: the oldest of lessons that the deliverer is always closer than expected.
He is given names by etymology: Ayāsya, "of the mouth" (from āsya, mouth), and Āṅgirasa, "the sap of the limbs" (aṅgānāṁ rasaḥ): the prāṇa is rasa, the living sweetness of every limb, that which makes a hand a living hand and not a dead one. So the family name of the great Āṅgirasa ṛṣis is traced back to breath: the singers of the Veda are "the saps of the limbs" of the universe. The word rasa here is dear to a bhakti ear: the life in a body is a taste; and the Taste of all tastes, raso vai saḥ, stands behind every prāṇa as spring stands behind the sap.