Upanishads · Mahā 2.33
॥
Devanāgarī
भवताप्येष एवार्थः कथितो वाग्विदां वर एष एव हि वाक्यार्थः शास्त्रेषु परिदृश्यते
Transliteration (IAST)
bhavatāpyeṣa evārthaḥ kathito vāgvidāṃ vara eṣa eva hi vākyārthaḥ śāstreṣu paridṛśyate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
भवता अपि एषः एव अर्थःbhavatā api eṣaḥ eva arthaḥby thee too this very meaning; and thou hast set forth the selfsame sense
कथितः वाक्-विदाम् वरkathitaḥ vāk-vidām varawas told, O best of the masters of speech; declared, O first among the skilled in words
एषः एव हि वाक्य-अर्थःeṣaḥ eva hi vākya-arthaḥthis very meaning of the sayings; precisely this sense of the utterances
शास्त्रेषु परिदृश्यतेśāstreṣu paridṛśyateis seen in the śāstras; is beheld in the scriptures
Translation
“And thou hast told the very same meaning, O best of the masters of speech; this very meaning of the sayings is seen in the scriptures too.”
Version
937e4a7822f3 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
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The fourth witness — the śāstras.
Śuka sets them last, and the order is meaningful. First one's own understanding, then the father, then the preceptor, and only then — scripture, as that which confirms all three.
This is the verification accepted in Vedānta: what is understood by one's own mind must coincide with what the preceptor says and what the śāstras say. If it coincides — one may stand on it. If not — the error is yours, not theirs.
The address vāg-vidāṁ vara, “best of the masters of speech”, is spoken to a king — not to a brāhmaṇa book-man. Janaka proved more skilled in the word than the compiler of the Vedas.
This, of course, is not about eloquence. To master speech here means to be able to say a thing so that the word arrives.