Upanishads · Gopāla-tāpanī Uttara 90
॥
Devanāgarī
क्षरोत्तमं प्रस्फुरन्तं कुण्डलं युगलं स्मृतम्
Transliteration (IAST)
kṣarottamaṁ prasphurantaṁ kuṇḍalaṁ yugalaṁ smṛtam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
क्षरोत्तमम्kṣarottamamthe best of the perishable; the highest of the transient
प्रस्फुरन्तम्prasphurantamglinting; flashing
कुण्डलम् युगलम् स्मृतम्kuṇḍalam yugalam smṛtamis recalled as the pair of earrings; is named as the two earrings
Translation
"The best of the perishable, glinting, is recalled as the pair of earrings."
Version
b91adb1e7e68 · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:34:47 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The earrings are "the best of the perishable", kṣarottama. Commentators explain this through the next mantra, which says outright: the two earrings are Sāṅkhya and yoga, the two best teachings about the changing world.
The image is subtly chosen. The earrings hang right by the ear — by that which receives teaching; and they are qualified as "glinting", prasphurat, that is, moving, shimmering. Teachings about the world ought indeed to shimmer: they examine what flows.
Note that here too the Lord does not reject philosophy but wears it as an ornament: Sāṅkhya with its enumeration of principles and yoga with its technique are not discarded, but neither are they set on the head — they are at the ear.
This agrees with the Śvetāśvatara, where it is said that the Cause is "attainable by Sāṅkhya and yoga", but that one comes to know God.
The next mantra will name these two teachings by name and close the examination of the adornments with the promise for whose sake it was undertaken.