Upanishads · Gopāla-tāpanī Pūrva 44
॥
Devanāgarī
वेणुवादनशीलाय गोपालायाहित मर्दिने ।
कालिन्दीकूललोलाय लोलकुण्डल वल्गवे
Transliteration (IAST)
veṇuvādanaśīlāya gopālāyāhita mardine |
kālindīkūlalolāya lolakuṇḍala valgave
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
वेणुवादनशीलायveṇuvādanaśīlāyato Him whose habit is to play the flute; accustomed to the playing of the veṇu
गोपालायgopālāyato the Cowherd; to Gopāla
अहित मर्दिनेahita mardinethe crusher of the hostile; who grinds down what is inimical
कालिन्दीकूललोलायkālindīkūlalolāyafrolicking on the bank of the Kālindī; playing by the waters of the Yamunā
लोलकुण्डल वल्गवेlolakuṇḍala valgavewith swaying earrings, graceful; lovely, whose earrings sway
Translation
To Him whose habit is to play the flute, the Cowherd, the crusher of the hostile, frolicking on the bank of the Kālindī, graceful with swaying earrings...
Version
46a22ad1ca51 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:22:17 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The verse is all about movement. The word lola, "swaying, restless", is repeated twice: He is lola on the bank of the Yamunā, and He has lola-kuṇḍala — swaying earrings. Even the earrings in this description do not hang still.
The first name is "He whose habit is to play the flute": veṇu-vādana-śīla. The word śīla means not a skill but a disposition, a habit; the flute is called not an occupation but a trait of character.
Into the middle, between the flute and the river-bank, is inserted ahita-mardin — "the crusher of the hostile". The neighbourhood is deliberate: He who plays the flute is the same who makes short work of what is inimical. The book does not divide Him into the tender and the formidable.
The word valgu, "lovely, sweet", describes not majesty but attractiveness — that from which the eye cannot be turned away.
This whole verse, unlike the previous one, contains not a single abstract description: only the flute, the bank, the earrings. The praise that began on a cosmic scale has come down to details such as only one who stood nearby could see.