Upanishads · Kṛṣṇa 1.6
॥
Devanāgarī
देवकी ब्रह्मपुत्रा सा या वेदैरुपगीयते । निगमो वसुदेवो यो वेदार्थः कृष्णरामयोः
Transliteration (IAST)
devakī brahmaputrā sā yā vedairupagīyate | nigamo vasudevo yo vedārthaḥ kṛṣṇarāmayoḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
देवकी ब्रह्म-पुत्रा साdevakī brahma-putrā sāDevakī, that daughter of Brahmā
या वेदैः उपगीयतेyā vedaiḥ upagīyatewho is celebrated by the Vedas
निगमः वसुदेवः यःnigamaḥ vasudevaḥ yaḥthe Veda is Vasudeva
वेद-अर्थः कृष्ण-रामयोःveda-arthaḥ kṛṣṇa-rāmayoḥthe meaning of the Veda is in Kṛṣṇa and Rāma
Translation
"Devakī is that daughter of Brahmā who is celebrated by the Vedas; the Veda is Vasudeva, and the meaning of the Veda is in Kṛṣṇa and Rāma."
Version
923c6ef78ca5 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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It is worth noting the last half: vedārthaḥ kṛṣṇa-rāmayoḥ, "the meaning of the Veda is in Kṛṣṇa and Rāma." This is, in essence, the whole Vaiṣṇava reading of the Veda stated in three words. Let us compare it with the Gītā, which says the same in the first person: vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ, "by all the Vedas I alone am to be known"; and there it is added — "I am the composer of Vedānta and the knower of the Veda" (15.15).
It is worth examining what this assertion means and what it does not mean. It does not mean that the name of Kṛṣṇa stands on every page of the Vedas: it is not there, and there is no point pretending it is. It means that everything said there leads to Him: the sacrifices are a preparation, the gods are His officials, the abstract definitions are His attributes, taken separately.
This position is called in Vedānta samanvaya, "reconciliation into unity," and constitutes the subject of the very first section of the Vedānta-sūtra: "and [brahman is the subject of all texts] by reconciliation into unity" (1.1.4). Let us add what is said in the same breath about Vasudeva: he is nigama, "the Veda." This correspondence is worth keeping, for it is beautifully arranged. Kṛṣṇa's father is the Veda; His mother is she whom the Vedas celebrate; and He Himself is the meaning for whose sake all this was said.
That is, the birth story is read as the birth of meaning from the word; and this interpretation, for all its ingenuity, expresses precisely what the Vaiṣṇava side asserts about the Vedas.