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Katha Upanisad
Chapter Two
12. ‘By the study of the yoga of the self, the wise one knows as god
That which is hard to see, that is deeply hidden,
That lies in a secret place, hat rests in the depths, ancient,
And abandons joy and sorrow.
13. ‘Hearing and grasping this a mortal,
Drawing out that which belongs to dharma, attains this subtle one.
Then he rejoices, for he has won what is worthy of rejoicing.
I consider Naciketas a fitting home for this.
14. ‘It is different from dharma, different from not-dharma,
Different from this that is made and unmade,
Different from both past and future.
Tell me what you see!’
[Naciketas cannot, so Yama continues:]
15. ‘The world which all the Vaedas recollect,
Of which all ascetic practices speak,
Searching for which folk live as students of Brahman,
I will tell you in brief.
It is OM.
16. ‘This syllable is Brahman.
This syllable is supreme.
Knowing this syllable,
Whatever one wished for, one has.
17. ‘This support is the best.
This support is supreme.
Knowing this support,
One is honoured in the world of Bahma.
18. ‘The wise one is not born, nor does it die.
It is not from anywhere, nor was it anyone.
Unborn, everlasting, eternal, primaeval,
It is not slain when the body is slain.
19. ‘If the slayer thinks it slays;
If the one who is slain thinks it is slain:
Neither of them understands.
It does not slay, nor is it slain.
20. ‘Subtler than the subtle, greater than the great,
The self is hidden in the secret place of a being.
One without will, through the creator’s favour,
Sees the greatness of the self, his sorrow at an end.
21. ‘Sitting, it travels far.
Lying down, it goes everywhere.
Who else but I (mad) is able to know
The god who is ever delighted (madamada).
22. ‘Knowing this great all-pervading self
Bodiless among bodies,
Stable among the unstable
The wise one does not grieve.
23. ‘The self cannot be won by speaking,
Nor by intelligence or much learning.
It can be won by the one whom it chooses.
To him the self reveals its own form.
24. ‘Neither the one who has not ceased from wrongdoing,
Nor the unpeaceful nor the unconcentrated,
Nor the one of unpeaceful mind
Can win it through knowing.
25. ‘The one for whom priesthood (brahman) and royalty ( ksatra)
Both, are the rice
And death is the sauce:
Who, truly, knows where he is?
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