उपनिषद् · Gopāla-tāpanī Uttara 49
॥
देवनागरी
तस्मादेव परो रजसेति सोऽहमित्यवधार्यात्मानं
गोपालोऽहमिति भावयेत् ।
स मोक्षमश्नुते स ब्रह्मत्वमधिगच्छति
स ब्रह्मविद् भवति
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
tasmādeva paro rajaseti so'hamityavadhāryātmānaṁ
gopālo'hamiti bhāvayet |
sa mokṣamaśnute sa brahmatvamadhigacchati
sa brahmavid bhavati
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
तस्मात् एव परः रजसःtasmāt eva paraḥ rajasaḥtherefore He is higher than passion; hence beyond rajas
इति सः अहम् इतिiti saḥ aham iti"that am I" thus; with the words "He is I"
अवधार्य आत्मानम्avadhārya ātmānamhaving established himself; having determined his own soul
गोपालः अहम् इति भावयेत्gopālaḥ aham iti bhāvayetlet him meditate "I am Gopāla"; let him contemplate himself as Gopāla
सः मोक्षम् अश्नुतेsaḥ mokṣam aśnutehe tastes liberation; he attains mokṣa
सः ब्रह्मत्वम् अधिगच्छतिsaḥ brahmatvam adhigacchatihe reaches the state of Brahman; he comes to the nature of Brahman
सः ब्रह्मवित् भवतिsaḥ brahmavit bhavatihe becomes a knower of Brahman; he is made a brahmavid
अनुवाद
Therefore, having established himself with the words "He is higher than passion — that is I", let a man meditate: "I am Gopāla." He tastes liberation, reaches the state of Brahman and becomes a knower of Brahman.
संस्करण
9308db011e4a · प्रकाशित 28 जुल॰ 2026, 2:30:24 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Here stands the hardest passage of the whole book: "I am Gopāla". A reader is right to be wary, and the tradition has examined this passage more than once.
Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa in the Govinda-bhāṣya answers thus. The theme of this whole section is bhakti: it opened with a definition of it ("the setting of the mind on Him without appendages — this is naiṣkarmya") and will close with the words that the Lord bestows Himself upon His devotee. So "that am I" too must be read in this same key — not as a statement of identity but as the utmost degree of love's absorption.
He gives a vivid illustration: in a deep shock — of fear or of passion — a man says "I am a lion" without thereby thinking he has changed his nature. So too the lover in the depth of contemplation says "I am Gopāla": the words merge, the difference lives on.
Confirmation is in the mantras that follow in this same book, where it is said that the Lord "bestows Himself" upon His devotee and that the devotee is dear to Him as Śrī is. Bestowal requires two; identity would rob love of both giver and receiver.
And the mantra's first word confirms this: "He is higher than passion", paro rajasaḥ. The assertion begins by saying that He is beyond nature — and so the "I" here recognises itself not as Him but as belonging to Him.