उपनिषद् · Gopāla-tāpanī Uttara 17
॥
देवनागरी
रूपवदिदं हि तेजो रूपाग्निभ्यां भिन्नस्तस्मिन्नग्नौ तिष्ठत्यग्निर्न वेद तं स ह्यात्माहं कथं भोक्ता भवामि
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
rūpavadidaṁ hi tejo rūpāgnibhyāṁ bhinnastasminnagnau tiṣṭhatyagnirna veda taṁ sa hyātmāhaṁ kathaṁ bhoktā bhavāmi
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
रूपवत् इदम् तेजःrūpavat idam tejaḥthis fire possesses form; light has visible shape
रूपाग्निभ्याम् भिन्नःrūpāgnibhyām bhinnaḥHe is other than form and fire; different from form and from flame
तस्मिन् अग्नौ तिष्ठतिtasmin agnau tiṣṭhatiHe abides in that fire; He stands within the flame
अग्निः न वेद तम्agniḥ na veda tamthe fire does not know Him; the flame has no knowledge of Him
सः हि आत्मा अहम्saḥ hi ātmā ahamHe is the self, and He is I; that soul is myself
कथम् भोक्ता भवामिkatham bhoktā bhavāmihow then am I the enjoyer; in what way do I enjoy
अनुवाद
Fire possesses form; but He is other than form and than fire, though He abides in fire — and fire does not know Him. He is I. How then can I be the enjoyer?
संस्करण
1d239c0ce61c · प्रकाशित 28 जुल॰ 2026, 2:30:24 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The third link of the survey: fire and its quality — rūpa, visible form, what is perceived by the eye.
It is worth pausing on the word. Rūpa means "form", "colour" and "image" alike; everything visible is given us by fire, by light. It is said, then, that He who is within is neither the light nor what light shows.
In the book's first part this same word stood at the very centre: there Kṛṣṇa was called sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, having a form of being, consciousness and bliss. There is no contradiction: what is denied is a form woven out of fire-matter, not shape as such. Vedānta draws the same distinction in examining the word arūpavat, "as if formless".
And again it is repeated: "fire does not know Him". The light by which we see everything does not see Him who dwells in it; and this is an exact description of our own case — we look at the world by His light and fail to notice Him.
Two elements remain, water and earth; with them the reasoning will end.