Upaniṣads · Avadhūta 4
॥
Devanāgarī
गोपालसदृशां शीर्षे नापि मध्ये न चाप्यधः । ब्रह्मपुच्छं प्रतिष्ठेति पुच्छाकारेण कारयेत्
Transliteración (IAST)
gopālasadṛśāṃ śīrṣe nāpi madhye na cāpyadhaḥ | brahmapucchaṃ pratiṣṭheti pucchākāreṇa kārayet
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
गोपाल-सदृशां शीर्षेgopāla-sadṛśāṃ śīrṣeresembling a cowherd — in the head
न अपि मध्येna api madhyenor in the middle
न च अपि अधःna ca api adhaḥnor below
ब्रह्म पुच्छं प्रतिष्ठा इतिbrahma pucchaṃ pratiṣṭhā iti'brahman is the tail, the support'
पुच्छ-आकारेण कारयेत्puccha-ākāreṇa kārayetlet him place it in the form of the tail
Traducción
…neither in the head, nor in the middle, nor below; 'brahman is the tail, the support' — let him place it in the form of the tail.
Versión
aa952f12237d · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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The end of the same Taittirīya passage is given: brahma pucchaṃ pratiṣṭhā, "brahman is the tail, the support." This image is discussed at length in Vaiṣṇava books, and it is worth saying exactly why the tail. A bird holds itself by its tail: it steers with it in flight and rests on it when landing. The tail is neither the head nor the wings — it does not lead and does not flap; but without it the bird cannot land or turn.
To say "brahman is the tail" is, then, to say: He is not on the list of parts, but that on which the whole list rests. And the word pratiṣṭhā, "support," is applied to Him directly. The Vaiṣṇava reading reads this passage the same way, and adds what was said when reading the Annapūrṇā (4.27): support is a word of relation; nothing stands on itself, and so "brahman is the support" is a statement about Him and about those who stand on Him.
Let us add that the Vedānta-sūtra devotes a separate sūtra to this phrase (1.1.19), where it is decided whether "brahman is the tail" is merely part of the image or an indication of brahman himself; and it is decided in favor of the latter.