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Upanishads · Hayagrīva 2.4
॥
Devanāgarī
ससर्परीरमतिं बाधमान बृहन्मिमाय जमदग्निदत्त । आसूर्यस्य दुरिता तनान श्रवो देवेष्वमृतमजुर्यम्
Transliteration (IAST)
sasarparīramatiṃ bādhamāna bṛhanmimāya jamadagnidatta | āsūryasya duritā tanāna śravo deveṣvamṛtamajuryam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ससर्परीःsasarparīḥSasarparī
अ-रतिं बाधमानाa-ratiṃ bādhamānādriving away negligence
बृहत् मिमायbṛhat mimāyalowed loudly
जमदग्नि-दत्ताjamadagni-dattāgiven by Jamadagni
आ सूर्यस्य दुरिताā sūryasya duritāfrom the troubles of the sun
तनानाtanānāspreading
श्रवः देवेषुśravaḥ deveṣufame among the gods
अमृतम् अ-जुर्यम्amṛtam a-juryamimmortal, unaging
Translation
«Sasarparī, driving away negligence, lowed loudly, given by Jamadagni; spreading from the troubles of the sun her fame among the gods — immortal, unaging».
Version
ab89a9342584 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse is Ṛgveda 3.53.15 and completes the four hymns to Speech. Sasarparī is a name interpreted as “creeping, spreading”; and in Vedic tradition it is a name of Speech, received by the line of Viśvāmitra. Jamadagni-dattā, “given by Jamadagni”: that is, speech came to people as a gift from a sage, not as something of their own.
Worth noting, too, is what she does: aratiṃ bādhamānā, “driving away negligence.” Arati means “disinclination, tedium, negligence”; and this, to my mind, is the most exact description of what a living word does. A person becomes despondent because he has nothing to say and nothing to hear; and every tedium is cured not by rest, but by finding something one wants to speak about.
Add, too, the word śravaḥ, “fame,” literally “that which is heard,” from śru, “to hear.” In Vedic usage, fame is precisely what is heard about a person; and hence it is given by speech and does not exist without speech. And it is added: amṛtam ajuryam, “immortal, unaging.”
The Vaiṣṇava side holds this as its own: fame conveyed by the word is the one thing that does not age; and hence its practice is a practice of glorification, not of reflection. Let us compare the four hymns and see what they have in common. In them Speech is the sovereign of the gods (2.1), a cow growing to a thousand syllables (2.2), a blade in the mouth (2.3), and one who drives away tedium (2.4).
Not once is she called a hindrance; and this, to my mind, deserves note in a book placed among upaniṣads, where speech is more often said to need to be stilled.