Upanishads · Gopāla-tāpanī Uttara 44
॥
Devanāgarī
तत्र हि रामस्य राममूर्तिः प्रद्युम्नस्य प्रद्युम्नमूर्तिः अनिरुद्धस्यानिरुद्धमूर्तिः कृष्णस्य कृष्णमूर्तिः
Transliteration (IAST)
tatra hi rāmasya rāmamūrtiḥ pradyumnasya pradyumnamūrtiḥ aniruddhasyāniruddhamūrtiḥ kṛṣṇasya kṛṣṇamūrtiḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत्र हि रामस्यtatra hi rāmasyathere, of Rāma; there, of Balarāma
राममूर्तिःrāmamūrtiḥthe form of Rāma; the image of Rāma
प्रद्युम्नस्य प्रद्युम्नमूर्तिःpradyumnasya pradyumnamūrtiḥof Pradyumna, the form of Pradyumna; to Pradyumna, his own form
अनिरुद्धस्य अनिरुद्धमूर्तिःaniruddhasya aniruddhamūrtiḥof Aniruddha, the form of Aniruddha; to Aniruddha, his own form
कृष्णस्य कृष्णमूर्तिःkṛṣṇasya kṛṣṇamūrtiḥof Kṛṣṇa, the form of Kṛṣṇa; to Kṛṣṇa, His own form
Translation
And there, of Rāma there is the form of Rāma, of Pradyumna the form of Pradyumna, of Aniruddha the form of Aniruddha, of Kṛṣṇa the form of Kṛṣṇa.
Version
26b4ff28c594 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:30:24 PM UTC
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Four are named: Balarāma, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Kṛṣṇa — the very quaternity the later tradition knows as the catur-vyūha, the four expansions of the Lord.
The phrasing is deliberately monotonous: "of Rāma the form of Rāma", "of Kṛṣṇa the form of Kṛṣṇa". Thereby it is said that each of them has a form of his own and is not a modification of another.
In the usual order of the catur-vyūha Vāsudeva stands first; here Kṛṣṇa is in his place, and for this book that is consistent: from its first mantra it declared Him the highest.
The word mūrti means both "form" and "image": what is said is both what each of them is like and what is worshipped in those woods.
The next mantra will reduce this to a number: twelve forms for the twelve woods.