Upanishads · Kṛṣṇa 1.10
॥
Devanāgarī
गोपरूपो हरिः साक्षान्मायाविग्रहधारणः । दुर्बोधं कुहकं तस्य मायया मोहितं जगत्
Transliteration (IAST)
goparūpo hariḥ sākṣānmāyāvigrahadhāraṇaḥ | durbodhaṃ kuhakaṃ tasya māyayā mohitaṃ jagat
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
गोप-रूपः हरिः साक्षात्gopa-rūpaḥ hariḥ sākṣātin the form of a cowherd, Hari, visibly
माया-विग्रह-धारणःmāyā-vigraha-dhāraṇaḥbearing a form made of māyā
दुर्बोधं कुहकं तस्यdurbodhaṃ kuhakaṃ tasyaincomprehensible is His trickery
मायया मोहितं जगत्māyayā mohitaṃ jagatby māyā the world is deluded
Translation
"In the form of a cowherd, Hari visibly, bearing a form made of māyā; incomprehensible is His trickery, by māyā the world is deluded."
Version
7ab0c7a3aebe · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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It is worth examining the phrase māyā-vigraha-dhāraṇa, "bearing a form made of māyā," for at first glance it speaks against Vaiṣṇava teaching. It cannot be read literally: then it would follow that Kṛṣṇa's form is an illusion, and the whole book would refute itself. It is read thus: He bears a form by means of His own power — that is, His form is an act of His will, not a consequence of birth from matter.
Confirmation is found in the Gītā, and at its most decisive point: sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā, "I appear by My own power" (4.6). This verse is worth citing in full, for it is the foundation of the entire teaching on descents: "Though I am unborn and imperishable by nature, though I am the lord of beings, — abiding in My own nature, I appear by My own māyā." The word ātma-māyayā, "by My own māyā," settles it here: not under the power of māyā, but by means of it; and the difference between "subject to" and "making use of" is the whole difference between us and Him.
Let us add what is named in the same breath: māyayā mohitaṃ jagat, "by māyā the world is deluded." That is, delusion exists; but it is not He who is deluded, but the world. And the very next verse of the Gītā explains what the delusion consists in: "fools disdain Me, having taken a human form, not knowing My higher being" (9.11).
The delusion, then, is not that the form is false, but that it is considered false; and the same was discussed when reading the Jābāla-darśana (4.57).