उपनिषद् · Gopāla-tāpanī Uttara 31
॥
देवनागरी
स कामप्रश्नमेव वव्रे
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
sa kāmapraśnameva vavre
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
सः कामप्रश्नम् एवsaḥ kāmapraśnam evaa question at will; merely a question of his own choosing
वव्रेvavrehe chose; he asked for
अनुवाद
And he chose as his boon the right to ask a question at will.
संस्करण
1bd52cf1398e · प्रकाशित 28 जुल॰ 2026, 2:30:24 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The creator of the world, granted the right to ask for anything, asks for the possibility of asking.
The expression kāma-praśna means "a question at will": the right to put the question that lies on his heart and to receive an answer. Of all boons he chooses knowledge.
In the Upaniṣads this is a recurring move. Naciketas, granted three boons by Death, spends the third on the question of what becomes of a man after death — and refuses the riches and long life offered in exchange.
Here the same choice is made, but not by a man: by the first of created beings. Thereby it is said that even for one who is to create the world, knowledge of Him who is higher is what is needed most.
What exactly he will ask, mantra 33 will tell; and his question will prove to be the very one Gāndharvī has just asked.