Upanishads · Gopāla-tāpanī Pūrva 39
॥
Devanāgarī
ओं नमो विश्वरूपाय विश्वस्थित्यन्तहेतवे ।
विश्वेश्वराय विश्वाय गोविन्दाय नमो नमः
Transliteration (IAST)
oṁ namo viśvarūpāya viśvasthityantahetave |
viśveśvarāya viśvāya govindāya namo namaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ओं नमःoṁ namaḥOṁ, obeisance; homage
विश्वरूपायviśvarūpāyato Him of all forms; to Him whose form is the universe
विश्वस्थित्यन्तहेतवेviśvasthityantahetaveto the cause of the world's standing and its end; to the author of its upholding and dissolution
विश्वेश्वरायviśveśvarāyato the Lord of the universe; to the master of everything
विश्वायviśvāyato the universe itself; to Him who is the universe
गोविन्दाय नमो नमःgovindāya namo namaḥto Govinda obeisance and obeisance; to Govinda homage again and again
Translation
Oṁ, obeisance to Him of all forms, to the cause of the world's standing and its end, to the Lord of the universe, to Him who is the universe itself — to Govinda obeisance and obeisance.
Version
23450c9a9fa9 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:22:17 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Brahmā's hymn begins — twelve verses, each ending in an obeisance. The first takes the widest thing: the universe.
Four names rise by degrees and cover every relation of God to the world. Viśva-rūpa — "of all forms": the world is His shape. Viśva-sthity-anta-hetu — "the cause of its standing and its end": He upholds the world and He folds it up. Viśveśvara — "Lord of the universe": He governs it. And finally viśva — "the universe itself".
The last name is the boldest, and it is easily misunderstood. It does not mean that God is used up in the world: the same book has just said that beyond Vāsudeva there is nothing, and that the world is only unfolded from Him. It means that there is nothing that could be outside Him; the world is not another being standing next to Him.
And all this ends with a cowherd's name: govindāya namo namaḥ. Such is the build of every verse of this hymn — cosmic sweep, and at the end Govinda.
The double obeisance, "namo namaḥ", is not mere emphasis: so in prayers one bows twice, and the very sound carries the repetition of a step.