Section 7.2 (second khaṇḍa) (two texts)

Upaniṣad text:

‘Speech verily is greater than Name. It is Speech that makes known the Ṛgveda, the Yajurveda, the Sāmaveda, and the fourth Atharvaṇa, the Itihāsa-Purāṇa as the fifth of the Vedas, Grammar, the Science of Śrāddha-Rituals, Mathematics, the Science of Portents, the Science of Treasures, Logic, the Science of Ethics, the Science of Philology, the Vedic Science, the Physical Science, the Science of War, the Science of the Stars, the Science of Snakes, and the Science of Celestials;—also Heaven, Earth, Air, Ākāśa, Water, Fire, Divine Beings, cattle, birds, grasses, trees, beasts down to worms and ants, virtue and vice, the true and the false, the good and the bad, the pleasant and the unpleasant.—If there had been no Speech neither virtue nor vice could be known, neither the true nor the false, neither the good, nor the bad, neither the pleasant nor the unpleasant. Speech alone makes known all this. Meditate upon Speech.’—(1)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

Speech verily etc.—‘Speech’ here stands for the organ of speech, located in eight places within the mouth, such as, the root of the tongue and the rest,—which serves to manifest letter-sounds; and it is letters that constitute the Name;—hence speech is said to be ‘greater than Name’; in the world it has been found that the cause is always greater than the effect, as, for instance, the father is greater than the son.—“How is speech greater than Name?”—Answer: ‘It is speech that makes known the Ṛgveda—‘This is the Ṛgveda’; similarly, Yajurveda etc., etc.—as before.—The pleasant is that which pleases the mind, and contrary to this is the unpleasant.—If there had been no Speech neither virtue nor vice could be known; because in the absence of speech, there could be no study (of the Veda), and in the absence of study, there would be no learning of what is contained in the Veda,—and in the absence of this learning, virtue and the rest could not be known. Thus it is speech alone which, through the utterance of letters, makes known all this; hence speech is greater than Name; hence meditate upon speech as Brahman.’—(1)

Upaniṣad text:

‘One who meditates upon Speech as Brahman becomes free to act as he wishes in the sphere within reach of Speech;—for one who meditates upon Speech as Brahman,’—Revered Sir, is there anything greater than Speech?—Certainly there is something  greater than Speech.’—Explain that to me, Revered Sir.’—(2)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

The rest is as above.—(2)

End of Section (2) of Discourse VII.