Upanishads · Gopāla-tāpanī Pūrva 46
॥
Devanāgarī
नमः पाप प्रणाशाय गोवर्धन धराय च ।
पूतना जीवितान्ताय तृणावार्तासुहारिणे
Transliteration (IAST)
namaḥ pāpa praṇāśāya govardhana dharāya ca |
pūtanā jīvitāntāya tṛṇāvārtāsuhāriṇe
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
नमः पाप प्रणाशायnamaḥ pāpa praṇāśāyaobeisance to the destroyer of sins; homage to Him who annihilates evil
गोवर्धन धराय चgovardhana dharāya caand to the lifter of Govardhana; who raised up mount Govardhana
पूतना जीवितान्तायpūtanā jīvitāntāyawho ended the life of Pūtanā; who cut short Pūtanā's span
तृणावार्तासुहारिणेtṛṇāvārtāsuhāriṇewho took the breath of Tṛṇāvarta; who deprived the whirlwind-demon of life
Translation
Obeisance to the destroyer of sins and the lifter of Govardhana, who ended the life of Pūtanā and took the breath of Tṛṇāvarta...
Version
3ba4b6a3b57d · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:22:17 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Three events of childhood — and one description that binds them.
Govardhana is the hill raised by Him on His little finger to shelter Vraja from the downpour sent by Indra. Pūtanā is the witch who came to kill the infant with a poisoned breast and received, instead of punishment, the standing of a nurse. Tṛṇāvarta is the whirlwind-demon who carried Him into the sky and crashed down with Him.
All three cases are from the time when He was a child; and in all three He defended and did not attack. That is why the verse's first name is pāpa-praṇāśa, "destroyer of sins": the exploits listed are read not as reprisals but as purification.
Note that this is the same thought as in mantra 5, where the name "Kṛṣṇa" was explained as "drawing sins away". The hymn returns to what the teaching began with, but now in the language of events.
And one thing more: the lifter of Govardhana is set beside the destroyer of sins, and the hill was raised for the sake of the cows and the cowherds. The guarding of a herd and the cleansing of a soul are in this book one work.