कठोपनिषत्

Swami Paramarthananda Saraswati

कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
कठोपनिषत्
Introduction
First I will give a summary of the previous introductions
I gave to the previous उपनिषत्s and then we will build up
further. I pointed out that our basic scriptures are known as the
वेदs. The word वेद means a source of knowledge or a means of
knowledge.
नवदनतत चतुरः परु
ू षार्ाा ि् तत् प्रानि उपायान् च अिेि इनत वेदः ।
That scripture with the help of which a person can know all the
four पुरुषार्ा s and also the means of attaining those four
पुरुषार्ा s. Such a means of knowledge is called वेदः. It is derived
from the √नवद् – to know. These वेदs are supposed to be not
human invention. They are not created out of human intellect
and therefore they are called अपौरुषेय ग्रतर्ाः, those scriptures
which are of supernatural origin or superhuman origin. If they
are not the creation of human intellect then who is the author of
वेदs? According to tradition the वेदs come out of the Lord
Himself.
अस्य महतो भत ू स्य निःश्वनितमेतत् यदृग्वेदो यजुवेदः
िामवेदोऽर्वाा ङ्निरि ॥ बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् २-४-१० ॥
They are all given out be the Lord Himself. And they are given
out by the Lord for the benefit of humanity. And they have been
received by the ऋनषs with their िानववक mind. And therefore
the Lord is like a transmitting center for the वेदs and ऋनषs are
like the receiving centers of the वेदs. Just as when we hear some
music in the radio or television, the radio or television do not
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कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
produce the music. The music has been transmitted by the
transmitting center elsewhere. The radio or television are only
appropriate receiving centers. And they have been made for
receiving. In the radio you can receive only the sound and not
the forms and colors. Why radio cannot receive forms and
colors if you ask, radio is not made for that job. Similarly, the
Lord has transmitted the Vedic scriptures, and you and I do not
have that appropriate िानववक mind to directly receive from the
Lord, and therefore ऋनषs became the special living beings as it
were and because of their extremely िानववक equipment they
are capable of receiving the teaching. And having received the
teaching they give out in their turn to the fellow human beings.
And therefore वेदs are revealed by the Lord to the ऋनषs and
since the ऋनषs hear the वेदs they are also known as श्रुनतः. श्रुनत
means that which is heard by the ऋनषs in their meditation. श्रुयते
इनत श्रुनतः. So thus वेदs otherwise known as श्रुनतs, which are
revealed by the Lord to the ऋनषs, are our basic source book of
knowledge. These वेदs are four in number – ऋग्वेदः, यजुवेदः,
िामवेदः and अर्वा णवेदः. And these वेदs based upon their
content are broadly classified into two portions – वेद पवू ा and
वेद अततः. वेद पवू ा means the former portion, the beginning
portion and वेद अतत means the latter portion or the end portion.
And if this division is made based on the content then the next
question is what is the content of the वेद पवू ा and the content of
the वेद अतत. वेदपवू ा consists of कमा s. And since the वेदपवू ा
consists of कमा s or actions it is also called कमा काण्डम्. And
this कमा काण्डम् talks about innumerable almost infinite
number of actions and this कमा काण्डम् actions cab be broadly
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कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
classified into three types based on the instrument of action.
What are those three actions?
1) कानयक कमाा नण, वानचक कमाा नण and मािि कमाा नण.
कानयक कमाा नण means physical actions where the physical
body plays a dominant role. Of course, it is backed by the mind
also but body is dominant. All types of पज ू ाs, प्रदक्षिणम्,
pilgrimages will come under कानयक कमा . Thus those actions
where physical body is involved dominantly they are called
कानयक कमाा नण.
2) Then we have got another type of activities known as
वानचक कमाा नण where the organ of speech plays a dominant
role. Physically you are only seated, mentally you do not think
much or you do not think at all, only the organ of speech is
active like पारायणम्. When you chant नवष्णु िहस्रिाम or
लक्षलता िहस्रिाम aloud, you may not even know the meaning
where is the question of thinking involved, but we just do the
पारायणम्. This will come under वानचक कमाा नण. And if you
going to chant the िामs of the Lord that will come under
वानचक कमा . So thus oral or verbal activities. So the first one is
physical activities and the second one is verbal activities.
3) Then the third type of कमा s are known as मािि कमाा नण
mental activities. Here the body does not play any role at all,
you are seated, organ of speech also does not play any role at
all, but purely your mind is active. And what all types of mental
activities are possible? मािि-पज ू ा is a mental activity. Where
you do not physically do the षोडश उपचार पज ू ा but you do
mentally. So mentally प्रदक्षिणम्, mentally नमस्कार, mentally
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कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
नैवेद्यम्, and no expenditure also but more difficult. Because the
mind has to remain in the field of पज ू ा and therefore it requires
more focusing faculty more difficult, in fact, even though
मािि कमा s are economical the benefit is supposed to be more
for मािि कमा s. Similarly मािि पारायणम्. You chant the
entire नवष्णु िहस्रिाम mentally, you chant the various िामs of
the Lord mentally. Thus मािि-पज ू ा, मािि पारायणम्, मािि
जप all of them will come under मािि कमाा नण. And these
मािि कमा s are technically called उपाििानि, meditations. All
forms of meditations will come under मािि कमाा नण.
So thus वेदपवू ा भाि otherwise known as कमा काण्डम्
deals with कानयक वानचक मािि कमाा नण. And for what
purpose all these कमा s are prescribed? The purpose is varieties
of results. And why should वेदs prescribe varieties of कमा s for
varieties of results? Because the human beings have got endless
desires.
बालस्तावत् क्रीडािक्तः तरुणस्तावत् तरुणीिक्तः । वद्ध
ृ स्तावत्
नचततािक्तः ॥ भजिोनवतदम् ७ ॥
So thus there are endless desires, even if you don’t have desires
you switch on the TV they will create the desires. Repeatedly
advertising on so many varieties of products that you will feel
like having it. Even if you don’t want to see the advertisement,
any program you watch including regular news every two
minutes there will be an advertisement. So thus every single
human being has got millions of desires which desires will
increase and it will also vary from age to age. And therefore
how many human desires are possible? They are endless; if
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कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
desires are endless, the prescribed actions also will be endless
each one for fulfilling each desire. All these human desires can
be broadly classified into three types. And thus we talk about
three types of कमा फलाक्षन. So we talked about three types of
कमाा नण now we talk about three types of कमा फलाक्षन also. And
all those कमा फलम्s are only for one purpose fulfilling your
desires and through the fulfilment of those desires you want to
get a happy life, an enjoyment. What are those three types of
कमा फलम्s possible? Very very logical division.
1) If you want to enjoy life what are the things required?
Any enjoyment requires an instrument of enjoyment. If you are
interested in watching pictures in the TV you require healthy
eyes. For a blind man TV is useless, for a deaf man radio is
useless. Therefore any enjoyment requires an instrument of
contact. Without the contacting instrument you cannot enjoy
anything. That is why as you grow older and older all the
instruments will become weaker and weaker and therefore
sources of enjoyment also become lesser and lesser. Eyes will
not be there when you want see, ears won’t be there to hear,
hands fail to write. So therefore number one you require is
instruments of enjoyment which we call उपान ः. And therefore
one type of कमा फलम् that the शास्त्र prescribes is healthy
instruments of enjoyment, which include healthy body. If there
is no physical health how are you going to enjoy? Otherwise as
I told you the other day at first a person squanders his health in
search of wealth. This is the first part of life. The second part of
life he squanders wealth in search of health. The third part of

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कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
life he loses both. If any doctors are there, it is just a humor,
don’t take it seriously.
वैद्यराज िमस्तुभ्यं यमराज िहोदरः । यमस्तु हरनत प्राणाि् वैद्यः
प्राणाि् िानि च ॥
O doctor! नमस्कारम् to you who are the elder brother of
यम मा राज. In what way you are elder? यमस्तु हरनत प्राणाि्
वैद्यः प्राणाि् िानि च. यम takes away only life, a doctor takes
away both money and life. Therefore elder brother. So therefore
all the time for enjoyment what do you require? You require
healthy instruments, उपान ः.
2) And the second type of thing you require for enjoyment
is the objects of enjoyment. What is the use of good body if you
don’t have good food to eat, good things to see. And therefore
नवषयः or sense object is the second type of कमा फलम् people
generally see. So उपान is the instrument enjoyment, नवषय is
object of enjoyment.
3) Then the third thing is even if the instruments and
objects are available, if the environment, if the atmosphere is
not a happy atmosphere, if it is a quarreling family - so you have
quarreled with your children or spouse and you are so angry and
irritated and switch on the TV, do you think that you will enjoy
the program? You cannot enjoy because the atmosphere is not
a happy atmosphere. Therefore in the family there should be
harmony, in the neighborhood there should be harmony, in the
society there should be harmony, in the nation there should be
harmony. If you are in Kashmir where is the question of
enjoyment? You do not know when bomb will come. And
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कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
therefore the third thing to lead a happy life is लोकः, an
atmosphere which is conducive.
So thus all human beings are struggling for उपान , नवषय
and लोक. And the कमा काण्डम् prescribes varieties of actions
for better instrument for sense object and for better
environment. And not only the कमा काण्ड promises better
instruments and objects in this life, they talk about better
instruments and objects in the next life also. And they say if you
go to भुवलोक your health will be still better. And if you go to
सुवलोक still better.
ते ये शतम् मिुष्यित वाा णामाितदाः । ि एको
देवित वाा णामाितदः । ते ये शतम् देवित वाा णामाितदाः । ि
एकः नपतण
ृ ां नचरलोकलोकािामाितदः ॥ तैनिरीयोपनिषत् २-८-
२॥
So the कमा काण्डम् talks about even higher लोकs where all the
three are in a refined form. Body also ever seventeen, sweet
seventeen and in higher लोक you don’t have childhood,
straight away you get a body which is seventeen years old.
There afterwards you will be seventeen, seventeen, seventeen,
you are ever youth and then death is you disappear one day,
that’s all. So thus better instruments, better objects and better
environment, i.e., higher लोक – all these are the फलम् of
कानयक, वानचक and मािि कमाा नण. So thus we have got three-
fold कमा s and we have got three-fold कमा फलम्s. And a वैक्षदक,
a person who comes in Vedic tradition believes in the वेदs and
performs all those कमा s with an intention of leading a happy
life and he will get the benefit also.
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कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
पुत्रकामनितवीत । पशुकामनितवीत । वनृ िकामनितवीत ।
आमयावी नचतवीत । ब्रह्मवचा िकामस्स्विा कामनितवीत ।
तैनिरीय-आरण्यकम् ॥
If you want पुत्र and what type of पुत्र you want? Some people
will say I have five sons, so I want a पुक्षत्र. दुनहता पनण्डता इच्छे त
ि यः कामयेत. The one who is interested in a daughter who is
well learned then let him do this particular ritual. Then what
happens? A person goes through वैक्षदक कमाा नण as well as the
लौक्षकक कमाा नण and will certainly enjoy all the pleasures
gained through better instruments, better objects and better
environment. And this experiencing was called in
मुण्डकोपनिषत्
परीक्ष्य लोकाि् कमा नचताि् ब्राह्मणः ॥ मुण्डकोपनिषत् १-२-१२ ॥
An intelligent person enjoys all these worldly pleasures by
performing religious and secular activities but to his surprise he
discovers a fact. Who discovers? An intelligent person. ब्राह्मणः
निवेदमायात्. ब्राह्मणः means a सत्त्वगुणप्रधानपुरुषः who
maintains equanimity in life. Only when I have got equanimity
I learn lessons from life. Instead of criticizing the society,
instead of criticizing the government, instead of criticizing the
stars an intelligent person learns from experiences. What does
he learn? All the कमा फलम्s have got their own defects or
problems, like antibiotics. Now they are talking about the side
effects of antibiotics more. Previously they talked about the
blessings of antibiotics. They said that is the greatest discovery
of this century. In fact, several diseases have been destroyed
which were life threatening diseases. They talked about the plus
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कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
points, we don’t say plus points are not there but now they are
talking about the minus points more and more which they call
as side effects. Similarly, all these कमा फलम्s have got side
effects problem. Better be prepared. Those who have taken
antibiotics will know. First thing that will happen is your taste
will go. Then there is fear all over – pulling something this and
that; all kinds of problem. It doesn’t mean that one should not
take antibiotics, it is required but it has got its own minus points.
Similarly, these three-fold कमा फलम्s have got defects. How
many defects? Three-fold defects, क्षत्रक्षवध दोषाः. So क्षत्रक्षवध
कमाा नण, क्षत्रक्षवध कमा फलाक्षन and क्षत्रक्षवध कमा फलदोषाः. What are
those defects of worldly accomplishments?
1) The first दोष is दुःखःनमनश्रतत्वम्. All the worldly
accomplishments give happiness alright but they are mixed
with sorrow also. None of them can give pure happiness, none
of them can give unalloyed joy; they are alloys. And how do
they give sorrow? You have to work hard to accomplish those
कमा फलम्s which involves lot of tension, anxiety. And more
better the कमा फलम्s there is more competition also, cut-throat
competition. And therefore you have to compromise with lot of
values. All kinds of things. You have to first give up the values
they say. So therefore accomplishing those कमा फलम्s is
painful. And having accomplished them preserving them
involves equal amount of pain. ‘First I want status then I want
status quo’. First I want to become a minister and thereafter I
want to continue in it. And preservation of anything –
maintenance of house, maintenance of phone, maintenance of
car, maintenance of car driver, everything involves its own
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कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
pain. Therefore आजा िे दुःखम् and रिणे दुःखम्. And in spite of
your best effort – so you want to maintain your physique and
therefore daily you do योग, exercise etc., – whatever you do
one day it will go away. And therefore what is the final pain?
In spite of any amount of maintenance they are all going to be
lost. कृष्ण tells in the गीता,
अततविु फलं तेषां तद्भवत्यल्पमे िाम् ।
देवातदेवयजो यानतत मद्भक्ता यानतत मामनप ॥ िीता ७-२३ ॥
हे अर्ु न! You can accomplish everything by appropriate effort
but whatever you accomplish will be lost. Nothing is शाश्वतम्.
And therefore this is the third pain. Accomplishment pain,
preservation pain and loss pain. And if accomplishment is
दुःखम्, preservation is दुःखःतरम् and loss is दुःखःतमम्. So
this is the first defect of all the कमा फलम्s. This is called
दुःखःनमनश्रतत्वम्. नमनश्रत means mixed with.
2) Then the second दोष involved. Whatever कमा फलम् you
accomplish that is going to be finite in nature. Because your
effort is finite, and as the cause is so the effect is. If the कमा is
finite कमा फलम् also will be finite. As we saw in
मुण्डकोपनिषत्,
प्लवा ह्येते अदृढा यज्ञरूपा अिादशोक्तमवरं येषु कमा ।
एतच्रे यो येऽनभितदनतत मढ ू ा जरामत्ृ युं ते पुिरे वानप यनतत ॥
मुण्डकोपनिषत् १-२-७ ॥
All the कमा फलम्s are finite in nature and therefore you will
never be satisfied with whatever you accomplish because there
is something bigger than that. If you get one lakh then your

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interest will be now how to make it into two lakh and so on.
There is not going to be a तनृ ि instead of looking at the people
who have got less and then feeling happy I always look at the
other people who have got more and say I am a middle class.
The whole society says this person is upper class person but this
person will say I have only four cars and five houses only. That
is why I told you the example also. In the cheque whatever
amount you write at the end you write ‘only’. For the human
greed there is no limit at all. Therefore the second दोष is any
amount you accomplish तनृ ि cannot come. Why तनृ ि doesn’t
come? Whatever you accomplish is finite, and you have
traveled from finite to finite. Therefore the second दोष is called
अतनृ िकरत्वम्, discontentment, dissatisfaction.
3) The third and final दोष is बत कत्वम्. The more I
accomplish and enjoy the कमा फलम् the more I get used to
them. Initially I choose those objects as a master later I find I
don’t have any choice at all, I have become a slave of that. So
any object comes to you as a servant and later ends up as a
master. And you start as a master and you end up as a servant.
And that is why all the servants who are working in your house,
you know what is the truth which you will never accept, the
servant is the master. How do you know? They dictate the terms
and you shout and threaten and all and you get more angry. Why
you know? You get angry because you don’t want to be a slave
but at the same time the fact is you are. So if you do something
that worker will say he or she will find job elsewhere. So you
are worried. On one side you will be scolding and another side
that servant should not leave the job. So thus everything in the
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कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
creation comes to serve you but later everything in the creation
becomes your master and therefore you are not travelling from
dependence to independence but you are travelling from
dependence to more dependence. When you start your life the
number of things that you require is less but towards the end the
number of things that you require for happiness is more and
more. So this defect is called बत कत्व दोषः, dependence
causing they are. They talk about stimulants and drugs, coffee
is a dependence causing thing, cigarette is a dependence
causing thing, even tea is a dependence causing thing. So we
say a few items are dependence causing, according to वेदातत
everything in the creation is dependence causing.
Now majority of people do not discover this fact. But
there are a few people,
मिुष्याणां िहस्रेषु कनिद्यतनत निद्धये ॥ िीता ७-३ ॥
In कठोपनिषत,्
कनिद्धीरः प्रत्यिात्मािमैक्षदावि
ृ चक्षुरमत
ृ त्वनमच्छि् ॥
कठोपनिषत२् -१-१ ॥
There are only very few people who have understood that all
the कमा फलम्s are defective. So none of them is क्षनदोषम्, all of
them are सदोषम्, endowed with these three दोषs. And there are
some people who do not mind and who are ready to settle for
something inferior and therefore they say ‘what do to? As long
as I live I have to do something, get something, even though it
is painful I have to live with pain, it is inevitable.’ But there are
some intelligent people, adventurous people who love

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challenges in life, they begin to enquire ‘is there some goal of
life which is without these three defects?’ Is there a क्षनदोष goal
of life? Some people ask; not majority. Some rare people ask
‘is there a क्षनदोष goal?’ Then the वेद itself gives the answer
there is a क्षनदोष goal, a defect-free goal, but it doesn’t come
within the कमा काण्ड. Because the entire कमा काण्डम् is dealing
with the कमा s and therefore only कमा फलम्s and all the
कमा फलम्s are defective, therefore in कमा काण्ड you cannot
find a क्षनदोष पुरुषार्ा . All the कमा काण्ड पुरुषार्ा s are सदोष
पुरुषार्ा s. मा is सदोष पुरुषार्ा , अर्ा is सदोष पुरुषार्ा , काम is
सदोष पुरुषार्ा , मा , अर्ा , काम everything is सदोष पुरुषार्ा .
क्षनदोष पुरुषार्ा is not available in कमा काण्ड. So then what
should I do? The वेदs say I have got another department. What
is the other department? वेद-अततः. And वेदातत deals with
क्षनदोष पुरुषार्ा , a goal, an accomplishment, which is free from
all these three defects – दुःखःनमनश्रतत्व, अतनृ िकरत्व,
बत कत्व. That means I will never have sorrow mixed
happiness, I will only have pure happiness. And I will never
have अतनृ ि I will say तप्तृ ः अक्षस्म.
यस्त्वात्मरनतरे व स्यादात्मतिृ ि मािवः ।
आत्मतयेव च िततुिस्तस्य कायं ि नवद्यते ॥ िीता ३-१७ ॥
He will say ‘I am full and complete’ when he gets this goal.
And not only that it is free from बत कत्व दोष also, there is no
addiction, dependence involved, it is independence or freedom.
So now I turn from वेदपवू ा to वेद-अतत.
Once I come to वेदातत what is my question. What is that
goal which is free from all these three defects? And वेद-अतत
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declares that goal is called ब्रह्मि्. The क्षनदोष पुरुषार्ा , defect-
free goal is called ब्रह्मि् or मोक्षः or परमपुरुषार्ा ः, the highest,
the greatest, the defect-free goal. So now I am enthusiastic
‘where can I catch hold of ब्रह्मि्? Please give me the address
of that.’ And when you ask the उपनिषत् where is that ब्रह्मि्,
where can I find, the उपनिषत् says you can never find that
ब्रह्मि्, wherever you go you can never find that ब्रह्मि्. And you
know why. The उपनिषत् says
तत्त्वमक्षस श्वेतकेतो । ॥ छान्दोग्योपक्षनषत् ६-८-७ ॥
That ब्रह्मि् happens to be your own real nature, your own true
nature. It says ‘I am that ब्रह्मि्’. So whatever I seek is defective;
I, the seeker alone am defect-free ब्रह्मि्.
Now when I hear this I am surprised. Because all the
time I have been looking upon myself as full of defects.
Physically I am never satisfied with myself, either I feel over
weight or underweight or I am not satisfied with my
complexion, we cannot accept the color of the hair, we cannot
accept our height. These are all physical defects that we claim.
And then there are sensory defects that we claim. My eyes are
not alright, my ears are not alright. Then at the mental level full
of problems. I have everything except peace of mind. Therefore
emotionally I feel full of defects. Intellectually we are full of
complains. What I heard in the last class I have forgotten. So
therefore I feel I am defective and even if I don’t feel all the
family members will make me feel. ‘What do you know? You
are useless.’ And now after coming to the class the criticism is
more. ‘What is the use of attending the class?’ this is the
15
कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
additional criticism you have to hear. So therefore my
conclusion is that I am full of defects, शास्त्र says I am defect-
free ब्रह्मि्. Now I have to find out which one is fact. So now
my goal has become totally different. Now I don’t want to
accomplish ब्रह्मि् because the उपनिषत् doesn’t ask me to
accomplish ब्रह्मि्, उपनिषत् says you are ब्रह्मि्, therefore my
goal is no more accomplishing ब्रह्मि,् my goal is one of
verification. What verification? Am I a defective individual as
I have been taking myself to be? Or am I the accomplish ब्रह्मि्
as the उपनिषतs् declare?
It is exactly like the story of कणु , you remember, that is
the ideal story. कणु was all the time thinking that I am the son
of a charioteer, I am not a िक्षत्रय. And he was not allowed to
enter any competition among िक्षत्रयs because among िक्षत्रयs
non-िक्षत्रयs cannot compete and therefore कणु was feeling so
humiliated, even when he had to take the challenge for getting
द्रौपक्षद he was not allowed. He was utterly humiliated. Therefore
all the time कणु ’s conclusion was he was a non-िक्षत्रय. And
when he goes to कुक्षन्त she tells ‘you are my son.’ What does it
mean? You are a िक्षत्रय. Now कणु has got two pieces of
information. One information which he has swallowed until
now that he is not a िक्षत्रय, a humiliating information and
another information is he is a िक्षत्रय. Now कणु has to verify.
Therefore what did he do? He asked कुक्षन्त ‘how can I be your
son?’ And therefore the details of the story and all, and as even
the story is revealed piece by piece कणु felt firstly it was
disbelief which is called क्षवपयु यः and the next thing is सम्भावना
which means that it is possible that I am a िक्षत्रय. And there
16
कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
afterwards it gets converted into क्षनश्चय. Disbelief, then
possibility, then conviction. कणु went through all these three
stages. First disbelief – how can I be कुक्षन्त’s son? Then as the
story is unfolded then ‘it is possible’, then finally he was
convinced.
Similarly when I tell you for the first time you are what
you are seeking in your life. You want happiness, you are
happiness. You want security, you are security. You want
fulness, you are fulness. In fact, whatever wonderful things you
ू ु अभय अनन्त आनन्द
seek in life नित्य शुद्ध बुद्ध मुक्त सत्य पण
all that you are already. So when you taught for the first time
how do you listen? You don’t accept that. You will think that
you are being praised so that you will come to the class. You
will take it as only an अर्ु वादः – telling nice things so that you
will feel fine. And then as I go on teaching then after ten years
I think perhaps I may be ब्रह्मि्. Already two times िीता
उपनिषत्’s courses over. And there afterwards go on learning
and learning and at last hopefully the conviction comes I am
ब्रह्मि् and I am nothing but ब्रह्मि्. क्षवपयु यः or संशयः to
सम्भावना to क्षनश्चय. This is the progress. And this is called Self-
enquiry. Thus वेदातत enters into Self-enquiry to find out
whether I am a finite defective individual or whether I am
infinite defect-free ब्रह्मि्. And therefore वेदातत is called
ज्ञािकाण्डम् where you have nothing to accomplish, you have
something to know. Knowing about whom? About myself.
What to know? Am I defective individual or defect-free reality.
And how do you do that enquiry? That we will see in the next
class.
17
कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
ॐ पण ू ा मदः पण
ू ा नमदम् पण ू ा मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाा त्पण ू ा स्य पण
ू ा मादाय
ू ा मेवावनशष्यते ॥ ॐ शानततः शानततः शानततः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

