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Upanishads · Hayagrīva 2.p5
॥
Devanāgarī
तज्जापकानां वाक्सिद्धिः श्रीसिद्धिरष्टाङ्गयोगसिद्धिश्च भवति । ह्लौं सकलसाम्राज्येन सिद्धिं कुरु कुरु स्वाहा
Transliteration (IAST)
tajjāpakānāṃ vāksiddhiḥ śrīsiddhiraṣṭāṅgayogasiddhiśca bhavati | hlauṃ sakalasāmrājyena siddhiṃ kuru kuru svāhā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत्-जापकानां वाक्-सिद्धिःtat-jāpakānāṃ vāk-siddhiḥfor those who repeat it — power over speech
श्री-सिद्धिःśrī-siddhiḥpower over prosperity
अष्ट-अङ्ग-योग-सिद्धिः च भवतिaṣṭa-aṅga-yoga-siddhiḥ ca bhavatiand power over the eight-limbed yoga come
ह्लौं सकल-साम्राज्येनhlauṃ sakala-sāmrājyena"hlaum, with total sovereignty
सिद्धिं कुरु कुरु स्वाहाsiddhiṃ kuru kuru svāhācreate perfection, create — svāhā"
Translation
«Those who repeat it obtain power over speech, power over prosperity, and power over the eight-limbed yoga. "Hlaum, with total sovereignty create perfection, create — svāhā"».
Version
7617ab399df6 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Note vāk-siddhi, “power over speech,” for this is the chief gift ascribed to Hayagrīva, and it is worth working out what is meant by it. It is commonly interpreted this way: what such a person says comes true. This should not be read literally, and we have already said, examining the third passage, how promises of power ought to be read.
Add, however, also what is meaningful in this gift and worth holding onto. A person has empty speech — speech he utters without intending to fulfill; and he has weighty speech — speech behind which stands a life. The second really does come true more often: not because it works magic, but because the speaker answers for it.
And so “power over speech” is, to my mind, an exact name for what happens to a person who has stopped lying: his word begins to hold. The Vaiṣṇava side speaks much of speech, and its rule has been cited more than once: for it, the tongue counts both as the chief obstacle and as the chief instrument. As the chief obstacle — for by it one lies, gossips, and overeats; as the chief instrument — for by it one sings.
Rūpa Gosvāmī hence calls the tongue durnivāra, “hard to restrain,” and prescribes not suppressing it but occupying it: giving it a name and the remains of an offering. Add, too, what is curious in the count here: three powers are promised — over speech, over prosperity, and over yoga; and the last is called aṣṭāṅga-yoga-siddhi, that is, by the mantra one attains what in Patañjali is attained through the eight limbs.