Upanishads · Gopāla-tāpanī Uttara 40
॥
Devanāgarī
तत्र तेष्वेव गहनेष्वेवं देवा मनुष्या गन्धर्वा
नागाः किन्नरा गायन्तीति नृत्यन्तीति
Transliteration (IAST)
tatra teṣveva gahaneṣvevaṁ devā manuṣyā gandharvā
nāgāḥ kinnarā gāyantīti nṛtyantīti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत्र तेषु एव गहनेषुtatra teṣu eva gahaneṣuthere, in those thickets; in these very deeps
एवम् देवाः मनुष्याःevam devāḥ manuṣyāḥso gods and men; deities and mortals
गन्धर्वाःgandharvāḥgandharvas; the celestial singers
नागाः किन्नराःnāgāḥ kinnarāḥnāgas and kinnaras; serpents and demigod musicians
गायन्ति इतिgāyanti itising; chant
नृत्यन्ति इतिnṛtyanti itiand dance; and dance
Translation
And there, in these thickets, gods and men, gandharvas, nāgas and kinnaras sing and dance.
Version
376dc8b16de2 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:30:24 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The abode is described through what is done in it: singing and dancing. Not reflection, not rite, not repose — singing and dancing.
Five kinds of beings are listed, and they are deliberately mixed: gods and men, the celestial singers the gandharvas, the serpent nāgas and the kinnaras. In the ordinary order of the cosmos these classes do not come together; here they are in one wood and at one occupation.
Note that men are named alongside the gods. In a book that from the start sets the Lord of all beside a village cowherd, this is consistent.
The verbs stand in the present: "they sing and dance". Not "once sang" and not "will sing": what is described is what is always happening.
This is one of the passages from which the later tradition concludes that the highest abode is a place of play and not of repose, and that participation in it consists not in contemplating from outside but in a shared occupation.