18
कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
In the last class we saw that the वेदपवू ा भाि which is
otherwise known as कमा काण्डम् talks about varieties of कमा s
which will produce varieties of कमा फलम्s and we saw that all
the promised कमा फलम्s of the वेदपवू ा भाि are defective in
nature. So even though they give happiness to human being,
they also give equal amount of sorrow. These defective results
promised in the कमा काण्ड are generally known as प्रेयः. अनित्य
कमा फलानि, पररनच्छति कमा फलानि and िदोष कमा फलानि all
put together are called by the name प्रेयः. Even the popularly
known मा -अर्ा ः-कामाः they also come under this प्रेयः alone.
And most of the people are satisfied with these defective results
and therefore कमा काण्ड is enough for most of the human
beings. But there are some rare people who are not satisfied
with प्रेयि् and when they look for a defect-free goal then comes
the वेद-अतत भाि which introduces the defect-free goal as
ब्रह्मि् or मोक्षः. Therefore a seeker switches over to the वेद-
अतत भाि; वेद-पवू ा भाि is no more relevant to him, वेदातत
becomes relevant for him. And when he seeks ब्रह्मि् or मोक्ष the
उपनिषत् points out that ब्रह्मि् which you want to accomplish
actually happens to be YOU yourself, तत् त्वम् अनि. So thus
वेदातत points out अहम् एव ब्रह्म, the defect-free goal. Therefore
there is no question of accomplishing ब्रह्मि् because, if ब्रह्मि्
is presented as an object elsewhere I have to struggle to acquire
it. The उपनिषत् points out that it is Myself. Therefore the
struggle for acquiring ब्रह्मि् cannot be there. So our pursuit
becomes slightly different form of pursuit. Because I need not
19
कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
produce ब्रह्मि,् I need not reach ब्रह्मि् and therefore my effort
has to be different. What is that? As the वेद reveals, ‘am I really
ब्रह्मि् or not’? I should be convinced. This is required because
until I come to वेदातत I have taken myself as a limited human
being subject to birth, suffering from old age and sooner or later
going to die. So as a mortal suffering individual I have taken
myself. Now वेदातत comes and tells something radically
different about myself, that I am not a mortal individual, I am
not a suffering individual, I am नित्य-शुद्ध्-बुद्ध-मुक्त-ब्रह्म अनस्म.
Therefore I have to find out whether my notions about myself
is correct or whether the Upanishadic revelations about myself
is correct, because they are diagonally opposite. I think ‘I am a
दािः,’ a slave. The उपनिषत् says ‘you are the स्वानमः’, the
Master. I think ‘I am a mortal’, the उपनिषत् says ‘You are
immortal’. I think ‘I am a sinner’, the उपनिषत् says ‘You are
ever sinless’. So now I have to enter into a Self-enquiry to
verify whether I am ब्रह्मि् or not. On verification if I discover
that I am ब्रह्मि् is a fact then the greatest advantage is what I
have been seeking all the time I discover as myself. Therefore
it is an advantageous enquiry. Therefore the िा िा hereafter is
not in the form of doing something. The िा िा hereafter is in
the form of knowing. Since वेदातत is concentrating on knowing
िा िा it is called as ज्ञािकाण्डम्. In कमा काण्ड you have
something to do, in ज्ञािकाण्डम् you have something to know.
So doing िा िा to knowing िा िा. And when I want to know
myself, I face certain problems. If I have to get any knowledge
I require an appropriate instrument for gaining knowledge.
Knowledge cannot automatically happen. Certain things will
20
कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
happen in life automatically. You need not do anything, you
just survive. A boy survives after sometime moustache happens
automatically, he need not do anything, he has to keep alive, it
is a natural process. Similarly the hair turns grey. You don’t
have to do anything for that, it happens automatically. Wrinkles
appear on the face in spite of your resistance, that also the
natural consequence. There are certain things that are natural
consequence but unfortunately knowledge doesn’t come under
that category. Not only spiritual knowledge, any knowledge
doesn’t happen automatically. If knowledge also happens
automatically the advantage is that you can abolish all the
schools, admission headache is gone. So therefore knowledge
doesn’t happen. If it doesn’t happen we have to take the
initiative to make it happen. The initiative is using an
appropriate instrument of knowledge. When I want to know the
color of an object I have to operate the eyes. When I want to
know the sound, I have to operate the ears. When I want to
know the smell, I have to operate the nose. The instrument
which I use for knowledge is called a प्रमाणम्. The instrument
that I use for the production of knowledge is called प्रमाणम्.
The knowledge that arises by using the instrument is called
प्रमा. प्रमाणम् generates प्रमा in the person who operates the
प्रमाणम्. It is not that I operate the प्रमाणम् and you get the
knowledge. It will be violation. If I use my sense organs I will
get the knowledge. If you use your sense organs you will get
the knowledge. Therefore the one who uses the प्रमाणम् will get
the knowledge. The user of the प्रमाणम् is called प्रमाता. So thus
प्रमाता प्रमाणेि प्रमाम् प्राप्िोनत, जियनत. प्रमाता produces प्रमा
21
कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
by using the प्रमाणम्. And the knowledge is always about one
object or the other. A knowledge must have an object of
knowledge. You can never think of a knowledge without a
relevant object. That is why when I say I know you will look at
me. Know what? Therefore the प्रमाणम् always produces प्रमा
about a particular object and the object of knowledge is called
प्रमेयम्. So thus प्रमाता produces the प्रमा of the प्रमे यम् through
the प्रमाणम्. प्रमाता प्रमाणेि प्रमेयस्य प्रमाम् जियनत. Since
there are varieties of objects in the world and since the nature
of the objects are different, the instruments of knowledge also
will vary depending upon the object of knowledge. As I said in
the introduction if the sound is the object of knowledge then the
relevant instrument is the ears alone. I cannot say ‘I am bored
of hearing through the ears daily, today’s class I want to hear
through my nose. You cannot. Sound can be heard only through
the ears. Forms can be seen only through the eyes. Therefore
since the प्रमेयs are different, प्रमाणs also are different. And in
the वेदातत शास्त्र we talk about षड्-प्रमाणानि – six instruments
of knowledge, six means of knowledge. I am just giving an
outline only, we need not know too much about them. Just an
outline so that we will some idea and also we will know how
our forefathers have made a thorough study of everything. And
all these discussions have happened thousands of years before.
I am presenting it in a simple manner, each one has got an
involved study.
i) प्रत्यक्ष्यम्, direct perception. The पञ्च ज्ञािेनियानि put
together is taken as one means of knowledge. So the eyes, the
ears, the tongue, the skin and the nose पञ्च ज्ञािेनियानि put
22
कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
together is called प्रत्यक्ष्य प्रमाणम्, through which we know
varieties of things. In fact, प्रत्यक्ष्यम् is the basic instrument of
knowledge. Right from birth we know things through प्रत्यक्ष्यम्
only.
ii) अिुमािम्, inference. It is to know something indirectly
when it is not within the range of प्रत्यक्ष्यम्. For example, when
I am walking on the road I hear the horn of a car. My ears talk
about the sound alone. But from that I infer that there is a car
behind me. Car has not been seen by me. But I know there is a
car from the horn. And for this I should have seen before
wherever there is a horn there is a car. I have seen the
connection between the horn and car. There afterwards I make
an inference. The knowledge of the connection is called व्यानि
ज्ञािम्. I see the car-horn connection, there afterwards
whenever I hear the horn alone, the car is inferred. Here the
horn is known through प्रत्यक्ष्यम्, but the knowledge of the car
is अिुमािम्. In शास्त्र the standard example given is from
seeing the smoke, fire is inferred. Even when I don’t see the fire
behind the wall when the smoke enters this room I know there
is fire somewhere. So thus inference is the second means of
knowledge.
iii) अर्ाा पनि, presumption. It is very closer to inference. By
experiencing one event in the present I come to know about
another event in the past even though I have not experienced it.
For example, early in the morning I see a lot of water on the
road., roads are flooded. In the night it had rained but I never
knew because of sound sleep. The rain that happened in the
23
कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
night is not known through प्रत्यक्ष्यम्. But morning I see the
water and the water cannot be explained without the rain.
Therefore I presume the rain event from the flooding. This is
called अर्ाा पनि or Presumption. This is almost similar to
inference.
iv) उपमािम्, comparison. Through comparison also you
can know other objects. When there is a wild buffalo in the
forest, you have got a village buffalo. From the experience of
one you get the knowledge of the other through comparison and
this instrument of knowledge is called उपमािम्. Knowledge
through comparison example, analogy is called the उपक्षमक्षतः,
and the instrument is called उपमािम्.
v) अिुपलन् ः, non-cognition. This is a special instrument
for knowing the absence of things. You should remember
knowledge of the absence also is a form of knowledge. It is a
positive knowledge. Suppose I ask you, Is there a chair behind
that wall? What will you answer? You will not say there is a
chair, you will not say there is no chair, because to say there is
a chair you have to see and to say there is no chair also you have
to see. You cannot say the presence of chair requires seeing,
absence of chair does not require seeing. The presence of chair
also requires seeing, absence of chair also requires seeing.
Therefore knowledge of the absence is also a specific
knowledge which requires a specific instrument that instrument
is called अिुपलन् ः. So when I ask you, ‘Do I have a glass of
water in my hand?’ You say, ‘There is no glass’. ‘How did you
know that there is no glass?’ ‘I saw’ will be your normal
24
कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
answer. ‘What did you see?’ ‘I saw the absence of glass’. ‘How
can you see the absence of glass?’ Because eyes can only see
colors and forms. If you say, ‘I saw the absence of glass’, I will
ask you, ‘what is the color of the absence of glass?’ What is the
form of the absence of glass? There is no form. अभाव does not
have form and color. Therefore you cannot recognize it through
sense organs but you recognize it in a peculiar method. That
peculiar method of cognition is called अिुपलन् ः.
vi) श्द, verbal communication, words. What you are
learning now is only through the words – either through written
words or spoken words. In fact, many things you learn through
श्द प्रमाणम्. Morning you get up and see the current news.
This is through श्द प्रमाणम्.
These are the षड्-प्रमाणानि. All our knowledge takes
place through one प्रमाणम् or another. Without प्रमाणम्
whatever you know doesn’t come under knowledge, it will
come under wishful thinking, speculation, imagination.
Speculation is not a fact, imagination is not a fact, and wishful
thinking is not a fact. To be factual, to be a valid knowledge, it
must be born out of one of these six instruments of knowledge.
Now the next question is which instrument should we
use for gaining the knowledge of a thing. Do we have a choice
in using the प्रमाणम्? Like coming to class. Suppose a person
has got a car and a scooter. Now whether he should come here
by car or by scooter or on foot or by auto or by bus, there is a
choice. कता ुम् अकता ुम् अतयर्ा वा कता ुम् शक्यम्. When we have
got different instruments for doing things, we have got choice.
25
कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
Similarly do we have choice with regard to the instrument of
knowledge? The शास्त्र answers no. With regard to the
instrument of knowledge we do not have choice. The
instrument to be used depends upon the object that I want to
know. If I want to know the color, I cannot choose the
instrument, whether I like or not, I have to see with eyes alone.
If I want to know some sound I have to use ears alone.
Therefore in keeping with the nature of the object we have to
choose the प्रमाणम्. प्रमेय अिुिारे ण प्रमाण व्यापारः कता व्यः. It
is choiceless. So first choiceless situation is you have to use a
प्रमाणम् for knowledge. This is the first lesson. Each lesson is
important. Knowledge cannot happen in meditation. Don’t
imagine without going to school and colleges just by sitting in
house with closed eyes and meditating knowledge will not
happen, but something else will happen. Sleep will happen. In
meditation do you get any new knowledge? You can only
recycle the already available information. No new information
can happen. Whatever new things are generated they are all
your imaginations, they are not valid knowledge. That is why
we say no knowledge will happen including Self-knowledge. If
a person thinks that knowledge will happen through meditation
we argue no, because in meditation we are not using any
instrument of knowledge. Therefore it cannot produce
knowledge. प्रमाण अभावात् ज्ञािम् ि उत्पद्यते. So the first lesson
is Knowledge doesn’t happen, knowledge requires a प्रमाणम्.
The second lesson is not only knowledge requires a प्रमाणम्, it
requires an appropriate प्रमाणम्, a relevant प्रमाणम्. These two
lessons you should remember.
26
कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
Once you remember these two lessons, now we can
come back to our topic – Self-knowledge which we are
interested in. Because the उपनिषत् points out that I am ब्रह्मि्.
Then I have to verify and ascertain अहम् ब्रह्मानस्म वा ि वा? Am
I a miserable जीवात्म or am I the wonderful परमात्मा? If I am
miserable जीवात्म then there is gloom in the face. If I am
wonderful परमात्मा then there is bloom in the face. And since
I am seeking Self-knowledge, I have to apply these two lessons.
a) I have to use a प्रमाणम्. Simply by closing the eyes and
enquiring ‘who am I?’ won’t work. Whether you get some
benefit or not but others may get some benefit – they will escape
from me when I meditate. Other than this no new knowledge
can take place. So I should use a means of knowledge.
b) Now the second lesson that I have to apply is I have to
use a relevant means of knowledge – प्रत्यक्ष्यम्, अिुमािम्,
अर्ाा पनि, उपमािम्, अिुपलन् ः or श्द. On analysis we come
to know that of these six प्रमाणs five प्रमाणs are useless with
regard to Self-knowledge. Not always irrelevant, very careful.
In this particular field it is irrelevant. When you go out and
drive the car then you do certainly require प्रत्यक्ष्यम् प्रमाणम्.
Therefore when you are travelling on the road eyes are
important, ears are important, in fact, if you have got ten sense
organs it will be useful. So therefore I don’t say the first five
प्रमाणs are totally useless, they are useful for several purposes,
but with regard to Self-knowledge these five प्रमाणs are
irrelevant. To give the reason in a simple language: the first
प्रमाणम् called प्रत्यक्ष्यम् is meant for knowing the objective

27
कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
world. In this कठोपनिषत् we will see यम मा राज, who
happens to be the गुरु, will beautifully say,
परानञ्च खानि व्यतण ृ त् स्वयम्भस्ू तस्मात्पराङ्पश्यनत
िाततरात्मि् ॥ कठोपनिषत् २-१-१ ॥
All the sense organs are turned outwards. Therefore they will
be objectifying the external world alone, they are incapable of
objectifying the आत्मा, the Self behind. So the observer cannot
be observed even through the most powerful instrument. You
may have microscope, you may have telescope, whatever scope
you may have it is beyond the scope of our subject. In fact, even
the powerful instrument cannot see the eyes themselves what to
talk of the observer behind the eyes. It is impossible. Therefore
the first instrument प्रत्यक्ष्यम् is ruled out. And once the first
प्रमाणम् is ruled out all the other प्रमाणम्s are also ruled out like
अिुमािम्, अर्ाा पनि, उपमािम् and अिुपलन् ः, because all the
other प्रमाणम्s are based on प्रत्यक्ष्यम्. Inference cannot operate
only based on the perceptual data. Suppose a doctor has to find
out the disease through inference. What does he do? So when
you go and say you have got some health problem and suppose
the doctor says ‘ok, the previous patient had this disease and he
had been given this medicine. For a change I will give you a
different medicine’. What will happen? A single dose and the
patient collapsed. So therefore a doctor cannot just wishfully
think of some disease and give some sample medicines. No. and
at the same time doctor cannot perceptually see the disease, he
only see the physical body, the disease is not प्रत्यक्ष्य गोचरम्
and therefore what is प्रत्यक्ष्य अगोचरम् he has to use inference

28
कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
or अिुमािम्. And to use the अिुमािम् doctor requires so many
lab tests. All those tests will give the report and the doctor sees
only the report card which is प्रत्यक्ष्यम्. Based on the प्रत्यक्ष्यम्
doctor says this must be the disease. What I want to drive home
is अिुमािम् is based on perceptual data. If the scientists are
talking about the age of the moon, how do they talk about the
age of it? Because they have brought the rocks from the moon
and studied the rocks which is प्रत्यक्ष्यम् प्रमाणम्. Based on the
rock study they infer. Therefore अिुमािम् is based on
प्रत्यक्ष्यम्. Similarly, अर्ाा पनि is also based on प्रत्यक्ष्यम्. To
presume that there was rain in the night you require perceptual
experience of water-logged roads. Similarly, उपमािम् is also
based on प्रत्यक्ष्यम्. Only if you have experienced one thing,
then only you can give that as the comparison for the other. So
where प्रत्यक्ष्यम् cannot function all the other three also cannot
function. Therefore for Self-knowledge प्रत्यक्ष्यम् is useless,
अिुमािम् is useless, अर्ाा पनि is useless and उपमािम् is
useless. अिुपलन् ः is useful only in knowing the absence of a
thing. We are talking about the present thing, the existent thing.
You cannot use अिुपलन् ः to study an existent thing.
अिुपलन् ः functions only in the field of अभाव. आत्मा is भाव-
वस्तु; भाव नवषये अभाव प्रमाणम् is irrelevant. So all the five
प्रमाणs are out.
श्द प्रमाणम् alone is left out. Knowledge through
words. This श्द प्रमाणम् is broadly classified into two.
लौनकक श्द and वैनदक श्द.

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कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
Now लौनकक श्द means the books that are written by
the worldly people like physics, chemistry, economics,
mathematics, history, etc. Words given out by worldly people.
And the second one is वैनदक श्द which is not given out by
human beings but which is given out by the Lord Himself, but
it is brought out to the world through the human medium. That
is why the ऋनषs are called मतर ििाः. They don’t invent the
मतर. But they see or discover the मतरs which had already
existed.
Now of these two types of श्द प्रमाण which one should
we use? Now we point out that लौनकक श्दs are useless as
they deal with the objective world, the observed world, the
observable world. Physics does not study the observer. Some of
the great scientists have nicely said that the observer cannot be
observed. This has been said in the बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत्
millennia before नवज्ञातारमरे केि नवजािीयात् ॥
बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् २-४-१४, ४-५-१ ॥ One of the casual
conversations between husband and wife – याज्ञवल्क्य and
मैरेयी. You know what they were discussing? Not where bread
and butter are available, they were discussing आत्मज्ञानम्. And
याज्ञवल्क्य tells मैरेयी नवज्ञातारमरे केि नवजािीयात्. What
instrument the observer will use to observe the observer? येिेदं
िवं नवजािानत तं केि नवजािीयात् ॥ बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् २-४-
१४ ॥ So physics, chemistry, mathematics, whatever sciences
are there they all deal with observable universe but here we are
interested in the observer. Therefore लौनकक श्दs are useless.
Now we are left with वैनदक श्द. Now the वैनदक श्द is
divided into two types वेद पवू ा शबदाः and वेद-अतत शबदाः, or
30
कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
कमा काण्ड शबदाः and ज्ञािकाण्ड शबदाः. Of these two श्दs
which one will be useful to us we have to find out. On enquiry
we find that कमा काण्डम् शबदs also are not useful to us.
Because कमा काण्ड deals with again the objective world of
actions and their results, the अिात्म प्रपञ्च. What are the rituals
one can do? – this is part of the world. And what are the फलम्s
one can get? – this is part of the world. All the fourteen लोकs
come under objective world and therefore the entire कमा काण्ड
deals with अिात्म. So thus प्रत्यक्ष्यम्, अिुमािम्, अर्ाा पनि,
उपमािम्, अिुपलन् ः and लौनकक श्द, वेद पवू ा शबदाः all of
them deal with अिात्म only, the observed world. We are
interested in the observer. Am I ब्रह्मि् or not – this I have to
know. So since all these are ruled out what is left out now? We
are helpless, this is the last refuge, if it doesn’t work we are
doomed. And fortunately the last प्रमाणम्, वेदातत श्द प्रमाणम्,
ज्ञािकाण्ड श्द प्रमाणम् happens to be the most unique प्रमाणम्
in the world which deals with the subject, the observer. It is like
when I want to see my own eyes I used varieties of instruments
like binoculars, spectacles, etc. At last there is only one
instrument which can help me to see my own eyes – a mirror.
Similarly, to get Self-knowledge all other instruments are
useless. We have got वेदातत श्द प्रमाणम् which serves as a
mirror. Thus वेदातत can be compared to a mirror to reveal
about myself, which I have never attempted to know. There are
many people in the world who have never seen their back. And
most of the people are not interested also. Similarly majority of
people are not interested in knowing about themselves, but if
you are interested then you are presented with a mirror called
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कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
वेदातत प्रमाणम्. And what is that वेदातत प्रमाणम् we will see in
the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
In the last class we found that ब्रह्मि् can be known only
through वेदातत श्द प्रमाणम्. The reason is ब्रह्मि् happens to
be Myself, the very subject. And all the other प्रमाणम्s are
dealing with the external world only. Even the वेदपवू ा भाग
dealing with the ritual talks about the external world only
consisting of fourteen लोकs and the sense pleasures obtainable
in the fourteen लोकs and the different types of superior bodies
that one can acquire. That alone is dealt with in the वेदपवू ा भाग.
Therefore there is only one means of knowledge which is
dealing with ब्रह्मि् which happens to be the very subject and
that is वेदातत श्द प्रमाणम्.
By operating the वेदातत, the final portion of the
scriptures we get the knowledge of ब्रह्मि् as Myself, we get
Self-knowledge. Therefore वेदातत can be compared to a mirror
which is the only instrument with which I can look at my own
face. Similarly, वेदातत is the only mirror with which I can know
my स्वरूपम्. When I discover ब्रह्मि् as Myself there is no
necessity of accomplishing ब्रह्मि्, because I discover that ब्रह्मि्
is already accomplished as Myself. Therefore knowing ब्रह्मि्
and attaining ब्रह्मि् happens to be one and the same. In all other
fields knowing and attaining are two different processes. I have
to know first, there afterwards I have to work for attaining. But
ब्रह्मन ् happens to be the unique goal wherein knowing itself is
attaining. Therefore other than knowing I do not have to do
anything in the context of वेदान्त. And since there is no action

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कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
involved and since there is only a knowing process, वेदातत is
otherwise called ज्ञािकाण्डम् wherein the whole section is
concentrating on knowing, knowing and knowing. And if at all
there is any other effort it is all connected with knowing only,
like elimination of doubts. If I am not convinced that I am
ब्रह्मि्, वेदातत allows questions. You can ask any number of
questions and remove all your doubts. Removal of the doubts is
also for making knowledge clearer and clearer. So first ज्ञानम ्
and then ननिःसंशय ज्ञानम ् or दृढ ज्ञानम ् which is again
connected with knowledge only. And thereafter if at all there is
any effort and that effort also is for assimilating the knowledge
so that the knowledge is available when I am responding to the
external situations. Even when I am facing these problems the
knowledge must be available for me, which is called
assimilation or internalization or digestion. Because as you
know eaten food will not give you nourishment, only the
digested food will nourish you. So what matters is not what you
eat, what matters you is what you digest, assimilate. Therefore
assimilation is also a part of knowledge process. Therefore the
entire वेदातत deals with knowing, clarifying and assimilating.
But it is all centered around ज्ञािम्, ज्ञािम् and ज्ञािम्.
Therefore it is called ज्ञािकाण्डम्. Otherwise it is called
ब्रह्मनवद्या, otherwise it is called आत्मनवद्या, otherwise it is called
उपनिषत्. The word उपनिषत् has got several meanings as we
have seen before. One of the meanings of the उपनिषत् is
रहस्यम् – secret teaching. Why it is secret teaching? Two
reasons.

