Upanishads · Bhasmajābāla 2.17
॥
Devanāgarī
ब्रह्म सोमोऽहं पवनः सोमोऽहं पवते सोमोऽहं जनिता मतीनां सोमोऽहं जनिता पृथिव्याः सोमोऽहं जनिताऽग्नेः सोमोऽहं जनिता सूर्यस्य सोमोऽहं
Transliteration (IAST)
brahma somo'haṃ pavanaḥ somo'haṃ pavate somo'haṃ janitā matīnāṃ somo'haṃ janitā pṛthivyāḥ somo'haṃ janitā'gneḥ somo'haṃ janitā sūryasya somo'haṃ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ब्रह्म सोमः अहम्brahma somaḥ ahamBrahman, Soma am I
पवनः सोमः अहम्pavanaḥ somaḥ ahamthe wind, Soma am I
जनिता मतीनां सोमः अहम्janitā matīnāṃ somaḥ ahamthe begetter of thoughts, Soma am I
जनिता पृथिव्याः सोमः अहम्janitā pṛthivyāḥ somaḥ ahamthe begetter of the earth, Soma am I
जनिता सूर्यस्य सोमः अहम्janitā sūryasya somaḥ ahamthe begetter of the sun, Soma am I
Translation
«Brahman, Soma am I; the wind, Soma am I; the one who blows, Soma am I; the begetter of thoughts, Soma am I; the begetter of the earth, Soma am I; the begetter of fire, Soma am I; the begetter of the sun, Soma am I…»
Version
5445028c9193 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A first-person speech begins and will take a dozen and a half lines: Śiva speaks of Himself. Let us name at once the model it follows. This is the Vāk-sūkta, «the hymn of Speech» (Ṛgveda 10.125), discussed when reading Devī (2): there Speech says «I go about with the Rudras, I hold up Viṣṇu». Here the same structure is used, only Śiva speaks.
Worth noting the construction: every line ends with somo'ham, «Soma am I», repeated like a refrain. A refrain structure is a mark of oral literature: hymns are sung this way, and the repeating half holds the verse in memory. Worth noting too the word janitā, «begetter», repeated five times. Not «cause», not «basis», not «essence», but — begetter; and this word, as noted when reading Devī (5), is a word about birth, not about identity.
The Vaishnava side knows such first-person speeches and has its own — the whole tenth chapter of the Gītā is composed this way. And the rule for reading it is the same, and deserves stating. A first-person speech is not proof: it is spoken by whoever speaks it; and the question is always who speaks it and where it is recorded.
Hence the dispute between schools is not settled by such passages: every school has them, and they are all equally forceful.