इमौ एव गोतमभरद्वाजौ अयम् एव गोतमः अयम् भरद्वाजः इमौ एव विश्वामित्रजमदग्नी अयम् एव विश्वामित्रः अयम् जमदग्निः इमौ एव वसिष्ठकश्यपौ अयम् एव वसिष्ठः अयम् कश्यपः वाक् एव अत्रिः वाचा हि अन्नम् अद्यते अत्तिः ह वै नाम एतत् यद् औत्रिः इति सर्वस्य अत्ता भवति सर्वम् अस्य अन्नम् भवति यः एवम् वेद
imau eva gotamabharadvājau ayam eva gotamaḥ ayam bharadvājaḥ imau eva viśvāmitrajamadagnī ayam eva viśvāmitraḥ ayam jamadagniḥ imau eva vasiṣṭhakaśyapau ayam eva vasiṣṭhaḥ ayam kaśyapaḥ vāk eva atriḥ vācā hi annam adyate attiḥ ha vai nāma etat yad autriḥ iti sarvasya attā bhavati sarvam asya annam bhavati yaḥ evam veda
These two [ears] are Gotama and Bharadvāja: this is Gotama, that is Bharadvāja. These two [eyes] are Viśvāmitra and Jamadagni: this is Viśvāmitra, that is Jamadagni. These two [nostrils] are Vasiṣṭha and Kaśyapa: this is Vasiṣṭha, that is Kaśyapa. And speech is Atri, for by speech food is eaten (ad): the name "Atri" is from "the eater" (atti). He who knows thus becomes the eater of everything, and everything becomes his food.
5bbe7247e1f2 · published Jul 27, 2026, 12:53:23 AM UTC
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The solution is carried through name by name: the ears are Gotama and Bharadvāja, the eyes Viśvāmitra and Jamadagni, the nostrils Vasiṣṭha and Kaśyapa, speech-and-tongue is Atri (with the etymology from atti, "he eats"). The seven greatest founders of the Vedic lines are settled about a man's face: everyone who listens listens with Gotama's ears, everyone who sees with Viśvāmitra's eyes.
Behind the play of names lies a serious genealogy: our faculties are not of low birth; each sense is the heir of a seer who could see the gods with that sense. The hearing with which the Veda was heard, the eye with which truth was seen — this is what we carry about, and often not for its purpose. And the promise is the old one: he who recognises the ṛṣis in his senses "becomes the eater of everything" — his life is tasted priest-wise, by all seven sages at once.