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कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
i) This teaching must be given to only those who are ready.
If this teaching is given to the unprepared people, not only it
cannot be received but often the teaching can be misunderstood
which is still worse. Therefore कृष्ण tells in the िीता,
ि बुनद्धभेदं जियेदज्ञािां कमा िङ्नििाम् ।
जोषयेत्िवा कमाा नण नवद्वातयुक्तः िमाचरि् ॥ िीता ३-२६ ॥
For majority of people कमा काण्ड alone is relevant, for many
ज्ञािकाण्ड may become counterproductive. And since it has to
be given after making sure that it is not abused, it is called the
secret teaching.
ii) Even if this teaching is given to all people
indiscriminately; it should not be given, it should be kept as a
secret, but if a person freely distributes this knowledge to all
people, then also this teaching will remain as a secret. Because
many people won’t understand. So therefore this teaching has
the capacity to remain as secret even if there are people to reveal
it. And therefore it is called रहस्यम्. In the िीता कृष्ण uses the
word राजनवद्या राजिुह्यम्. It is the greatest secret in the world.
And this उपनिषत् as said earlier is occurring at the end
of the वेदs and since there are four वेदs the उपनिषत् occurs at
the end of all the वेदs. Therefore we have got ऋग्वेद उपनिषत्s,
यजुवेद उपनिषत्s, िामवेद उपनिषत्s and अर्वा णवेद उपनिषत्s.
These उपनिषत्s are generally in the form of a िंवाद or
a dialogue. Because the उपनिषत् wants to say that one should
never study the उपनिषत् independently. Self-study is not
allowed. शङ्कराचाया points out in the मुण्डकोपनिषत्:

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कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
शास्त्रज्ञोऽनप स्वातत्येण ब्रह्मज्ञािातवेषणं ि कुयाा त् ॥
मुण्डकोपक्षनषत् १-२-१२ ॥
Even the most equipped person who knows तका, मीमांिा,
व्याकरण, everything he knows, even the most educated person
should not make an independent study. That is why in
छातदोग्योपनिषत्, िारद himself, the most educated and
qualified person, goes to िित्कुमार for studying. You cannot
imagine a person who is more learned than िारद and he gives
a list of the sciences he has studied. So so much intellectually
qualified a person िारद doesn’t choose to study independently.
He chooses to go to a िुरु. So to emphasize the necessity of a
िुरु, the उपनिषत् gives the teaching in the form of a िुरु-नशष्य
िंवाद or dialogue. A constructive dialogue is called िंवाद,
especially between the िुरु and नशष्य. And we have got many
dialogues appearing in the four वेदs. And one such dialogue or
group of dialogues put together is known as one उपनिषत्. So
thus मुण्डकोपक्षनषत् consists of one dialogue between शौिक
and अङ्निरि. There is only one िुरु and नशष्य. And this
कठोपनिषत् itself is going to be one dialogue between a िुरु
and a नशष्य. यम मा राज is going to be the िरु ु and िनचकेति्
is going to be the नशष्य. Whereas in प्रश्नोपनिषत् it is not one
dialogue, there are six dialogues; six disciples are there. And all
put together is known as one उपनिषत्. But at least in
प्रश्नोपनिषत् students are different, आचाया is one – नपप्पलाद
मुनि. Whereas in छातदोग्योपनिषत् there are many िुरुs and
many disciples and therefore many dialogues put together is
said to be one उपनिषत्. Therefore an उपनिषत् consists of
either one dialogue or many dialogues.
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कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
And these four वेदs are supposed to have many
secondary branches. Even though वेदs are four in number there
are many secondary branches called शाखाः. And originally
they say in tradition that there were one thousand one hundred
and eighty शाखाs of the four वेदs, of which many शाखाs are
lost in time. And in every शाखा there was one उपनिषत् and
since there are one thousand one hundred and eighty शाखाs the
original number of उपनिषतs् is supposed to be one thousand
one hundred and eighty. Since nobody can study all the one
thousand one hundred and eighty उपनिषत्s one hundred and
eight उपनिषतs् were taken as the िारम्. So िवाा िाम् तु
उपनिषदाम् िारम् अिोिरम् शतम्. And of these one hundred
and eight उपनिषत्s also, ten उपनिषत्s became popular
because of शङ्कराचाया ’s भाष्यम्.
ईशकेिकठप्रश्नमुण्डमाण्डूक्यनतनिररः ।
ऐतरे यञ्च छातदोग्यं बहृ दारण्यकं तर्ा ॥
And these ten उपनिषत्s for which शङ्कराचाया has written
pioneering commentary. In fact, most of the other
commentaries are based on शङ्कराचाया ’s भाष्यम्. And these
ten उपनिषतs् if a person studies he will be able to understand
the other उपनिषत्s also, if he wants. Because the teaching is
the same. जीवात्म-परमात्मा ऐक्यम् is the central theme. Only
the methodology of the communication is varied. Like with one
rice itself we make so many types of dishes, because human
mind wants different tastes. So therefore different approaches,
different examples, sometimes पञ्च-कोश-नववेक, sometimes
शरीर-रय-नववेक, sometimes दृक्-दृश्य-नववेक; presentations

37
कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
are different, angles are different, for one student a particular
approach clicks or appeals. And these ten उपनिषत्s are taken
from all four वेदs because शङ्कराचाया wants to show that all
the वेदs convey the same teaching uniformly. Of these ten
उपनिषत्s we have covered मुण्डकोपक्षनषत् which belongs to
अर्वा णवेद and we have dealt with केनोपक्षनषत् which belongs
to िामवेद. And now we are going to study hereafter
कठोपनिषत् which belongs to यजुवेद. And यजुवेद itself is
supposed to be of two divisions. They call it two recensions or
two schools; it is a technical word. We can take it as two parts.
One is called कृष्णयजुवेद, the black school and the other is
called शुक्लयजुवेद, the white school. Of these two divisions
कठोपनिषत् belongs to the काठक शाखा of कृष्णयजुवेद.
Whereas the तैनिरीयोपनिषत् also belongs to कृष्णयजुवेद but
it belongs to तैनिरीय शाखा of कृष्णयजुवेद. This कठोपनिषत्
since it belongs to the काठक शाखा it is sometimes known as
काठकोपनिषत.् The name of the उपनिषत् is based on the
branch to which it belongs to. So for केनोपक्षनषत् don’t say केन
शाखा because there is no शाखा by that name. There it is called
केनोपक्षनषत् because it begins with the word केन but it is
supposed to belong to तलवकार शाखा. Therefore every
उपनिषत् has a शाखा also. But here I am mentioning the शाखा
because the उपनिषत् is titled based on the शाखा. And this
उपनिषत् has got two chapters known as two अध्यायs, and each
chapter has got three sections known as वल्लीs. Thus first
chapter has got three वल्लीs, the second chapter has got three
वल्लीs; totally there are six वल्लीs.

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कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
Like any other उपनिषत् this उपनिषत् also begins with
शानततपाठः which is unique to कृष्णयजुवेद. शानततपाठ is not
based on the वेद to which it belongs to. All the अर्वा णवेद
उपनिषत्s will have only भिं कणेनभः शानततपाठ. So
मुण्डकोपनिषत्, माण्डूक्योपनिषत्, प्रश्नोपनिषत् all of them
belong to अर्वा णवेद, therefore the शानततपाठ will be भिं
कणेनभः. All the िामवेद उपनिषत्s will have आप्यायततु
ममाङ्िानि only. So केनोपक्षनषत्, छातदोग्योपनिषत् all of them
belong to िामवेद and therefore they all will have the same
शानततपाठ. Similarly all the कृष्णयजुवेद उपनिषत्s will have
the same शानततपाठ. So कठोपनिषत्, तैनिरीयोपनिषत्,
श्वेताश्वतरोपनिषत् will have the same शानततपाठ. So here the
कठोपनिषत् begins with a शानततपाठ. The purpose of
शानततपाठ is the removal of the obstacles to the study of the
text. Here the aim is ज्ञािम् or नवचारः; नवचार नवघ्ि निवत्ृ यर्ा म्.
The obstacles are two-fold.
i) The visible obstacles, दृि प्रनतबत ाः like rains. If the
rains come and you see it is an obstacle in which you can take
some steps – change the venue or something like that. That is
all within our limit.
ii) The invisible obstacles अदृि प्रनतबत ाः which we do
not know at all. To remove the hidden obstacle we have to
resort to only one method – appealing to the Lord. Because for
the Lord nothing is hidden, because He is सवु ज्ञः. Therefore we
seek the grace of the Lord so that we will not have any obstacles
and we can complete the study.

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कठ उपनिषत् Introduction
Therefore शानतत is equal to नवघ्ि निवनृ िः and पाठः
means chanting. शानततपाठः means a मतर which should be
chanted for the removal of the obstacles. So with this we will
start the कठोपनिषत्.

शानततपाठः
ॐ िहिाववतु । िह िौ भुिक्तु । िह वीयं करवावहै ।
तेजनस्विाव ीतमस्तु । मा नवनद्वषावहै ॥ ॐ शानततः शानततः
शानततः ॥
This is a small, popular and very, very relevant
शानततपाठ for study. In other शानततपाठs the prayer is very,
very general. If you take भिं कणेनभः शण ृ ुयाम देवाः the prayer
is O Lord! I should listen to noble and auspicious things. It
doesn’t particularly deal with study. So the other शानततपाठs
are general ones for physical health, mental health, wealth, long
life, etc. Whereas this is a unique शानततपाठ, which is meant
for the study purpose. That is why it is becoming popular also.
You have to imagine the student and the teacher sitting together
and chanting the शानततपाठ. And the prayer goes like this. ि ह
िो अवतु. So the word सः means He. He means who? Because
a pronoun can stand for any noun. so if I am talking about राम
and I use the pronoun, the pronoun will refer to राम. If I have
talked about कृष्ण then I use the pronoun it means कृष्ण.
Therefore a pronoun is relevant only after using a noun but here
the prayer begins with a pronoun itself. So without any
contextual reference when you generally say He, it only means
one thing and that is God or भगवान्. शङ्कराचाया in his िीता
40
कठोपनिषत् शानततपाठः
भाष्यम् gives a grammatical explanation also. In िंस्कृत a
pronoun is called सवु नाम because a pronoun is a word which
can be used for anyone. So if you have come and gone, I can
use the word he came at eight o'clock. And an American comes
and goes I can say he came. So the pronoun can stand for any
nouns. सवु नाम, and शङ्कराचाया says there is only one word
which can refer to everything and that is ईश्वरः alone because
everything being ईश्वर the word ईश्वर can apply to every नाम.
Therefore सवु नाम means भगवान् नाम alone because भगवान्
alone is सवु म्. When I say िवा म् नवष्णुमयम् जित् then this mic
is also नवष्णु. Therefore the word नवष्णु can be applied to mic
also, book also, clip also, because िवा म् नवष्णुमयम्. And
therefore सवु नाम means भगवान् नाम alone. Therefore सः is
equal to सवु नाम is equal to भगवान्. And let that भगवान् िो
अवतु. So िाववतु if you split it becomes िो अवतु. िो means we
two. In िंस्कृत िो means we two. So us two, dual number. In
िंस्कृत there are three numbers – singular, dual and plural. In
English only two – one is singular, two is plural. Two onwards
it is plural. And िो means ‘we’ in dual number. Let भगवान्
protect us both. Why should the student refer to only two?
Which two must he be referring? One is himself, because
everybody wants protection for oneself. And the second one is
the िुरु himself. Therefore may the Lord protect both the िुरु
and नशष्य! Then what about other नशष्यs? There are many
नशष्यs, how can you use dual number? िुरु may be one but
नशष्यs are many, therefore how you he use dual number if you
ask, a particular नशष्य is interested in himself and िुरु and the
other particular नशष्य will also chant the शानततपाठ, therefore
41
कठोपनिषत् शानततपाठः
every नशष्य will pray for himself and the िुरु, therefore no
problem. And therefore may the Lord protect us both! And ह is
only emphasize. Definitely, without fail may the Lord protect
us both! And what do you mean by protection? शङ्कराचाया
says here the context is study of the scriptures. We are not
dealing with any other context of life. In any other context
protection can be from diseases or from death or from any other
obstacles, but in the Vedantic class protection can be only in the
form of receiving the knowledge, protection from ignorance
and from wrong understanding or distractions. Because in the
class the dangers, the enemies are lack of attention. Different
people have got different attention span. Often the problem is
attention begins only after fifteen minutes after the class starts.
Some take time to get settled. And especially when you come
from different places on the way you may have to see so many
situations which distracts your mind. That is why it is better to
come a little bit early and chant some शानततपाठ also so that the
mind is settled. And even if you come early it is better to discuss
the शास्त्र rather than mundane matters. Because to come out of
the लौक्षकक व्यवहार it takes a lot of time. Therefore for many
people attention begins only after fifteen minutes and it is
closed after half an hour. Only you get thirty minutes for class
and in that also so many times it gets distracted. These are all
enemies for a student. So O Lord may you protect us from
distractions, from wrong understandings, from filtered
understandings! And in what way the Lord should protect the
िुरु? िुरु also should be free from distractions. And िुरु also
must have the capacity to deliver the teaching because he has to
42
कठोपनिषत् शानततपाठः
communicate the most difficult subject. Therefore may the िुरु
also have the capacity to communicate without any obstacle!
Then ि ह िौ भुिक्तु. The word भुिक्तु also means to protect. So
may the Lord protect us both! Why is it repeated again? अवतु
means to protect. भुिक्तु also means to protect. Why should the
उपक्षनषत् repeat twice? शङ्कराचाया beautifully comments
प्रर्मम् ज्ञाि प्रदािेि अवतु, अिततरम् ज्ञािफल प्रदािेि अवतु.
Not only should I receive the teaching, the teaching must
permeate my personality, should soak my personality, and my
personality should get transformed. Otherwise what is the use
of studying? If the knowledge remains in the head and I become
a scholar in the उपनिषतs् , but my behavior and character
continues to be as bitter as before, who wants such an
Upanishadic study? We are not conducting a class for getting a
certificate. We want to transform our personality so that I will
not be a pain for myself and I will not be a pain for others also.
Therefore our aim is transformation. Without transformation
the study is worthless. Therefore may Lord protect me by
transforming my personality! For the transformation whatever
obstacles are there may the Lord remove those obstacles, like
certain deep emotional problems, deep worries, deep wounds.
Somebody has cheated me of one lakh fifteen years before. That
wound can be deep in my mind that lifelong I cannot smile.
Because whenever I smile that one lakh I remember. Then
immediately I become gloomy. Like a balloon which can fly up
lightly but the strings are there tying the balloon to the land.
Hundreds are strings. Not allowing the mind to be free and light
and enjoy the life. And if the balloon should freely fly how
43
कठोपनिषत् शानततपाठः
many strings you have to cut? Suppose there are hundred
strings. And you have cut ninety-nine and only one string is left
out. Even if one string is there tying this balloon to the ground
the balloon cannot fly. Similarly in any corner of the mind if
any problem exists then it will keep annoying. So these are all
obstacles called कषायम्s which we will see in
माण्डूक्योपनिषत्. O Lord remove those subconscious worries,
deeper pains, deeper wounds, deeper anxieties so that mind
enjoys lightness. Only a light mind can enjoy the आत्मज्ञािम्.
So thus ज्ञाि प्रदािेि अवतु, ज्ञािफल प्रदािेि अवतु. May the
Lord give me knowledge and also the benefit of knowledge!
And then the next prayer is िह वीया म् करवावहै. Student is very
careful. You cannot put the whole responsibility on the Lord
only. If भिवाि् does everything then what is your
contribution? Because our success not only depends upon
ईश्वरािुग्रह but it also depends upon आत्मािुग्रह – my effort,
self-effort. So without our effort भिवाि् cannot help us. This
has to be very very clear. भिवाि् can help if we have decided
to transform. If we have decided to not to transform even the
omnipotent Lord is helpless. Therefore the student says let us
put forth our effort. This is called परु
ू षार्ा . The first two lines
talk about ईश्वर कृपा, the third line talks about आत्मप्रयत्िम्.
Free-will has to be used. You cannot be fatalistic once you
come to वेदातत. वेदातत doesn’t accept fatalism. वेदातत doesn’t
consider मोक्ष is determined by God. There are certain systems
which says that only भिवाि् decides who will get मोक्ष. वेदातत
very clearly says मोक्ष is not decided by भिवाि्, मोक्ष is
decided by me and assisted by भिवाि्. And that is why मोक्ष
44
कठोपनिषत् शानततपाठः
comes under परु ू षार्ा – the human choice. मोक्ष is not God’s
choice, मोक्ष is only a human choice. And therefore the student
says let me choose to attend these classes, let me choose to
carefully listen and let me choose to do homework also. Any
study requires homework also. The amount that you gather
depends upon the amount of homework that you are willing to
do. Trying to reconcile the previous teaching, we have to read
the notes. That is why I said in the introduction itself we should
have some kind of a note, even if you don’t write in the class it
is very good to summarize the class independently. In
summarizing and writing you get two-fold benefit – one is you
are revising what you have heard and later it will be useful for
reading and recollecting also. And homework is not only
required for the student, remember the teacher also has to do
the homework. At least minimum he should know what was
taught in the last class. So whether you remember or not we
have to build up because it is a built up teaching. Even the
introduction to the third उपक्षनषत् is built upon the introduction
to the first and second उपक्षनषत् and my introduction to the next
उपक्षनषत् will be built upon the first, second and third.
Therefore I expect you to remember that. And if you don’t do
that not that you won’t get the benefit, but the benefit will be
proportional to your effort. Therefore the student says may we
both put the necessary effort! Therefore नवया म् means effort on
the part of student as well as on the part of the teacher also.
Having put forth all the effort, तेजनस्व िौ अ ीतम् अस्तु – not
only I should receive the teaching I should be able to retain the
teaching. Reception and retention both together is called मे ा
45
कठोपनिषत् शानततपाठः
शनक्तः. In िंस्कृत it is called ग्रहण- ारण शनक्त, receive the
teaching and retaining the teaching. Imagine there is a person
who receives very well but nothing is retained. What is the use?
There is no use. There is another person who cannot receive the
teaching but he has got great retention power. What will he
retain? Therefore both are equally important. Therefore the
student prays may our learning remain bright in the mind, green
in our memory. तेजनस्व means bright and fresh. In short, may I
not forget. That is why when the ब्रह्मचारर takes the उपियिम्,
it is entering that stage of life when he starts the Vedic
education. And one of the मतरs the ब्रह्मचारर should chant is,
he has cover his ears and say ब्रह्मण आणी स्र्ः । आणी means
plug, ear-plug, and ब्रह्मणः means Vedic knowledge. He is
addressing the Lord, ‘O Lord! You should remain as two ear-
plugs – one way ear-plugs, whatever I listen should enter the
heart and it should never go out. Then finally मा नवनद्वषावहै –
let us not have any strain in our emotional relationship. द्वेष
means literally dislike or hatred, here it means let there not be
any strain or misunderstanding, let the relationship be one of
mutual love and respect. िुरु’s attitude towards नशष्य should be
one of compassion and care and नशष्य’s attitude towards िुरु
must be one of faith and respect. That the िुरु will not mislead
me, that faith and also reverence that the िुरु has got the sacred
teaching and therefore as a repository of this teaching I should
have reverence, श्रद्धा and भनक्त. Because even psychologists say
that any communication will take place only when there is
rapport in relationship. And that is why in many family the
initial years is one of quarrels then whatever the other person
46
कठोपनिषत् शानततपाठः
says is misunderstood. Just asking when did you come may be
enough for one hour quarreling. The other person would have
asked the most innocent question. Innocent topic can lead to
angry outbursts. What does it mean? The statement has only
triggered the emotional strain which is potentially there. So
where there is emotional strain communication doesn’t take
place. And a family has broken down when communication has
broken down. And in such family you find either the members
don’t talk to each other or even the slightest conversation leads
to flare up. Therefore you will find either there is no
conversation or constant quarrel. And in that atmosphere
nothing takes place and the greatest victims are the children.
And in the olden days गुरुकुलम्s also were families where गुरु
was like a father and क्षशष्यs were like the children. And
therefore they understood that the गुरुकुलम् atmosphere must
be one of understanding, love, consideration, mutual help, care,
etc., not only among the disciples but between गुरु and क्षशष्य
also. And therefore the student says let our relationship be never
strained. And ॐ शानततः शानततः शानततः. As we have seen in
the previous शानततपाठs the शानतत is repeated thrice so that the
obstacles from the three sources can be eliminated.
i) आध्यानत्मक नवघ्िः, obstacles from within myself. Either
physical obstacles in the form of bodily pains etc., or mental
obstacles, distractions – suddenly you will remember
something else. That is called आध्यानत्मक नवघ्िः over which
we have more control.

47
कठोपनिषत् शानततपाठः
ii) आन भौनतक नवघ्िः, obstacles coming from the
immediate surroundings over which we have a little less
control, a little less than what I have on myself. Because when
I am the obstacle I can do something. But when the neighbors
are disturbing my control is limited.
iii) आन दैनवक नवघ्िः, obstacles coming from gods in the
form of supernatural forces like thunder, lightning, earthquake,
etc., over which the human beings have little control. So three
शानततs are chanted for freedom from all the three obstacles.
So this is the शानततपाठ and here afterwards the text will
begin which we will see from the next class onwards.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

48
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॥ ॐ ॥
प्रर्माध्याये प्रर्मा वल्ली
Having studied the शानततपाठ we will now enter into the
कठोपनिषत् text proper. And in the last class I pointed out that
the उपनिषत् has two chapters. Each chapter known as an
अध्याय and each chapter has got three sections and each section
is known as a वल्ली. Thus we have got three वल्लीs in this
chapter and now we are entering प्रर्माध्याये प्रर्मा वल्ली. And
the actual teaching of the वेदातत will start only later. The first
few मतरs are going to be of an introductory nature. The entire
first वल्ली and the first seventeen मतरs of the second वल्ली,
i.e., one and half वल्लीs are going to be introductory portion.
The actual teaching of वेदातत starts from the मतर eighteen of
the second वल्ली of the first chapter. As we have in the
भिवद्गीता the teaching only from the eleventh मतर of the
second chapter. The entire first chapter and the first ten मतरs
of the second chapter in the िीता happens to be introduction.
Similarly here also we are getting the introduction through a
story. In the भिवद्गीता also we had पाण्डव story similarly here
also we have a story. And through the story the ground is
prepared for the teaching. And in the introductory portion the
following topics are going to be highlighted.
1) ब्रह्मनवद्या मनहमा. So the first topic is the glory of
ब्रह्मनवद्या, Self-knowledge. How great it is, how glorious it is,
how rare it is, ब्रह्मनवद्या मनहमा we get this portion.

