Vac - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Vāk or Vāc is the Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

word for "speech", "voice", "talk", or "language", from a verbal root "speak, tell, utter".

Personified, Vāk is a goddess

Goddess

A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....

; most frequently she is identified with Bharati or Sarasvati, the goddess of speech. In the Veda she is also represented as created by Prajapati

Prajapati

In Hinduism, Prajapati "lord of creatures" is a Hindu deity presiding over procreation, and protector of life. He appears as a creator deity or supreme God Viswakarma Vedic deities in RV 10 and in Brahmana literature...

and married to him; in other places she is called the mother of the Vedas

Vedas

The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....

and wife of Indra

Indra

' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...

.

In the early Rigveda (books 2 to 7), refers to the voice, in particularly the voice of the priest raised in sacrifice

Yajna

In Hinduism, yajna is a ritual of sacrifice derived from the practice of Vedic times. It is performed to please the gods or to attain certain wishes...

. She is personified only RV 8 and RV 10, in RV 10.125.5 speaking in the first person (trans. Griffith),

"I, verily, myself announce and utter the word that Gods
Deva (Hinduism)
' is the Sanskrit word for god or deity, its related feminine term is devi. In modern Hinduism, it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural beings. The devs in Hinduism, also called Suras, are often juxtaposed to the Asuras, their half brothers. Devs are also the maintainers of...

and men alike shall welcome.

I make the man I love exceeding mighty, make him a sage, a Rsi
Rishi
Rishi denotes the composers of Vedic hymns. However, according to post-Vedic tradition, the rishi is a "seer" to whom the Vedas were "originally revealed" through states of higher consciousness. The rishis were prominent when Vedic Hinduism took shape, as far back as some three thousand years...

, and a Brahman
Brahman
In Hinduism, Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being...

."

The intimate connection of speech, sacrifice and creation in (late) Rigvedic thought is expressed in RV 10.71.1-4:

1.

2.

3.

4.

"When men, Brhaspati!, giving names to objects, sent out Vak's first and earliest utterances

All that was excellent and spotless, treasured within them, was disclosed through their affection."

"Where, like men cleansing corn-flour in a cribble, the wise in spirit
Manas
Manas may refer to one of the following:*Manas, a Kyrgyz epic poem with 500,000 lines.*The Pali and Sanskrit term for "mind"; see**Manas **Manas-vijnana, one of the eight consciousnesses taught in Yogacara Buddhism...

have created language,

Friends see and recognize the marks of friendship: their speech retains the blessed sign imprinted."

"With sacrifice the trace of Vak they followed, and found her harbouring within the Rsi
RSI
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s.

They brought her, dealt her forth in many places: seven singers make her tones resound in concert."

"One man hath ne'er seen Vak, and yet he seeth: one man hath hearing but hath never heard her.

But to another hath she shown her beauty as a fond well-dressed woman to her husband."

Vak also speaks, and is described as a goddess, in RV 8.100:

10.

11.

"When, uttering words which no one comprehended, Vak, Queen of Gods, the Gladdener, was seated,

The heaven's four regions drew forth drink and vigour: now whither hath her noblest portion vanished?"

"The Deities generated Vak the Goddess, and animals of every figure speak her.

May she, the Gladdener, yielding food and vigour, the Milch-cow Vak, approach us meetly lauded."

RV 1.164.45 has:

"Speech hath been measured out in four divisions, the Brahmans who have understanding know them.

Three kept in close concealment cause no motion; of speech, men speak only the fourth division."

Further reading