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Upanishads · Hayagrīva 2.1
॥
Devanāgarī
यद्वाग्वदन्त्यविचेतनानि राष्ट्री देवानां निषसाद मन्द्रा । चतस्र ऊर्जं दुदुहे पयांसि क्व स्विदस्याः परमं जगाम
Transliteration (IAST)
yadvāgvadantyavicetanāni rāṣṭrī devānāṃ niṣasāda mandrā | catasra ūrjaṃ duduhe payāṃsi kva svidasyāḥ paramaṃ jagāma
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यत् वाक् वदन्तीyat vāk vadantīwhen Speech, speaking
अ-विचेतनानिa-vicetanāni[and] the unconscious
राष्ट्री देवानांrāṣṭrī devānāṃthe sovereign lady of the gods
निषसाद मन्द्राniṣasāda mandrāsat down, delightful
चतस्रः दुदुहेcatasraḥ duduheshe milked four
ऊर्जं पयांसिūrjaṃ payāṃsistrength and milk
क्व स्वित् अस्याःkva svit asyāḥwhere indeed her
परमं जगामparamaṃ jagāmahighest [part] has gone
Translation
«When Speech, who speaks [both to] the conscious and the unconscious, sat down as the delightful sovereign lady of the gods — she milked four, [yielding] strength and milk; where, then, has her highest [part] gone?»
Version
719e4142c117 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Four hymns about vāc, “Speech,” begin, and they are taken from the most ancient Veda; this one is Ṛgveda 8.100.10 (in other countings, 11). It is worth saying beforehand why hymns to Speech stand in an upaniṣad about Hayagrīva: he is the one who returned the Vedas, and hence speech is his domain. The verse is difficult even in the original; its crux is the last line: kva svid asyāḥ paramaṃ jagāma, “where, then, has her highest [part] gone?” That is, the question asked is: speech sounds, it is heard, it has milked four beings — but where is its highest part?
This question has a famous answer in the Ṛgveda, standing in the very same hymn and constantly cited: catvāri vāk parimitā padāni; tāni vidur brāhmaṇā ye manīṣiṇaḥ; guhā trīṇi nihitā neṅgayanti; turīyaṃ vāco manuṣyā vadanti. Translation: “speech is measured into four steps; the thoughtful brāhmaṇas know them; three are hidden and do not move, and with the fourth people speak.” That is, human speech is one quarter; three quarters are hidden.
This position, to my mind, is the finest thing ever said about the word, and the Vaiṣṇava side holds it as its own. Its conclusion runs thus: if three quarters are hidden, then a word is not exhausted by its message; and hence a name spoken aloud carries more than is heard in it. Add, too, what follows from this against the usual objection. It is said: how can a sound act? The answer: the sound we hear is one quarter; and it does not act alone.