Upanishads · Gopāla-tāpanī Pūrva 37
॥
Devanāgarī
ततो विशुद्धं विमलं विशोकमशेषलोभादि निरस्तसङ्गं ।
यत्तत्पदं पञ्चपदं तदेव स वासुदेवो न यतोऽन्यदस्ति
Transliteration (IAST)
tato viśuddhaṁ vimalaṁ viśokamaśeṣalobhādi nirastasaṅgaṁ |
yattatpadaṁ pañcapadaṁ tadeva sa vāsudevo na yato'nyadasti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ततः विशुद्धम्tataḥ viśuddhamthen, the purest; next, the wholly pure
विमलम्vimalamspotless; unstained
विशोकम्viśokamsorrowless; free of grief
अशेषलोभादिaśeṣalobhādifrom all greed and the rest; from every avarice and the like
निरस्तसङ्गम्nirastasaṅgamwith attachment cast off; with clinging thrown away
यत् तत् पदम्yat tat padamthat place; that abode
पञ्चपदम्pañcapadamof five words; consisting of five words
तत् एवtat evait is that very thing; precisely it
सः वासुदेवःsaḥ vāsudevaḥis Vāsudeva; He is Vāsudeva
न यतः अन्यत् अस्तिna yataḥ anyat astithan whom there is nothing else; beyond whom there is nothing further
Translation
Then: that place is the purest, spotless, sorrowless, free of all greed and attachment; and that five-worded place is Vāsudeva Himself, beyond whom there is nothing else.
Version
9c1cc9a196cd · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:22:17 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The mantra brings together three things that until now have run side by side: the abode, the mantra and the Person.
First the abode is described by four negations: purest, spotless, sorrowless, free of greed and attachment. Note that the description proceeds not through its furnishings but through the absence of what ails life here.
Then something unexpected is said: "that five-worded place". The abode is called by the word padam, which means both "place" and "word": the same ambiguity as in "the foot of Viṣṇu". And therefore the abode can be called "five-worded" — it is the mantra.
And finally: "and that is Vāsudeva". Place, word and Person are declared one. Hence the later rule: the name, the abode and the Named are not different in nature, though distinguishable for us.
The mantra closes with a formula of supremacy: "beyond whom there is nothing else". It repeats exactly the words of the Śvetāśvatara and the Gītā, and its appearance here sets Vāsudeva-Kṛṣṇa in the very place of which they speak.