Upanishads · Gopāla-tāpanī Uttara 112
॥
Devanāgarī
ओम् योऽसौ परं ब्रह्म गोपाल
ओम् तत्सद् भूर्भुवः
स्वस्तस्मै वै नमो नमः
Transliteration (IAST)
om yo'sau paraṁ brahma gopāla
om tatsad bhūrbhuvaḥ
svastasmai vai namo namaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ओं यः असौoṁ yaḥ asauoṁ, He who; oṁ, the one who
परम् ब्रह्म गोपालःparam brahma gopālaḥis Gopāla, the highest Brahman; Gopāla, the sovereign Brahman
ओं तत् सत्oṁ tat satoṁ, that is the truth; oṁ, that is the real
भूः भुवः स्वःbhūḥ bhuvaḥ svaḥearth, air, heaven; the three worlds
तस्मै वै नमः नमःtasmai vai namaḥ namaḥto Him obeisance and obeisance; to him precisely homage again and again
Translation
Oṁ, that Gopāla who is the highest Brahman. Oṁ, that is the truth; earth, air, heaven. To Him obeisance and obeisance.
Version
76060aaaea0f · published Jul 28, 2026, 2:36:50 PM UTC
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The sixth invocation: Gopāla is the highest Brahman.
This is the very identification the book has been moving toward since its first mantra. There Brahmā answered the sages: "the supreme Deity is Kṛṣṇa"; in mantra 5 it was said that all four names together "are nothing but the supreme Brahman"; in mantra 37 of the first part, "that five-worded place is Vāsudeva, beyond whom there is nothing".
Now this is uttered as an obeisance. The philosophical assertion has become a formula of worship — and in this one sees where the book is leading: not to a conclusion but to an address.
Note that the word "Brahman" here does not replace the name but stands beside it: "Gopāla, who is the highest Brahman". Neither of the two swallows the other.
Two invocations remain: of the soul of all beings and of Him who is beyond the three states of consciousness.