Upanishads · Gopāla-tāpanī Uttara 63
॥
Devanāgarī
यथा त्वं सहपुत्रैश्च यथा रुद्रो गणैः सह ।
यथा श्रियाभियुक्तोऽहं तथा भक्तो मम प्रियः
Transliteration (IAST)
yathā tvaṁ sahaputraiśca yathā rudro gaṇaiḥ saha |
yathā śriyābhiyukto'haṁ tathā bhakto mama priyaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यथा त्वम् सहपुत्रैः चyathā tvam sahaputraiḥ caas thou with thy sons; as thou with thine own sons
यथा रुद्रः गणैः सहyathā rudraḥ gaṇaiḥ sahaas Rudra with his hosts; as Śiva with his retinue
यथा श्रिया अभियुक्तः अहम्yathā śriyā abhiyuktaḥ ahamas I am joined with Śrī; as I am with Lakṣmī
तथा भक्तः मम प्रियःtathā bhaktaḥ mama priyaḥso is the devotee dear to Me; just as dear to Me is the devoted one
Translation
"As thou with thy sons, as Rudra with his hosts, as I am joined with Śrī, so is the devotee dear to Me."
Version
ddba2d599c23 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:34:47 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Three comparisons, and each is drawn from the firmest bonds tradition knows: father and sons, a lord and his retinue, husband and wife.
The last is the strongest: "as I am with Śrī". Lakṣmī in this book and in the whole tradition is the Lord's eternal companion, never parted from Him. And it is by this measure that His attachment to the devotee is compared.
Note that the comparison runs the other way from usual. Not "love Me as a wife loves her husband", but "I am attached to thee just as to Śrī". What is spoken of is His feeling, not ours.
Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa cites this verse in the Govinda-bhāṣya as the decisive argument against a monistic reading of the words "that am I": immediately after them the Lord speaks of the devotee in the third person and compares His love for him to His own bond with Śrī. Identity would abolish both the comparison and the love.
And note to whom this is said: to Brahmā, just called a father of sons. The comparison is chosen so that the hearer recognises it from himself.