Upanishads · Kṛṣṇa 2.14
॥
Devanāgarī
तन्नाम संकीर्तयन् विष्णुसायुज्यं गच्छति
Transliteration (IAST)
tannāma saṃkīrtayan viṣṇusāyujyaṃ gacchati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत्-नाम संकीर्तयन्tat-nāma saṃkīrtayanchanting His name
विष्णु-सायुज्यं गच्छतिviṣṇu-sāyujyaṃ gacchatiattains union with Viṣṇu
Translation
"Chanting His name, one attains union with Viṣṇu."
Version
09b5c3c80287 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
It is worth noting the verb saṅkīrtayan, "chanting," from sam-kīrtan, "to chant together." The prefix sam- means "together"; and this word in Vaiṣṇava usage is the chief name of her rite: saṅkīrtana, communal loud singing. Of the superiority of loud over quiet it was said when reading the Jābāla-darśana (2.15), where Haridāsa's conversation was cited, and that the whole question is whether one is to be saved alone.
Let us add what this very line yields. It says tan-nāma, "His name." That is, the means named is not contemplation, not reflection, not a rite, but a name.
This position the Bhāgavatam states as a rule of the present age, and its verse has been cited more than once: kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṃ vrajet, "by chanting Kṛṣṇa alone, freed from attachment, one attains the highest" (12.3.51). It is worth noting in that verse the word eva, "alone": not "by chanting among other things," but by it alone. Let us add what was said about the word sāyujya, "union," when reading the Rudrākṣa-jābāla (1.5): the prefix sa- means "together with," and what is yoked together is two.
Joining the two, we get a structure worth voicing. The means is a call; and what is attained by it is being-yoked-together. That is, both the means and the goal presuppose two: the caller and the one called, and they are the two yoked together.