Upanishads · Bṛhadāraṇyaka 3,2.6
॥
Devanāgarī
श्रोत्रं वै ग्रहः सः शब्देनातिग्रहेण गृहीतः श्रोत्रेण हि शब्दान् शृणोति
Transliteration (IAST)
śrotraṃ vai grahaḥ saḥ śabdenātigraheṇa gṛhītaḥ śrotreṇa hi śabdān śṛṇoti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
श्रोत्रंśrotraṃthe ear (śrotra); the ear; hearing
वैvaitruly; indeed
ग्रहःgrahaḥthe seizer; the organ of seizing
सःsaḥhe; that one
शब्देनातिग्रहेणśabdenātigraheṇaby sound as over-grasper (śabdena atigraheṇa); by the sound-seizer; by sound
गृहीतःgṛhītaḥis grasped; is caught
श्रोत्रेणśrotreṇawith hearing; with the ear
हिhiindeed; truly
शब्दान्śabdānof speech; sounds
शृणोतिśṛṇotithey hear (from √śru); they listen; they hear
Translation
The ear is a grasper; it is grasped by sound as the over-grasper: for by the ear one hears sounds.
Version
43318405119f · published Jul 27, 2026, 12:59:58 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fifth pair: ear and sound. The listener is seized by the audible: rumour, music, news hold the ear more firmly than the ear holds them. Sound is the most importunate of captors: one can turn away from a sight, but not from a sound.
Yet precisely this inescapability of sound makes it also the first instrument of salvation: an ear that cannot be shut can be filled. The Veda comes in by the same door as the world's noise — which is why śravaṇa, the hearing of the truth, stands first among the paths: the captor-sound is able to bring its captive home.