Upanishads · Gopāla-tāpanī Pūrva 13
॥
Devanāgarī
तदेष श्लोकः ।
ओंक्लीमित्येतदादावादाय कृष्णायेति गोविन्दायेति च गोपीजनवल्लभाय बृहद्भानव्या सकृदुच्चरेद् ।
या गतिस्तस्यास्ति मंक्षु नान्या गतिः स्यादिति
Transliteration (IAST)
tadeṣa ślokaḥ |
oṁklīmityetadādāvādāya kṛṣṇāyeti govindāyeti ca gopījanavallabhāya bṛhadbhānavyā sakṛduccared |
yā gatistasyāsti maṁkṣu nānyā gatiḥ syāditi
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत् एषः श्लोकःtat eṣaḥ ślokaḥon this there is this verse; on this there is a śloka
ओं क्लीम् इतिoṁ klīm iti"oṁ klīm" thus; the syllables oṁ and klīm
एतत् आदौ आदायetat ādau ādāyahaving taken this at the beginning; having set this in front
कृष्णाय इतिkṛṣṇāya iti"to Kṛṣṇa" thus; with the word "kṛṣṇāya"
गोविन्दाय इति चgovindāya iti caand "to Govinda"; and also "govindāya"
गोपीजनवल्लभायgopījanavallabhāya"to the Beloved of the cowherd women"; gopī-jana-vallabhāya
बृहद्भानव्याbṛhadbhānavyāwith "svāhā"; with the call of the fire's consort
सकृत् उच्चरेत्sakṛt uccaretshall utter once; shall speak but once
या गतिःyā gatiḥwhat destiny; that goal
तस्य अस्तिtasya astiis his; belongs to him
मंक्षुmaṁkṣuswiftly; without delay
न अन्या गतिः स्यात्na anyā gatiḥ syātno other destiny shall be his; no other lot will fall to him
इतिitithus; so
Translation
On this there is this verse: he who, setting "oṁ klīm" in front, utters but once "to Kṛṣṇa, to Govinda, to the Beloved of the cowherd women, svāhā" — to him that very destiny falls swiftly, and no other will be his.
Version
6834f3fc2c6c · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:22:17 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse gives the mantra whole — with the seed-syllable in front — and a promise for its utterance.
Two words matter in the promise. Sakṛt — "once": it does not say "many times", not "a hundred thousand times", but once. And maṅkṣu — "swiftly", without long postponement. The measure of mercy here is plainly not proportional to the effort, and the Upaniṣad does not conceal it.
The second half of the promise sounds sterner and more precise: "no other destiny will be his". This is not only a reward but a definiteness: the one who has uttered it comes to belong to a single road. The word gati means both "destiny" and "path"; from now on he has one path.
"Bṛhad-bhānu", literally "great light", is a designation for "svāhā": so the consort of fire is called, and by her name the very call of oblation is named. The mantra, then, ends with what every sacrifice ends with — with the giving away.
One should remember also the qualification that the whole tradition makes with such promises: what is said applies to utterance with faith, not to mechanical repetition; what makes the uttering alive the next mantra will say, in defining bhakti.