Upanishads · Gopāla-tāpanī Pūrva 29
॥
Devanāgarī
पुनः सिसृक्षतो मे प्रादुरभूत्तेष्वक्षरेषु भविष्यज्जगद्रूप प्रकाशयन्
Transliteration (IAST)
punaḥ sisṛkṣato me prādurabhūtteṣvakṣareṣu bhaviṣyajjagadrūpa prakāśayan
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पुनः सिसृक्षतः मेpunaḥ sisṛkṣataḥ meto me, wishing again to create; when I desired once more to make
प्रादुरभूत्prādurabhūtthere appeared; there was disclosed
तेषु अक्षरेषुteṣu akṣareṣuin those syllables; within those letters
भविष्यत् जगद्रूपbhaviṣyat jagadrūpathe form of the world to be; the shape of the coming universe
प्रकाशयन्prakāśayanrevealing; showing forth
Translation
And when I desired again to create, the form of the world to be appeared to me in those very syllables.
Version
fa5805a45fac · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:22:17 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The mantra given "for creation" begins to work. Brahmā desires to create — and sees in the syllables of the mantra the form of a world that has not yet been.
The thought is not new to the Veda, but here it is stated with utmost clarity: creation is accomplished through the word. The world is not moulded out of matter lying ready to hand; first it emerges in sound, as a picture emerges on a plate, and only then becomes things.
The word akṣara means both "syllable" and "imperishable" — the ambiguity is deliberate: the imperishable is that out of which the perishable is unfolded.
Note too the verb prakāśayan, "revealing, lighting up". The mantra does not "contain" the world as a box contains things; it lights it up, makes it visible to the creator. The creator here is not an inventor but one who has been shown.
The next mantra will set this out in detail: which syllable became what. And it must be said in advance that for a reader unacquainted with tantric lore it will be the hardest in the book.