उपनिषद् · Gopāla-tāpanī Uttara 40
॥
देवनागरी
तत्र तेष्वेव गहनेष्वेवं देवा मनुष्या गन्धर्वा
नागाः किन्नरा गायन्तीति नृत्यन्तीति
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
tatra teṣveva gahaneṣvevaṁ devā manuṣyā gandharvā
nāgāḥ kinnarā gāyantīti nṛtyantīti
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
तत्र तेषु एव गहनेषुtatra teṣu eva gahaneṣuthere, in those thickets; in these very deeps
एवम् देवाः मनुष्याःevam devāḥ manuṣyāḥso gods and men; deities and mortals
गन्धर्वाःgandharvāḥgandharvas; the celestial singers
नागाः किन्नराःnāgāḥ kinnarāḥnāgas and kinnaras; serpents and demigod musicians
गायन्ति इतिgāyanti itising; chant
नृत्यन्ति इतिnṛtyanti itiand dance; and dance
अनुवाद
And there, in these thickets, gods and men, gandharvas, nāgas and kinnaras sing and dance.
संस्करण
376dc8b16de2 · प्रकाशित 28 जुल॰ 2026, 2:30:24 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The abode is described through what is done in it: singing and dancing. Not reflection, not rite, not repose — singing and dancing.
Five kinds of beings are listed, and they are deliberately mixed: gods and men, the celestial singers the gandharvas, the serpent nāgas and the kinnaras. In the ordinary order of the cosmos these classes do not come together; here they are in one wood and at one occupation.
Note that men are named alongside the gods. In a book that from the start sets the Lord of all beside a village cowherd, this is consistent.
The verbs stand in the present: "they sing and dance". Not "once sang" and not "will sing": what is described is what is always happening.
This is one of the passages from which the later tradition concludes that the highest abode is a place of play and not of repose, and that participation in it consists not in contemplating from outside but in a shared occupation.