उपनिषद् · Gopāla-tāpanī Pūrva 4
॥
देवनागरी
तदुहोचुः ।
कः कृष्णो गोविन्दश्च कोऽसाविति
गोपीजनवल्लभः कः का स्वाहेति
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
taduhocuḥ |
kaḥ kṛṣṇo govindaśca ko'sāviti
gopījanavallabhaḥ kaḥ kā svāheti
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
तत् उ ह ऊचुःtat u ha ūcuḥto this they said; then they asked
कः कृष्णःkaḥ kṛṣṇaḥwho is Kṛṣṇa; what does Kṛṣṇa mean
गोविन्दः चgovindaḥ caand Govinda; and Govinda
कः असौkaḥ asauwho is He; who is this
इतिitithus; so
गोपीजनवल्लभः कःgopījanavallabhaḥ kaḥwho is the Beloved of the cowherd women; who is gopī-jana-vallabha
का स्वाहाkā svāhāwhat is svāhā; what sort of thing is svāhā
इतिitithus; this is what they asked
अनुवाद
Then they asked: who is Kṛṣṇa? who is this Govinda? who is the Beloved of the cowherd women? and what is svāhā?
संस्करण
5acacf5816e1 · प्रकाशित 28 जुल॰ 2026, 2:22:17 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The sages are not satisfied with the answer — and this does them credit. Four names have been given them, but a name without unfolding remains a sound; they want to know what stands behind each.
This question is constant in the Upaniṣads. Having heard a word, the pupil asks after its meaning, and only then does the teaching proper begin. So Naciketas questions Death again; so Gārgī questions Yājñavalkya; so here.
It is remarkable that all four words are asked about — "svāhā" too. The Upaniṣad's teaching does not divide what has been said into the important and the secondary: the call with which an oblation is cast into fire is examined as seriously as the name of the Highest.
The answer that now follows will be given through etymology — the taking of names apart by their roots. This is the Upaniṣads' usual way: a name is held to be not a label but a compressed description of its bearer's nature, and therefore to unfold a name is to explain the thing.