उत त्व इति मन्त्रस्य बृहस्पतिरृषिः । त्रिष्टुप् छन्दः । सरस्वती देवता । समिति बीजशक्तिः कीलकम् । मन्त्रेण न्यासः । यां विदित्वाखिलं बन्धं निर्मथ्याखिलवर्त्मना । योगी याति परं स्थानं सा मां पातु सरस्वती ॥ सं उत त्वः पश्यन्न ददर्श वाचमुत त्वः श्रुण्वन्न श्रुणोत्येनाम् । उतो त्वस्मै तन्वं विसस्रे जायेव पत्य उशती सुवासाः
uta tva iti mantrasya bṛhaspatirṛṣiḥ | triṣṭup chandaḥ | sarasvatī devatā | samiti bījaśaktiḥ kīlakam | mantreṇa nyāsaḥ | yāṃ viditvākhilaṃ bandhaṃ nirmathyākhilavartmanā | yogī yāti paraṃ sthānaṃ sā māṃ pātu sarasvatī || saṃ uta tvaḥ paśyanna dadarśa vācamuta tvaḥ śruṇvanna śruṇotyenām | uto tvasmai tanvaṃ visasre jāyeva patya uśatī suvāsāḥ
"She, knowing whom, having ground away all bonds, the yogī goes by every path to the supreme abode — may that Sarasvatī protect me. 'Sam. One, looking, did not see Speech; another, hearing, does not hear her; but to another she has spread open her body — like a wife to her husband, desiring, beautifully clothed.'"
953a30b59280 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Here is a ṛc that is one of the most beloved in Vedic literature, and it is worth examining, for it answers the question that stands over every book: why some understand and others do not. This is Ṛgveda 10.71.4. It is said: one, looking, did not see; another, hearing, does not hear; and to a third she has opened herself.
And the comparison given is one none stronger has ever been devised for this matter: jāyeva patya uśatī suvāsāḥ, "like a wife to her husband, desiring, beautifully clothed." That is, understanding is described not as an attainment and not as an ability, but as mutuality. It is worth appreciating what is said here.
A wife does not open herself to just anyone, and not because the others are more foolish; but because she has chosen. And her desire is named directly: uśatī, "desiring"; that is, she wants to be known. The Vaiṣṇava side stands on this as her own foundation, and her rule has been cited more than once: the object does not open itself to the one who took, but to the one to whom it opened itself.
Her chief verse on this score is the Muṇḍaka (3.2.3) and the Kaṭha (1.2.23): nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyo... yasyaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyaḥ, "this self is not obtained by discourse... but whomever it chooses, by that one it is obtained."
That is, there too the verb is vṛ, "to choose" — the very one from which come vara, "bridegroom," and vadhū, "bride"; and this whole category of expressions is, in essence, a nuptial category.