चत्वारि वागिति मन्त्रस्य उचथ्यपुत्र ऋषिः । त्रिष्टुप् छन्दः । सरस्वती देवता । ऐमिति बीजशक्तिः कीलकम् । मन्त्रेण न्यासः । या प्रत्यग्दृष्टिभिर्जीवैर्व्यज्यमानानुभूयते । व्यापिनी ज्ञप्तिरूपैका सा मां पातु सरस्वती ॥ ऐं चत्वारि वाक् परिमिता पदानि तानि विदुर्ब्राह्मणा ये मनीषिणः । गुहा त्रीणि निहिता नेङ्गयन्ति तुरीयं वाचो मनुष्या वदन्ति
catvāri vāgiti mantrasya ucathyaputra ṛṣiḥ | triṣṭup chandaḥ | sarasvatī devatā | aimiti bījaśaktiḥ kīlakam | mantreṇa nyāsaḥ | yā pratyagdṛṣṭibhirjīvairvyajyamānānubhūyate | vyāpinī jñaptirūpaikā sā māṃ pātu sarasvatī || aiṃ catvāri vāk parimitā padāni tāni vidurbrāhmaṇā ye manīṣiṇaḥ | guhā trīṇi nihitā neṅgayanti turīyaṃ vāco manuṣyā vadanti
"She who is experienced, manifesting through the inward-looking gazes of the living — all-pervading, one, in form knowledge — may that Sarasvatī protect me. 'Aiṃ. Speech is measured into four feet; these the thoughtful brahmins know. Three are hidden in secret and do not move; by the fourth, people speak.'"
3af75122194f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Here is the ṛc discussed when reading the Hayagrīva (2.1); here it is given in full, and it is worth examining it properly, for it is, to my mind, the finest thing ever said about the word anywhere. This is Ṛgveda 1.164.45. It is said: speech is measured into four feet; three are guhā nihitā, "hidden in secret," and neṅgayanti, "do not move"; and only by the fourth do people speak.
Later linguistic science mapped out these four and gave them names, and it is worth citing them, for they are in use. Parā — "supreme": speech not yet begun. Paśyantī — "seeing": the intention, not yet divided into words.
Madhyamā — "middle": the word formed within, but not spoken. Vaikharī — "uttered": what has come out of the mouth. That is, human speech is the last of the four, and it alone is heard.
Let us add what the Vaiṣṇava side draws from this, discussed when reading the Hayagrīva. If three-quarters are hidden, then the word is not exhausted by its message; and so a name uttered aloud carries more than is heard in it. Let us add the objection that follows from this against considering sound empty.
It is asked: how can sound act? The answer: the sound we hear is a quarter; and it does not act alone. It is worth noting the word neṅgayanti, "do not move": the three hidden ones are called motionless. That is, motion belongs only to what is uttered; and everything we say is the stirring of the last quarter.