Upanishads · Gopāla-tāpanī Pūrva 2
॥
Devanāgarī
ओं मुनयो ह वै ब्राह्मणमूचुः ।
कः परमो देवः कुतो मृत्युर् बिभेति कस्य ज्ञानेनाखिलं विज्ञातं भवति केनेदं विश्वं संसरति इति
Transliteration (IAST)
oṁ munayo ha vai brāhmaṇamūcuḥ |
kaḥ paramo devaḥ kuto mṛtyur bibheti kasya jñānenākhilaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati kenedaṁ viśvaṁ saṁsarati iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ओं मुनयःoṁ munayaḥOṁ, the sages; the seers
ह वैha vaiverily; indeed
ब्राह्मणम्brāhmaṇamBrahmā; to the creator
ऊचुःūcuḥasked; said
कः परमः देवःkaḥ paramaḥ devaḥwho is the supreme God; which God is sovereign
कुतः मृत्युः बिभेतिkutaḥ mṛtyuḥ bibhetiof whom is death afraid; before whom does death tremble
कस्य ज्ञानेनkasya jñānenaby knowing whom; by the knowledge of whom
अखिलम् विज्ञातम् भवतिakhilam vijñātam bhavatidoes everything become known; is the whole made known
केनkenaby whom; by what
इदम् विश्वम्idam viśvamthis universe; this whole world
संसरतिsaṁsaratirevolves in the round; passes from state to state
इतिitithus; this is what they asked
Translation
Oṁ. The sages asked Brahmā: who is the supreme God? of whom is death afraid? by knowing whom does everything become known? by whom does this universe revolve in the round?
Version
9b1bd655092a · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:22:17 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Four questions — and all of them are older than this book. So the Śvetāśvatara begins: "what is the cause? whence are we born?"; so in the Muṇḍaka Śaunaka asks Aṅgiras: "what is that, by knowing which everything is known?" The Upaniṣad deliberately takes its place in that line: it answers the common question of the Upaniṣads and does not start one of its own.
The questions rise by degrees. The first is about seniority: who among the gods is sovereign? The second is about death: of whom is death itself afraid? This is the question whether anything stands above the end. The third is the famous question about "that one": is there a knowledge that covers everything else? The fourth is about the cause of the round: by whom is saṁsāra moved?
The askers are sages, munayaḥ — men who have already given their lives to reflection; and the answerer will be Brahmā, the firstborn creator. The casting matters: the answer is given not on behalf of a school and not as an opinion, but as what the creator learned from Him.
Note too the word saṁsarati: not "exists" and not "moves", but precisely "passes over", flows from state to state. The world is taken as continuous change, which must have a Mover.
The answer to all four questions will fit into the next mantra — and it will turn out that all four have one answer, called by four different names.