49
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
2) िुरु अपेक्षा. And the second topic highlighted in this
portion is the necessity of a िुरु. Without the guidance of a िुरु
one cannot get Self-knowledge, one cannot decipher the
Upanishadic teaching.
3) िुरोः लक्षणानि. And the third topic that we find in this
portion is the qualifications of a िुरु. Who is fit to be a िुरु, a
guide in spiritual field? This is extremely important because an
unqualified िुरु will do more disservice than service. And
therefore िुरोः लक्षणानि, the characteristics of a competent
guide.
4) नशष्यस्य लक्षणानि. The fourth and the most important
topic is the qualifications of a student, नशष्यलक्षणानि. What are
the characteristics of a student in whose presence alone the Self-
knowledge can take place, in whose absence the Self-
knowledge cannot take place and even if it takes place it will
not be of much use. And while dealing with the students’
qualifications many important values are highlighted.
So thus ब्रह्मनवद्या मनहमा, िुरु अपेक्षा, िुरोः लक्षणानि and
नशष्यस्य लक्षणानि these four ideas are indirectly conveyed
through a story. And even though I have classified these four
topics the उपनिषत् does not deal with these topics
systematically; they four ideas are strewn all over the story. it
is not topic-wise divided but we find these four topics mixed up
in one and half वल्ली.
The उपनिषत् begins with a story and we do not know
whether the story is a fact or fiction. It may be a factual story or
it may be a fictitious story or it may be a mixture of fact and
50
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
fiction. Like the historic movies they take based on World War
II or the Titanic sinking which are neither totally factual nor
totally fictitious but it is a mixture of both. But when we study
the story we are not interested in finding whether it is a fact or
a fiction. Our focus is not on the veracity of the story, but our
focus in on the implied teaching given through the story. And
having discerned, grasped those values we have to drop the
story part. This must be remembered as even we study the story
given. With this background we will enter the text proper. We
will read the first मतर.
मतर 1-1-01
ॐ उशि् ह वै वाजश्रविः िवा वेदिं ददौ ।
तस्य ह िनचकेता िाम पुर आि ॥ १ ॥
As a part this story the उपनिषत् is introducing a
वैनदकब्राह्मण who lived the life prescribed by the वेदs. A Vedic
follower. The name of that ब्राह्मण is वाजश्रविः. वाजश्रविः he
a person who is the son of वाजश्रवि्. This वाजश्रवि name itself
indicates what type of a person he was. So he was a follower of
the Vedic tradition. The वेदपवू ा भाग talks about a way of life.
And as I said in the introduction a particular way of life is
important for understanding Vedantic teaching. Therefore
Vedic way of life prepares the mental ground for the
understanding of the Vedantic philosophy. Thus वेदपवू ा is the
foundation for the वेदातत building to come up later. And वेदपवू ा
prescribes a particular lifestyle and वाजश्रवि was living that
lifestyle. What is that lifestyle? A lifestyle in which he was
doing a lot of यज्ञs, पञ्चमहायज्ञs. Those पञ्चमहायज्ञs we saw
51
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
in the भिवद्गीता. देवयज्ञः – contribution to the देवs, worship of
gods, क्षपतयृ ज्ञः – worship of forefathers, ब्रह्मयज्ञः – worship and
the propagation of the scriptures, मनुष्ययज्ञः – service to fellow
human being, and finally भत ू यज्ञः – taking care of even animals
and plants, a life of ecological harmony. In simple language
कृष्ण tells in the भिवद्गीता a यज्ञ way of life, a religious way
of life. And what is the uniqueness of a यज्ञ way of life? There
is lot of दािम् or sharing. Therefore वाजश्रवि was a person
who did not like to enjoy everything for himself, he led a life of
sharing. How do we know that? शङ्कराचाया says the very
name indicates वाज means अतिम्, which indicates अति
दािम्. श्रवः means fame or popularity. वाजश्रवि means the one
who is famous in the society for अतिदािम्. So he was a
generous person, a sharing person, a selfless person. वाजम्
अतिम्, तत् दािानद-निनमिं श्रवः यशः यस्य िः वाजश्रवाः तस्य
अपत्यं वाजश्रविः. His father was also well known for दािम्
and his son also is well known for that. Such a ब्राह्मण lived long
before. And naturally this दािम् is often part of varieties of यज्ञ.
So they perform the पर् ू ा and as the part of the पर् ू ा charity is
given either in the form of land, gold, food, clothing. Even in
those days marriage was a type of कन्यका दानम् which was
part of यज्ञ only, is a part of religious lifestyle. And this
वाजश्रवि had performed several यागs and he decided to
perform one of the very big यागs mentioned in the scriptures.
याग means sacrifices. And that याग or यज्ञ is known as
नवश्वनजत् याग which is a unique sacrifice in which one has to
give in charity or दक्षिणा everything that he possesses. It is as
good as taking िततयाि आश्रम because at the end of that यज्ञ
52
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
this person will not possess anything. Even the house in which
he lives has to be given as दक्षिणा. And वाजश्रवि also decided
to perform that याग. In the Vedic tradition all the िा िs,
religious exercises can be performed in two different ways.
Whether it is a यज्ञ, whether it is a pilgrimage, whether it is a
र्प, any religious exercise can be practiced in two different
ways which are known as िकाम िा ि and निष्काम िा ि.
िकाम िा ि means a religious practice for the sake of material
benefit which means as a result of this यज्ञ I want to get पुण्यम्
and I want to use the पुण्यम् for only better enjoyment. The
पुण्यम् can be used to encash more money, for getting children,
for getting house, for getting name, for getting fame etc. Not
only in this life, if a person has everything in this life he can use
the पुण्यम् for better sense pleasures in the next. That is I can go
to the heaven and encash the पुण्यम्, like the credit card. When
all the पुण्यम्s are exhausted, the person returns back to the
earth. An religious exercise can give me two types of पुण्यम् –
material पुण्यम् and spiritual पुण्यम्. When I seek material
पुण्यम् it is called िकाम कमा . And if I say I am not interested
in material पुण्यम्, I don’t want to encash the पुण्यम् for money
and pleasures and heaven then the very same पुण्यम् will be
available for spiritual benefit. What do you mean by spiritual
benefit? Anything connected with मोक्ष. What are the things
connected with मोक्ष? First things is I require a pure mind. So
पुण्यम् can be encashed for नचिशुनद्ध. O Lord let the पुण्य be
converted into क्षववेक, वैराग्यम्, शम, दम, उपरम, क्षतक्षतिा,
मुमुिुत्वम्. And suppose I have got all these qualifications in
full measure. I can encash पुण्यम् for getting a good िुरु.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
Because remember getting a good िुरु also is the result of
spiritual पुण्यम्.
दुलाभम् रयमेवतै त् देवािुग्रहहे तुकम् । मिुष्यत्वम् मुमुक्षुत्वम्
महापुरूषिश्रयः ॥
िुरुप्राक्षप्त is पुण्यफलम्. And after getting a proper िुरु also I
should have a conducive atmosphere for scriptural study. That
is also a result of पुण्यम्. So thus all these will come under
spiritual benefit caused by पुण्यम्. And when I seek नचिशुनद्ध,
when I seek िुरुप्राक्षप्त, when I seek श्रवणप्राक्षप्त, when I seek
ज्ञािप्राक्षप्त and even after getting ज्ञािम् when I seek
ज्ञािनिष्ठाप्राक्षप्त, they all come under निष्काम कमा .
Of these two types of कमा s which particular कमा
वाजश्रवि was doing? Because वाजश्रवि was doing क्षवश्वक्षर्त्
याग. now our interest is in finding whether it was िकाम
क्षवश्वक्षर्त् याग or निष्काम क्षवश्वक्षर्त् याग. Therefore the
उपनिषत् clarifies उशि.् So the first word उशि् means
सकामेन. सकामे न means वाजश्रवि was interested in getting
material benefit or worldly benefit in the form of स्विा लोक. So
उशि् means स्विा लोकम् कामयमािः – desiring to attain the
heavenly world, ह वै means emphasize. So the उपनिषत् is as it
were recollecting the past events. Therefore ह वै is Upanishadic
recollection. And with such a desire वाजश्रविः performed याग.
And the यज्ञ was completed also. And at the end of the यज्ञ,
there is the final part of the Vedic यज्ञ which is दनक्षणा दानम् –
giving the sacrificial fees to the priests. And according to the
scriptures दनक्षणा is also an integral part of the sacrifice. It is
not दनक्षणा after the sacrifice. The sacrifice gets over only after
54
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
दनक्षणा is given. And therefore scriptures point out that if
दनक्षणा is not given the यज्ञ is incomplete, therefore the यज्ञ will
not give फलम्. And you cannot ask the Lord O Lord reduce the
फलम् by five percent, I am not able to give दनक्षणा so whatever
has to be deducted for that please deduct and give me the फलम्.
No. If you don’t give दनक्षणा the whole यज्ञ becomes a
तामनिक यज्ञ. And not only दनक्षणा must be given, but
appropriate दनक्षणा also must be given. You cannot ask a priest
to chant रुद्रम् one hundred and twenty-one times and then give
twenty-five paise दनक्षणा; that is not correct. And if दनक्षणा is
not given or if it is not given duly properly that यज्ञ becomes a
तामनिक यज्ञ. Therefore कृष्ण defines तामनिक यज्ञ in the
भिवद्गीता
नवन हीिमिि ृ ातिं मतरहीिमदनक्षणम् ।
श्रद्धानवरनहतं यज्ञं तामिं पररचक्षते ॥ िीता १७-१३ ॥
मतर-हीिम् अदनक्षणम्. Without giving दनक्षणा if a person
performs यज्ञ it comes under तामनिक यज्ञ. It will not give the
full benefit. And mind you the most important thing is the priest
may ask दनक्षणा or not, it is not that you give an excuse that he
did not ask for दनक्षणा so I didn’t give, whether he asks or not
is not the question, whether he needs this money or not is not
the question, I want my यज्ञ to be complete and therefore
whether he wants or needs I have to give him. And this rule
वाजश्रवि knows and for क्षवश्वक्षर्त् याग the दनक्षणा is
everything. Therefore the उपनिषत् says िवा वेदिं ददौ. वेदिम्
means wealth. All types of wealth – movable and immovable.
िवा वेदिम् – िवा स्वं िम्, ददौ – दिवाि्. And when these

55
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
दनक्षणाs were given to the priests his son was watching this
event. Who was his son? तस्य ह िनचकेता िाम पुर आि – to
that वाजश्रवि, the great वैक्षदकब्राह्मण was a son who is known
as िनचकेताः. In िंस्कृत the name should be pronounced as
िनचकेताः, like चन्द्रमाः, वेदाः, दुवाु साः etc. But in English since
that क्षवसगु is not there we say िनचकेति्. And िनचकेति् is the
hero of कठोपनिषत्. Because he is going to be the student of
कठोपनिषत्, the उपनिषत् indirectly indicates the family
background of िनचकेति्, in which atmosphere he has grown
up. He was exposed to वेदs, he was exposed to Vedic ritual, he
was exposed to अन्नदानम्, िेत्रदानम्, स्वणु दानम् etc. All this
to indicate that िनचकेति् is a fortunate वैनदक boy. And not
only that if I do not have faith in वेदपवू ा भाग itself it is extremely
difficult to develop faith in the वेदातत suddenly. Because faith
is something which has to grow in me. I cannot suddenly
develop faith. Even your faith on your friend is not suddenly
developed. When you move with a person for some time you
develop श्रद्धा. Therefore in our tradition initially we are exposed
to the वेदपवू ा भाग and by the time we go through that Vedic life
the श्रद्धा has come sufficiently and when such a person goes to
वेदातत शम, दम, उपरम, क्षतक्षतिा, श्रद्धा part is well developed.
In fact, the one who has gone through वेदपवू ा , a religious
lifestyle for such a person श्रद्धा is easier. And therefore
िनचकेति् had the advantage of being born in a family of Vedic
culture. And this िनचकेति् watched दनक्षणाs being distributed
to the priests. And bigger the याग the more number of priests
also. We saw in मुण्डकोपक्षनषत्

56
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
प्लवा ह्येते अदृढा यज्ञरूपा अिादशोक्तमवरं येषु कमा । एतच्रे यो
येऽनभितदनतत मढ ू ा जरामत्ृ युं ते पुिरे वानप यनतत ॥
मुण्डकोपनिषत् १-२-७ ॥
In bigger rituals the priests are also many. ऋग्वेद priests will be
four, यजुवेद priests will be four, िामवेद priests will be four,
and अर्वा णवेद priests will be four. Total sixteen priests. And in
bigger यागs still more priests will be there. And this happens
to be one of the very big यागs and therefore there were many
priests and दनक्षणाs were being distributed and it is at this time
िनचकेति् is going to see what is happening. And when he saw
what happened is given in the next मतर.
मतर 1-1-02
तँ ह कुमारँ िततं दनक्षणािु
िीयमािािु श्रद्धानववेश िोऽमतयत ॥ २ ॥
And what was the age of his िनचकेति्? तँ ह कुमारँ
िततम् – he was a कुमारः. कुमार means a boy of less than ten
years of age, so between seven to eight years. And that is why
the उपनयन, the sacred thread is given the boy has to eat food
from his mother’s hand. Because after the sacred thread
ceremony he will go to गुरुकुल and he has to live on नभक्षा. A
ब्रह्मचारर also has to live on नभक्षा in गुरुकुल and when he takes
नभक्षा he has no other choice but to accept whatever is given.
Therefore until उपनयनम् he had the luxury of eating from his
mother’s hand and the उपनयन ceremony is the last
opportunity to enjoy food. Therefore that day they prepare
everything that the boy likes. And he is asked to eat as much as
he wants. That itself is like a ritual. Ritualistically it is done and
57
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
that is called कुमार भोर्नम्. So the word कुमार is used for a
boy who is taking to initiation. And the initiation age is seven
or eight years. Therefore the word कुमार means seven or eight
years. So this िनचकेति् was a small boy only but still he was
an informed boy. Because he is born in Vedic family and
therefore even as a fetus he must have heard lot of मतरs and
then he must have seen his father doing lot of rituals and he
must have learnt a lot of things from his own father. And
learning from father is considered to be still great. That is called
क्षनयमाध्ययनम् which is supposed to be very sacred and
auspicious. And this िनचकेति् must have that benefit also,
therefore he was an informed boy. And he knew certain basic
principles regarding याग and the result. And what are those
principles? We have to know that all the कमु s can be done in
two ways – िकाम and निष्काम, material benefit and spiritual
benefit. Now the basic rule is when the कमु s are done for the
material benefit all the rules should be observed properly. Even
if there is violation of one rule the िकाम कमा will not produce
the result. And therefore one should be extremely careful with
regard to every step. And not only that in any step I commit a
mistake then the scriptures themselves prescribe a प्रायनिि
कमा , a remedial ritual. So suppose we have to offer some
oblations unto the fire and the scriptures will mention about the
oblations and their order. Suppose I violate even the order then
it is a mistake, then I should do an appropriate प्रायनिि. And
the remedial कमा also is not what I like but as prescribed in the
scriptures, like chanting one thousand and eight गायक्षत्र or you
give an extra दनक्षणा to one priest or you offer an extra oblation.
58
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
Those who are doing daily ितध्यावतदिम्, they know.
Normally अर्घयु म् is three. But if you have violated the time of
ितध्यावतदिम् which is called काल-अतीत-दोष for which we
have to do काल-अतीत-प्रायनििम् which is another extra
अर्घयु म्. So in some places the remedial measure is simple and
in some places it is very complicated, in some places you are
asked to do the whole ritual from scratches. So therefore िकाम
कमा means rules are important. Whereas in the case of निष्काम
कमा the greatest advantage is even if rules are violated it
doesn’t matter as long as they are not deliberately violated. If
inadvertently, unknowingly I commit a mistake in निष्काम
कमा , then still in spite of its deficiency the निष्काम कमा will
purify the mind. This कृष्ण tells in the second chapter of the
िीता,
िेहानभक्रमिाशोऽनस्त प्रत्यवायो ि नवद्यते ।
स्वल्पमप्यस्य मा स्य रायते महतो भयात् ॥ िीता २-४० ॥
Any discipline you follow for the sake of inner growth mistakes
are ok, but I should be careful not to commit mistakes. But in
spite of that mistakes happens I need not worry. But in the case
of क्षवश्वक्षर्त् याग it is िकाम कमा and that िनचकेति् happens
to know. He knows that his father is doing this याग for स्वगु .
And if it is िकाम कमा all rules must be observed including the
दनक्षणा rule, appropriate दनक्षणा. And therefore at this juncture
िनचकेति् remembers this rule when दनक्षणाs were being
distributed. Previously he was around but he was not bothered
perhaps a playful boy but at this juncture is mind was
overpowered by श्रद्धा. Therefore the उपनिषत् says दनक्षणािु

59
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
िीयमािािु सत्सु – when दनक्षणाs were being taken श्रद्धा
आनववेश – faith in the rules and regulations of rituals which was
there in his mind before but at this moment the श्रद्धा was
activated, involved, he remembered. So therefore श्रद्धा आनववेश
it was triggered in his mind even though कुमारँ िततम् –
िनचकेति् was a small boy only. Because maturity and
knowledge is not proportional to the age. Sometimes there are
many aged people but they are childish mentally and there are
very young people but inwardly they are very mature. Such
people are called ज्ञानवद्ध
ृ ाः. ज्ञानवद्ध
ृ ाः means age-wise young
but wisdom wise they are grown up. And there are some other
people वयोवद्धृ ाः whose hair has turned grey, everything has
turned grey but still he is in childhood stage. िनचकेति्
happens to be a ज्ञानवद्ध ृ even though he is a कुमार. And
therefore िः अमतयत – िनचकेति् began to think, think of his
father’s lot – what will happen to his father by giving such
दनक्षणा. And what was his thinking process? That is given in
the next मतर.
मतर 1-1-03
पीतोदका जग् तणृ ा दुग् दोहा निररनतियाः ।
अितदा िाम ते लोकास्ताि् ि िच्छनत ता ददत् ॥ ३ ॥
As even we read this story parallelly we have to note the
various qualifications of िनचकेति्. In the second मतर itself
the qualifications of श्रद्धा has been mentioned. So it was shown
that in the िा ि चतुिय िम्पनि िनचकेति् had श्रद्धा िा िम्.
And indirectly the उपनिषत् is teaching us that we also should
have श्रद्धा, िनचकेति् gained the Self-knowledge and he had
60
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
these qualifications. If we have to gain Self-knowledge we
should also have these qualifications – श्रद्धा in the Vedic
teaching. This third मतर is within quotation the उपनिषत् is
giving the thinking process of िनचकेति्. So this is the thought
of िनचकेति.् When did this thought arise in िनचकेति् mind?
When दनक्षणाs were being given. And he happens to see some
cows were also taken as दनक्षणा. Because in the olden days
cows were an important form of wealth. Wealth in the form of
currency is now only. In those says wealth was in the form of
cow. If you read बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् र्नक repeatedly
promises cows alone as दनक्षणा.
िोऽहं भिवते िहस्रं ददाम्यत ऊध्वं नवमोक्षाय ब्रहू ीनत ॥
बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् ४-३-१४ ॥
So cows in hundreds and thousands were given and वाजश्रवि
also had lot of wealth and cows were also a part of his wealth.
And these cows were driven into यागशाला to be given as
दनक्षणा. And िनचकेति् happens to see the stage of those cows.
And what did find? To his utter dismay he found that those
cows were miserable and useless. In fact, whoever receives
those cows will not have any benefit at all, on the other hand he
will have to spend more money to protect those cows. So
िनचकेति् thinks it cannot be a proper दनक्षणा. And therefore
we get a description of those miserable cows. And what is their
condition? पीत-उदकाः – so they have drunk enough water and
now they are so feeble that they do not have even strength for
drinking water. Like some people who are about to die you
cannot feed them through mouth, they are fed through nasal,

61
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
intravenous feeding etc., because they don’t have even strength
for regular way of eating. Similarly the cows are in such a
condition. Therefore पीत-उदकाः means they have drunk water
for the last time, hereafter they cannot drink water. What about
eating grass? When they cannot drink water itself where is the
question of eating grass. जग् तण ृ ाः. Each word is an adjective
for the cows. पीतोदकाः िावः, जग् तण ृ ाः िावः. All बहु व्रीनह
िमाि. पीतम् उदकं यानभः ताः पीतोदकाः । जग् ं भनक्षतं तण ृ ं
यानभः ताः जग् तण ृ ाः । They have taken the last bunch of grass.
That means they cannot eat any more. What about milk?
दुग् दोहाः – the last drop of milk also they have given. One
cannot get even a drop of milk from those cows. Utterly useless.
And at least can they give birth to a calf? निररनतियाः – their
reproductive faculty also is gone. So here the word इनतिय
प्रजिि शक्षतः. So the power of reproduction also they have
lost. And such miserable cows were being driven to be given to
the priests. And िनचकेति् is greatly disturbed because if such
a दनक्षणा is given the यज्ञ will be a deficient यज्ञ, and for
performing such a यज्ञ his father will not get स्विा लोक. It
doesn’t matter if he don’t get स्विा लोक but he will get िरकम्
only for giving such a दनक्षणा. Therefore he says ताः ददत्
अितदाः िाम ते लोकाः ताि् िः यजमािः िच्छनत – by giving
such cows my father or any person for that matter will go to
only िरकम्. अितदाः means worlds of sorrow. नन्दः means
सुखम्, happiness. अितदः means दुःखम्. दुःख लोकान् िरक
लोकान् अधो लोकान् प्राप्नुवक्षन्त. Therefore I have to save my
father somehow. Therefore he started scratching his head to
find out a solution. That we will see in the next class.
62
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

63
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 1-1-03 Continuing;
कठोपनिषत् begins with a story which runs to one and
half sections of the first chapter. And through the story the
उपनिषत् is preparing the ground for Self-knowledge. As
pointed out in the last class through the story the glory of Self-
knowledge will be revealed, the necessity of a गुरु will be
revealed, the qualifications of a गुरु will be indicated and
finally and most importantly the qualifications of a क्षशष्य also
will be showed. With this intention the उपनिषत् gives a story
in which ब्राह्मण by name वार्स्रवस has been introduced. He is
performing a very big याग known as क्षवश्वक्षर्त् and this याग is
a िकाम कमा because वाजश्रवि is interested in the material
benefit of heaven. And you should remember स्विा लोक also
comes under material benefit only. And since this is a िकाम
कमा , a motivated ritual it has to be performed properly to get
the result and वाजश्रवि has successfully completed the ritual
and he is in the last phase of the याग which is distributing
दनक्षणा to the involved priests. And the uniqueness of this ritual
is that one has to give all the possessions as दनक्षणा. And
वाजश्रवि is giving everything in his possession and he is taking
the cows in his possession to be distributed as दनक्षणा to some
priests. And when the cows are being taken his son िनचकेति्
who is going to be the hero of कठोपनिषत्, who is around the
age of seven or eight years old happens to see the condition of

64
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
these cows. And from this story the idea that we have to grasp
are –
1) िनचकेति् belongs to a Vedic traditional family.
2) And he is exposed to वेदमन्त्रs.
3) And he knows the importance of the rules when a person
is doing िकाम कमा .
All this information िनचकेति् already had. And
therefore श्रद्धा, faith in the efficacy of the rituals overtakes his
mind. and he begins to think that my father’s ritual will be
successful, fruitful only when proper दनक्षणा is given. And
when he looks at the conditions of the cow he feels very bad
because the cows are in a very bad shape. Whichever priest
receives these cows will not get any benefit on the other hand
the cow will have to be in the veterinary hospital all the time.
So what is the use of giving such a cow? This is going to be the
thinking pattern of िनचकेति् which the उपनिषत् presents in
the third श्लोक which we are seeing now पीतोदकाः जग् तण ृ ाः
दुग् दोहाः निररनतियाः. That means they are about to die. And
then िनचकेति् says by giving such cows as दनक्षणा the
यजमाि will not get स्विा लोक and not only that still worse for
doing such a negative याग he will get only िरक लोक. Of
course it is an exaggeration but the idea is he won’t get अितद.
Therefore ताः ददत् – by giving such a deficient दनक्षणा,
अितदाः लोकाः ये िच्छनत ताि् लोकान् एव ते प्राप्नुवक्षन्त – they
will go to only अितदाः लोकाः. Very careful here the word is
not अनन्त लोक. There is a difference between अनन्त and
अितद. When you say अनन्त it means the eternal लोक, it is a
65
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
positive thing. But here the word is not अनन्त but it is अितद
which means दुःखम्. नन्द means सुखम्, happiness. अितद
means दुःखम्. आनन्द means excessive सुखम्. Therefore
अितद लोक means दुःख लोक which means िरक लोक.
Therefore िनचकेति् is worried my father will go to hell. And
िनचकेति् wants to save his father to prove that he is a true son
of his father. So this is another side lesson we learn – िनचकेति्
was not an useless son, he was a very good obedient dutiful son
who was interested in the well-being of his father. Because
according to शास्त्र the very word पुत्रः means पुतिाम्िो िरकाद्
यस्मात् नपतरं रायते िुतः ॥ वाल्मीनक रामायण २-९९-१२ ॥ The
word पुत् means future suffering. And त्र means savior.
Therefore पुत् त्र means one who saves his parents from future
sorrow. The one who is interested in the well-being of his
parents. िनचकेति् proves he is पुत्र worth the name. How do
you know? Because he is concerned about his father’s future.
Upto this we saw in the last class. Continuing;
मतर 1-1-04
ि होवाच नपतरं “तत कस्मै मां दास्यक्षस” इनत ।
नद्वतीयं ततृ ीयं तँ होवाच “मत्ृ यवे त्वा ददाक्षम” इनत ॥ ४ ॥
Why वाजश्रवि was giving such useless cows as दनक्षणा
is not said in the उपनिषत्. The उपनिषत् only mentions that the
cows were useless. Therefore the reason we have to supply. We
have to imagine the reason. And the reason we imagine will
depend upon our mental makeup. If we are positive thinkers we
will give a positive reason or else we will give negative reason.
There are some negative thinkers who give negative reason that
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
वाजश्रवि was a greedy person who did not want to give good
cows and therefore he selected useless ones for दनक्षणा. This is
the interpretation of some people. But I don’t think we should
approach in this negative manner because if वाजश्रवि did not
want to part with his good cows then he need not have
performed this नवश्वनजत् याग itself because it is not
compulsory. And therefore the very fact that वाजश्रवि was
willfully doing this याग means he knows everything he has to
part with good or bad cows and therefore he must be prepared
to give. And therefore according to me it is not that वाजश्रवि
was greedy, he has given all his possessions even good cows
have been given. Now what is left out is the last few cows which
happens to be of that condition. And therefore I will interpret
as only positively. Therefore these are the last cows; all good
ones have been given. And since all possessions have to be
given these cows also he is sending as दनक्षणा. And what
िनचकेति् feels is this. According to him even son is the
property of the parents. Whether it is right or wrong is not the
question here. We need not enter into such a debate, but
िनचकेति् feels that his father has given birth to him and he has
brought him up and he has given everything to him and
therefore his entire life is his father’s. People do say also that I
belong to you. Like that िनचकेति् out of reverence must be
feeling that I belong to my father, I am like his property and for
his benefit I am ready to be a दनक्षणा for any priest. If I am given
away as a दनक्षणा, I can serve that priest better than these
miserable cows. And therefore िनचकेति् feels that before
giving these cows as दनक्षणा I also must be given as दनक्षणा;
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
when I am there an able bodied boy why should my father gives
those cows. All these are the thinking pattern of िनचकेति्.
िनचकेति् further thinks he also doesn’t want to take his father
in any negative manner, and therefore he himself concludes my
father will not do that. My father would have planned to give
him also as दनक्षणा to somebody else. Because he knows
everything has to be given therefore he has planned to give the
cows also and he should have planned to give me also as
दनक्षणा. Therefore his next program is to ask his father to whom
is he going to give him as दनक्षणा so that he can quickly go and
decide to serve that person. Thus thinking िनचकेति् enters the
यागशाला and addresses him सः ह उवाच, सः means सः
िनचकेताः, he addressed नपतरम् उवाच – he addressed his father
वाजश्रवि. How? हे तत – o revered father, कस्मै मां दास्यक्षस –
to which priest are you going to give me as दनक्षणा. कस्मै
ऋनत्वजे मां िनचकेतिम् दनक्षणा रूपेण दास्यक्षस. And what was
father’s answer. Like most of the fathers when son or daughter
comes and talks ignore. This is a very big psychological
problem that the parents ignore the children which is considered
to be a very very negative treatment which will create only very
low self-esteem to the child and especially when the parents are
busy. They just say go and do your homework or go and play.
So वाजश्रवि also ignores him because he was extremely busy
with the ritual sending the दनक्षणा to the respective priests. Like
any other child, िनचकेति् also asks him again नद्वतीयम् – a
second कस्मै मां दास्यक्षस हे तत. And second time also father
did not respond. And what did िनचकेति् do? A third time also
he asked the same question. Like any general parent वाजश्रवि
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
also got irritated and tells him तँ होवाच – तं िनचकेतिम्
वाजश्रविः ह उवाच – he shot back in anger, “मत्ृ यवे त्वा ददाक्षम”
– I am going to give you मत्ृ यु, यम मा राज. To put in modern
language giving to मत्ृ यु means go to hell!. So instead of saying
go to hell in English he put in this language “मत्ृ यवे त्वा ददाक्षम”.
After all मत्ृ यु is also one of the gods who receives oblations,
therefore I am going to hand over to यम. Really speaking father
did not mean this. Nor has he earmarked िनचकेति् as an
offering to यम, but in anger he has blurted out without meaning
anything. But even though father did not mean िनचकेति्
registered this very well. This is another thing every parent has
to note. When we casually make some statement the children
will register it very well. Even during pregnancy the child
registers then what to talk of when the child has grown up upto
this much age. And the problem is they will repeat your words
at the most inconvenient time. and when you get angry the child
will say you only said to me that day. Therefore even if you are
using negative words, rude words which you are not supposed
to use, make sure that your children are not around. So now
िनचकेति् registered this very well that he is going to go to
यम मा राज. Then what happened immediately he went. And
what did he do?
मतर 1-1-05
बहू िामेनम प्रर्मो बहू िामेनम मध्यमः ।
नकँ नस्वद्यमस्य कता व्यं यतमयाऽद्य कररष्यनत ॥ ५ ॥
So िनचकेति् goes to a quiet place and he is thinking of
the consequences. He is not at all worried about his father’s
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
statement, he is prepared to go to यम मा राज. And why is he
prepared? Because if his father’s याग become fruitful by my
going to यम I am ready to sacrifice my life for the sake of
parent. So this also indicates how िनचकेति् is selfless boy. But
he had only one worry. Not worry of going to यम but the worry
was if he is sent to यम मा राज then he will not be fully utilized
by यम. I will only be underutilized. Why because according to
the scriptures यम is one of the most important and powerful
cabinet member of स्वगु लोक. So इति being the ruler वरुण
देवता, अक्षग्न देवता, यम देवता are considered to be very
powerful देवताs with lot of powers, lot of retinues, lot of
attendants. Already यम मा राज is served by so many people. So
यम मा राज has already so many servants when I go there I will
not be really any use at all. I should have been sent to some old
priest who do not have any children or any assistants or anyone.
And if I am send to such people I would have been fully
ृ ा वक्षृ टः समुद्रेषु – raining in the ocean is waste
utilized. Like वर्
sending me to यम मा राज is really a waste only. Then
िनचकेति् thinks perhaps father considers me as a useless boy
and therefore he has sent me to यम. Because if I am sent to a
person who doesn’t have any servant I should be a good boy
capable of serving. Then िनचकेति् wonders does my father
think that I am not going to be really of any use at all. Then he
himself answers, to his own mind he questions and gives the
answer my father should not have considered I am a useless
boy. In fact really speaking I am a very good boy only. He is
patting himself. Because he is one of the students under his
father. As said earlier िनचकेति् has got lot of Vedic knowledge
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
which means he must have got from his father; his father’s
house itself must have been a गुरुकुलम्, therefore there are so
many other boys learning under his father and िनचकेति्
happens to be a son as well as a disciple. And therefore
िनचकेति् looks at himself as a disciple and he says I am
mostly number one in the class and sometimes I might have
come to the second rank but I never have been the lowliest in
the group. Therefore he says बहू िां मध्ये अहं प्रर्मः – among
many students I am number one. Why does िनचकेति् thinks
so? Because his father should have sent him to a better place
where he would be useful, so that is his thinking ‘I am number
one among many students, बहू िां नशष्याणां मध्ये अहं प्रर्मः
एनम, एनम means I generally go as number one amidst students.
And not only in studies, remember, in service also. It is not
mere academic qualification, in terms of character also, in terms
of opinions also, in terms of service also. And how do we grade
the students? The gradation is done like this
उिमनिनतततं कुयाा त् प्रोक्तकारी तु मध्यमः । अ मोऽश्रद्धया
कुयाा द् अकतोच्चररतं नपतुः ॥ श्रीमद्भािवतपुराणम् ९-१८-४४ ॥
उिमः क्षचनतततं कुयाा त्. Who is an उिम क्षशष्य? The highest
disciple is one who understands the needs of a गुरु even without
the िुरु asking for it, without verbalization from the context he
infers the need of the गुरु just by his gesture. So he is उिम
क्षशष्य. क्षचनतततम् means whatever is thought by the गुरु he will
do. Who is मध्यम क्षशष्य? प्रोक्तकारी तु मध्यमः. He doesn’t
understand, everything has to be verbalized but he will do it
once the िुरु asks him to do, immediately he will jump and do.

