उपनिषद् · Aitareya 1,2.2
॥
देवनागरी
ताभ्यः गाम् आनयत् ताः अब्रुवन् न वै नः अयम् अलम् इति ताभ्यः अश्वम् आनयत् ताः अब्रुवन् न वै नः अयम् अलम् इति
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
tābhyaḥ gām ānayat tāḥ abruvan na vai naḥ ayam alam iti tābhyaḥ aśvam ānayat tāḥ abruvan na vai naḥ ayam alam iti
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
ताभ्यःtābhyaḥfor them; to them
गाम्gāma cow (go); a cow; a milch cow
आनयत्ānayatHe brought; He led up
ताःtāḥthey; those
अब्रुवन्abruvansaid; replied
नnanot; no
वैvaiverily; indeed
नःnaḥfor us; to us
अयम्ayamthis; the present one
अलम्alamenough (alam — 'sufficient'); sufficient; suitable
इतिitithus; so saying
ताभ्यःtābhyaḥfor them; to them
अश्वम्aśvama horse (aśva); a horse; a steed
आनयत्ānayatHe brought; He led up
ताःtāḥthey; those
अब्रुवन्abruvansaid; replied
नnanot; no
वैvaiverily; indeed
नःnaḥfor us; to us
अयम्ayamthis; the present one
अलम्alamenough (alam — 'sufficient'); sufficient; suitable
इतिitithus; so saying
अनुवाद
He brought them a cow. They said: "This is not enough for us." He brought them a horse. They said: "This is not enough for us."
संस्करण
2236d896475a · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 7:36:16 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The viewing of bodies. The Creator offers the deities-faculties the best of the animal world: gām — a cow (the most sacred and gentle of creatures) — na vai no 'yam alam — "this is not enough for us"; aśvam — a horse (the strongest and swiftest) — the same reply.
The gods' refusal is no caprice: in the body of a cow or a horse there are a mouth, an eye and an ear — but no room for a full unfolding: speech will not become a hymn in a cow, the mind will not become contemplation in a horse; the divine faculties are cramped in bodies built for grazing and running. An animal is not a "sub-human" but another, narrower setting of the same orchestra: the instruments are the same — the score is poorer.
The scene prepares the great "yes" of the following verse — and already now it teaches a reverent sobriety about bodies: a body is not a wrapping but a measure of the possible: the richer the dwelling, the more fully the divine can enter in. That is why the tradition calls human birth the rarest gift (Bhāgavatam 11.9.29: "the human body is a well-fitted boat, the guru its helmsman: he who does not cross the ocean in it is a slayer of himself").