तत् उ ह शौनकः कापेयः प्रतिमन्वानः प्रत्येयाय आत्मा देवानाम् जनिता प्रजानाम् हिरण्यदंष्ट्रः बभसः अनसूरिः महान्तम् अस्य महिमानम् आहुः अनद्यमानः यत् अनन्नम् अत्ति इति वै वयम् ब्रह्मचारिन् न इदम् उपास्महे दत्त अस्मै भिक्षाम् इति
tat u ha śaunakaḥ kāpeyaḥ pratimanvānaḥ pratyeyāya ātmā devānām janitā prajānām hiraṇyadaṃṣṭraḥ babhasaḥ anasūriḥ mahāntam asya mahimānam āhuḥ anadyamānaḥ yat anannam atti iti vai vayam brahmacārin na idam upāsmahe datta asmai bhikṣām iti
Then Śaunaka Kāpeya, having pondered it, came up [with the answer]: "He is the ātman of the gods, the begetter of creatures, the golden-toothed devourer, truly wise. Great, they say, is his greatness: not being eaten, he eats even what is not food. Thus, brahmacārin, do we venerate this [deity]. — Give him alms!"
56ec8029db02 · publicado 26 jul 2026, 23:16:32 UTC
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An answer of honour: Śaunaka pratimanvānaḥ — "having pondered" — solves the riddle and replies with a hymn to the Gatherer-in: ātmā devānāṁ janitā prajānām — "the ātman of the gods, the begetter of creatures": hiraṇya-daṁṣṭro babhasaḥ — "the golden-toothed devourer" (the Gatherer's teeth are gold: he eats the luminaries!): anadyamāno yad anannam atti — "not being eaten, he eats what is not food": the prāṇa consumes even what is not food — luminaries, sounds, time! — and is itself uneatable.
And a worthy finish: dattāsmai bhikṣām — "give him alms!": the noblemen have recognised the god of the riddle and instantly repaired their sin against him: a learning that can be ashamed is a living learning. The scene is a mirror-lesson to that of Uṣasti (1.10–11): there a knower fed himself by knowledge with dignity; here a hungry man's knowledge pierced the armour of the well-fed and opened the givers' hands: the vidyā of the Gatherer-in has gathered in a dinner for itself.