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
प्रोक्तकारी means whatever गुरु commands he will do. And Who
is अ म क्षशष्य? ि कुयाा त् अ मः प्रोक्तम् – अ म क्षशष्य is one who
will not implement the commandments of the िुरु even after
they are clearly verbalized ि कुयाा त् अ मः प्रोक्तम् एवं नशष्यः
कृदा स्मत ृ ः. Thus there are three types of disciples. One who
does without commandments िनचकेति् wants to rank himself,
he says I have been either उिमः or मध्यमः, but never अ मः. So
बहू िां प्रर्मः एनम बहू िां मध्यमः एनम, बहू िाम् means among
many students, नि ाा रिे षष्ठी नवभनक्त. And in spite of being
such a student why should my father send me to a place where
I will not be well utilized at all. Therefore he says, नकंनस्वत्
यमस्य कता व्यम् – What duty, job is there for यम मा राज, यत्
मया अद्य कररष्यनत – which job has to be done through me?
Therefore I will be idle in यम’s palace. I am not fully utilized.
Therefore he was feeling a little bit sad that he is underutilized.
We should remember his sadness is not because he has to go
यम but because he is not fully utilized.
मतर 1-1-06
अिुपश्य यर्ा पवू े प्रनतपश्य तर्ाऽपरे ।
िस्यनमव मत्या ः पच्यते िस्यनमवाजायते पुिः ॥ ६ ॥
So having thought thus िनचकेति् decided - so why
should I judge my father’s decision. I am his son and my job is
just to obey his commandment and therefore I am not going to
argue with my father, question my father’s decision. Again this
is also another important lesson. A family means it is a group
of many members, and if it should function as a group there
should be only one decision maker. We can have several organs
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
but head must be only one. Already with one head we have
conflicts, imagine there are two heads one head will say see that
home and another head will say attend कठोपनिषत्. Therefore
wherever there is a group there should be one decision maker
alone. And once we have chosen a decision maker all others
have got only the power of suggestion, there is no power of
decision. And if one is the head of the family all others can give
their suggestion and if they strongly feel they can say ‘I strongly
suggest this.’ And having given the suggestion the head alone
must take decision and whatever be the decision all others must
follow. And if everybody wants to take decision that family will
not survive for long. If the head makes the wrong decision or
right decision is the प्रार् म् of the group. And if a person
doesn’t want to suffer that प्रार् म् then he should not have a
family. But once I decide to go to a group I should remember
that if I am the head then the duty of me is to be considerate
enough to take the other’s suggestion into account. That is the
leader’s duty. And the duty of the followers is they have the
right only to suggest and after suggestion they have to follow
whether it is right or wrong decision. िनचकेति् knew this.
Therefore even though he might have had other opinions he
decided this is my father’s decision and therefore my duty is
pack up and be ready for the journey – from भल ू ोक to यमलोक.
And therefore he packed everything and he went to his father.
And his father had blurted out something in anger which he
never meant. In fact, he had forgotten what he had said because
it was never said deliberately. You remember only what you
say deliberately. Since it was a mechanical statement his father
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
has already forgotten therefore when िनचकेति् with bag and
baggage then वाजश्रवि was surprised. ‘Where are you going?’
Then िनचकेति् says ‘you only said मत्ृ यवे त्वा ददाक्षम.’ So you
have decided to send me and therefore I am going to go. Then
वाजश्रवि says I did not mean. I only said something but I did
not mean that. And therefore he says you need not implement
this order. Then िनचकेति् says nothing doing, once you utter
a statement you will have to mean and follow that. That is called
integrity, that is called honesty, that is called सत्यवाक्यम्. That
is what दशरर् did and lost his son. And therefore िनचकेति्
begins to advice his father. Just see instead of father advising
िनचकेति् becomes taller than his father in terms of ethics and
morality. And through this the उपनिषत् wants to indicate how
िनचकेति् was a ानमा क person. So thus मा also is an
important qualification to come to मोक्ष. Without ethics
philosophy will not work. Without integrity and honesty वेदातत
is lip service. Everybody can talk but only very few people can
mean and follow what they say. This is called वाक्य
पररपालिम्. And therefore िनचकेति् says ‘father you have to
protect your words.’ This is a rule generally itself but especially
this is valid because you have made the statement ‘मत्ृ यवे त्वा
ददाक्षम’ in यािशाला. So in यािशाला especially we have to tell
the truth only. Before doing याि a person has to take vows
which are called as दीिा. The vows are I will not get angry, I
won’t tell lies, etc. The one who has taken दीिा is called
दीक्षितः. As an indication of the vow he ties an yellow string in
the right hand. It is a vow taken like the Olympic players taking
oath before the fire that we will not cheat, we will not take
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
drugs; and when they become ministers again they take oath.
Everywhere oath taking is required because without integrity
there cannot be transactions. So thus during याि also O father!
you have taken oath and therefore you cannot eat your own
words, you have to send me. And father feels again, he says
how can I miss you my son. And if you are an useless son I
would have happily sent. Like कौसल्या and दशरर् cried ‘O
राम such a wonderful son you are, how can we miss you?’
Therefore he says in life very rarely we come together and if
you go away from me what will happen? Then िनचकेति्
advises his father that the life is short, it is only for a few years.
Maximum this body will live for hundred years. And even if we
both are going to live for hundred years our association also will
be for a limited period only, whereas मा and ित्यम् are eternal.
Life is ephemeral, मा is eternal, values are eternal. For
protecting the ephemeral life you cannot sacrifice eternal मा .
In fact, we have to sacrifice ephemeral life for the sake of
eternal मा , eternal values. कृष्ण tells in the भिवद्गीता स्व मे
नि िं श्रेयः ॥ िीता ३-३५ ॥ Even sacrificing one’s personal life
is better for the protection of स्व मा . So O father should I tell
all these values to you.
प्राणम् वानप पररत्यज्य मािमेवानभरक्षतु अनित्यो भवनत प्राणः
मािमाचतितारकम् ॥
प्राण is अनित्य whereas honesty, मा , etc., आचतितारकम्, as
long as creation is these values will continue. And then
िनचकेति् addresses his father O father you look at your
forefathers, see to which great family you belong to. Because

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
every time you are saying अक्षभवादये. You are claiming that I
belong to ऋक्षष परम्परा, I belong to great Vedic tradition,
dharmic tradition. And if your forefathers have valued मा do
you want to break this wonderful परम्परा. Do you want to be a
blot in your wonderful family. In fact, this was the argument
given to दशरर् also. कैकेयी knows what to argue and what to
say. And the moment this argument that दशरर् your forefathers
are great dharmic people and if you eat your own words you
will be the first person to deviate from this wonderful परम्परा.
The moment that was said दशरर् decides. So िनचकेति् argues
यर्ा पवू े अिुपश्य – O father you see how your forefathers
valued honesty, integrity, truthfulness. Even if they did not
become very rich, they had to be poor, they had given up all
their comforts but they were willing to sacrifice everything for
the sake of सत्यम्. People like हररश्चन्द्र, राम were there in our
tradition. They did not require a stamp paper with signature.
िनद्भस्तु लीलया प्रोक्तम् नशला-नलनखतम्-अक्षरम् ।
अिनद्भः शपर्ेि अनप जले नलनखतमक्षरम् ॥ िुभानषतानि ॥
Who is a सत्पुरुषः? Whatever he tells he means. He need not
give in writing, he need not give a signature in a revenue stamp;
all those things are not required. When he says he means it.
Whereas who is an असत्पुरुषः? अिनद्भः शपर्ेि अनप – he gives
promise and there afterwards eats his own promise. He asks
‘when did I say?’ ‘You said on such a date.’ ‘I said on that day.’
This is what the society is now. Can you imagine! So we
effortlessly change our words. So िनचकेति् is almost scolding
his father. O father don’t you see your forefathers! And if

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
िनचकेति् quotes his forefathers life वाजश्रवि may argue that
these were all during forefathers time. Is it possible to live such
a life nowadays? Therefore िनचकेति् says प्रनतपश्य तर्ा अपरे
– so see your own relations, contemporaries, even now your
contemporaries follow honesty, integrity, आर्ु वम्.
अमानित्वमदनम्भत्वमनहंिा क्षानततः आजा वम् ॥ िीता १३-७ ॥
And by giving up this integrity what do you want to protect?
You can keep me along with you, isn’t it? By withdrawing your
words the advantage that you will get is you will not send me
to यम मा राज and we will be together. But even if we are going
to be together how long will we be together? How long will be
our life? िस्यनमव मत्या ः पच्यते – this physical body and this
association all these are ephemeral, so मत्या ः – the human body,
पच्यते – it is cooked by time means it withers away. So this
physical body will wither away very soon. Like mushrooms just
coming during rainy season. Once rains come lot of small plants
will come and it will go away in front of eternity our life is only
fleeting. To save this fleeting life do you want to give up your
honesty? िस्यनमव मत्या ः पच्यते – man withers away मत्या ः
means the perishable body will go away like a small plant. And
again िस्यनमव आजायते पुिः – another body is going to come
like bubbles in ocean bodies will come and go. To protect these
fleeting bodies do you want to give up ित्यम्, आजा वम्. Have
you thought over my father? So िनचकेति् becomes गुरु and
वाजश्रवि is stunned. It is not that he doesn’t know. So therefore
वाजश्रवि had to relent. Therefore what happens? We have to
supply the story. वाजश्रवि halfheartedly nods the head and says

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
bon voyage! Happy journey! You are really great. In fact,
दशरर् was also telling the same thing and राम advises दशरर्
not to compromise. You have to protect your words. I will help
you protect your words by not creating guilt in you. Often what
happens is in family even if one member wants to protect the
ित्यम् the other members will say don’t know how to live, like
a fool you are! Therefore remember if one member has to
follow honesty all the others like हररश्चन्द्र’s wife चन्द्रमक्षत tells
even if you lose everything and you are on the street I will be
with you. Therefore the others should not create guilt, the other
members should congratulate and say you are great, you are
wonderful, you are following value and by following values
whatever be the consequences we will together face. So like
that िनचकेति् encourages his father to follow values. And
वाजश्रवि relents and lets him go. And how did he go? Did he
go with the same body or not don’t ask me. He somehow
managed to go. And he went to यमलोक. And then what did he
find? यम मा राज had gone out. You know what is यम मा राज’s
department. He is the lord of death who is the busiest person in
the world. And therefore he had gone out and when िनचकेति्
was about to enter he found there were no male members in the
family. And according to the rules followed in those days a
male guest will not enter house and stay if in the family other
male members are not there. If only female are there a male
guest should not go. In fact िनचकेति् was a small child, he
could have gone. But still िनचकेति् decides to follow the rule
and he says till यम मा राज comes I will wait outside. And they
tried to give him food he did not take food also. Until I report
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
to यम मा राज I will not do anything. Because with the
permission of my master only I should even eat food as I am
under यम. Therefore I will wait till he comes.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 1-1-06 Continuing;
अिुपश्य यर्ा पवू े प्रनतपश्य तर्ाऽपरे ।
िस्यनमव मत्या ः पच्यते िस्यनमवाजायते पुिः ॥ ६ ॥
िनचकेति् convince his father वाजश्रवि and decides to
go to यम मा राज. And वाजश्रवि finding no other way permits
him to go and िनचकेति् has gone to यम मा राज’ house. And
in the last class it was pointed out that यम मा राज was not at
home and therefore िनचकेति् decides to wait and he does not
eat anything, because his idea is now I am under the control of
यम मा राज, until I report to him and get his permission I should
not do anything. And therefore he waits outside without even
eating food. And after three days यम मा राज comes back. And
when यम मा राज comes the members of the family are very
much worried about the situation. Because according to शास्त्र
taking care of an अक्षतक्षर् is an important duty. Among the
पञ्चमहायज्ञ one महायज्ञ is मनुष्य यज्ञ and honoring an अक्षतक्षर्
or guest is part of the duty. That is why we will be seeing in
तैनिरीयोपनिषत्
अनतर्यि स्वाध्यायप्रवचिे च ॥ तैनिरीयोपनिषत् १-९ ॥
And since it is prescribed as a compulsory duty non-
performance of that duty will become a पापम् called omission
or प्रत्यवाय पापम्. And this the members of यम’s family know
very well and therefore they are worried about the sin that will
occur to them. And therefore as soon as यम मा राज comes they

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all together address him in the following manner which is given
in the seventh मतर.
मतर 1-1-07
वैश्वािरः प्रनवशत्यनतनर्ब्राा ह्मणो िहृ ाि् ।
तस्यैताँ शानततं कुवा नतत हर वैवस्वतोदकम् ॥ ७ ॥
Therefore the seventh मतर is the words of the members
of यम मा राज’s family. And what do they say? A Brahmin
guest is like fire, वैश्वािरः. And according to the शास्त्रs also
अनग्ि देवता alone comes in the form of Brahmins in भल ू ोक.
Therefore every ब्राह्मण is considered to be representative of
अनग्ि देवता.
अनग्ििा ब्राह्मणः । तस्माद्ब्राह्मणोऽनग्िदेवत्यो मुखवीया िेनत
श्रुनतस्मनृ तनिद्धम् ॥ बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् शाङ्करभाष्यम् १-४-६
॥
In बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् it is said अक्षग्नरूपेण एव ब्राह्मणाः भल ू ोके
वतु न्ते. And fire is a powerful thing, it can bless a person if you
know how to handle it and it can destroy also if you don’t know
how handle it properly. For that matter anything in the world
electricity also if you know how to handle it blessing else it can
kill a person. Therefore the members point out in the form of a
ब्राह्मण अनग्ि देवता alone enters the house. वैश्वािरः िि्
ब्राह्मणः अनतनर्ः िहृ ाि् प्रनवशनत – like fire a Brahmin guest
enters a house. That means if you treat the Brahmin guest
properly he can bless you with prosperity, he can bless you with
knowledge, he can bless you with पुण्यम्, he can bless you with
मोक्ष also. Remember when we talk about ब्राह्मण here and

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
glorify a ब्राह्मण we should know what type of ब्राह्मण. We have
seen in the fourth chapter of the िीता ब्राह्मण from three angles.
र्ाक्षत ब्राह्मण, कमु ब्राह्मण and गुण ब्राह्मण. Whenever a Brahmin
is glorified you should remember the glorification is primarily
of गुण ब्राह्मण. A र्ाक्षत ब्राह्मण has got an advantage to become
a गुण ब्राह्मण, but र्ाक्षत ब्राह्मण is not great purely because of his
र्ाक्षत, his greatness is only because of his कमु and more than
कमु his गुण also. Therefore here the word ब्राह्मण means गुण
ब्राह्मण. And which गुण makes a person a गुण ब्राह्मण?
शमो दमस्तपः शौचं क्षानततराजा वमेव च ।
ज्ञािं नवज्ञािमानस्तक्यं ब्रह्मकमा स्वभावजम् ॥ िीता १८-४२ ॥
These nine characters are required for a person to be a worthy
Brahmin. शमः – mind control, दमः – sense control, तपः –
simplicity in life, शौचम् – purity of body and mind, आजा वम् –
honesty and truthfulness, ज्ञािम् – scriptural knowledge,
नवज्ञािम् – spiritual knowledge; all these गुणs make a person a
गुण ब्राह्मण. Such a गुण ब्राह्मण will bless a person if he is
worshipped, and if that person is dishonored the consequence
is प्रत्यवाय पापम्. And therefore here गुण ब्राह्मणः अनतनर्ः
िहृ ाि् प्रनवशनत – he enters the house like fire. Therefore what
should one do when fire comes? You have to respect. And now
here the fire is a destructive fire because three days he has
remained without food. And therefore they say तस्य एतां शानततं
कुवा नतत – better quench the fire. How do you quench the fire?
By pouring water. And similarly how do you quench the ब्राह्मण
fire? By pouring water. Where? Not on his head! पाद्य-
आििानद-दाि-लक्षणाम् – by doing पादपर् ू ा etc., you have to

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
propitiate the ब्राह्मण. Therefore एतां शानततं कुवा नतत – the
following peace offering, the following propitiatory action is to
be done by you O यम मा राज. Therefore what should you do?
हे वैवस्वत, उदकं हर. वैवस्वत is another name of यम मा राज
because यम मा राज is supposed to be the son of िय ू ा भगवान्.
िय ू ा भगवान् is called नववस्वाि्. नववस्वतः अपत्यं पुमान्
वैवस्वतः. And that is why in the िीता कृष्ण tells
इमं नववस्वते योिं प्रोक्तवािहमव्ययम्॥ िीता ४-१ ॥
There नववस्वाि् refers to ियू ा भगवान्. Here वैवस्वत means िय ू ा
पुत्रः यम मा राजः. And हे वैवस्वत, उदकं हर – please bring
water. Don’t say I am tired, I want to take some rest.
Immediately you have to take action otherwise you will incur
प्रत्यवाय पापम्. हर means bring, आहर. And now यम मा राज
must be feeling tired, therefore he must be wondering whether
to do it immediately or not. And therefore they want him. हे यम
don’t delay your duty. If you delay all the following problems
will come which is given in the eighth मतर.
मतर 1-1-08
आशाप्रतीक्षे िंितँ िि ू तृ ां चेिापत
ू े पुरपशँि
ू िवाा ि् ।
ृ ् क्ते परु
एतद्वङ ु षस्याल्पमे िो यस्यािश्नतविनत ब्राह्मणो िहृ े ॥ ८ ॥
So what will be the consequences if a Brahmin guest is
not honored. And we saw the consequence is प्रत्यवाय पापम्
called the omission of duty. And what will the प्रत्यवाय पापम्
do? So here यम मा राज’s people say the प्रत्यवाय पापम् will
destroy all the पुण्यम्s you have acquired. So whatever पुण्यम्s
you have acquired through various noble activities all those

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
पुण्यम्s will be neutralized by this powerful प्रत्यवाय पापम्.
And what are the पुण्यम्s that will be destroyed? A list of पुण्य
कमु s are mentioned. And at the end we have to add all these
पुण्यम्s will be destroyed if a Brahmin guest is not honored. Not
only पुण्य कमु s but also the other things that we have acquired.
1) The first one is आशा – all the hopes with regard to the
future that we have like our son will be like this, our grandson
will be like this though son or daughter is not yet married. So
without any rhyme or reason whatever we hope is called आशा.
All these hopes will be destroyed if you do not do this duty.
2) Then प्रतीक्षा – expectation. Expectation is that which we
know that it will happen. The difference between आशा and
प्रतीक्षा is when we expect based on knowledge it is called
प्रतीक्षा, when we expect something which is not based on
knowledge it is called आशा. For example, when you are
expecting the train to come at seven o’clock. You have the
knowledge that the train has left a particular station at a
particular time and the time-table says that it has to reach at
seven o’clock and when you go to the station it is प्रतीक्षा
because you are waiting for something which you know has to
happen. Similarly you son or some family member has written
that he will come to your house tomorrow. Then again it is
प्रतीक्षा. But suppose you don’t have any letter but you think that
perhaps he may come without writing a letter also, he may
suddenly land to give me a surprise. That becomes आशा.
अनिज्ञाा तप्राप्येिार्ा प्रार्ा िा आशा, निज्ञाा तप्राप्यार्ा प्रतीक्षणं
प्रतीक्षा. अनिज्ञाा तवस्तु क्षवषयक इच्छा आशा, निज्ञाा तवस्तु

