स होवाच बालाकिर्य एवैषोऽप्सु पुरुषस्तमेवाहमुपास इति तं होवाचाजातशत्रुर्मा मैतस्मिन्समवादयिष्ठा नाम्न्यस्यात्मेति वा अहमेतमुपास इति स यो हैतमेवमुपास्ते नाम्न्यस्यात्मा भवतीत्यधिदैवतमथाध्यात्मम्
sa hovāca bālākirya evaiṣo'psu puruṣastamevāhamupāsa iti taṃ hovācājātaśatrurmā maitasminsamavādayiṣṭhā nāmnyasyātmeti vā ahametamupāsa iti sa yo haitamevamupāste nāmnyasyātmā bhavatītyadhidaivatamathādhyātmam
Bālāki said: “The puruṣa who is in the waters — him I revere.” Ajātaśatru said to him: “Do not draw me into talk of him! I revere him as the self of the named.” And he who so reveres him becomes the self of the named. So much concerning the deities; now — concerning oneself.
9dc68d2678e8 · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 3:43:45 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The eighth pointing is to the waters, and with it the outer series ends.
The correction is not simple: the puruṣa in the waters is named “the self of the named”, nāmnyasya ātmā. The link of water and name is not obvious at once; it is expounded thus: the waters are what takes the shape of every vessel, and the name is what clothes every thing. What water is to the body, the name is to what exists: the enclosing and outlining.
There is also a homelier consideration: a name is bestowed with a sprinkling of water; water and name meet in the very rite of naming.
The fruit is to become “the self of the named” — one whose name goes round the things and holds upon them.
More important here is the closing mark: “so much concerning the deities; now — concerning oneself”. The same pair marks out the second adhyāya, where first the extinguishing of the lights was told and then the extinguishing of the senses. The first eight reverences were addressed to the powers of the universe: sun, moon, lightning, thunder, space, wind, fire, waters. The next eight go inside the man — and there far stranger things will be found: the reflection in the mirror, the echo, the shadow.