देवीं वाचमिति मन्त्रस्य भार्गव ऋषिः । त्रिष्टुप् छन्दः । सरस्वती देवता । सौरिति बीजशक्तिः कीलकम् । मन्त्रेण न्यासः । व्यक्ताव्यक्तगिरः सर्वे वेदाद्या व्याहरन्ति याम् । सर्वकामदुधा धेनुः सा मां पातु सरस्वती ॥ सौः देवीं वाचमजनयन्त देवास्ता विश्वरूपाः पशवो वदन्ति । सा नो मन्द्रेषमूर्जं दुहाना धेनुर्वागस्मानुपसुष्टुतैतु
devīṃ vācamiti mantrasya bhārgava ṛṣiḥ | triṣṭup chandaḥ | sarasvatī devatā | sauriti bījaśaktiḥ kīlakam | mantreṇa nyāsaḥ | vyaktāvyaktagiraḥ sarve vedādyā vyāharanti yām | sarvakāmadudhā dhenuḥ sā māṃ pātu sarasvatī || sauḥ devīṃ vācamajanayanta devāstā viśvarūpāḥ paśavo vadanti | sā no mandreṣamūrjaṃ duhānā dhenurvāgasmānupasuṣṭutaitu
"She whom the Vedas and all proclaim, whose speech is manifest and unmanifest — a cow milking every desire — may that Sarasvatī protect me. 'Sauḥ. The gods generated the goddess Speech; her, all-formed creatures speak. She, delightful, milking food and strength for us — may the cow Speech come to us, well-praised.'"
6bc394c3aef1 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here is a remarkable ṛc, and it is worth examining two points in it. First: devīṃ vācam ajanayanta devāḥ, "the gods generated the goddess Speech." That is, speech is not primordial: it was made; and this is a considered position in Vedic usage — the word is conceived as fashioned, not as existing of itself.
Second, and it is beautiful: tāṃ viśva-rūpāḥ paśavo vadanti, "her, all-formed creatures speak." Paśu means "cattle, animal"; and it is said that the goddess Speech is spoken by animals in all their forms. That is, the lowing of a cow, the cry of a bird, and the roar of a tiger are that same speech, only in a different form; and Speech is that common thing present in all voices.
This position, to my mind, is broad and humane, and it is worth voicing: language is not the property of humans; humans speak a quarter of it, and the rest speak their own. Let us add the image standing here twice: dhenu, "the milk-cow." Speech is called a cow that is milked; and that this image is the chief one for speech in Vedic literature was discussed when reading the Hayagrīva (2.2).
The Vaiṣṇava side holds this image and applies it to scripture: the Bhāgavatam calls itself nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṃ phalam, "the ripe fruit of the wish-tree of the Vedas" (1.1.3), and adds — pibata bhāgavataṃ rasam, "drink the juice of the Bhāgavata." That is, there too one drinks; the only difference is that what is milked is not speech in general, but the story of Him.