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
क्षवषयक इच्छा प्रतीक्षा. So आशा will be destroyed, प्रतीक्षा will
be destroyed when you fail in your duty of ब्राह्मण अनतनर् पजू ा.
3) Then the next पुण्यम् is िङ्ितम् – the पुण्यम् born out
of noble company, ित्िङ्ि. So association with महात्माs,
association with saints will produce पुण्यम्. Not only will it give
you lot of knowledge which is दृि फलम्, but also it is supposed
to produce invisible result which is called पुण्यम्. So when you
learn something from a महात्मा it comes under दृि फलम्
because knowledge is something which we experience. And the
peace of mind we get comes under दृि फलम् but the invisible
पुण्यम् that we get is called अदृि फलम् and that is called here
as िङ्ितम्. िङ्ितं ित्िंयोिजं फलम्. ित्िङ्ि र्न्य
पुण्यफलम् is called िङ्ितम्. And we have to add this पुण्यम्
also will be destroyed if you fail to do your duty of ब्राह्मण
अनतनर् पज ू ा.
4) Then the next पुण्यम् is िि ू तृ ाम् – the पुण्य attained by
using our organ of speech properly like speaking sweet words,
truth etc. It is appropriate usage of our organ of speech and
according to शास्त्र that will produce पुण्यफलम्. And if the
organ of speech is inappropriately used then it is supposed to
produce पापफलम्. And the appropriate usage of our organ of
speech is called ििू तृ ा वाक्. In our culture they understood that
the organ of speech is the most powerful instrument. The more
you analyze the organ of speech the more you will understand
its power. The organ of speech is as powerful as the mind
because the words can represent whatever knowledge is there
in the mind. now whatever I am speaking is nothing but

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whatever I know. Therefore the organ of speech represents the
mind and therefore it is as powerful as the mind itself. And not
only it is as powerful as the mind but also it seems to be even
superior to the mind because the latter is not accessible to the
other human beings. My knowledge you can never see with
your sense organs but when the very same knowledge comes in
the form of words – open words, written words, recorded words
like in books and electronic media, not only is it accessible to
the present generation, but also to the future ones. Thus the
more you analyze the organ of speech the more you understand
its power. When I talk about its power it is both positively and
negatively. If it is properly used the organ of speech can give
rise to infinite benefit and if it is improperly used the organ of
speech can lead to the greatest destruction also. Therefore in
our culture, they said we should learn to control our speech. We
should know how to handle our words. Therefore वाक् तपि् is
considered to be the first spiritual िा ि. Anybody who wants
to start spirituality the first discipline is watch your words and
watch your consequences of your words and start being aware
of the words and start monitoring and controlling the words
both in terms of quality and also in terms of quantity.
शङ्कराचाया tells this in नववेकचड ू ामनण that वाक् is the first
तपि्,
योिस्य प्रर्मद्वारं वाङ्निरो ः ॥ नववेकचड
ू ामनण ३६७ ॥
If you want to start spirituality the first step is वाङ्निरो ः. So
start observing मौनम् once in a while at least and there
afterwards start watching your words and there afterwards

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
alone all the other िा िs begin. And therefore if a person
follows वाक् तपि् it is called िि ू तृ ा. And in our tradition this
ििू तृ ा वाक् is glorified very much.
ू े दुर्हादो या नहिनस्त ।
कामं दुग्घे नवप्रकषा त्यलक्ष्मीं कीनतं ित
शुद्धां शाततां मातरं मङ्िलािां ेिंु ीराः िि ू तृ ां वाचमाहु ः ॥
कामं दुग्घे – if a person knows how to handle his words, then he
can get everything done in his life. Just a sweet word at
appropriate time can make a person succeed in any field. And
नवप्रकषा क्षत अलक्ष्मीम् – all the अमङ्िलम्, inauspiciousness it
will remove from his home. So start using proper words instead
of name calling, अमङ्िलम् will go away from the house if only
you start watching your words. So where words are properly
used लक्ष्मीदेक्षव will be there, in whichever house words are not
properly used लक्ष्मीदेक्षव’s elder sister will come. So नवप्रकषा क्षत
अलक्ष्मीं कीनतं ित ू े – it gives name and fame to a human being.
दुर्हादो या नहिनस्त – if proper words are used even the enemies
will become friendly. And if I don’t know how to use words all
the members of the family, in the neighborhood, in the
company, everywhere everyone will turn inimical if you don’t
know how to talk. शुद्धां शाततां मातरं मङ्िलािाम् – organ of
speech or proper words is considered to be the mother of all
auspiciousness. It is called काम ेिु. Proper words are
considered to be a काम ेिु which will milk all मङ्िलम् in a
house. And not only will it give all these benefits it will produce
पुण्यम् also. That is why we should teach our children how to
talk and especially in the presence of children we should never
use inappropriate swearing, inauspicious words and if we use

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such words the children also will begin to use. Even if we don’t
use such words the programs in the TV will teach them. So in
our culture we give a lot of importance to words. And therefore
here the teacher says if you don’t do your duty all the पुण्यम्
acquired through िि ू तृ ा वाक् will be destroyed.
5) Then इिापत ू े. All the religious activities are called
इिम्. Here the word इिम् does not mean the desired activities.
The word इिम् is derived from the √यर्् याि. So इिम् means
that which is scriptural activities, religious activities. In short,
we can say पञ्चमहायज्ञs.
अनग्िहोरं तपः ित्यं वेदािां चािुपालिम् । आनतथ्यं वैश्वदेवि
इिनमत्यनभ ीयते ॥
Six-fold religious activities are called इिम्. अनग्िहोरम् –
regular worship of fire god or god in any form. In our tradition
god is worshipped as fire and therefore we say fire-worship.
तपः – moderation in all our activities, all forms of austerity.
ित्यम् – speaking truth, वेदािाम् अिुपालिम् – recitation of
scriptures वेद पारायणम्. वेद represents any scriptures in any
language. आनतथ्यम् – honoring the guest, our service to fellow
human beings. And finally वैश्वदेवि, वैश्वदेव is honoring the so
called lower beings like animals and plants. So in our tradition
before eating food they will take some food and keep outside
for the crow to eat. So therefore feeding cows or crows and
watering plants will come under वैश्वदेवः. These six-fold कमा s
are called इिम्. And these rituals can give पुण्यम् and here they
say these पुण्यम्s also will be destroyed if you don’t do your
duty of ब्राह्मण अनतनर् पज
ू ा.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
6) Then the next one is called पत ू ा म्. पत
ू ा म् refers to all the
social service activities. इिम् refers to religious activities,
ू ा म् refers to all the secular activities, लौनकक
वैक्षदक कमाु क्षण; पत
कमाु क्षण which is for the well-being of the society. It is defined
as
वापीकूपतडािानद देवतायतिानि च । अतिप्रदािमारामः
ू ा नमत्यनभ ीयते ॥
पत
So वापी, कूपः, तटाका, etc., – digging wells for the benefit of
other people; and देवालयः – building temples, building schools,
अतिप्रदािम् – giving food to the needy; आरामः – rest houses
for the pilgrims. And in the modern days orphanages, schools
etc., can be added. All the social service activities are called
पतू ा म्. And the पुण्यम् born out of पत
ू ा म् also will be destroyed if
you don’t honor the Brahmin guest.
7) Then the next one is पुरपशन ू ् – not only will it destroy
all these your पुरs and पशुs – children and the domestic
animals. So this पापम् will destroy your children also. Here the
destruction is not physical destruction but spiritual destruction
because they don’t know these values. For children parents are
the model and if they don’t follow the duties the children also
will be spiritually destroyed. Then पशन ू ् – all the pets and all
other domestic animals. So cows or horses or whatever you
keep they also will be destroyed because of प्रत्यवाय पापम्.
So एतत् पुरुषस्य वङ ृ ् क्ते – so this omission destroys all the
पुण्यम्s of a person. What type of person? अल्पमे िः – of that
unintelligent host or the unintelligent householder. Because he
doesn’t know what is his duty and therefore the उपनिषत् uses
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
the word of that unintelligent householder all these पुण्यम्s will
go. And यस्य िहृ े अिश्नि् ब्राह्मणः विनत – in whose house a
Brahmin guest stays without being honored, without even
eating food if he remains everything will be destroyed. And
therefore better you compensate for the omission by
worshipping िनचकेति्. Then you have to imagine that
यम मा राज rushed and brought water did पादपज ू ा and
worshipped him. And what happened next is given in the next
मतर, we will read.
मतर 1-1-09
नतस्रो रारीया दवात्िीिा हृ े मेऽिश्नि् ब्रह्मतिनतनर्िा मस्यः ।
िमस्तेऽस्तु ब्रह्मि् स्वनस्त मेऽस्तु तस्मात्प्रनत रीतवरातवण ृ ीष्व ॥ ९ ॥
Here we should remember that यम मा राज has got such
a great status because he is a देवता and that too not an ordinary
देवता, he is a देवता with power. It is like the difference between
an MP and a minister, so minister has got more power than an
MP because he holds a post. Similarly यम मा राज is not only a
member of heavens but he has got a great portfolio also and that
not an ordinary one but he is the lord of कालः, the time
principle. In spite of having such a power when it comes to the
performance of duty यम मा राज does not have any sense of ego
at all. He is ready to worship a member from भल ू ोक who is not
even a देवता. He is a मनुष्य but even then यम मा राज worships
him. So these are all the indirect lessons that we learn from such
stories. There is no arrogance यम मा राज is a picture of
humility. Similarly we get the same idea when कुचेल or सद ु ामा,
an ordinary poor person visits Lord कृष्ण who has got such a
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status, who is an अवतार पुरुष, who has got so much power,
remembers the duty of a householder अनतनर् देवो भव and
therefore worships the feet of कुचेल. He bends and washes the
feet of कुचेल. If कृष्ण does that and if यम मा राज does that
what should be our humility? So these are all lessons in
humility, we should know how to worship and here यम मा राज
also completes the worship. And then he feels extremely guilty
even though he need not feel guilty because he has not
knowingly, deliberately committed any mistake. But still he
feels guilty and therefore he asks for forgiveness from
िनचकेति्. And these are words of यम मा राज asking for
forgiveness. So he says हे ब्रह्मि् – O Brahmin, मे िहृ े नतस्रः रारीः
यत् अवात्िीः – so you have stayed in front of my house for three
days. नतस्रः रारीः यत् अवात्िीः. What is the tragedy? What is
the disturbing factor? अिश्नि् – without eating. Your
starvation disturbs me, and even if you are an ordinary person
it would have disturbed me but here the pain is more because
you happen to be my guest also. So अनतनर्ः िि् नतस्रः रारीः
अवात्िीः – so you happen to be my guest also therefore my
responsibility is more. And that too not ordinary अनतनर्ः, any
अनतनर् should be respected and you are a Brahmin अनतनर्. So
ब्रह्मि् – you are Brahmin guest who deserves more respect
because of your culture, because of your knowledge you
deserve more respect which I have not given. Therefore what
am I to do? I have to do an extra नमस्कार िमस्यः – so you are
to be honored by me. As a means of asking forgiveness I have
to do an extra नमस्कार to you. And therefore हे ब्रह्मि् ते िमः
अस्तु – so I am doing an extra नमस्कार to you as a प्रायनिि
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for my mistake. And my prayer is मे स्वनस्त अस्तु – so let there
be मङ्गलम् for me, that means let the पुण्यम् that I have
acquired not go away from me, let पापम् not come to me.
मङ्गलम् मे अस्तु. And then I want to do some प्रायनिि for my
mistake तस्मात् प्रनत रीि् वराि् वणृ ीष्व – I am going to give you
three वरम्s, boons. Why I am going to give you three boons?
Because for three days you stayed outside my house. And
यम मा राज can give boon because after all he is a देवता and that
too with extraordinary powers. Therefore whatever you want I
can give you therefore choose three boons. Now िनचकेति्
feels it is worthy wait. So even though I didn’t have food but I
am going to be amply compensated for that. And therefore he
takes the opportunity. So now comes the three boons asked by
िनचकेति्.
मतर 1-1-10
शाततिंकल्पः िुमिा यर्ा स्याद्वीतमतयुिौतमो माऽनभ मत्ृ यो ।
त्वत्प्रिि ृ े ॥ १० ॥
ृ ं माऽनभवदेत्प्रतीतेतत् रयाणां प्रर्मं वरं वण
So this is िनचकेति् encashing the boons given by
यम मा राज. In this मतर he asks for a set of benefits. All these
benefits he wants to have. They are as follows.
1) िौतमः शाततिङ्कल्पः स्यात्. िौतमः is the name of
िनचकेति्’s father. You may wonder because in the beginning
his name was said as वाजश्रविः. If you can have two-three
names, one name at home, one name at the bank, like that
िनचकेति्’s father also has many names one name is
वाजश्रविः, another is िौतमः, and the third name will come
later. So िौतमः, my father what should happen to him?
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
शाततिङ्कल्पः – he must be free from mental disturbances,
worries, concerns about me. Because we know the context in
which he came away. Father did not want to send him at all. It
is only the son convinced and forcibly came. And naturally any
father will be worried. When the child goes to school or college
itself we worry. Now िनचकेति् has gone to another लोक
altogether. So naturally his father will have concern. So let my
father be peaceful.
2) And िम
ु िाः – he must enjoy peace of mind.
3) And also वीतमतयुः – he must not be angry towards me.
Because I argued with him and convinced him to let me come
here, therefore he may misunderstand me and be angry with me.
Let my father not have anger towards me. so therefore he must
be free from worries, he must have peace of mind and he must
be free from anger towards me. So मा अनभ means towards me
he must not have anger. हे मत्ृ यो – O यम मा राज! These are the
words of िनचकेति्. And not only that when I take the three
boons from you and later when I go back to my father, of
course, permitted by you my father should recognize me.
4) So therefore त्वत्प्रिि ृ म् – I will be released by you after
my job is over. The job now is three boons, after which he will
be released. And I will go back to the earth and meet my father.
And when I go back to my father my father should recognize
me.
5) प्रतीतः – I should be recognized by my father. He should
not dismiss me as a ghost! Because I am coming from another
लोक.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
6) He should recognize me and not only recognize मा
अनभवदेत् – he should talk to me also. Because if there is anger
we may say I am not in the mood to talk to you now. Similarly
he should not turn away from me. He should talk to me as
before. So त्वत्प्रिि
ृ ं मा प्रतीतः सन् अनभवदेत्.
After asking all these िनचकेति् very intelligent as he is says
this is the first boon I want. So all these put together count as
one boon एतत्रयाणां प्रर्मं वरं वण ृ े. This is the first boon. You
can take it as a group of boon. So यम मा राज must be
appreciating the intelligence of िनचकेति् and यम मा राज has
no choice also and therefore he will say तर्ा अस्तु. That will
come in the next मतर which we will see in the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 1-1-09 & 10 Continuing;
नतस्रो रारीया दवात्िीिा हृ े मेऽिश्नि् ब्रह्मतिनतनर्िा मस्यः ।
िमस्तेऽस्तु ब्रह्मि् स्वनस्त मेऽस्तु तस्मात्प्रनत रीतवरातवण ृ ीष्व ॥ ९ ॥
शाततिंकल्पः िुमिा यर्ा स्याद्वीतमतयुिौतमो माऽनभ मत्ृ यो ।
त्वत्प्रिि ृ े ॥ १० ॥
ृ ं माऽनभवदेत्प्रतीतेतत् रयाणां प्रर्मं वरं वण
Since िनचकेति् had to wait for three days in
यम मा राज’ house. यम मा राज offers him three boons and
िनचकेति् is asking for these three boons. The first boon is in
मतर number ten and through the first boon in fact, he asked for
three things very intelligently. First he said my father should be
peaceful and he should sleep very comfortably without any
concern about me. Not only did he ask for his father’s peace of
mind he also said that he should be released from यमलोक and
should be sent back to his father. This is the second thing he
wanted. Not only that when he goes back home his father must
recognize him again as his own son, he should not take him as
a ghost. Not only should he recognize िनचकेति् but treat him
as before with love and affection. So he asked for several things
but intelligently at the end he said all these things I want
through my first boon. So now you can see how clever
िनचकेति् is, therefore fit for वेदातत; not cunning but very
clever, very intelligent. And the interesting thing is he validated
his father’s words also and now through the first boon he is
fulfilling his father’s desire also. To fulfill the words of his
father he went to यमलोक. By this he validated his father’s
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
words. Now through the first boon he wants to go back to
भलू ोक because his father really doesn’t want him to send to
यमलोक. Therefore through the boon he fulfills his father’s
desire. Thus both the words and the thoughts of his father
िनचकेति् very intelligently validated. Up to this we saw in the
last class. Now यम मा राज has to respond to this first boon
which will come in the next मतर which we will read.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 1-1-11
यर्ा पुरस्ताद्भनवता प्रतीत औद्दालनकरारुनणमा त्प्रिि
ृ ः।
िुखँ रारीः शनयता वीतमतयुस्त्वां ददृनशवातमत्ृ युमुखात्प्रमुक्तम् ॥ ११ ॥
These are the words of यम मा राज in reply to
िनचकेति्’s request. And यम मा राज has no choice at all
because he has offered the boon to िनचकेति्. And therefore
यम मा राज fully accepts to fulfill िनचकेति्’s request.
औद्दालनकः आरुनणः. Both these words are two names of
िनचकेति्’s father. So now totally we have seen four names.
वाजश्रविः, िौतमः, औद्दालनकः, आरुनणः all these four names
refers to the same person. So यम मा राज is referring to him and
says मत्प्रििृ ः – मद् अनुगक्षृ हतः. So in the previous मतर the
word प्रिि ृ was translated as released by यम मा राज. But in
this मतर the very same word प्रिि ृ should be translated as
blessed by यम मा राज. Therefore यम says your father will be
blessed by me, मद् अनुगक्षृ हतः भवक्षत. And because of my
blessing what will happen to him? वीतमतयुः – he will be free
from anger towards you. So for your disobedience he will not
get angry, he will forgive you. मतयुः means anger, वीतमतयुः
means angerless. Not only that िख ु ँ शनयता – he will also sleep
comfortably without any worry about you. That was the request
he asked शाततिङ्कल्पः िुमिाः यर्ा स्यात् वीतमतयुः, the
same thing he is giving. And शनयता – he will sleep without
worrying about you. िुखँ – comfortably, without any
disturbance he will sleep. रारीः – not for a day or two, but for

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
many nights. On all the nights he will sleep comfortably.
Because we are supposed to sleep in the night only, therefore
रारीः. So िुखँ रारीः शनयता. And not only that त्वां ददृनशवाि् –
certainly he will see you again, मत्ृ युमुखात् प्रमुक्तम् – when you
are released from the jaws of death. मत्ृ युमुख is यम मा राज
referring to himself. So released from the jaws of death,
released from the jaws of यम मा राज, i.e., released from my
hands, certainly your father will see you. प्रतीतः – when he
meets you he will recognize you also as his own son. प्रतीतः –
he will recognize you, and it is not that he will merely
recognize, यर्ा पुरस्तात् भनवता – he will be the same towards
you as he was before this incident. So he will be as affectionate
to you as he was before. So he will be your loving father. In
short, your first boon is given, तर्ास्तु. In fact, the essence of
this मतर is तर्ास्तु. Whatever you have asked for granted. So
with this the first boon is over. And through the first boon what
character of िनचकेति् do we recognize? िनचकेति् is not a
selfish person. He does not think of his personal desire first,
what he wants he is going to ask through the third boon alone.
We would have thought of fulfilling our personal desire but
िनचकेति् is so selfless that first he thinks of his parents and
later he is going to think of the society. Family, society and only
thereafter he is going to think about himself. These are all
indirect indications of the character of a spiritual seeker. So
with this the first boon is over. Now we are entering the second
boon.

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
मतर 1-1-12
स्विे लोके ि भयं नकंचिानस्त ि तर त्वं ि जरया नबभेनत ।
उभे तीत्वाा ऽशिायानपपािे शोकानतिो मोदते स्विा लोके ॥ १२ ॥
From this मतर upto the nineteenth मतर we have the
second boon of िनचकेति्. As I said before िनचकेति् has
bothered about his family first, now his concern is about the
society, the welfare of the fellow human beings on the earth. So
he wonders what is the desire of majority of people? What do
majority of people want in life? Certainly not मोि. Majority
does not want मोि.
मिुष्याणां िहस्रेषु कनिद्यतनत निद्धये ॥ िीता ७-३ ॥
In fact even if भगवान् is going to give मोि freely we will say
that all we will later, now we have lot of things to be done.
िनचकेति् understands this. Then what do the people like?
They want a comfortable, prosperous, happy, enjoyable life,
where all the materials comforts are there. That is why people
say that a good job in America is better than India. Why people
all run to other countries? Because better salary, better comfort,
all the other things are there. Therefore human mind primarily
looks for except in rare cases comfortable, prosperous
materialistic life only. And therefore िनचकेति् wonders what
is the best materialistic life possible. And according to the
scriptures the most comfortable life is in the स्विा लोक.
स्विा लोक is a place where all sense pleasures are there, health
is there, people are there, all things are there. And therefore
िनचकेति् says स्विा लोक is the best in material pleasures,
therefore I should provide with the appropriate means for going
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
to the heaven. And therefore िनचकेति् first describes
स्विा लोक. So this मतर is glorifying स्विा लोक. What is the
glory of स्विा लोक? स्विे लोके भयं नकञ्चि िानस्त – there is no
insecurity in स्विा लोक, it is a secure place. And therefore
people will be naturally very comfortable and happy. And why
स्विा लोक is very secure and happy? िनचकेति् makes a very
mischievous statement. He says because you, यम मा राज are
not there. It may be a fact but should one say like that? Suppose
one member of family has gone somewhere and you write a
letter we are all very happy here because you are not there. It
may be a fact, but never write. But here िनचकेति् is so bold,
so यम मा राज must be appreciating. He says तर त्वं ि –
because you are not there. And by ‘you’ what does िनचकेति्
mean? कालतत्वम्. The time principle is not that active in
स्विा लोक. According to the scriptures different लोकs have got
different time frames. That is why when they do तपु णम् etc.,
they do only once in a month or so. Because once you have
offered then again such an offering is required only after one
month. So therefore the time-frame of heaven and the time-
frame of earth are totally different. And therefore काल acts
very slowly in स्विा लोक. And therefore जरया ि नबभेनत – they
do not grow old at all, they are always young. So here before
we recognize we are young we are grown old. So therefore
जरया ि नबभेनत – there is no old age in स्विा लोक. And not only
that अशिायानपपािे उभे तीत्वाा – they are free from hunger and
thirst also. Because of hunger and thirst alone there are lot of
problems here. Most of our time we only work for hunger and
thirst. And in the heavenly world neither of them is there. And
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
therefore शोकानतिः – they are beyond all the sorrows caused
by hunger, thirst, old age, senility, मरणभयम् etc., are not there.
And therefore if you go to heaven what will happen? स्विा लोके
मोदते – they have gala time. All the time they spend in
watching entertainment programs. रम्भा, उवा शी, नतलोिमा
dance programs continue. And naturally people will like that.
Therefore िनचकेति् tells further.
मतर 1-1-13
ि त्वमनग्िँ स्वग्या मध्येनष मत्ृ यो प्रब्रनू ह त्वँ श्रद्द ािाय मह्यम् ।
स्विा लोका अमत ृ त्वं भजतत एतद् नद्वतीयेि वण ृ े वरे ण ॥ १३ ॥
So िनचकेति् talks about further glory of स्विा लोक.
स्विा लोकाः अमत ृ त्वम् भजतते – not only are there free from old
age, hunger, thirst, sorrow etc., ultimately they enjoy even
immortality. So स्विा लोकाः – the heavenly denizens, the
celestials, अमत ृ त्वम् भजतते – they enjoy immortality also. so
upto this is the description of heaven. And in the शास्त्र within
the heaven itself so many gradations are talked about, we are
not going to the details here. Six heavenly worlds are talked
about. भुवलोक, सुवलोक, महलोक, र्नलोक, तपोलोक,
ब्रह्मलोक. There are six levels of heaven. And in each higher
level the pleasures are also superior. All these heavenly worlds
are indicated by the word स्विा . स्विा लोकाः अमत ृ त्वम् भजतते.
But here we have to make an aside note, very important note.
Now the उपनिषत् says in the स्विा लोक the people are
immortal. But elsewhere the very same scriptures say that even
in स्विा लोक the जीवs cannot be immortal and they will have
to return to भलू ोक again. So in मुण्डकोपक्षनषत् we saw
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
िाकस्य पष्ठृ े ते िुकृतेऽिुभत्ू वेमं लोकं हीितरं वा नवशनतत ॥
मुण्डकोपक्षनषत् १-२-१० ॥
The celestials will enjoy the heaven for a long time and later
they will have to come back to this भल ू ोक or still lower लोक.
So definitely there is a contradiction between two Upanishadic
statements. One statement says even the celestials are mortal
only, another statement says the celestials are immortal. So
when two Vedic statements are contradictory, how do you solve
the problem? You cannot say I will scratch off one of the
statements and say it is a printing mistake. No. All the वेदमन्त्रs
are preserved very carefully and handed over generation to
generation and therefore we should take both the statements.
But I cannot accept both the statements because they are
contradictory. If one statement is correct the other statement has
to be necessarily wrong. And here alone we should use the
principle of interpretation which is called मीमांिा. Unless we
know how to interpret the वेदs वेद can give us many wrong
ideas and confusions. Without knowing the principle of
interpretation we should never study the वेदs. Not only वेदs
even िीता, इक्षतहास, पुराण, all the texts will be confusing if you
don’t have the key of interpretation. And according to the
science of interpretation we have to apply an important law
here. whenever two Vedic statements are contradicting then the
statement which is supported by logic is stronger.
श्रुत्योः परस्परं बा े तयायोपेता िरीयिी ।
This is the law. श्रुत्योः परस्परं बा े – when two Vedic
statements are mutually contradictory, तयाय उपेता – whatever
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
is supported by logic will become the stronger Vedic statement.
Now we have got two contradictory statements – one says
celestials are mortal and another says celestials are immortal.
Which one is supported by logic? Only the first one the
mortality of celestials alone is supported by logic because they
have attained their celestial status only through the performance
of कमा . Therefore going to heaven is the result of an action. It
is an end-product of a process, so it is कमा फलम्. And we know
logic says whatever has a beginning will have to end.
जातस्य नह ध्रुवो मत्ृ युः ॥ िीता २-२७ ॥
And therefore mortality of celestials alone has to be accepted
because that is logical. So therefore the powerful statement is
celestials are mortal. Then what is the weaker statement?
Celestials are immortal becomes a subsidiary statement. And
what should we do with a subsidiary statement? We cannot
reject the subsidiary statement, subsidiary statement should be
interpreted in keeping with the powerful statement. How do you
interpret that? When वेद says celestials are immortal since it is
illogical to accept that statement we interpret that and say
immortality means a very very long life. it is not literal
immortality but compared to earthly life heavenly life is very
very long. We also use the word permanent, eternal etc., in a
relative sense of the term. When you wait for someone and he
doesn’t come at all for a long time, you say I have been eternally
waiting. Forty-five minutes he has waited, becomes eternal.
Similarly when a person gets a temporary job and six months
probation and then he is confirmed, then he says now I have a

