Upanishads · Gopāla-tāpanī Uttara 18
॥
Devanāgarī
रसवत्य आपः रसाद्भ्यो भिन्नस्तास्वप्सु तिष्ठति तं ह्यापो न विदुः स ह्यात्माह कथं भोक्ता भवामि
Transliteration (IAST)
rasavatya āpaḥ rasādbhyo bhinnastāsvapsu tiṣṭhati taṁ hyāpo na viduḥ sa hyātmāha kathaṁ bhoktā bhavāmi
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
रसवत्यः आपःrasavatyaḥ āpaḥthe waters possess taste; water has savour
रसाद्भ्यः भिन्नःrasādbhyaḥ bhinnaḥHe is other than taste and the waters; different from taste and from moisture
तासु अप्सु तिष्ठतिtāsu apsu tiṣṭhatiHe abides in those waters; He stands within the waters
तम् हि आपः न विदुःtam hi āpaḥ na viduḥthe waters do not know Him; water has no knowledge of Him
सः हि आत्मा अहम्saḥ hi ātmā ahamHe is the self, and He is I; that soul is myself
कथम् भोक्ता भवामिkatham bhoktā bhavāmihow then am I the enjoyer; in what way do I enjoy
Translation
The waters possess taste; but He is other than taste and than the waters, though He abides in the waters — and the waters do not know Him. He is I. How then can I be the enjoyer?
Version
c75905fdfd23 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:30:24 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The fourth link: water and taste.
The choice of word here is especially apt. Rasa means "taste, juice", and from it comes the verb rasati, "to taste", which in the book's first part denoted the uttering of the mantra. He who is examining whether he ate the offering uses the very word by which the same book named spiritual enjoyment through the name.
Here too there is no contradiction, but the distinction is drawn strictly: the taste belonging to water is a quality of the element; He who dwells in it is not reducible to it.
The last thing to note in this series is the pronoun. All five mantras end with the words "He is I": saḥ hi ātmā aham. Durvāsā is not describing some outside arrangement of the world; he recognises himself in the one within the elements, and therefore his answer to the cowherd women is testimony, not theory.
Earth remains — the densest of the elements — and with it the list will close.