Upanishads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 1,3.20
॥
Devanāgarī
एषः उ एव बृहस्पतिः वाक् वै बृहती तस्याः एषः पतिः तस्मात् उ बृहस्पतिः
Transliteration (IAST)
eṣaḥ u eva bṛhaspatiḥ vāk vai bṛhatī tasyāḥ eṣaḥ patiḥ tasmāt u bṛhaspatiḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
एषःeṣaḥthis; he
उusurely; indeed
एवevaindeed; only
बृहस्पतिःbṛhaspatiḥBṛhaspati (bṛhas-pati — 'lord of the great [speech]'); Bṛhaspati; Bṛhaspati
वाक्vākspeech; the voice
वैvaitruly; indeed
बृहतीbṛhatīthe great one (bṛhatī — a metre and Speech); the bṛhatī; great
तस्याःtasyāḥit; of her
एषःeṣaḥthis; he
पतिःpatiḥthe lord (pati); the lord; sir
तस्मात्tasmāttherefore; for that reason
उusurely; indeed
बृहस्पतिःbṛhaspatiḥBṛhaspati (bṛhas-pati — 'lord of the great [speech]'); Bṛhaspati; Bṛhaspati
Translation
He is also Bṛhaspati: speech is the great one (bṛhatī), and he is her lord (pati); therefore he is Bṛhaspati.
Version
256119c2b5b8 · published Jul 27, 2026, 12:40:48 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here begins a series of great names for the prāṇa, and the first is Bṛhaspati, resolved into bṛhatī (the great — a sacred metre and Speech herself) and pati (lord): "the lord of great Speech". The heavenly priest of the gods proves to be the breath: without prāṇa speech is dumb — and therefore whoever commands the breath is the sovereign of the word.
The order of lordship matters to the Upaniṣad: it is not speech that governs breath but breath that governs speech; not the word that begets life but life that begets the word. That is why the prayer of a living heart weighs more than the most skilful rhetoric: behind it stands the lord of speech and not merely his handmaid.