सत्पुण्डरीकनयनं मेघाभं वैद्युताम्बरं ।
द्विभुजं ज्ञानमुद्राढ्यं वनमालिनमीश्वरम् ॥
गोप गोपीगवावीतं सुरद्रुमतलाश्रयं ।
दिव्यालङ्करणोपेतं रत्नपङ्कज मध्यगम् ॥
कालिन्दीजल कल्लोल सङ्गिमारुत सेवितं ।
चिन्तयंश्चेतसा कृष्णं मुक्तो भवति संसृतेः
satpuṇḍarīkanayanaṁ meghābhaṁ vaidyutāmbaraṁ |
dvibhujaṁ jñānamudrāḍhyaṁ vanamālinamīśvaram ||
gopa gopīgavāvītaṁ suradrumatalāśrayaṁ |
divyālaṅkaraṇopetaṁ ratnapaṅkaja madhyagam ||
kālindījala kallola saṅgimāruta sevitaṁ |
cintayaṁścetasā kṛṣṇaṁ mukto bhavati saṁsṛteḥ
With eyes like an opened white lotus, of the colour of a cloud, in garments flashing like lightning, two-armed, showing the sign of knowledge, the Lord with a garland of forest flowers; surrounded by cowherds, cowherd women and cows, beneath the tree of the gods, adorned with divine ornaments, in the midst of a jewelled lotus; fanned by the breeze off the waves of the Kālindī — contemplating such a Kṛṣṇa with the mind, a man is freed from the round.
216937295557 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:22:17 PM UTC
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Three verses finish the portrait begun in mantra 8, and they are written with that love of detail which belongs only to one who has seen.
The first verse is about Him Himself. The eyes are likened to an opened white lotus; the body in colour to a thundercloud, and the garment to the lightning on that cloud: yellow upon dark blue. And two indications important to the whole tradition: dvi-bhuja, "two-armed" — not the four-armed Viṣṇu of majesty but a human-like form; and jñāna-mudrā, the sign of knowledge, the joined fingers with which a teacher marks a truth. Those who know the flute observe that the same gesture is formed when the fingers lie on its holes.
The second verse is about the company: cowherds, cowherd women and cows. The supreme Deity is described not in solitude but among His own; and this is not a retinue but a village society. Right beside it — "beneath the tree of the gods" and "in the midst of a jewelled lotus": the plain stands next to the marvellous, and the Upaniṣad sees no contradiction in it.
The third is about the place: the breeze off the waves of the Yamunā fans Him. The river is called Kālindī, after the mountain from which it flows.
And the conclusion: "contemplating such a Kṛṣṇa with the mind, a man is freed from the round". Note that liberation is promised precisely for the contemplation of a portrait, not for abstract reflection on Brahman. Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa cites this line in showing that mokṣa is given by the worship of the Self-with-a-Form, not of the formless.