जिह्वाध्यात्मं रसयितव्यमधिभूतं वरुणस्तत्राधिदैवतं नाडी तेषां निबन्धनं यो जिह्वायां रसयितव्ये यो वरुणे यो नाड्यां यः प्राणे यो विज्ञाने य आनन्दे यो हृद्याकाशे य एतस्मिन्सर्वस्मिन्नन्तरे संचरति सोऽयमात्मा तमात्मानमुपासीताजरमममृतमभयमशोकमनन्तम्
jihvādhyātmaṃ rasayitavyamadhibhūtaṃ varuṇastatrādhidaivataṃ nāḍī teṣāṃ nibandhanaṃ yo jihvāyāṃ rasayitavye yo varuṇe yo nāḍyāṃ yaḥ prāṇe yo vijñāne ya ānande yo hṛdyākāśe ya etasminsarvasminnantare saṃcarati so'yamātmā tamātmānamupāsītājaramamamṛtamabhayamaśokamanantam
The tongue — on the side of oneself, the tasted — on the side of beings, and Varuṇa — on the side of deities; the channel — their bond. Who is in the tongue, in the tasted, in Varuṇa, in the channel, in the breath, in knowledge, in bliss, in the space of the heart, who moves within all this — He is this very Self. Him let one revere — the unageing, immortal, fearless, sorrowless, endless.
13a677c846a4 · published Jul 29, 2026, 4:12:03 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fourth triad: the tongue, the tasted, and Varuṇa.
Varuṇa is the most ancient of the Vedic gods, the lord of the waters; and taste in the śāstras is a property of water. Hence the correspondence: with the tongue one takes taste, taste belongs to moisture, moisture to Varuṇa.
The observation here too is simple: a dry tongue distinguishes no taste. Before tasting one must moisten; everything of taste comes to us dissolved.
But Varuṇa has a second side as well, which the ancients remembered better than we do. He is not only the lord of the waters but the guardian of ṛta — of truth and the cosmic order — the one who binds with his nooses for untruth. Of all the gods of the Veda it is he who is most bound up with guilt and its confession.
This neighbourhood is not accidental. The tongue is the organ with which one both tastes and lies; of all the members of the body it is the most capable both of enjoying and of doing harm. To set the guardian of order over it is a wise decision.