Gopala Tapani Upanishad

Gopala-Tapani
Significant Upanishad on Radha Krishna
Devanagariगोपालतापिन्युपनिषत्
IASTGopāla-Tāpanī
Title meansSurrender to Krishna
DateUncertain, est. 8th BCE to 6th century BCE
TypeVaishnava
Linked VedaAtharvaveda
Chapters9[1]
Part of a series on
Vaishnavism
Closeup of Vishnu, seated in the lotus position on a lotus. From depiction of the poet Jayadeva bowing to Vishnu, Gouache on paper Pahari, The very picture of devotion, bare-bodied, head bowed, legs crossed and hands folded, Jayadeva stands at left, with the implements of worship placed before the lotus-seat of Vishnu who sits there, blessing the poet.
Supreme deity
Vishnu / Krishna / Rama
Important deities
Dashavatara
Other forms
Consorts
Related
Holy scriptures
Puranas
Sampradayas
Others
Teachers—acharyas
Related traditions

The Gopala Tapani Upanishad (Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad) is a Sanskrit text, and one of the later Upanishads attached to the Atharvaveda.[2][3] The Gopāla-Tāpanī is one of the four Tāpinī Upanishads (Nṛsiṁha, Rāma, Tripurā, and Gopāla).[3]

This Vaishnava Upanishad belongs to the Tandya school of the Atharvaveda.[1] Like the Gopala-Tapani Upanishad is an anthology of texts that must have pre-existed as separate texts, and were edited into a larger text by one or more ancient Indian scholars.[1] The precise chronology of Gopala-Tapani Upanishad is uncertain, and it is variously dated to have been composed by the 8th to 6th century BCE in India.[2][4][5]

It is one of the largest Upanishadic compilations, and has eight Prapathakas (literally lectures, chapters), each with many volumes, and each volume contains many verses.[6][4] The volumes are a motley collection of stories and themes. As part of the poetic and chants-focussed atharvaveda, the broad unifying theme of the Upanishad is the importance of speech, language, song and chants to man's quest for knowledge and salvation, to metaphysical premises and questions, as well as to rituals.[1][7]

The Gopala-Tapani Upanishad is notable for its lifting metric structure, its mention of ancient cultural elements such as musical instruments, and embedded philosophical premises that later served as foundation for Vedanta school of Hinduism.[8] It is one of the most cited texts in later Bhasyas (reviews and commentaries) by scholars from the diverse schools of Hinduism.

  1. ^ a b c d Hattangadi 2000.
  2. ^ a b Farquhar 1920, p. 266.
  3. ^ a b Tinoco 1997, p. 88.
  4. ^ a b Tripurari 2004, pp. 3–4, 8-11 with footnotes.
  5. ^ Steven Rosen (2006), Essential Hinduism, Praeger, ISBN 978-0275990060, page 218
  6. ^ Deussen, P. (1980). Sixty Upanishads of The Veda, trans. VM Bedekar and GB Palsule. Delhi. ISBN 0-8426-1645-4.Vol II, pp. 809-888. He has translated the Rāma Pūrva and Uttara-tāpinī and the Nṛsiṁha Pūrva and Uttara-tāpinī Upanishads.
  7. ^ Tripurari, Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī: From Benares to Braj" in the Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. Vol LV, Part 1, 1992, pages 52-75
  8. ^ Kṛṣṇadāsa Bābājī, Kusumasarovara, Radha Kund: Gaurahari Press, 1955