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6. KATHA - UPANISHAD

 

1ST_ADHYAYA|1ST_VALLI

KATHA-UPANISHAD

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FIRST ADHYAYA

FIRST VALLI

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1. VAJASRAVA, desirous (of heavenly rewards), surrendered (at a

sacrifice) all that he possessed. He had a son of the name of

Nachiketas.

2. When the (promised) presents were being given (to the priests),

faith entered into the heart of Nachiketas, who was still a boy, and he

thought:

3. 'Unblessed, surely, are the worlds to which a man goes by

giving (as his promised present at a sacrifice) cows which have

drunk water, eaten hay, given their milk, and are barren.'

4. He (knowing that his father had promised to give up all that he

possessed, and therefore his son also) said to his father: 'Dear

father, to whom wilt thou give me?'

He said it a second and a third time. Then the father replied

(angrily):

'I shall give thee unto Death.'

(The father, having once said so, though in haste, had to be true to

his word and to sacrifice his son.)

5. The son said: 'I go as the first, at the head of many (who have

still to die); I go in the midst of many (who are now dying). What

will be the work of Yama (the ruler of the departed) which to-day he

has to do unto me?

6. 'Look back how it was with those who came before, look forward

how it will be with those who come hereafter. A mortal ripens like

corn, like corn he springs up again.'

-

(Nachiketas enters into the abode of Yama Vaivasvata, and there is no

one to receive him. Thereupon one of the attendants of Yama is

supposed to say:)

7. 'Fire enters into the houses, when a Brahmana enters as a

guest. That fire is quenched by this peace-offering;- bring water, O

Vaivasvata!

8. 'A Brahmana that dwells in the house of a foolish man without

receiving food to eat, destroys his hopes and expectations, his

possessions, his righteousness, his sacred and his good deeds, and all

his sons and cattle.'

(Yama, returning to his house after an absence of three nights,

during which time Nachiketas had received no hospitality from him,

says:)

9. 'O Brahmana, as thou, a venerable guest, hast dwelt in my house

three nights without eating, therefore choose now three boons. Hail to

thee! and welfare to me!'

10. Nachiketas said: 'O Death, as the first of the three boons I

choose that Gautama, my father, be pacified, kind, and free from anger

towards me; and that he may know me and greet me, when I shall have

been dismissed by thee.'

11. Yama said: 'Through my favour Auddalaki Aruni, thy father,

will know thee, and be again towards thee as he was before. He shall

sleep peacefully through the night, and free from anger, after

having seen thee freed from the mouth of death.'

12. Nachiketas said: 'In the heaven-world there is no fear; thou

art not there, O Death, and no one is afraid on account of old age.

Leaving behind both hunger and thirst, and out of the reach of sorrow,

all rejoice in the world of heaven.'

13. 'Thou knowest, O Death, the fire-sacrifice which leads us to

heaven; tell it to me, for I am full of faith. Those who live in the

heaven-world reach immortality,- this I ask as my second boon.'

14. Yama said: 'I tell it thee, learn it from me, and when thou

understandest that fire-sacrifice which leads to heaven, know, O

Nachiketas, that it is the attainment of the endless worlds, and

their firm support, hidden in darkness.'

15. Yama then told him that fire-sacrifice, the beginning of all the

worlds, and what bricks are required for the altar, and how many,

and how they are to be placed. And Nachiketas repeated all as it had

been told to him. Then Mrityu, being pleased with him, said again:

16. The generous, being satisfied, said to him: 'I give thee now

another boon; that fire-sacrifice shall be named after thee, take also

this many-coloured chain.'

17. 'He who has three times performed this Nachiketa rite, and has

been united with the three (father, mother, and teacher), and has

performed the three duties (study, sacrifice, almsgiving) overcomes

birth and death. When he has learnt and understood this fire, which

knows (or makes us know) all that is born of Brahman, which is

venerable and divine, then he obtains everlasting peace.'

18. 'He who knows the three Nachiketa fires, and knowing the three,

piles up the Nachiketa sacrifice, he, having first thrown off the

chains of death, rejoices in the world of heaven, beyond the reach

of grief.'

19. 'This, O Nachiketas, is thy fire which leads to heaven, and which

thou hast chosen as thy second boon. That fire all men will

proclaim. Choose now, O Nachiketas, thy third boon.'

20. Nachiketas said: 'There is that doubt, when a man is dead,-

some saying, he is; others, he is not. This I should like to know,

taught by thee; this is the third of my boons.'

