Bhashya
किं तु यत् ते तुभ्यम्, कश्चित् अब्रवीत् आचार्यः;अनेकाचार्यसेवी हि भवान् ; तच्छृणवामेति ।इतर आह—अब्रवीत् उक्तवान् मे मम आचार्यः, जित्वा नामतः, शिलि-नस्यापत्यं शैलिनिः— वाग्वै ब्रह्मेति वाग्देवता ब्रह्मेति ।आ-हेतरः— यथा मातृमान् माता यस्य विद्यते पुत्रस्य सम्य-गनुशास्त्री अनुशासनकर्त्री स मातृमान् ; अतः ऊर्ध्वं पितायस्यानुशास्ता स पितृमान्; उपनयनादूर्ध्वम् आ समाव-र्तनात् आचार्यो यस्यानुशास्ता स आचार्यवान् ; एवं शुद्धि-त्रयहेतुसंयुक्तः स साक्षादाचार्यः स्वयं न कदाचिदपिप्रामाण्याद्व्यभिचरति ; स यथा ब्रूयाच्छिष्याय तथासौ जि-त्वा शैलिनिरुक्तवान्— वाग्वै ब्रह्मेति; अवदतो हि किं स्या-दिति— न हि मूकस्य इहार्थम् अमुत्रार्थं वा किंचन स्यात् ।किं तु अब्रवीत् उक्तवान् ते तुभ्यम् तस्य ब्रह्मणः आयतनंप्रतिष्ठां च— आयतनं नाम शरीरम् ; प्रतिष्ठा त्रिष्वपिकालेषु य आश्रयः ।आहेतरः— न मेऽब्रवीदिति ।इतरआह— यद्येवम् एकपात् वै एतत्, एकः पादो यस्यब्रह्मणः तदिदमेकपाद्ब्रह्म त्रिभिः पादैः शून्यम् उपास्यमान-मपि न फलाय भवतीत्यर्थः ।यद्येवम्, स त्वं विद्वान्सन्नः अस्मभ्यं ब्रूहि हे याज्ञवल्क्येति ।स च आह— वागे-व आयतनम्, वाग्देवस्य ब्रह्मणः वागेव करणम् आयतनं
In plain words
But whatever some teacher taught you -- and you've studied under so many -- let's hear it. Janaka says: my teacher, a man named Jitva, son of Shilin, called Shailini, told me: 'Speech, truly, is Brahman' -- 'the god Speech is Brahman.' Yajnavalkya explains: someone whose mother genuinely raises and disciplines him is 'mothered'; beyond that, someone whose father instructs him is 'fathered'; and from initiation until the ceremony marking the end of studenthood, someone whose teacher instructs him is 'teachered.' Put those three together and you have a real teacher -- someone who himself never once strays from what's true. And it was exactly as such a teacher speaks to a student that Jitva Shailini told you: 'speech, truly, is Brahman.' Because think about it -- what would a person even have if he couldn't speak? A mute person gains nothing, not here, not in the next world, nothing at all. But here's my real question -- did he tell you this Brahman's home and its foundation? 'Home' means the body it lives in; 'foundation' means whatever underlies it across past, present, and future. Janaka answers: no, he didn't tell me that. Yajnavalkya says: then what you have is Brahman with only one foot -- worshipping a Brahman missing three of its four feet gets you nowhere, however sincerely you do it. That's the point. Janaka says: then you tell us, Yajnavalkya, since you know. And Yajnavalkya answers: speech itself is the home; of Brahman as the god of Speech, speech itself is the instrument, the home --
Close to the Sanskrit
But whatever some teacher told you -- for you have served many teachers -- let us hear that. The other [Janaka] says: my teacher, Jitvā by name, son of Śilin, [called] Śailini, told me -- 'speech, indeed, is Brahman', 'the deity Speech is Brahman.' The other [Yājñavalkya] says: as one for whom there is a mother who properly instructs and disciplines her son, he is 'one who has a mother'; beyond that, one for whom there is a father who instructs him, he is 'one who has a father'; from initiation up to the returning-home ceremony, one for whom there is a teacher who instructs him, he is 'one who has a teacher.' Thus one endowed with the cause of this threefold purification is a teacher in the true sense, who himself never at any time deviates from what is authoritative; as such a one would speak to a disciple, so indeed did that Jitvā Śailini say -- 'speech, indeed, is Brahman'; for what would there be for one who does not speak? Indeed, for a mute person there would be no purpose whatsoever, here or there. But did he tell you the abode and the support of that Brahman? -- 'abode' means the body; 'support' is that which is the substratum in all three times. Yājñavalkya asks. The other says: he did not tell me that. The other says: if so, this is indeed one-footed -- this Brahman, having one foot, void of the [other] three feet, even though meditated upon, does not lead to its fruit; such is the meaning. If so, being learned, tell us, O Yājñavalkya. And he said: speech alone is the abode; of Brahman as the deity Speech, speech alone is the instrument, the abode --