यत्ते कश्चिदब्रवीत्तच्छृणवामेति ।अब्रवीन्मे जित्वा शैलिनिः वाग्वै ब्रह्मेति ।यथा मातृमान् पितृमानाचार्यवान् ब्रूयात्तथा तच्छैलिनिरब्रवीद्वाग्वै ब्रह्मेति ।अवदतो हि किं स्यादिति ।अब्रवीत्तु ते तस्यायतनं प्रतिष्ठाम् ।न मेऽब्रवीदिति ।एकपाद्वा एतत्सम्राडिति ।स वै नो ब्रूहि याज्ञवल्क्य ।वागेवायतनमाकाशः प्रतिष्ठा प्रज्ञेत्येनदुपासीत ।का प्रज्ञता याज्ञवल्क्य ।वागेव सम्राडिति होवाच ।वाचा वै सम्राड्बन्धुः प्रज्ञायते ।ऋग्वेदो यजुर्वेदः सामवेदोऽथर्वाङ्गिरस इतिहासः पुराणं विद्या उपनिषदः श्लोकाः सूत्राण्यनुव्याख्यानानि व्याख्यानानीष्टं हुतमाशितं पायितमयं च लोकः परश्च लोकः सर्वाणि च भूतानि वाचैव संराट्प्रज्ञायन्ते ।वाग्वै सम्राट्परमं ब्रह्म ।नैनं वाग्जहाति ।सर्वाण्येनं भूतान्यभिक्षरन्ति ।देवो भूत्वा देवानप्येति ।य एवं विद्वानेतदुपास्ते ।हस्त्यृषभं सहस्रं ददामीति होवाच जनको वैदेहः ।स होवाच याज्ञवल्क्यः पिता मेऽमन्यत नाननुशिष्य हरेतेति ॥बृह. ४,१.२ ॥
In plain words
"Let me hear what anyone has told thee." "Jitvan Śailini told me, 'Speech indeed is Brahman.'" "As one who had a mother, a father and a teacher might say, so did Śailini say that speech indeed is Brahman; for what would one have who could not speak? But did he tell thee its dwelling and its support?" "He did not tell me." "Then this is a thing of one foot only, your majesty." "Then do thou tell us, Yājñavalkya." "Speech is its dwelling and space its support. Let a man worship it as wisdom." "What is wisdom, Yājñavalkya?" "Speech itself, your majesty," he said. "For by speech, your majesty, a friend is known; by speech the Ṛgveda, the Yajurveda, the Sāmaveda, the hymns of the Atharvans and Aṅgirases, story and ancient lore, the sciences, the Upaniṣads, the verses, the aphorisms, the explanations and the commentaries; what is sacrificed and offered, what is eaten and drunk, this world and the world beyond and all beings — by speech alone, your majesty, are they known. Speech, your majesty, is the highest Brahman. Speech does not leave him, all beings flow toward him, and becoming a god he goes to the gods, who worships it thus knowing." "I give thee a thousand cows with a bull like an elephant," said Janaka of Videha. Yājñavalkya said, "My father held that one should not take a gift without having taught."
The commentators
Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣadbhāṣyam· bhāṣya
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 पिता यस्यानुशास्ता स पितृमान्; उपनयनादूर्ध्वम् आ समाव- र्तनात् आचार्यो यस्यानुशास्ता स आचार्यवान् ; एवं शुद्धि- त्रयहेतुसंयुक्तः स साक्षादाचार्यः स्वयं न कदाचिदपि प्रामाण्याद्व्यभिचरति ; 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 आयतनं प्रतिष्ठां च— आयतनं नाम शरीरम् ; प्रतिष्ठा त्रिष्वपि कालेषु य आश्रयः । आहेतरः— न मेऽब्रवीदिति । इतर आह— यद्येवम् एकपात् वै एतत्, एकः पादो यस्य ब्रह्मणः तदिदमेकपाद्ब्रह्म त्रिभिः पादैः शून्यम् उपास्यमान- मपि न फलाय भवतीत्यर्थः । यद्येवम्, स त्वं विद्वान्सन् नः 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 --