Upanishads · Gopāla-tāpanī Uttara 88
॥
Devanāgarī
कण्ठन्तु निर्गुणं प्रोक्तं माल्यते आद्ययाजया ।
माला निगद्यत ब्रह्मन् तव पुत्रैस्तु मानसैः
Transliteration (IAST)
kaṇṭhantu nirguṇaṁ proktaṁ mālyate ādyayājayā |
mālā nigadyata brahman tava putraistu mānasaiḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
कण्ठम् तु निर्गुणम् प्रोक्तम्kaṇṭham tu nirguṇam proktamthe neck is called qualityless; the throat is named free of guṇas
माल्यते आद्यया अजयाmālyate ādyayā ajayāit is garlanded by the primal unborn one; it is wreathed with the first ajā
माला निगद्यते ब्रह्मन्mālā nigadyate brahmanthis is called the garland, O Brahmā; this, creator, they call the mālā
तव पुत्रैः तु मानसैःtava putraiḥ tu mānasaiḥby thy mind-born sons; by thy sons produced from thought
Translation
"The neck is called qualityless; it is garlanded by the primal unborn one — this, O Brahmā, is called the garland, by the word of thy mind-born sons."
Version
ad692aac6415 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:34:47 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The neck is called nirguṇa — "qualityless, free of the guṇas"; and the garland upon it is "the primal unborn one", ādyā ajā, that is, the very prakṛti of which the Śvetāśvatara says: "one unborn — red, white and black".
The joining is expressive: the qualityless — and upon it nature as a wreath. This is the exact image of the Lord's relation to prakṛti: she is upon Him, but does not colour Him, just as a garland does not change the one who wears it.
Thereby an answer is given to a question long examined in Vedānta: how can He be the cause of the world and remain untouched? The answer is given not by argument but by an image.
The reference to Brahmā's "mind-born sons" is to the Kumāras and the others tradition calls mānasa-putras. The interpretation, then, is no novelty: it belongs to the most ancient of the knowers.