21. Death said: 'On this point even the gods have doubted

formerly; it is not easy to understand. That subject is subtle. Choose

another boon, O Nachiketas, do not press me, and let me off that boon.'

22. Nachiketas said: 'On this point even the gods have doubted

indeed, and thou, Death, hast declared it to be not easy to

understand, and another teacher like thee is not to be found:-

surely no other boon is like unto this.'

23. Death said: 'Choose sons and grandsons who shall live a

hundred years, herds of cattle, elephants, gold, and horses. Choose

the wide abode of the earth, and live thyself as many harvests as thou

desirest.'

24. 'If you can think of any boon equal to that, choose wealth,

and long life. Be (king), Nachiketas, on the wide earth. I make thee

the enjoyer of all desires.'

25. 'Whatever desires are difficult to attain among mortals, ask for

them according to thy wish;- these fair maidens with their chariots

and musical instruments,- such are indeed not to be obtained by

men,- be waited on by them whom I give to thee, but do not ask me

about dying.'

26. Nachiketas said: 'These things last till tomorrow, O Death, for

they wear out this vigour of all the senses. Even the whole of life is

short. Keep thou thy horses, keep dance and song for thyself.'

27. 'No man can be made happy by wealth. Shall we possess wealth,

when we see thee? Shall we live, as long as thou rulest? Only that

boon (which I have chosen) is to be chosen by me.'

28. 'What mortal, slowly decaying here below, and knowing, after

having approached them, the freedom from decay enjoyed by the

immortals, would delight in a long life, after he has pondered on

the pleasures which arise from beauty and love?'

29. 'No, that on which there is this doubt, O Death, tell us what

there is in that great Hereafter. Nachiketas does not choose another

boon but that which enters into the hidden world.'

 

1ST_ADHYAYA|2ND_VALLI

SECOND VALLI

1. Death said: 'The good is one thing, the pleasant another; these

two, having different objects, chain a man. It is well with him who

clings to the good; he who chooses the pleasant, misses his end.'

2. 'The good and the pleasant approach man: the wise goes round

about them and distinguishes them. Yea, the wise prefers the good to

the pleasant, but the fool chooses the pleasant through greed and

avarice.'

3. 'Thou, O Nachiketas, after pondering all pleasures that are or

seem delightful, hast dismissed them all. Thou hast not gone into

the road that leadeth to wealth, in which many men perish.'

4. 'Wide apart and leading to different points are these two,

ignorance, and what is known as wisdom. I believe Nachiketas to be

one who desires knowledge, for even many pleasures did not tear thee

away.'

5. 'Fools dwelling in darkness, wise in their own conceit, and

puffed up with vain knowledge, go round and round, staggering to and

fro, like blind men led by the blind.'

6. 'The Hereafter never rises before the eyes of the careless child,

deluded by the delusion of wealth. "This is the world," he thinks,

"there is no other;"- thus he falls again and again under my sway.'

7. 'He (the Self) of whom many are not even able to hear, whom many,

even when they hear of him, do not comprehend; wonderful is a man,

when found, who is able to teach him (the Self); wonderful is he who

comprehends him, when taught by an able teacher.'

8. 'That (Self), when taught by an inferior man, is not easy to be

known, even though often thought upon; unless it be taught by another,

there is no way to it, for it is inconceivably smaller than what is

small.'

9. 'That doctrine is not to be obtained by argument, but when it

is declared by another, then, O dearest, it is easy to understand.

Thou hast obtained it now; thou art truly a man of true resolve. May

we have always an inquirer like thee!'

10. Nachiketas said: 'I know that what is called a treasure is

transient, for that eternal is not obtained by things which are not

eternal. Hence the Nachiketa fire(-sacrifice) has been laid by me

(first); then, by means of transient things, I have obtained what is

not transient (the teaching of Yama).'

11. Yama said: 'Though thou hadst seen the fulfillment of all

desires, the foundation of the world, the endless rewards of good

deeds, the shore where there is no fear, that which is magnified by

praise, the wide abode, the rest, yet being wise thou hast with firm

resolve dismissed it all.'

12. 'The wise who, by means of meditation on his Self, recognises

the Ancient, who is difficult to be seen, who has entered into the

dark, who is hidden in the cave, who dwells in the abyss, as God, he

indeed leaves joy and sorrow far behind.'

