Upanishads · Gopāla-tāpanī Pūrva 11
॥
Devanāgarī
रस्यं पुनारसनं जलभूमीन्दुसम्पातकामादि कृष्णायेत्येकं पदं गोविन्दायेति द्वितीयं गोपीजनेति तृतीयं स्वाहेति पञ्चममिति
Transliteration (IAST)
rasyaṁ punārasanaṁ jalabhūmīndusampātakāmādi kṛṣṇāyetyekaṁ padaṁ govindāyeti dvitīyaṁ gopījaneti tṛtīyaṁ svāheti pañcamamiti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
रस्यम्rasyamwhat is to be tasted; that which is savoured
पुनःpunaḥfurther; next
रसनम्rasanamtasting; rasana
जलभूमीन्दुसम्पातकामादिjalabhūmīndusampātakāmādiwith water, earth, moon and desire; of the syllables denoting water, earth, moon and kāma
कृष्णाय इति एकम् पदम्kṛṣṇāya iti ekam padam"to Kṛṣṇa" is the first word; "kṛṣṇāya" — one word
गोविन्दाय इति द्वितीयम्govindāya iti dvitīyam"to Govinda" is the second; "govindāya" — the second
गोपीजन इति तृतीयम्gopījana iti tṛtīyam"of the cowherd women" is the third; "gopījana" — the third
स्वाहा इति पञ्चमम्svāhā iti pañcamam"svāhā" is the fifth; "svāhā" — the last
इतिitithus; so
Translation
Next, of tasting. It is composed of the syllables of water, earth, moon and desire: "to Kṛṣṇa" is the first word, "to Govinda" the second, "of the cowherd women" the third, "to the beloved" the fourth, "svāhā" the fifth.
Version
fae832ffcad8 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:22:17 PM UTC
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The answer to the sages' second question: what is rasana, "tasting"? It turns out to be the uttering of the mantra — the very one whose words already sounded in the third mantra as answers to the four questions.
The mantra is called five-worded: to Kṛṣṇa — to Govinda — of the cowherd women — to the beloved — svāhā. In other words, "to Kṛṣṇa, to Govinda, to the Beloved of the cowherd women, svāhā".
The first half of the line describes the syllables of the seed-syllable with which the mantra begins, in the manner usual for tantric texts: the letters are named by their correspondences — water, earth, moon, desire. Such notation served both as a mnemonic and as a guard against careless use: without the key the mantra cannot be assembled.
More important is this: what is called tasting is not reflection on the meaning but the uttering of the names. The verb ras, "to savour", already stood in the sixth mantra; here it receives its content. The name is what one lays on the tongue.
And note the order of the mantra's words: it begins with a name meaning attraction ("the All-attractive") and ends with the word by which an offering is given to fire. From attraction — to self-giving.