गोप

Sanskrit

Alternative scripts

Alternative scripts

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Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws

Proto-Indo-Iranian *gā́wš

Sanskrit गो (go)

Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-

Sanskrit पा (pā)

Sanskrit -प (-pa)

Sanskrit गोप (gopa)

From गो (go, “cow; earth”) +‎ -प (-pa, “protector”).

Pronunciation

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /ɡɐw.pɐ́/
• (Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /ˈɡoː.pɐ/
• Hyphenation: गो‧प

Noun

गोप • (gopá) stem, m (feminine गोपी)

1. cowherd, herdsman, milkman

   Synonym: गोपाल (gopāla)

   • c. 800 CE – 950 CE, Nārāyaṇa, Hitopadeśa 2.112.15:

     सा च गोपी तेन गोपेन पुनः पृष्टोवाच अरे पाप को मां महासती विरूपयितुं समर्थः ।

     sā ca gopī tena gopena punaḥ pṛṣṭovāca are pāpa ko māṃ mahāsatī virūpayituṃ samarthaḥ.

     And that cowherdess, the highly virtuous woman, asked the cowherd, O wicked one, who has the power to defile me?

2. protector, guardian
   • c. 1700 BCE – 1200 BCE, Ṛgveda 5.62.9:

     यद्बंहि॑ष्ठं॒ नाति॒विधे॑ सुदानू॒ अच्छि॑द्रं॒ शर्म॑ भुवनस्य गोपा ।
     तेन॑ नो मित्रावरुणावविष्टं॒ सिषा॑सन्तो जिगी॒वांसः॑ स्याम ॥

     yádbáṃhiṣṭhaṃ nā́tivídhe sudānū ácchidraṃ śárma bhuvanasya gopā.
     téna no mitrāvaruṇāvaviṣṭaṃ síṣāsanto jigīvā́ṃsaḥ syāma.

     Bountiful guardians of the world! the shelter that is impenetrable, strongest, flawless, Aid us with that, O Varuṇa and Mitra, and when we long to win may we be victors.

Declension

Masculine a-stem declension of गोप (gopá)
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	गोपः gopáḥ	गोपौ / गोपा¹ gopaú / gopā́¹	गोपाः / गोपासः¹ gopā́ḥ / gopā́saḥ¹
Vocative	गोप gópa	गोपौ / गोपा¹ gópau / gópā¹	गोपाः / गोपासः¹ gópāḥ / gópāsaḥ¹
Accusative	गोपम् gopám	गोपौ / गोपा¹ gopaú / gopā́¹	गोपान् gopā́n
Instrumental	गोपेन gopéna	गोपाभ्याम् gopā́bhyām	गोपैः / गोपेभिः¹ gopaíḥ / gopébhiḥ¹
Dative	गोपाय gopā́ya	गोपाभ्याम् gopā́bhyām	गोपेभ्यः gopébhyaḥ
Ablative	गोपात् gopā́t	गोपाभ्याम् gopā́bhyām	गोपेभ्यः gopébhyaḥ
Genitive	गोपस्य gopásya	गोपयोः gopáyoḥ	गोपानाम् gopā́nām
Locative	गोपे gopé	गोपयोः gopáyoḥ	गोपेषु gopéṣu
Notes	¹Vedic

Descendants

• Pali: gopa
• Prakrit: 𑀕𑁄𑀯 (gova)
  • Eastern:
    • Odia: ଗୋଇ (goi)
  • Insular:
    • Dhivehi: ގޮވި (govi)
    • Sinhalese: ගොවුවා (gowuwā), ගෙවියා (gewiyā)

References

• Apte, Vaman Shivram (1890) “गोप”, in The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary, Poona: Prasad Prakashan, page 664
• Monier Williams (1899) “गोप”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 368.
• Hellwig, Oliver (2010-2024) “gopa”, in DCS - The Digital Corpus of Sanskrit, Berlin, Germany.
• Arthur Anthony Macdonell (1893) “गोप”, in A practical Sanskrit dictionary with transliteration, accentuation, and etymological analysis throughout, London: Oxford University Press, page 86
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “gopa”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 230