उपनिषद् · Gopāla-tāpanī Uttara 68
॥
देवनागरी
एकमेवाद्वयं ब्रह्म मायया तु चतुष्टयं
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
ekamevādvayaṁ brahma māyayā tu catuṣṭayaṁ
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
एकम् एव अद्वयम् ब्रह्मekam eva advayam brahmaBrahman is one alone, without a second; the single Brahman, having no duality
मायया तु चतुष्टयम्māyayā tu catuṣṭayambut by māyā, fourfold; yet by means of māyā, a foursome
अनुवाद
Brahman is one, without a second; but by māyā, fourfold.
संस्करण
446496863ddb · प्रकाशित 28 जुल॰ 2026, 2:34:47 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The answer to Brahmā's question is reduced to one line: the one — and the quaternity; and māyā binds them.
This must be read remembering the definition of māyā given in the Śvetāśvatara: "māyā is prakṛti, and the Wielder of māyā is Maheśvara". Māyā here is not deception but His own power; and so "fourfold by māyā" does not mean "seems to be four" but means "manifests Himself fourfold by His own power".
The Vaiṣṇava commentators insist on this distinction, and not without cause: if the quaternity were an illusion, then the worship of it prescribed in mantras 58–60 would be worship of a delusion.
The sense, then, is this: in being He is one, and His manifestations are real and produced by His power, not by our ignorance.
With this formula the answer closes; next will come the explanation of which letters of the syllable OṀ the four correspond to.