उपनिषद् · Gopāla-tāpanī Uttara 10
॥
देवनागरी
कथं यास्यामोऽतीर्त्वा सौर्यां
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
kathaṁ yāsyāmo'tīrtvā sauryāṁ
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
कथम् यास्यामःkatham yāsyāmaḥhow shall we go; in what way shall we return
अतीर्त्वाatīrtvāwithout crossing; without passing over
सौर्याम्sauryāmthe daughter of the Sun; the child of the Sun — the Yamunā
अनुवाद
"But how are we to go back without crossing the daughter of the Sun?"
संस्करण
b08af7e82837 · प्रकाशित 28 जुल॰ 2026, 2:30:24 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The same question as in mantra 5, and the repetition is deliberate.
The women have already seen the river part before a word; and still, on the way back, they ask again. The Upaniṣad does not present them as ideal: a miracle lived through did not dispose of the difficulty when it rose a second time.
In this there is a truth about the spiritual life too. Experience gained once does not turn of itself into confidence; every new bank calls for a new word.
And it matters that the question is now put not to Kṛṣṇa but to Durvāsā — the man they were sent to. The answer that now sounds will be framed exactly like the first, but will say something equally incredible about the speaker.
So this part of the book is built: two identical difficulties, two words, and both words at first sight false.