तद् एषः श्लोकः भवति अर्वाग्बिलः चमसः ऊर्ध्वबुध्नः तस्मिन् यशः निहितम् विश्वरूपम् तस्य असतः ऋषयः सप्त तीरे वाक् अष्टमी ब्रह्मणा संविदाना इति अर्वाग्बिलः चमसः ऊर्ध्वबुध्नः इति इदम् तत् शरीरे एषः हि अर्वाग्बिलः चमसः ऊर्ध्वबुध्नः तस्मिन् यशः निहितम् विश्वरूपम् इति प्राणाः वै यशः विश्वरूपम् प्राणान् एतत् आह तस्य असतः ऋषयः सप्त तीरे इति प्राणाः वै ऋषयः प्राणान् एतत् आह वाक् अष्टमी ब्रह्मणा संविदाना इति वाक् हि अष्टमी ब्रह्मणा संवित्ता
tad eṣaḥ ślokaḥ bhavati arvāgbilaḥ camasaḥ ūrdhvabudhnaḥ tasmin yaśaḥ nihitam viśvarūpam tasya asataḥ ṛṣayaḥ sapta tīre vāk aṣṭamī brahmaṇā saṃvidānā iti arvāgbilaḥ camasaḥ ūrdhvabudhnaḥ iti idam tat śarīre eṣaḥ hi arvāgbilaḥ camasaḥ ūrdhvabudhnaḥ tasmin yaśaḥ nihitam viśvarūpam iti prāṇāḥ vai yaśaḥ viśvarūpam prāṇān etat āha tasya asataḥ ṛṣayaḥ sapta tīre iti prāṇāḥ vai ṛṣayaḥ prāṇān etat āha vāk aṣṭamī brahmaṇā saṃvidānā iti vāk hi aṣṭamī brahmaṇā saṃvittā
On this there is a verse: "A cup with its mouth downward and its bottom up; in it is laid the manifold glory. On its rim sit seven ṛṣis, and speech is the eighth, united with Brahman." "A cup with its mouth downward and its bottom up" — that is the head: it is such a cup. "In it is laid the manifold glory" — the breaths: the manifold glory is the breaths. "Seven ṛṣis on the rim" — the breaths: the ṛṣis are the breaths. "Speech is the eighth, united with Brahman" — for speech, the eighth, is united with Brahman [the Veda].
d088a43b881d · प्रकाशित 27 जुल॰ 2026, 12:53:23 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The second riddle is an upturned cup: mouth downward, bottom up, and within it "the manifold glory", with seven ṛṣis around the rim and speech as the eighth. And the solution is by way of the head, in the most literal sense: the skull is a cup overturned above the body; the glory in it is the breaths; the seven ṛṣis on its rim are the seven openings-faculties; speech is the eighth, "united with Brahman", for by it the Veda is recited.
The boldness of the image is a pious one: a man's head is a sacrificial cup, and the seven ancient seers sit not in legends but around the rim of your own skull: eyes, ears, nostrils, tongue — there they are, Gotama and Bharadvāja, as the Upaniṣad is about to name them. To carry a head is to carry an altar with a full council of ṛṣis; it is shameful to fill such a cup with foul things.