Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 79
Bharata’s Attachment and the Palanquin Teaching on ‘I’ and ‘Mine’
किं हेतुभिर्वदूत्येषा वागेवाहमिति स्वयम् । तथापि वागहमेद्वक्तुमित्थं न युज्यते ॥ ७९ ॥
kiṃ hetubhirvadūtyeṣā vāgevāhamiti svayam | tathāpi vāgahamedvaktumitthaṃ na yujyate || 79 ||
“Why speak at all by means of reasons? Speech itself, of its own accord, declares, ‘I am speech.’ Even so, it is not proper to state it in this manner—‘I am speech.’”
Sanatkumara (teaching Narada in the Moksha-Dharma dialogue)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: none
FAQs
It cautions against mistaking an instrument (speech) for the Self: even if speech can describe itself, identifying oneself as “speech” reflects misplaced self-identity and is therefore unfitting.
By discouraging egoic self-definitions (“I am this/that”), it supports humility and inner purification—conditions that make devotion steadier and less entangled in pride of learning or eloquence.
It indirectly points to Vyākaraṇa and disciplined Vāk-prayoga (right use of speech): mastery of words is secondary to right understanding, and speech should be governed by discernment rather than self-assertion.