13. 'A mortal who has heard this and embraced it, who has

separated from it all qualities, and has thus reached the subtle

Being, rejoices, because he has obtained what is a cause for

rejoicing. The house (of Brahman) is open, I believe, O Nachiketas.'

14. Nachiketas said: 'That which thou seest as neither this nor that,

as neither effect nor cause, as neither past nor future, tell me

that.'

15. Yama said: 'That word (or place) which all the Vedas record,

which all penances proclaim, which men desire when they live as

religious students, that word I tell thee briefly, it is Om.'

16. 'That (imperishable) syllable means Brahman, that syllable means

the highest (Brahman); he who knows that syllable, whatever he

desires, is his.'

17. 'This is the best support, this is the highest support; he who

knows that support is magnified in the world of Brahma.'

18. 'The knowing (Self) is not born, it dies not; it sprang from

nothing, nothing sprang from it. The Ancient is unborn, eternal,

everlasting; he is not killed, though the body is killed.'

19. 'If the killer thinks that he kills, if the killed thinks that

he is killed, they do not understand; for this one does not kill,

nor is that one killed.'

20. 'The Self, smaller than small, greater than great, is hidden

in the heart of that creature. A man who is free from desires and free

from grief, sees the majesty of the Self by the grace of the Creator.'

21. 'Though sitting still, he walks far; though lying down, he

goes everywhere. Who, save myself, is able to know that God who

rejoices and rejoices not?'

22. 'The wise who knows the Self as bodiless within the bodies, as

unchanging among changing things, as great and omnipresent, does never

grieve.'

23. 'That Self cannot be gained by the Veda, nor by understanding,

nor by much learning. He whom the Self chooses, by him the Self can be

gained. The Self chooses him (his body) as his own.'

24. 'But he who has not first turned away from his wickedness, who

is not tranquil, and subdued, or whose mind is not at rest, he can

never obtain the Self (even) by knowledge.'

25. 'Who then knows where He is, He to whom the Brahmans and

Kshatriyas are (as it were) but food, and death itself a condiment?'

 

1ST_ADHYAYA|3RD_VALLI

THIRD VALLI

1. 'There are the two, drinking their reward in the world of their

own works, entered into the cave (of the heart), dwelling on the

highest summit (the ether in the heart). Those who know Brahman call

them shade and light; likewise, those householders who perform the

Trinakiketa sacrifice.'

2. 'May we be able to master that Nachiketa rite which is a bridge

for sacrificers; also that which is the highest, imperishable

Brahman for those who wish to cross over to the fearless shore.'

3. 'Know the Self to be sitting in the chariot, the body to be the

chariot, the intellect (Budhi) the charioteer, and the mind the

reins.'

4. 'The senses they call the horses, the objects of the senses their

roads. When he (the Highest Self) is in union with the body, the

senses, and the mind, then wise people call him the Enjoyer.'

5. 'He who has no understanding and whose mind (the reins) is

never firmly held, his senses (horses) are unmanageable, like

vicious horses of a charioteer.'

6. 'But he who has understanding and whose mind is always firmly

held, his senses are under control, like good horses of a charioteer.'

7. 'He who has no understanding, who is unmindful and always impure,

never reaches that place, but enters into the round of births.'

8. 'But he who has understanding, who is mindful and always pure,

reaches indeed that place, from whence he is not born again.'

9. 'But he who has understanding for his charioteer, and who holds

the reins of the mind, he reaches the end of his journey, and that

is the highest place of Vishnu.'

10. 'Beyond the senses there are the objects, beyond the objects

there is the mind, beyond the mind there is the intellect, the Great

Self is beyond the intellect.'

11. 'Beyond the Great there is the Undeveloped, beyond the

Undeveloped there is the Person (Purusha). Beyond the Person there

is nothing- this is the goal, the highest road.'

12. 'That Self is hidden in all beings and does not shine forth, but

it is seen by subtle seers through their sharp and subtle intellect.'

13. 'A wise man should keep down speech and mind; he should keep

them within the Self which is knowledge; he should keep knowledge

within the Self which is the Great; and he should keep that (the

Great) within the Self which is the Quiet.'

14. 'Rise, awake! having obtained your boons, understand them! The

sharp edge of a razor is difficult to pass over; thus the wise say the

path (to the Self) is hard.'

15. 'He who has perceived that which is without sound, without

touch, without form, without decay, without taste, eternal, without

smell, without beginning, without end, beyond the Great, and

unchangeable, is freed from the jaws of death.'

