Upanishads · Gopāla-tāpanī Uttara 60
॥
Devanāgarī
गोपालोऽहमजो नित्यः प्रद्युम्नोऽहं सनातनः ।
रामोऽहमनिरुद्धोऽहमात्मानमर्चयेद् बुधः
Transliteration (IAST)
gopālo'hamajo nityaḥ pradyumno'haṁ sanātanaḥ |
rāmo'hamaniruddho'hamātmānamarcayed budhaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
गोपालः अहम् अजः नित्यःgopālaḥ aham ajaḥ nityaḥI am Gopāla, unborn, eternal; I am the Cowherd, beginningless and unceasing
प्रद्युम्नः अहम् सनातनःpradyumnaḥ aham sanātanaḥI am Pradyumna, everlasting; I too am Pradyumna, ancient
रामः अहम्rāmaḥ ahamI am Rāma; I too am Balarāma
अनिरुद्धः अहम्aniruddhaḥ ahamI am Aniruddha; and I am Aniruddha
आत्मानम् अर्चयेत् बुधःātmānam arcayet budhaḥlet the wise man worship this Self; let the wise one render honour to this Soul
Translation
"I am Gopāla, unborn and eternal; I am Pradyumna, everlasting; I am Rāma, I am Aniruddha: and let the wise worship this Self."
Version
f13c7bb89861 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:30:24 PM UTC
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The quaternity is named in the first person: "I am Gopāla, I am Pradyumna, I am Rāma, I am Aniruddha". Thereby every suspicion is removed that these are different deities with different standings.
And Gopāla is named first, not Vāsudeva as in the usual list of the catur-vyūha; and to Him alone are applied the words aja and nitya — "unborn" and "eternal".
The last half-line is remarkable: "let the wise worship this Self", ātmānam arcayet. The word ātman can be read both as "Me" and as "one's own soul". Both readings are already prepared in this book: mantra 52 bade one meditate on oneself as Gopāla, and mantra 50 explained that the souls belong to Him. Worshipping Him and recognising oneself as His are one and the same movement.
And one more thing: "wise", budha, here names not one who knows more but one who worships. Such is the measure of wisdom in this book.