Upanishads · Gopāla-tāpanī Uttara 22
॥
Devanāgarī
अयं हि कृष्णो यो वो हि प्रेष्ठः शरीरद्वयकारणं भवति
Transliteration (IAST)
ayaṁ hi kṛṣṇo yo vo hi preṣṭhaḥ śarīradvayakāraṇaṁ bhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अयम् हि कृष्णःayam hi kṛṣṇaḥthis Kṛṣṇa; Kṛṣṇa Himself
यः वः हि प्रेष्ठःyaḥ vaḥ hi preṣṭhaḥwho is dearest to you; who is the most beloved for you
शरीरद्वयकारणम् भवतिśarīradvayakāraṇam bhavatiis the cause of the two bodies; proves to be the cause of both bodies
Translation
And this Kṛṣṇa, who is dearest to you, is the cause of both bodies.
Version
f6b13427de47 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:30:24 PM UTC
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The conversation turns from "me" to "Him", and in a single line two different languages are joined.
The first half is the language of love: "who is dearest to you", preṣṭha, the superlative of priya, "dear". Durvāsā does not correct the cowherd women or advise them to love less ardently; he starts from their own feeling.
The second is the language of Vedānta: "the cause of both bodies". The two bodies are the gross, of the five elements, and the subtle, made of mind, senses and vital airs; together they are what binds the soul in the round.
The joining of these halves is the thought of the mantra: He who is dear as a beloved is He from whom the very structure of our bondage proceeded. Not "first philosophy, then love", but the one within the other.
Note that after the long analysis of the non-enjoying self Durvāsā does not leave the cowherd women in abstraction: he brings the conversation straight back to Kṛṣṇa. The next mantra will bring in for this the ancient image of the two birds.