LinuxTurn pages
Upanishads · Sarasvatīrahasya 1.2
॥
Devanāgarī
सरस्वती दशश्लोक्या सऋचा बीजमिश्रया । स्तुत्वा जप्त्वा परां सिद्धिमलभं मुनिपुङ्गवाः
Transliteration (IAST)
sarasvatī daśaślokyā saṛcā bījamiśrayā | stutvā japtvā parāṃ siddhimalabhaṃ munipuṅgavāḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सरस्वती दश-श्लोक्याsarasvatī daśa-ślokyāSarasvatī with a ten-verse [hymn]
स-ऋचा बीज-मिश्रयाsa-ṛcā bīja-miśrayāwith ṛcs mixed with seed-syllables
स्तुत्वा जप्त्वा परां सिद्धिम्stutvā japtvā parāṃ siddhimhaving praised and repeated, the supreme perfection
अलभम् मुनि-पुङ्गवाःalabham muni-puṅgavāḥI obtained, O bulls among the silent sages
Translation
Having praised and repeated Sarasvatī with a ten-verse [hymn], with ṛcs mixed with seed-syllables, I obtained supreme perfection, O bulls among the silent sages.
Version
3f24ca9c7902 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
It is worth noting that the teacher answers with his own experience: alabham, "I obtained." That is, he does not set forth the teaching in the abstract, but says: this is what I did, and this is what came of it. This construction occurs in the upaniṣads and is, to my mind, the most honest possible.
We noted when reading the Jābāli (2) that the chain of transmission there ended not with a book but with worship; here it ends with a testimony. Let us add the address: muni-puṅgavāḥ, "bulls among the silent sages." This turn of phrase in Sanskrit is a customary honorific: puṅgava, "bull," means "best, foremost," as in Vaiṣṇava tradition one says "pillar."
To translate it literally is comic, and not to translate it loses the liveliness of the address; we leave it, with this note. Let us add the word bīja-miśra, "mixed with seed-syllables." That is, the Vedic ṛcs are uttered with syllables attached to them — aiṃ, śrīṃ, klīṃ; and in this lies the whole peculiarity of the practice here.
It is worth saying plainly: this device is a later one, and a Vedic ṛc with an attached tantric seed is the union of two different eras in one line. The Vaiṣṇava side is reserved about such unions, and her rule was cited when reading the Gaṇapati (7.3): a name is an address, a seed is an instrument; and to mix them is to turn the first into the second.