16. 'A wise man who has repeated or heard the ancient story of

Nachiketas told by Death, is magnified in the world of Brahman.'

17. 'And he who repeats this greatest mystery in an assembly of

Brahmans, or full of devotion at the time of the Shraddha sacrifice,

obtains thereby infinite rewards.'

 

2ND_ADHYAYA|4TH_VALLI

SECOND ADHYAYA

FOURTH VALLI

1. Death said: 'The Self-existent pierced the openings (of the

senses) so that they turn forward: therefore man looks forward, not

backward into himself. Some wise man, however, with his eyes closed

and wishing for immortality, saw the Self behind.'

2. 'Children follow after outward pleasures, and fall into the snare

of wide-spread death. Wise men only, knowing the nature of what is

immortal, do not look for anything stable here among things unstable.'

3. 'That by which we know form, taste, smell, sounds, and loving

touches, by that also we know what exists besides. This is that (which

thou hast asked for).'

4. 'The wise, when he knows that that by which he perceives all

objects in sleep or in waking is the great omnipresent Self, grieves

no more.'

5. 'He who knows this living soul which eats honey (perceives

objects) as being the Self, always near, the Lord of the past and

the future, henceforward fears no more. This is that.'

6. 'He who (knows) him who was born first from the brooding heat

(for he was born before the water), who, entering into the heart,

abides therein, and was perceived from the elements. This is that.'

7. '(He who knows) Aditi also, who is one with all deities, who

arises with Prana (breath or Hiranyagarbha), who, entering into the

heart, abides therein, and was born from the elements. This is that.'

8. 'There is Agni (fire), the all-seeing, hidden in the two

fire-sticks, well-guarded like a child (in the womb) by the mother,

day after day to be adored by men when they awake and bring oblations.

This is that.'

9. 'And that whence the sun rises, and whither it goes to set, there

all the Devas are contained, and no one goes beyond. This is that.'

10. 'What is here (visible in the world), the same is there

(invisible in Brahman); and what is there, the same is here. He who

sees any difference here (between Brahman and the world), goes from

death to death.'

11. 'Even by the mind this (Brahman) is to be obtained, and then

there is no difference whatsoever. He goes from death to death who

sees any difference here.'

12. 'The person (Purusha), of the size of a thumb, stands in the

middle of the Self (body?), as lord of the past and the future, and

henceforward fears no more. This is that.'

13. 'That person, of the size of a thumb, is like a light without

smoke, lord of the past and the future, he is the same to-day and

to-morrow. This is that.'

14. 'As rain-water that has fallen on a mountain-ridge runs down the

rocks on all sides, thus does he, who sees a difference between

qualities, run after them on all sides.'

15. 'As pure water poured into pure water remains the same, thus,

O Gautama, is the Self of a thinker who knows.'

 

2ND_ADHYAYA|5TH_VALLI

FIFTH VALLI

1. 'There is a town with eleven gates belonging to the Unborn

(Brahman), whose thoughts are never crooked. He who approaches it,

grieves no more, and liberated (from all bonds of ignorance) becomes

free. This is that.'

2. 'He (Brahman) is the swan (sun), dwelling in the bright heaven;

he is the Vasu (air), dwelling in the sky; he is the sacrificer

(fire), dwelling on the hearth; he is the guest (Soma), dwelling in

the sacrificial jar; he dwells in men, in gods (vara), in the

sacrifice (rita), in heaven; he is born in the water, on earth, in the

sacrifice (rita), on the mountains; he is the True and the Great.'

3. 'He (Brahman) it is who sends up the breath (Prana), and who

throws back the breath (Apana). All the Devas (senses) worship him,

the adorable (or the dwarf), who sits in the centre.'

4. 'When that incorporated (Brahman), who dwells in the body, is

torn away and freed from the body, what remains then? This is that.'

5. 'No mortal lives by the breath that goes up and by the breath

that goes down. We live by another, in whom these two repose.'

6. 'Well then, O Gautama, I shall tell thee this mystery, the old

Brahman, and what happens to the Self, after reaching death.'

7. 'Some enter the womb in order to have a body, as organic

beings, others go into inorganic matter, according to their work and

according to their knowledge.'

8. 'He, the highest Person, who is awake in us while we are

asleep, shaping one lovely sight after another, that indeed is the

Bright, that is Brahman, that alone is called the Immortal. All worlds

are contained in it, and no one goes beyond. This is that.'

