Upanishads · Kauṣītaki 4.5
॥
Devanāgarī
स होवाच बालाकिर्य एवैष स्तनयित्नौ पुरुषस्तमेवाहमुपास इति तं होवाचाजातशत्रुर्मा मैतस्मिन्समवादयिष्ठाः शब्दस्यात्मेति वा अहमेतमुपास इति स यो हैतमेवमुपास्ते शब्दस्यात्मा भवति
Transliteration (IAST)
sa hovāca bālākirya evaiṣa stanayitnau puruṣastamevāhamupāsa iti taṃ hovācājātaśatrurmā maitasminsamavādayiṣṭhāḥ śabdasyātmeti vā ahametamupāsa iti sa yo haitamevamupāste śabdasyātmā bhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सः ह उवाच बालाकिःsaḥ ha uvāca bālākiḥBālāki said; spoke Bālāki
यः एव एषः स्तनयित्नौ पुरुषःyaḥ eva eṣaḥ stanayitnau puruṣaḥ“the puruṣa who is in the thunder”; “the person who is in the peal”
तम् एव अहम् उपासे इतिtam eva aham upāse iti“him I revere”; “precisely him I worship”
तम् ह उवाच अजातशत्रुःtam ha uvāca ajātaśatruḥAjātaśatru said to him; that Ajātaśatru replied
मा मा एतस्मिन् समवादयिष्ठाःmā mā etasmin samavādayiṣṭhāḥ“do not draw me into talk of him”; “do not make me discourse of him”
शब्दस्य आत्मा इतिśabdasya ātmā iti“the self of sound”; “the essence of the voice”
वै अहम् एतम् उपासे इतिvai aham etam upāse iti“so do I revere him”; “thus I worship him”
सः यः ह एतम्saḥ yaḥ ha etamand he who him; the one who him
एवम् उपास्तेevam upāsteso reveres; worships thus
शब्दस्य आत्मा भवतिśabdasya ātmā bhavatibecomes the self of sound; is made the essence of the voice
Translation
Bālāki said: “The puruṣa who is in the thunder — him I revere.” Ajātaśatru said to him: “Do not draw me into talk of him! I revere him as the self of sound.” And he who so reveres him becomes the self of sound.
Version
e08dec99c860 · published Jul 29, 2026, 3:43:45 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fourth pointing is to the thunder, and the correction introduces śabda, “sound”.
To the ancient ear thunder is the limit of sounding: the loudest thing there is. And as the lightning was the appearance of radiance, so thunder is the appearance of sound as such — not one sound among others, but audibility itself.
Here one should recall the place sound holds in this tradition. Speech is the first of the instruments listed in the third adhyāya; the word is that by which names are taken; the Veda is a sounding. To call the puruṣa “the self of sound” is to point to that by which all that is heard and said is upheld.
The fruit is commensurate: the reverer becomes “the self of sound” — one whose word is heard and carries weight. For a king conducting an audience, the remark is not an abstract one.
The first four corrections fall into an order: the head of all beings, the self of food, the self of radiance, the self of sound. All of these are powers at work in the world; and not one of them has yet been named their maker.