Upaniṣads · Gopāla-tāpanī Pūrva 23
॥
Devanāgarī
यो ब्रह्माणं विदधाति पूर्वं यो वै विद्यास्तस्मै गोपायति स्म कृष्णः ।
तं ह देवमात्मबुद्धि प्रकाशं मुमुक्षुर्वै शरणमनुव्रजेत
Transliteración (IAST)
yo brahmāṇaṁ vidadhāti pūrvaṁ yo vai vidyāstasmai gopāyati sma kṛṣṇaḥ |
taṁ ha devamātmabuddhi prakāśaṁ mumukṣurvai śaraṇamanuvrajeta
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
यः ब्रह्माणम्yaḥ brahmāṇamwho Brahmā; He who the creator
विदधाति पूर्वम्vidadhāti pūrvamfashions in the beginning; sets up before all else
यः वै विद्याःyaḥ vai vidyāḥwho indeed the sciences; He who the vidyās
तस्मै गोपायति स्मtasmai gopāyati smahands over to him; keeps and delivers to him
कृष्णःkṛṣṇaḥKṛṣṇa; Kṛṣṇa Himself
तम् ह देवम्tam ha devamto that God; to that very Deity
आत्मबुद्धि प्रकाशम्ātmabuddhi prakāśamwho illumines the soul's own understanding; who gives light to one's own discernment
मुमुक्षुः वैmumukṣuḥ vailonging for liberation; seeking freedom
शरणम् अनुव्रजेतśaraṇam anuvrajetalet him go for refuge; let him follow, seeking shelter
Traducción
He who in the beginning fashions Brahmā and hands the sciences over to him is Kṛṣṇa; to that God, who illumines the soul's own understanding, let him who longs for liberation go for refuge.
Versión
9ac355e05426 · publicado 28 jul 2026, 14:22:17 UTC
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The verse repeats almost word for word the famous mantra of the Śvetāśvatara, which says: "to that God who fashions Brahmā and sends him the Vedas, I take refuge, longing for liberation". The difference is in one word — here the name is given: Kṛṣṇa.
This is not a substitution but an identification. The Upaniṣad takes a formula acknowledged by all Vedānta and says: He of whom it speaks is Kṛṣṇa. Mantra 21 did the same with the formula "the eternal among eternals".
The verb gopāyati has a double bottom: it means "to guard, to keep" and sounds akin to the word gopa, "cowherd". Knowledge is not merely handed over — it is kept and delivered, as a herdsman keeps a herd.
The phrase ātma-buddhi-prakāśa — "who illumines the soul's understanding" — explains why one takes refuge in Him precisely: the light of our own mind is not our own. The Śvetāśvatara says the same when it declares that in His presence neither sun nor moon shines and everything shines in His train.
And the last word decides it: śaraṇam anuvrajeta — "let him go for refuge", literally "let him follow, seeking shelter". Not "let him investigate" and not "let him attain": let him come under the roof. Hence all the later teaching of refuge.