Upanishads · Kṛṣṇa 1.2
॥
Devanāgarī
रुद्रादीनां वचः शुत्वा प्रोवाच भगवान्स्वयम् । अङ्गसङ्गं करिष्यामि भवद्वाक्यं करोम्यहम्
Transliteration (IAST)
rudrādīnāṃ vacaḥ śutvā provāca bhagavānsvayam | aṅgasaṅgaṃ kariṣyāmi bhavadvākyaṃ karomyaham
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
रुद्र-आदीनां वचः श्रुत्वाrudra-ādīnāṃ vacaḥ śrutvāhaving heard the speech of Rudra and the rest
प्रोवाच भगवान् स्वयम्provāca bhagavān svayamthe Lord Himself said
अङ्ग-सङ्गं करिष्यामिaṅga-saṅgaṃ kariṣyāmi"I will perform bodily union
भवत्-वाक्यं करोमि अहम्bhavat-vākyaṃ karomi ahamyour word I will fulfill, I"
Translation
"Having heard the speech of Rudra and the rest, the Lord Himself said: 'I will perform bodily union, I will fulfill your word.'"
Version
cb3b60fb095c · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The answer is given, and in it it is worth noting the phrase bhavad-vākyaṃ karomy aham, "your word I will fulfill, I." That is, the request is accepted, and moreover it is said that their word is fulfilled. It is worth pausing on this, for it is a constant feature in such tales and a distinctive mark of Vaiṣṇava tradition.
The Supreme here is described as yielding: it is not He who decrees, but He who is asked, and He consents. We met the same in the Bhāgavatam, where it is said aham bhakta-parādhīno hy asvatantra iva, "I am subject to My devotees and, as it were, not independent" (9.4.63); and the word iva, "as it were," was discussed when reading the Tārasāra (3.11). Let us add what is worth saying about this feature itself.
Omnipotence, understood abstractly, is a property under which it is useless to ask: nothing can be begged of one who decides everything alone. Omnipotence, understood as here, is a property under which asking makes sense: He can do anything — and so He can also yield. This distinction, to my mind, determines whether prayer is even possible. Prayer to the unchanging is an exercise of the one who prays; prayer to one who answers is a conversation.
Let us add that among the petitioners Rudra is named. That is, it is not people who ask, but gods; and the promise now to be interpreted is given to them.