उपनिषद् · Gopāla-tāpanī Uttara 64
॥
देवनागरी
स होवाचाब्जयोनिः—
चतुर्भिर्देवैः कथमेको देवः स्यादेकमक्षरं
यद्विश्रुतमनेकाक्षरं कथम् भूतम्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
sa hovācābjayoniḥ—
caturbhirdevaiḥ kathameko devaḥ syādekamakṣaraṁ
yadviśrutamanekākṣaraṁ katham bhūtam
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
सः ह उवाच अब्जयोनिःsaḥ ha uvāca abjayoniḥand the Lotus-born said; the one born of the lotus spoke
चतुर्भिः देवैःcaturbhiḥ devaiḥwith four deities; being four gods
कथम् एकः देवः स्यात्katham ekaḥ devaḥ syāthow can God be one; in what way is He single
एकम् अक्षरम्ekam akṣaramone syllable; a single letter
यत् विश्रुतम् अनेकाक्षरम्yat viśrutam anekākṣaramwhich is heard as many-syllabled; known as consisting of many letters
कथम् भूतम्katham bhūtamhow has this come about; in what way did this happen
अनुवाद
And the Lotus-born said: if the deities are four, how then is God one? And how has the one syllable come to be heard as many-syllabled?
संस्करण
67f58fb26195 · प्रकाशित 28 जुल॰ 2026, 2:34:47 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Brahmā asks the question that inevitably arises for any reader of the previous mantras: it has just been said "I am Gopāla, I am Pradyumna, I am Rāma, I am Aniruddha" — and at once that God is one.
The question is twofold, and its second half is the same matter in the realm of sound: the single syllable OṀ — and the many-syllabled mantra. How did one become many?
In this pairing lies the whole peculiarity of the book. The teaching of the quaternity and the teaching of unity are held together, and the question of how this is possible is asked not by an opponent but by the creator himself.
The answer will take several mantras. First the order of the world's unfolding from the One will be described, then it will be said that the four are the letters of one syllable, and finally that multiplicity belongs to māyā, not to Him.
Note that the question of unity and multiplicity is asked right after the talk of love for the devotee. The order is no accident: first the relation, then the metaphysics.