9. 'As the one fire, after it has entered the world, though one,

becomes different according to whatever it burns, thus the one Self

within all things becomes different, according to whatever it

enters, and exists also without.'

10. 'As the one air, after it has entered the world, though one,

becomes different according to whatever it enters, thus the one Self

within all things becomes different, according to whatever it

enters, and exists also without.'

11. 'As the sun, the eye of the whole world, is not contaminated

by the external impurities seen by the eyes, thus the one Self

within all things is never contaminated by the misery of the world,

being himself without.'

12. 'There is one ruler, the Self within all things, who makes the

one form manifold. The wise who perceive him within their Self, to

them belongs eternal happiness, not to others.'

13. 'There is one eternal thinker, thinking non-eternal thoughts,

who, though one, fulfils the desires of many. The wise who perceive

him within their Self, to them belongs eternal peace, not to others.'

14. 'They perceive that highest indescribable pleasure, saying, This

is that. How then can I understand it? Has it its own light, or does

it reflect light?'

15. 'The sun does not shine there, nor the moon and the stars, nor

these lightnings, and much less this fire. When he shines,

everything shines after him; by his light all this is lighted.'

 

2ND_ADHYAYA|6TH_VALLI

SIXTH VALLI

1. 'There is that ancient tree, whose roots grow upward and whose

branches grow downward;- that indeed is called the Bright, that is

called Brahman, that alone is called the Immortal. All worlds are

contained in it, and no one goes beyond. This is that.'

2. 'Whatever there is, the whole world, when gone forth (from the

Brahman), trembles in its breath. That Brahman is a great terror, like

a drawn sword. Those who know it become immortal.'

3. 'From terror of Brahman fire burns, from terror the sun burns,

from terror Indra and Vayu, and Death, as the fifth, run away.'

4. 'If a man could not understand it before the falling asunder of

his body, then he has to take body again in the worlds of creation.'

5. 'As in a mirror, so (Brahman may be seen clearly) here in this

body; as in a dream, in the world of the Fathers; as in the water,

he is seen about in the world of the Gandharvas; as in light and

shade, in the world of Brahma.'

6. 'Having understood that the senses are distinct (from the Atman),

and that their rising and setting (their waking and sleeping)

belongs to them in their distinct existence (and not to the Atman),

a wise man grieves no more.'

7. 'Beyond the senses is the mind, beyond the mind is the highest

(created) Being, higher than that Being is the Great Self, higher than

the Great, the highest Undeveloped.'

8. 'Beyond the Undeveloped is the Person, the all-pervading and

entirely imperceptible. Every creature that knows him is liberated,

and obtains immortality.'

9. 'His form is not to be seen, no one beholds him with the eye.

He is imagined by the heart, by wisdom, by the mind. Those who know

this, are immortal.'

10. 'When the five instruments of knowledge stand still together

with the mind, and when the intellect does not move, that is called

the highest state.'

11. 'This, the firm holding back of the senses, is what is called

Yoga. He must be free from thoughtlessness then, for Yoga comes and

goes.'

12. 'He (the Self) cannot be reached by speech, by mind, or by the

eye. How can it be apprehended except by him who says: "He is?"'

13. 'By the words "He is," is he to be apprehended, and by

(admitting) the reality of both (the invisible Brahman and the visible

world, as coming from Brahman). When he has been apprehended by the

words "He is," then his reality reveals itself.'

14. 'When all desires that dwell in his heart cease, then the mortal

becomes immortal, and obtains Brahman.'

15. 'When all the ties of the heart are severed here on earth,

then the mortal becomes immortal- here ends the teaching.'

-

16. 'There are a hundred and one arteries of the heart, one of

them penetrates the crown of the head. Moving upwards by it, a man (at

his death) reaches the Immortal; the other arteries serve for

departing in different directions.'

17. 'The Person not larger than a thumb, the inner Self, is always

settled in the heart of men. Let a man draw that Self forth from his

body with steadiness, as one draws the pith from a reed. Let him

know that Self as the Bright, as the Immortal; yes, as the Bright,

as the Immortal.'

18. Having received this knowledge taught by Death and the whole

rule of Yoga (meditation), Nachiketa became free from passion and

death, and obtained Brahman. Thus it will be with another also who

knows thus what relates to the Self.

19. May He protect us both! May He enjoy us both! May we acquire

strength together! May our knowledge become bright! May we never

quarrel! Om! Peace! peace! peace! Hari, Om!

 

OM - SHANTI - SHANTI - SHANTI

 

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