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Katha Upanishad

Chapter 5

द्वितीयाध्याये द्वितीया वल्ली

Adhyaya 2 · Valli 2

Verses

  1. Verse 1

    puramekādaśadvāramajasyāvakracetasaḥ | anuṣṭhāya na śocati vimuktaśca vimucyate | etadvai tat || 1||

    Meaning

    '(There is) a city of eleven gates belonging to the unborn (Self) of undistorted consciousness. Meditating on Him, one does not grieve, and, liberated, one becomes free (from rebirth). This, verily, is That.'

  2. Verse 2

    haṃsaḥ śuciṣadvasurantarikṣasadhotā vediṣadatithirduroṇasat | nṛṣadvarasadṛtasadvyomasad abjā gojā ṛtajā adrijā ṛtaṃ bṛhat || 2||

    Meaning

    'He is the sun dwelling in the bright heaven, the air dwelling in the mid-region, the fire (the priest) dwelling on the altar, the guest dwelling in the house; He dwells in men, in the gods, in the sacrifice (rita), in the sky; He is born in water, in earth, in the sacrifice, in the mountains; He is the True and the Great.' [The famous hamsa verse — a series of Vedic epithets of the all-pervading Self.]

  3. Verse 3

    ūrdhvaṃ prāṇamunnayatyapānaṃ pratyagasyati | madhye vāmanamāsīnaṃ viśve devā upāsate || 3||

    Meaning

    'He leads the prana (out-breath) upward and casts the apana (down-breath) downward; the dwarf (the Self) seated in the middle — all the gods worship Him.'

  4. Verse 4

    asya visraṃsamānasya śarīrasthasya dehinaḥ | dehādvimucyamānasya kimatra pariśiṣyate | etadvai tat || 4||

    Meaning

    'When this embodied Self, dwelling in the body, slips away (and is) released from the body — what then remains here? This, verily, is That.'

  5. Verse 5

    na prāṇena nāpānena martyo jīvati kaścana | itareṇa tu jīvanti yasminnetāvupāśritau || 5||

    Meaning

    'No mortal lives by the prana (out-breath) or the apana (down-breath); rather, men live by another (the Self) on which these two depend.'

  6. Verse 6

    hanta ta idaṃ pravakṣyāmi guhyaṃ brahma sanātanam | yathā ca maraṇaṃ prāpya ātmā bhavati gautama || 6||

    Meaning

    'Now I shall declare to you this secret, eternal Brahman, and what becomes of the Self after reaching death, O Gautama.'

  7. Verse 7

    yonimanye prapadyante śarīratvāya dehinaḥ | sthāṇumanye'nusaṃyanti yathākarma yathāśrutam || 7||

    Meaning

    'Some embodied souls enter a womb to take on a body; others pass into the stationary (plants, etc.) — according to their works and according to their knowledge.'

  8. Verse 8

    ya eṣa supteṣu jāgarti kāmaṃ kāmaṃ puruṣo nirmimāṇaḥ | tadeva śukraṃ tadbrahma tadevāmṛtamucyate | tasmiṃllokāḥ śritāḥ sarve tadu nātyeti kaścana | etadvai tat || 8||

    Meaning

    'That Purusha who keeps awake while (the senses) sleep, shaping one lovely thing after another — that indeed is the Pure, that is Brahman, that alone is called the Immortal. On it all the worlds rest, and none ever transcends it. This, verily, is That.'

  9. Verse 9

    agniryathaiko bhuvanaṃ praviṣṭo rūpaṃ rūpaṃ pratirūpo babhūva | ekastathā sarvabhūtāntarātmā rūpaṃ rūpaṃ pratirūpo bahiśca || 9||

    Meaning

    'As the one fire, having entered the world, becomes varied in form according to each form, so the one Self within all beings becomes varied according to each form, and (yet remains) outside (them all).'

  10. Verse 10

    vāyuryathaiko bhuvanaṃ praviṣṭo rūpaṃ rūpaṃ pratirūpo babhūva | ekastathā sarvabhūtāntarātmā rūpaṃ rūpaṃ pratirūpo bahiśca || 10||

    Meaning

    'As the one air, having entered the world, becomes varied in form according to each form, so the one Self within all beings becomes varied according to each form, and (yet remains) outside.'

  11. Verse 11

    sūryo yathā sarvalokasya cakṣuḥ na lipyate cākṣuṣairbāhyadoṣaiḥ | ekastathā sarvabhūtāntarātmā na lipyate lokaduḥkhena bāhyaḥ || 11||

    Meaning

    'As the sun, the eye of the whole world, is not tainted by the external faults seen by the eyes, so the one Self within all beings is not tainted by the sorrow of the world, being external (to it).'

  12. Verse 12

    eko vaśī sarvabhūtāntarātmā ekaṃ rūpaṃ bahudhā yaḥ karoti | tamātmasthaṃ ye'nupaśyanti dhīrāḥ teṣāṃ sukhaṃ śāśvataṃ netareṣām || 12||

    Meaning

    'The one controller, the inner Self of all beings, who makes His one form manifold — the wise who behold Him as seated in their own self, to them belongs eternal happiness, not to others.'

  13. Verse 13

    nityo'nityānāṃ cetanaścetanānām eko bahūnāṃ yo vidadhāti kāmān | tamātmasthaṃ ye'nupaśyanti dhīrāḥ teṣāṃ śāntiḥ śāśvatī netareṣām || 13||

    Meaning

    'The eternal among the non-eternal, the consciousness among the conscious, the One who grants the desires of the many — the wise who behold Him as seated in their own self, to them belongs eternal peace, not to others.'

  14. Verse 14

    tadetaditi manyante'nirdeśyaṃ paramaṃ sukham | kathaṃ nu tadvijānīyāṃ kimu bhāti vibhāti vā || 14||

    Meaning

    '"This is That" — thus they realize the supreme, indescribable bliss. How then may I know It? Does It shine (of itself), or does It shine (only reflectedly)?'

  15. Verse 15

    na tatra sūryo bhāti na candratārakaṃ nemā vidyuto bhānti kuto'yamagniḥ | tameva bhāntamanubhāti sarvaṃ tasya bhāsā sarvamidaṃ vibhāti || 15||

    Meaning

    'There the sun does not shine, nor the moon and stars; these lightnings do not shine — how then this fire? When He shines, everything shines after Him; by His light all this is lit.'

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