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permanent job. Permanent job doesn’t mean he is eternally
employed. So permanent means compared to six months
probation twenty-five years is relatively permanent. And
therefore स्विा लोकाः अमत ृ त्वम् भजतते means they have
relative immortality. In संस्कृत it is called आपेक्षिक अमत ृ त्वम्
भजतते. And not only for immortality with regard to all the other
things also we should take it as relative only. Even the heavenly
pleasures are not absolute; the heavenly people also have
sorrows. वरुण will be certainly unhappy on seeing इति
because वरुण is only a cabinet minister while इति is prime
minister. इति alone has got ऐरावतम्, वरुण cannot use that
special vehicle. Therefore they also have got रागद्वेष problem,
they also have got jealousy, they also have sorrow, but when
you say heavenly world is all pleasure it means compared to the
earth they have got better pleasures. Therefore everything is
आपेक्षिकम्. having known this much now िनचकेति् says I
want the means to attain that heavenly world. It is not for the
sake of िनचकेति्, because he is not interested even in heaven.
We are going to see his glory later. He says even heaven is also
not worth a pie. Heavenly world is also a pittance. So he doesn’t
ask for his benefit, but for the benefit of the society he says
please teach me. And what is the means he is seeking? Please
teach me a religious ritual which will take me to heaven. A
वैनदक कमु which is स्विा िा िम्. So now look at the first line.
हे मत्ृ यो – O यम मा राज! िः त्वम् अनग्िं अध्येनष – you know that
means to heaven. Why do we say so? यम मा राज knows the
means to heaven, how do we know? Because he has reached the
heavens. The very fact that he is in the heavens indicate he
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
knows the route map to come to heaven. So please teach me
that. Here a word is used अनग्िम्. Now the word अनग्ि in
normal sense it means fire. But in this context the word अनग्ि
is used in three different technical meanings. You must be
aware of all these three meanings because in different contexts
you will have to apply different meanings. What are the three
meanings?
1) अनग्ि means that specific fire which is kindled in a
specific manner by chanting specific मतरs and located in a
specific place. First I said kindled in a specific manner. Because
for a ritual the fire has to be kindled in a specific manner. You
cannot use a cigarette lighter or match stick or gas lighter to
kindle this अनग्िहोत्र fire. You have to use अरनण मर्िम्. That
is why I use the expression kindled in a specific manner. This
is the first condition. And when it is being kindled they have to
chant certain मतरs depending upon the type of ritual. Since
many rituals are there different मतरs are to the chanted for
kindling different specific fires. Therefore the मतरs are
specific. The third condition is located in a specific place called
होमकुण्ड. You cannot locate it anywhere. The scriptures
mention the type of होमकुण्ड for a particular type of ritual the
होमकुण्ड must be circular, in certain other cases it must be
semi-circular, in certain other cases it must be rectangular. All
these conditions are there. And that specific fire which fulfills
all these three conditions is called अनग्ि. This is the first
meaning – specific fire.

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
2) The second meaning of the word अनग्ि which we apply
in this context is the ritual which is performed using this
specific fire is also called अनग्ि. This is the second meaning –
specific ritual.
3) Now later in the course of the second boon यम मा राज
is going to talk about a meditation as part of the ritual. It is a
meditation in which a particular देवता called नवराट् देवता,
otherwise called वैश्वािर देवता is going to be invoked in this
fire. Just as we invoke क्षशव in क्षशवक्षलङ्ग, just as we invoke
क्षवष्णु in शाक्षलग्राम, just as we invoke गणपक्षत in turmeric
powder, in this specific fire we are going to invoke नवराट् देवता.
And since नवराट् देवता is invoked in the fire, the third meaning
of the fire, अनग्ि is नवराट् देवता, वैश्वािर देवता.
So thus the word अनग्ि has three meanings – specific
fire, specific ritual and specific deity. And most important thing
is यम मा राज will use the word अनग्ि in all the three meanings
indiscriminately. Therefore it requires our agility of the intellect
to apply the appropriate meaning in the context.
Now looking at the first line िनचकेति् tells O
यम मा राज! teach me that अनग्ि. Here which meaning is most
appropriate one? Meaning number two is the most appropriate
one. Teach me that ritual. What type of ritual? स्वग्या म् – which
ritual will lead a person to heaven. So स्विा लोकस्य
प्रानििा िभत ू म् अनग्िम् please teach me. So अध्येनष – you are
aware of that ritual. अध्येनष means you know that ritual. And
therefore what should you do? त्वम् प्रब्रनू ह – may you impart that
knowledge to me also. And here another important idea
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
िनचकेति् tells that a particular ritual will lead to heaven is a
matter of faith. In fact, the very heaven itself is a matter of faith
because I have never seen it, nor does anyone come and tell me
that he has seen it. Therefore the very existence of heaven is a
matter of faith. And that I will continue to exist after death is a
matter of faith. And that I can go to heaven is a matter of faith.
And that this particular ritual will take to heaven is a matter of
faith. In short, the entire ritualistic portion is faith-based. If one
has no faith the rituals will not be much meaningful to him. I
have to prescribe rituals for some other purposes. I should stop
all heaven, पुण्यम् and all and then I have to tell you do this and
your health will improve, etc. िनचकेति् is aware of that and
therefore he says श्रद्द ािाय मह्यम् – so O यम मा राज! I have
faith in the वेदs, I have faith in the rituals, I have faith in the
heaven. And therefore please teach me that ritual and I will give
this ritual to all those people who have got faith. So from this
we come to know another important qualification of िनचकेति्
which is शास्त्र श्रद्धा. These are all indirect lessons. So शास्त्र
श्रद्धा, वैक्षदक श्रद्धा आक्षस्तक्यम् is something िनचकेति् enjoys.
And now िनचकेति् concludes saying एतत् नद्वतीयेि वरे ण वण ृ े
– I am asking for this ritual through the second boon.
Continuing;
मतर 1-1-14
प्र ते ब्रवीनम तदु मे निबो स्वग्या मनग्िं िनचकेतः प्रजािि् ।
अिततलोकानिमर्ो प्रनतष्ठां नवनद्ध त्वमेतं निनहतं िुहायाम् ॥ १४ ॥
So the previous two मतरs are the words of िनचकेति.्
Now in the following मतर the reply of यम मा राज follows.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
िनचकेतः – O िनचकेति्! स्वग्या म् अनग्िं प्रजािि् – यम मा राज
first acknowledges saying that I know that ritual. Here the
meaning of अनग्ि is ritual. स्वग्या अनग्ि means a ritual leading
to heaven, प्रजािि् – I know very well. And not only I know
very well I am not going to keep it a business secret, प्रब्रवीनम ते
– I shall clearly teach that to you, I shall impart that knowledge
to you certainly, निबो – may you know that, may you
understand that from me. what is the glory of that अनग्ि? And
here the beauty is as even you read the glory you have to take
the meaning of अनग्ि appropriately. He says the first glory is
अिततलोकानिम् – स्विा लोकफलप्रानििा िम्, the ritual is a
means to attain the heaven. And अर्ो प्रनतष्ठाम् – and this अनग्ि
is the substratum of the entire universe. प्रनतष्ठा means the
support, the substratum. Now here alone we should be alert.
यम मा राज says अनग्ि is the support of the universe. Now if
this statement should become meaningful which meaning
should we take? Here अनग्ि as नवराट् देवता is the substratum of
the universe. नवराट् देवता is otherwise called नवश्वरूप देवता,
िमनि देवता. More about नवराट् we will study later, here note
this much नवराट् means the नवश्वरूपम् as given in the eleventh
chapter of भिवद्गीता. And you know that नवश्वरूप ईश्वर is the
substratum, the support of everything in the creation like the
ocean which is the प्रनतष्ठा, the support for all the waves and
bubbles and froth etc. Therefore प्रनतष्ठाम्, and then he says that
अनग्ि is िुहायां निनहतम् – resides in the heart. So here again
we have to apply the appropriate meaning. By अनग्ि resides in
the heart can we take that fire is in the heart? This person will
be burnt. Therefore here also the word अनग्ि mean देवता, this
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
नवराट् देवता is in the heart of the meditators. Why in the heart
of the meditators? Because the meditators invoke the deity in
their hearts. Like we have got famous picture of आञ्र्नेय
where he tears open his chest and inside there is राम and सीता
sitting. What does it mean? Does it literally mean he tears open?
It means in his heart the Lord has been invoked by him. Here
also the नवराट् देवता is in the heart of the meditators. And that
is represented by अनग्ि and such an अनग्ि I will teach you.
More details in the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
Through the first boon िनचकेति् asked for his father’s
peace of mind and his return back to his father. And now
through the second boon िनचकेति् is asking for a ritual
through which people can attain heaven. And यम मा राज
accepts and he is teaching the ritual to िनचकेति.् The उपनिषत्
does not want give the detail of the ritual. Because this is an
Upanishadic text and therefore the उपनिषत् is not interested in
giving us the details of the ritual. The उपनिषत् wants to tell this
much that the यम मा राज taught the ritual and िनचकेति् learnt
the ritual. And suppose we get interested in the ritual and forget
the उपनिषत् then we have to go back to the कमा काण्ड part of
the वेदs. And in the कमा काण्ड part of the वेदs नानचकेत ritual
is well presented. And therefore whoever is interested in the
ritual part c/o कमा काण्ड. Therefore the उपनिषत् very briefly
mentions that यम मा राज taught the अनग्ि to िनचकेति्. And
as I said in the last class the word अनग्ि is used in three different
meanings and we have to take the appropriate meaning in the
context. What are the three meanings?
1) अनग्ि is equal to the specific fire. Specific fire is that fire
which is kindled in a specific way by chanting specific मतरs
and which is located in a specific होमकुण्ड.
2) The specific ritual which is performed through specific
fire.

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
3) The specific deity, in this context नवराट् देवता, नवश्वरूप
देवता which is to be invoked in the specific fire. And that देवता
is also called अनग्ि.
Thus अनग्ि is equal to fire, अनग्ि is equal to ritual, अनग्ि
is equal to देवता. And we have to apply appropriately, in the
fourteenth मतर we saw अिततलोकानिमर्ो प्रनतष्ठां नवनद्ध
त्वमेतं निनहतं िुहायाम्. The अनग्ि is a means of attaining
heaven, it was mentioned. And when I say अनग्ि is the means
of getting heaven अनग्ि means ritual. Then प्रनतष्ठाम् अनग्ि is
the support of the entire creation. Here the word अनग्ि must be
translated as नवश्वरूप देवता which supports the whole creation.
And नवनद्ध त्वमेतं निनहतं िुहायाम् – that very अनग्ि is in the
heart of the people. Imagine अनग्ि is in the heart of the people,
what meaning can you take? You cannot say ritual is in the heart
of the people, because ritual is outside; you cannot say ritual is
in the heart of the people, and therefore by elimination we come
to the third meaning the देवता is in the heart of the people. And
why is the deity in the heart of the people? Because deity is
invoked in the heart. Upto this we saw in the last class.
Continuing;
मतर 1-1-15
लोकानदमनग्िं तमुवाच तस्मै या इिका यावतीवाा यर्ा वा ।
ि चानप तत्प्रत्यवदद्यर्ोक्तं अर्ास्य मत्ृ युः पुिरे वाह तुिः ॥ १५ ॥
So this मतर is the words of the उपनिषत् itself while the
previous मतर is said by यम मा राज. So उपनिषत् comes aside
and is giving a report of what happened between यम and
िनचकेति्. यमः तस्मै तं अनग्िम् उवाच – मत्ृ युः तस्मै तं अनग्िम्
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
उवाच. तस्मै िनचकेतिे – to िनचकेति्, so यम मा राज taught
िनचकेति्, तं अनग्िम् – that specific अनग्ि. Again you have to
ask the question ‘what do you mean by the word अनग्ि?’ So
you have supply यम मा राज taught that अनग्ि which is the
ritual. He taught the entire ritual. What do you mean by
teaching ritual? He taught everything that is connected with the
ritual. And what are the things connected with the ritual? A few
items are mentioned. याः इिकाः – so before starting the ritual
the first thing is the invocation of the specific fire in a particular
होमकुण्ड called the fire trough and that होमकुण्ड also cannot
be as we like but there are specifications. The type of bricks to
be used in preparing the होमकुण्ड. And even while preparing
bricks what all मतरs should be chanted. So you can imagine
the details in कमा काण्ड. In fact you will get वैराग्यम्. So there
is a particular मतर which is chanted for the following particular
purpose. For a particular ritual they have to milk the cow. And
before milking the cow the calf will drink the milk as it has the
fundamental right. And after the calf has drunk to some extent
the calf has to be driven away and the cow has to be milked.
And to drive away the calf you have to use a particular type of
stick. And when you are plucking that stick from the tree you
have chant a मतर.
इषे त्वोजे त्वा वायव स्र्ोपायव स्र् देवो वः िनवता प्रापा यतु
श्रेष्ठतमाय कमा णे ॥ यजुवेद ॥
This is the first मतर of यजुवेद. So therefore to prepare the
bricks there are the मतरs and what should be the size of the
bricks. In fact, they say we developed the science of geometry

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
for preparing the होमकुण्ड. It is called शुल्व िर ू ानण or शुल्ब
िर ू ानण. We have special िर ू s called mathematics िर ू s to
prepare होमकुण्ड. Therefore what should be the length of the
bricks, breadth of the bricks, thickness of the bricks. And
having decided the size then यावतीवाा – how many such bricks
should be used? If it is given a particular number of bricks then
that many bricks only should be used, neither one less nor one
extra brick. So यावतीः means the number, याः means the type
and size of the brick. And यर्ा वा – not only the size and
number are specified but also the way in which these bricks
should be arranged. Whether should it square or rectangular,
semi-circular, and depending upon the specific shape the
होमकुण्ड will also change. आहविीयानग्िः, दनक्षणानग्िः,
िाहा पत्यानग्िः, िभ्यानग्िः, आविथ्यानग्िः these are all names of
specific fires for which square or rectangular, semi-circular,
circular etc., होमकुण्ड are prescribed. All these things
यम मा राज taught to िनचकेति्. And this is only a limited
details. And there afterwards he must have taught him all the
oblations to be offered, how to prepare the oblations, some of
the oblations are cooked grains, it is not always ghee, and you
have got पुरोडाश which is a material to be offered which is like
the pancake. How to prepare such a पुरोडाश, and for preparing
that what materials are required, and how to prepare those
materials, all those details यम मा राज taught to िनचकेति्. And
िनचकेति् did not have pen or pencil or book, or digital
recorder etc., he was such a brilliant student that he absorbed
like a sponge everything that was orally taught to him. This
indicated his मे ाशनक्त which is supposed to be another
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
important qualification for a Vedic student. Not only for a
कमा काण्ड student but even for a ज्ञािकाण्ड student. What is
मे ाशनक्त? ग्रहण- ारण शनक्त – capacity to receive the teaching
and capacity to retain the teaching. Reception and retention put
together is called मे ा. Both Vedic and Vedantic students
require that. That is why we have prayers asking for मे ाशनक्त.
There is a मे ािक्त
ू म्.and many ब्रह्मचाररs perform िनम ादाि
ritual. Many people don’t know such a ritual exists at all. In this
िनम ादािम् ब्रह्मचारर says
मनय मे ां मनय प्रजां मय्यनग्िस्तेजो द ातु । मनय मे ां मनय प्रजां
मयीति इनतियं द ातु । मनय मे ां मनय प्रजां मनय ियू ो भ्राजो द ातु
॥
He asks for several qualifications but this मे ाशनक्त he repeats
several times – मनय मे ाम्. Therefore we come to know that
िनचकेति् had मे ाशनक्त. And through the story what is the
instruction given to us? We also should develop मे ाशनक्त.
Otherwise you have to come to every class with fresh minded,
clean slate. So therefore िनचकेति् grasps, and not only did he
grasped he repeated the whole thing to यम मा राज. ि चानप तत्
प्रत्यवदत् – that student िनचकेति् also repeated the whole
thing in front of यम मा राज. This is the method of teaching used
in those days. Before the second class is taught the condition is
the student must summarize the first class. And suppose the
student is not able to that no more further class. What is the use
of teaching further one when the previous one itself is not there.
That is the so rigorous the tradition and that is why for
thousands of years it could be maintained well. And therefore

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
प्रत्यवदत् – िनचकेति् repeated, यर्ा उतम् – exactly as it was
taught to him. So thus यम मा राज taught अक्षग्न, the ritual. And
not only that यम मा राज taught one more item. How to invoke
the नवश्वरूप देवता in that specific fire. नवश्वरूप देवता here
means the lord as the total gross universe. समक्षट स्र्लू प्रपञ्च
सक्षहत चैतन्यम् नवश्वरूपः. The Consciousness inherent in the
macrocosmic universe or the macrocosmic universe blessed by
Consciousness is called नवराट् or नवश्वरूप. This we read in
नवष्णुिहस्रिाम as
ू ौ च िेरे
भःू पादौ यस्य िानभर्-नवयदिु-रनिल-चतििय
and at the end
रं रम्यते तं नरभुविवपुषं नवष्णुमीशं िमानम ॥
That नरभुविवपुष् नवश्वरूप is here called नवराट. And this नवराट्
देवता can be invoked in that very same fire where the ritual is
done. And if a person invokes the नवराट् देवता in the fire and
meditates upon the देवता it is called उपाििम्. So if a person
meditates upon नवराट् invoked upon that ritualistic fire that
meditation is called नवराट् उपाििम्. And this नवराट् उपाििम्
is an optional exercise. So a person can do this उपाििम् in
addition to the ritual or he need not do the उपाििम्. So thus
we have got two types of rituals. First one is called केवल कमु ,
mere ritual which is not clubbed with नवराट् उपाििम्. Just say
the मन्त्रs, pour the आहु क्षतs and finish the कमु . This is called
केवल कमु or उपािि रनहत कमा . And there is a second type of
ritual where the ritual is reinforced with the नवराट् उपाििम्.
And that is called उपािि िनहत कमा . Ritual with meditation
and ritual without this meditation. Of these two which one is
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
more powerful? Naturally we can imagine the ritual with
meditation is more powerful. Therefore naturally the result also
will be different. Then the question is what will be the
difference in the result. The difference is mere ritual will give
lower heaven. In heaven itself there is a gradation – lower and
higher. Lower ones are भुवलोक, िुवलोक, महलोक, जिलोक,
etc. The higher one is ब्रह्मलोक. So केवल कमु will produce
स्विा लोक whereas उपािि िनहत कमा will produce ब्रह्मलोक
फलम्. So उपािि रनहत कमा णा स्विा प्राक्षप्त. उपािि िनहत
कमा णा ब्रह्मलोक प्राक्षप्त. All these are not said here but we have
to supply in this मन्त्र. And therefore यम मा राज wanted to
teach उपाििम् also. First he taught अनग्ि, the ritual and there
afterwards he taught अनग्ि, the देवता. And that is why in the
मन्त्र there is a word लोकानदं अनग्िम्. लोकानद means नवराट्
देवता. Why नवराट् देवता is called लोकानद? Because नवराट् is
supposed to be born before the arrival of the fourteen लोकs.
And from नवराट् शरीरम् alone the लोकs generated. That is why
in पुरुषिक्त
ू म्
तस्मानद्वराडजायत । नवराजो अन परु ू षः । ि जातो अत्यररच्यत ।
पिाद्भनू ममर्ो पुरः ॥ पुरुषिक्त
ू म् ५ ॥
पिाद् भनू मः. First नवराट् came and thereafter only भनू मः etc.,
came and therefore नवराट् is लोकािाम् आक्षदः, the one who is
the beginning of the creation. And that नवराट् देवता also
यम मा राज taught. In short, he taught both the कमा as well as
the उपािि. अर् मत्ृ युः तुिः – so when िनचकेति् learnt both
the कमा and उपािि and repeated the entire thing exactly as
taught यम मा राज was very very happy. Which teacher will not

