Upanishads · Gopāla-tāpanī Uttara 53
॥
Devanāgarī
स एवाव्यक्तो नित्योऽनन्तो गोपालः
Transliteration (IAST)
sa evāvyakto nityo'nanto gopālaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सः एव अव्यक्तःsaḥ eva avyaktaḥHe is unmanifest; He is unrevealed
नित्यःnityaḥeternal; unceasing
अनन्तःanantaḥinfinite; unbounded
गोपालःgopālaḥGopāla; the Cowherd
Translation
He is the unmanifest, eternal, infinite Gopāla.
Version
a40b821e0dd2 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:30:24 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Three definitions of Vedānta and one name — this is the whole content of the mantra, and their neighbourhood is its meaning.
Avyakta — "unmanifest": not accessible to ordinary perception. Nitya — "eternal": neither arising nor perishing. Ananta — "infinite": bounded by nothing.
And all this is said of Gopāla — of Him who in mantra 8 of the first part was described "in cowherd dress, youthful, leaning on the wish-fulfilling tree".
This is the constant movement of this book: it takes the words by which the Upaniṣads describe the indescribable, and applies them to a quite definite form. The Śvetāśvatara says He is unmanifest and seen only in full devotion; here the same thought is said more briefly.
Note that "unmanifest" stands first — right after the mantras on contemplating "I am Gopāla". This is a fitting reminder: the object of contemplation is not invented by the mind and does not become, by being contemplated, a thing among things.