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be happy? So therefore यम मा राज also was तुिः – very happy.
And therefore he wanted to give a bonus boon. There is a
regular three boons but he wanted to give extra boon like they
give increment for performance. Therefore the उपनिषत् says
पुिः एव आह – यम मा राज uttered the following words to
िनचकेति्. So the word अस्य in षष्ठी नवभनक्त, for grammar
students, is grammatically hanging. So you will have to supply
a word प्रत्युच्चारणेि. अस्य प्रत्युच्चारणेि तुिः. यम मा राज was
happy because of the repetition of िनचकेति्. यम मा राज who
was happy with the exact repetition of his teaching by
िनचकेति् uttered the following words given in the next मन्त्र.
मतर 1-1-16
तमब्रवीत् प्रीयमाणो महात्मा वरं तवेहाद्य ददानम भयू ः।
तवैव िाम्िा भनवताऽयमनग्िः िङ ृ ् कां चेमामिेकरूपां िहृ ाण ॥ १६ ॥
So the उपनिषत् continues. महात्मा यमः तं िनचकेतिम्
अब्रवीत् – यम मा राज addressed िनचकेति् thus. Here
यम मा राज is called महात्मा – generous minded यम मा राज.
Why because he is giving plenty of bonus, that requires a
generous heart. Here आत्मा means heart. महान् आत्मा
अन्तःकरणम् यस्य – the one who has got heart to give plenty.
And why did he give? प्रीयमाणः – pleased यम मा राज. So this
generous यम मा राज was very pleased with िनचकेति् and तं
िनचकेतिम् अब्रवीत् – he addressed िनचकेति् thus. And from
the second line onwards is quotation यमः उवाच. What did यम
say? अद्य तव वरं भय ू ः ददानम – I shall give you extra boon. इह –
here and now. So here and now straightaway I will give. So तव
– to you, भयू ः वरं ददानम इह अद्य – here and now. In fact, he
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
gives two gifts to िनचकेति.् The first gift is अयम् अनग्िः तवैव
िाम्िा भनवता – hereafter this ritual, अनग्ि will be known by
your name. Until now this ritual was not named at all. It was
called a ritual leading to heaven. Now we are going to name this
ritual as िानचकेतानग्िः. So you would have heard this word
those who have gone through the अरुण प्रश्नः सय ू ु नमस्कार
मन्त्र, often this expression comes
िाना॒ चा॒केा॒तमा॒नग्िनञ्च ि॑तवाि ा॒ ातप्रा॒त्यक्षे ि॑ण । कमा॒नग्िनञ्च ि॑िुते ॥
ा॒ ः । प्राण
तैनिरीयारण्यकम् / अरुण प्रश्नः १-२२-११ ॥
िानचकेतमनग्िं नचतवािः is popular in the वेद. Therefore
यम मा राज says here afterwards the ritual will be known by
your name. Not only that, I am not satisfied with this gift I want
to give something concrete and solid. This is only naming. So
यम मा राज must have look around, and found nothing, so
therefore he looked at his own body and he had a lot of
ornaments. So he just took out the costliest ornament.
अिेकरूपां िङ ृ ् काम् – that necklace with multifarious color and
different colors indicate different types of gems.
वज्र-वैडूया -मानणक्य-िोमेदक-पद्मराि-मरकत-िील-मुक्ता-
प्रवालाख्य िवरत्ि तेजोनवरानजत
These are all different gems with different colors and therefore
अिेकरूपाम्. Here the word रूपा means वणु . िङ ृ ् काम् –
necklace, may you receive from me as gift. What िनचकेति्
does with the necklace is not mentioned here but we come to
know from the later portion िनचकेति् receives perhaps, he saw
and he admires ‘wonderful माला, beautiful, you keep with
yourself.’ So िनचकेति् returned the माला with thanks. Why he
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
returned we will come to know later, िनचकेति् is not
interested in any one of these. Therefore he returned.
Continuing;
मतर 1-1-17
नरणानचकेतनस्त्रनभरे त्य िनत ं नरकमा कृिरनत जतममत्ृ यू ।
ब्रह्मजज्ञं देवमीड्यं नवनदत्वा निचाय्येमाँ शानततमत्यततमेनत ॥ १७ ॥
So when िनचकेति् returned the माला, the material gift
because he was thinking of the highest. Now in these two मतरs
seventeen and eighteen the उपनिषत् talks about the benefit of
this ritual and that if it is performed along with the उपािि also.
So नवराट उपािि िनहत िानचकेत कमु णः यागस्य फलम्. The
benefit of िानचकेत ritual performed along with नवराट
उपाििम्. Now here the उपनिषत् tells what are the conditions
to be observed if the results should be gained. Remember rituals
the can produce the result not only depending upon the way the
ritual is performed, but also depending upon the general
lifestyle of the person also. If he has got आचार, अनुष्ठान etc.,
if he is a person of character, then the ritual will produce one
type of result. And if a person doesn’t have that certainly the
ritual will produce lesser result only. That is why in our
tradition the efficacy of any pursuit depends upon even the
character of the person. When we talk about allopathic
medicine they don’t talk about the character of the doctor. It is
not insisted upon when they join the medical college or during
their study or even after their study they don’t say सत्यं वद, धमं
चर, do पर् ू ा, be devoted, etc. But in आयुवेद field they say the
doctors diagnosis and medicine will be effective if the doctor
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
has got श्रद्धा, भनक्त, आचार etc. It is not only for medicine, but
also for astrology. It all depends upon the character. And
therefore these conditions are also to be fulfilled to get the
maximum result out of कमा उपासन िमुच्चय. First we will see
the conditions – what should be the lifestyle or the character of
the person. The उपनिषत् says suppose the ritualistic is a
complete person, completely refined person, grown up
externally and internally also, a mature person, a whole person.
How does a person become a whole person? What makes a
person complete especially in worldly? The उपनिषत् says a
person will become complete if he has gone through three ideal
relationships in life. It is the relationship that contributes to the
mental sanity, mental health. What are those three relationships
which will determine the inner health of a person?
1) The first relationship is with the mother. All these are
now accepted by psychology. They say the mother child
relationship will determine the mental health of the child to a
great extent. Right from pregnancy onwards upto a particular
age. The first relationship is with the significant other, as called
in psychology. Significant other means the other person who is
very important in your life. Mother is a significant other person
in your life. Then the next significant other is नपतम ृ ाि्, father.
This is said in बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत्.
मातम ृ ाि् नपतम
ृ ाि् आचाया वाि् ब्रय
ू ात् तर्ा तच्छैनलरब्रवीद् ॥
बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् ४-१-२ ॥
Then the next relationship, at least in the olden tradition,
आचाया वाि्, teacher. The one who has gone through a good
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
relationship with आचाया . The teacher becomes the significant
other because in the olden days the system was िुरुकुल
सम्प्रदाय. When you are meeting a teacher for one hour who is
taking non-detailed English in college and then he goes his way
and you go your way. And there is no character coming up at
all. That is not but in the olden days the student was called
अततेवानि – the one who moves with the teacher all time. How
the teacher interacts with the people, how he addresses the
people, how he faces the adversity, all these things the student
will be observing. In fact, the child learns more from
observation rather than your verbal teaching. It is called non-
verbal communication. The children learn more through non-
verbal communication than the verbal. So thus मातम ृ ाि् plus
नपतम ृ ाि् plus आचाया वाि् is a complete person. And therefore
the उपनिषत् says नरनभः मातनृ पराचायय ः िनत ं एत्य प्राप्य,
िनत म् means िम्बत म् – relationship, relationship shapes a
person. So the duty of the parents is not merely providing food,
clothing, shelter and Lkg but it is shaping the relationship.
2) The next relationship is नरकमा कृत्. Suppose a person
performs the three basic कमा s prescribed in the scriptures.
a) First is prayer इज्या. It is considered to be compulsory
for everyone. You can call it यज्ञ or पजू ा or prayer.
b) अध्ययिम् – the study of scriptures. It is supposed to be
compulsory for everyone. Unfortunately the biggest
misconception now prevalent is the study of the scriptures is
required only for those who follow ज्ञािमागु . So others think
that they have decided to follow भनक्तमागु and hence they
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
don’t require ज्ञािम्. Only those who are following ज्ञािमागु
alone need classes, let them follow ज्ञािमागु , we are all the
followers of कमा मागु and भनक्तमागु and रार्योगमागु . Thus
people think that only one fourth should study the scriptures.
But this a very very unfortunately misconception that the
scriptural study has never been given importance. People ask
why do you study all these things. Aren’t they mere
intellectual trips? Won’t it do to take the names of राम, कृष्ण,
etc.? So here the उपनिषत् tells clearly scriptural study is
compulsory for all the people whatever be their position.
c) दािम् – charity which is very much emphasized in
Hinduism which we never practice at all and many people
think that Hinduism doesn’t have charity at all. We have to
learn it from other religions we think, other religions may
practice it but we are not practicing it but our religion
emphasizes charity.
So इज्याध्ययिदािाक्षन are called नरकमाा नण. नरकमा कृत् means
one should follow this regularly. This is the second condition.
And if a person follows these conditions – three types of
relationships and three types of कमा s fulfilling these conditions
suppose a person performs the िानचकेत ritual. So that is the
topic under discussion. Fulfilling these conditions suppose a
person performs the िानचकेत ritual. How often? नरणानचकेतः
– performs the ritual three times during his lifetime. So this is
केवलकमु . And suppose he performs the उपासन also. ब्रह्मजज्ञं
देवं ईड्यं नवनदत्वा, ब्रह्मजज्ञम् means नवराट् पुरुषः. Here the word
ब्रह्मजः means the one who is born out of नहरण्यिभा . नवराट् is

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
born out of नहरण्यिभा . And not only is he ब्रह्मजः but also ज्ञः –
the omniscient, सवु ज्ञः इक्षत अर्ु ः. And देवम् means देवता, so the
नवराट् देवता who is omniscient, who is born out of नहरण्यिभा ,
and ईड्यम् – the most adorable lord, and नवनदत्वा – suppose this
िानचकेत ritualist knows this नवराट् देवता and निचाय्य –
meditates upon this नवराट् देवता. If a person does all these
aforesaid things उपासन सक्षहत िानचकेत ritual the result is
अत्यततम् शानततम् एनत – he will attain the greatest benefit
called ब्रह्मलोक प्राक्षप्त, the highest heaven. What is that highest
heaven? अत्यततम् शानततम् – which gives the greatest peace
and happiness.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 1-1-17 Continuing;
नरणानचकेतनस्त्रनभरे त्य िनत ं नरकमा कृिरनत जतममत्ृ यू ।
ब्रह्मजज्ञं देवमीड्यं नवनदत्वा निचाय्येमाँ शानततमत्यततमेनत ॥ १७ ॥
Through the second boon िनचकेति् asked for a ritual
leading to the heavens and यम मा राज taught the ritual. And
appreciating the learning power of िनचकेति् यम मा राज gave
an extra boon by naming the ritual िानचकेतानग्िः. And even
though िनचकेति् wanted a ritual only for going to the heaven
यम मा राज gave an extra knowledge also and that is the
knowledge of नवराट् उपासन – meditation upon the नवराट्, the
macrocosmic lord. And this नवराट् उपासन can be combined
with िानचकेत ritual in which the very fire used in the ritual will
represent the नवराट् देवता. And if a person combines the ritual
and meditation naturally the ritual will have extra efficacy. And
therefore the benefit will also be higher than mere ritual. And
that benefit is being talked about in these मतरs seventeen and
eighteen. Mere ritual will lead to lower स्वगु लोक and
meditation mixed ritual will lead to higher स्वगु लोक. उपािि
रनहत कमा णा स्वगु लोक प्राक्षप्त and उपािि िनहत कमा णा
ब्रह्मलोक प्राक्षप्त. Higher स्वगु लोक is called ब्रह्मलोक. And this
ब्रह्मलोक फलम् is mentioned in मतर seventeen which we were
seeing in the last class. And यम मा राज said if a ritual and the
meditation should bless a person he should lead a proper life
also. A person without character cannot get full benefit of
practicing the religion. I cannot lead an immoral life and do a
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
पर्
ू ा and expect a complete benefit out of it. We don’t say
benefit will not come but the benefit will be diluted by,
neutralized by my way of life. And therefore आचार अनुष्ठान
also must go along with कमु काण्ड. Therefore नरणानचकेतः
नरनभः एत्य िनत ं नरकमा कृत् all representing a religious life.
and such a person if he performs mere ritual without meditation
he will get स्वगु लोक फलम्. And what is स्वगु लोक फलम्?
जतममत्ृ यू तरनत – going to स्वगु means crossing birth and death
which means the attainment of immortality, अमत ृ त्वम् प्राप्नोक्षत.
But here we should note a point which we have already seen
before. When we say the heavenly people cross mortality it only
means relative longer life. Heaven cannot give absolute
immortality because we have already seen Self-knowledge is
the only means of absolute immortality. So whatever
immortality is accomplished by rituals will be a relatively
longer life. Therefore जतममत्ृ यू तरनत means आपेक्षिक
अमत ृ त्वम् प्राप्नोक्षत they attain relative immortality. This is for
mere ritual. Suppose the ritual is reinforced with meditation the
फलम् will be as यम said ब्रह्मजज्ञं देवमीड्यं नवनदत्वा. And
suppose a person practices नवराट् उपासन also invoking the
नवराट् in the fire and निचाय्य – सािात्कृत्य or invoking or
becoming one with नवराट्. So the oneness through meditation is
called निचाय्य. So having meditated upon नवराट् as oneself,
आत्मभावेि दृि्वा, अत्यततम् शानततम् एनत – he will attain the
highest peace of mind, the greatest peace of mind he will attain,
which means ब्रह्मलोकम् प्राप्नोक्षत. Very careful. Here अत्यततम्
शानततम् does not mean liberation. Because we have said कमा
with उपािि also will not lead to liberation, but he will get a
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
better benefit than स्वगु लोक and that is ब्रह्मलोक. And peace
in ब्रह्मलोक is supposed to be superior to peace in स्वगु लोक.
Because ब्रह्मलोक is the seventh heaven. In fact, ब्रह्मलोक is
considered to be the highest pleasure in the relative world. Upto
this we saw in the last class. Continuing;
मतर 1-1-18
नरणानचकेतस्त्रयमेतनद्वनदत्वा य एवं नवद्वाँनििुते िानचकेतम् ।
ि मत्ृ युपाशाि् पुरतः प्रणोद्य शोकानतिो मोदते स्विा लोके ॥ १८ ॥
This मतर is almost the repetition of the previous मतर.
This talks about the benefit of practicing कमा उपासन िमुच्चय,
combining the ritual and meditation. So what are the
conditions? नरणानचकेतः – suppose a person performs
नरणानचकेत ritual thrice in his life. And how does he perform?
रयम् एतत् नवनदत्वा – knowing the three important factors very
clearly. What are those three important factors? ‘या इिका
यावतीवाा यर्ा वा’ – the three factors given in the second line of
the fifteenth मतर. याः इिकाः – what are the types of bricks to
be used in performing the ritual, यावतीवाा – how many bricks
are to be used in constructing the होमकुण्ड, and finally यर्ा वा
– not only the number of bricks should be appropriate but also
the form of होमकुण्ड, the arrangement of होमकुण्ड – whether
should it be circular, rectangular, semi-circular; rules are
prescribed and according to those rules the होमकुण्ड is made.
These are the three factors which belong to the ritual and
therefore एतत् रयम् नवनदत्वा – suppose a person knows them,
and य एवं िानचकेतं नचिुते – suppose a person performs
िानचकेत ritual. Very careful, here the word is िानचकेतम्, it is
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
not the name of student here, it is the name of the ritual.
Therefore िानचकेतमनग्िं िानचकेतम् कमा नचिुते – performs.
Literally नचिुते means kindling the fire. Suppose a person
kindles the िानचकेत fire (and you have to supply) and performs
the ritual. What is the use of merely kindling the fire? It should
be followed by performance. And not only does he perform the
ritual नवद्वाि् – suppose he practices उपासन also. Here the word
नवद्वाि् means उपासकः. In certain contexts the word नवद्वाि्
means आत्मज्ञानि, in this context the word नवद्वाि् does not
refer to a ज्ञानि but an उपासकः. What उपासकः? नवराट् उपासकः
सन् िानचकेतम् अनग्िं नचिुते. In short, suppose a person
combines the ritual and meditation, then what will happen to
him? िः मत्ृ युपाशाि् पुरतः प्रणोद्य – that seeker will break or
destroy the shackles of death. मत्ृ युपाश means shackles of death
or mortality or limitations. The rope of यम, the shackles of
यम मा राज, पुरतः प्रणोद्य – he destroys even before his death.
स्विा लोके मोदते – after the fall of this body, this उपासक will
straightaway go to ब्रह्मलोक. And what is the way to ब्रह्मलोक?
We have seen in मुण्डकोपनिषत् that this र्ीव or the िक्ष्ू म
शरीरम् will penetrate the head called ब्रह्मरन्द्रम्, and then it
goes through a special path known as शुक्ल िनत which will
penetrate through the solar disk,
नहरण्मयेि पारेण ित्यस्यानपनहतं मुखम् । तववं पषू तिपावण
ृ ु
ित्य माा य दृिये ॥ ईशावास्योपनिषत् १५॥
It is said in ईशावास्योपनिषत् that the path of the उपासक passes
through the solar disk and he will go to ब्रह्मलोक. This is as
described in the scriptures the path of the उपासक. Through

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
which path does a ज्ञानि travel? Don’t answer the question!
ज्ञानि will never travel, it is the उपासक who travels who falls
in the category of अज्ञानि. This अज्ञानि उपासक will pass
through ब्रह्मरन्द्रम् through the solar disk and go to ब्रह्मलोक.
Here स्विा लोक means ब्रह्मलोक. Why that meaning is given?
Because we are talking about a person who has practiced कमा
उपासन िमुच्चय, therefore he will go to ब्रह्मलोक and मोदते –
rejoices. What type of enjoyment? We also enjoy life. But the
problem is in मनुष्यलोक almost the every enjoyment is either
preceded by or followed by equally intense sorrow whereas in
ब्रह्मलोक joy dominates, sorrow is insignificant, almost zero. If
in ब्रह्मलोक sorrow is zero it will be equal to liberation. And
therefore शोकानतिः – having transcended sorrow
predominantly this उपासक will rejoice in ब्रह्मलोक. This is the
benefit of कमा उपासन िमुच्चय. Continuing;
मतर 1-1-19
एष तेऽनग्ििा नचकेतः स्वग्यो यमवणृ ीर्ा नद्वतीयेि वरे ण ।
एतमनग्िं तवैव प्रवक्ष्यनतत जिािः ततृ ीयं वरं िनचकेतो वण ृ ीष्व ॥
१९ ॥
In this मतर the second boon is being completed. The
conclusion of the second boon. यम मा राज addresses
िनचकेति् हे िनचकेतः एषः ते अनग्िः – O िनचकेति्! This is
the अनग्ि. What type of अनग्ि? स्वग्या ः अनग्िः – this is the अनग्ि
which is a means to attain the heaven. स्वग्या ः means स्विा प्राक्षप्त
मागु ः or िा िः. When it is said this is the अनग्ि which leads to
heaven what is the meaning of the word अनग्ि? Here अनग्ि
means the ritual. So this is the ritual which is a means to attain
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
the heaven. And for whose benefit have I taught this ritual? ते
– which has been taught for your benefit because you have
demanded this through second boon. And you should remember
the intention of िनचकेति्. िनचकेति् wanted this ritual not for
his own personal purpose, it is meant for the benefit of the
society. िनचकेति् is neither interested in कमा nor interested in
उपासन, he has gone beyond कमा and उपासन, he is interested
only in ज्ञािम्. How do you know? We know that from the third
boon. So therefore this is for the benefit of the society. And
therefore यम मा राज reminds यम् अवण ृ ीर्ाः – so O िनचकेति्!
You have asked for this ritual, यम् means अनग्िम्,
िानचकेतमनग्िम्, अवण ृ ीर्ाः means you have asked for. and how
did you seek this? नद्वतीयेि वरे ण – by way of encashing the
second boon you have asked for this ritual. Then यम मा राज
reminds the bonus boon also, एतम् अनग्िं जिािः तवैव
प्रवक्ष्यनतत – hereafter the people will know this ritual only by
your name. That is the additional boon I have given. जिािः
means जिाः. It is a Vedic िंस्कृत. Here the word अनग्िम् means
both the fire and the ritual. Both the fire and the ritual will be
known by your name, i.e., िानचकेतानग्िः. So with this the
second boon is over. And therefore यम मा राज says I have
offered you one more boon. And therefore I am indebted to you.
Unless you encash the third boon my conscience will not be
satisfied, and therefore whether you remember or not I do
remember. Therefore he says हे िनचकेतः ततृ ीयं वरं वण ृ ीष्व – O
िनचकेति्! don’t forget please ask for the third boon also. Now
िनचकेति् has to ask for the third boon which comes in the next
मतर.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
मतर 1-1-20
येयं प्रेते नवनचनकत्िा मिुष्येऽस्तीत्येके िायमस्तीनत चैके ।
एतनद्वद्यामिुनशिस्त्वयाऽहं वराणामेष वरस्ततृ ीयः ॥ २० ॥
With the previous मतर the second boon topic is over
which started from मतर twelve. Twelve to nineteen is the topic
of second boon. Tenth and the eleventh मतर is the topic of first
boon which was father’s peace of mind. The second boon is the
ritual for heaven and ब्रह्मलोक. Now comes the third boon
asked in the twentieth मतर and through this मतर alone
िनचकेति् is asking for Self-knowledge or आत्मक्षवद्या. Here
alone we are going from कमा काण्ड to ज्ञािकाण्ड. In the second
boon we dealt with the ritualistic section of the वेद, otherwise
called वेदपवू ा . And now in the twentieth मतर there is a transit
from वेदपवू ा to वेदातत, religious portion to philosophical
portion. The entire कठोपनिषत् is an answer to the third boon
alone. And therefore this twentieth मतर is a very important
मतर because it is the foundation for कठोपनिषत्. In every
उपनिषत् the basic question is important. In मुण्डकोपनिषत्
what was that basic question?
शौिको ह वै महाशालोऽङ्निरिं नवन वदुपितिः पप्रच्छ ।
कनस्मतिु भिवो नवज्ञाते िवा नमदं नवज्ञातं भवतीनत ॥
मुण्डकोपनिषत् १-१-३ ॥
In केिोपनिषत् what was that basic question?
केिेनषतं पतनत प्रेनषतं मिः ॥ केिोपनिषत् १-१ ॥
For कठोपनिषत् what was that basic question? This question
येयं प्रेते नवनचनकत्िा मिुष्ये. Therefore you should remember
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
this मतर. What is the question? िनचकेतः उवाच – िनचकेति्
asked. मिुष्ये प्रेते इयं नवनचनकत्िा वतु ते– with regards to a dead
person there is a following doubt. नवनचनकत्िा means िंशयः.
And what is the field of doubt? A person who has died; you can
extend it to the animals also, plants also. So the question is
regarding the mystery of death. What happens after death? And
what is the confusion here? अनस्त इक्षत एके अनस्त ि अयम्
अस्तीनत च एके – some people say the individual survives after
death. There is a surviving र्ीव, individual, some people say
and that is why they say that the person has gone. Now how can
you use the word ‘gone’? Because the dead body has not gone
anywhere, the dead body is right in front of me. Still we use the
expression the person is gone. That means we seem to believe
that other than the body there is another surviving principle
which is a mysterious principle, which is an invisible, people
call it आत्मा, जीव, soul etc. So people talk about some invisible
mysterious principle which survives the death of the person and
not only survives it also travels, go to several लोकs etc. And
therefore िनचकेति् says एके – some people believe in that
principle. Whereas ि अयम् अस्तीनत च एके – some other people
do not believe that there is something other than the body.
According to them the individual is only made up of this body
and the death of the body is the death of the individual. They
do not accept the surviving soul, a travelling soul, they are
िानस्तकs. So आनस्तकs talk about the surviving principle,
िानस्तकs refute that. Why there is the confusion? Why does
the confusion continue? Why we have been not able to resolve
this confusion? This confusion has not been resolved because
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
the surviving आत्मा is not available for our knowledge. There
is confusion because the surviving principle is not visible. I
don’t see the soul travelling, however much the powerful
instrument I use I do not see any soul at all. Or is it at least
available for scientific study? Scientists have not been able to
prove the surviving principle; if the scientists had discovered
that will be one of the topics in the science book where they
will talk about the physical properties, chemical properties etc.
In fact I heard some scientist wanted to find out the weight of
the soul. Therefore they decided to take the weight of the person
before death and then takes the weight after death and whatever
be the weight loss must be the weight of the soul. And
unfortunately the weight has increased it seems. So the soul
must have the negative weight! So science has not been able to
deal with this topic at all. This topic seems to be beyond the
scope of human instruments of knowledge. And therefore we
call this topic अपौरुषेय नवषयः, a topic which is inaccessible to
scientific investigation. Therefore िनचकेति् tells O
यम मा राज! Down below on the earth we are not resolve this
problem. The debate is still going on. They are िानस्तकs who
say who is father, who is grandfather, what is स्वगु , श्राद्ध, तपु ण,
all these are bluff. Who knows the forefather is in the heaven?
You are wasting money by performing the श्राद्ध. You don’t see
your grandfather, you don’t see the various क्षपण्डs you are
offering, it doesn’t travel in front of you. What is the proof?
And therefore िनचकेति् says O यम मा राज! You have to help
me. त्वया अिुनशिः – I want to be instructed by you. With
regard to the surviving principle I want to be taught by you,
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
enlightened by you. अिुनशिः – बोक्षधतः, उपक्षदटः. And
instructed by you एतत् नवद्याम् – I shall know what is the truth.
And वराम् एष ततृ ीयः वरः – this is the third boon of the three
boons that you have gifted to me. in short, the question is देह
व्यक्षतररत तत्त्वम् अक्षस्त वा न वा? Is there a principle other than
the physical body? Because as far as scientists are concerned
they take the individual as the physical body. They don’t
believe even in a mind as a separate entity for them mind is
nothing but the brain alone. All the emotions are nothing but
neurological or electrical responses of the brain or bio-chemical
transformation. Ans that is why for emotional problems also
they give medicine. Therefore for them you are nothing but
your body. And your life begins with the birth of the body and
life ends with the death of the body, there is nothing other than
the body. For those people here िनचकेति् is asking is there
something other than the body which continues to exist even
after burning the body here. This is the question. Now with
regard to this question we have to get some clarification. Now
we have already seen before that other than the physical body
there are three principles in the individual, which we seen in
तववबो , and in the previous उपनिषत्, िीता, etc. An individual
consists of four factors – स्र्ल ू शरीरम्, िक्ष्ू म शरीरम्, कारण
शरीरम् and आत्मा. And we had also seen before that of these
four factors at the time of death the physical body alone
perishes. The other three factors i.e., िक्ष्ू म शरीरम्, कारण
शरीरम् and आत्मा survives according to शास्त्र. And why do not
I see them? Because they are invisible. You may not see a thing
due to two reasons. It is existent but invisible and the second
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
reason is it is non-existent. So a thing is not seen either because
it is invisible or because it is non-existent. You cannot say
whatever is invisible is non-existent. In fact my very speech is
invisible which you cannot say is non-existent. Therefore
remember what is imperceptible need not be non-existent.
Therefore शास्त्र says िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् is invisibly existent, कारण
शरीरम् is invisibly existent and आत्मा is invisibly existent. Of
these principles we have already seen in तववबो the िक्ष्ू म
शरीर and कारण शरीर mixture travels from one place to
another. So the traveling principle is िक्ष्ू म कारण शरीरम्. And
then what about आत्मा? आत्मा is non-traveling principle. So
िक्ष्ू म कारण शरीरम् and आत्मा survives, they are invisible, but
िक्ष्ू म शरीर and कारण शरीर travels from one लोक to another
and acquires an appropriate physical body whereas आत्मा does
not travel.
नित्यः िवा ितः स्र्ाणुरचलोऽयं ििातिः ॥ िीता २-२४ ॥
Now since we have got these two surviving principle – िक्ष्ू म-
कारण principle and आत्मा principle, now the question is
िनचकेति् is asking about which one of the two. Because
िनचकेति् tells only what is that principle which survives the
death of the body. Therefore the िनचकेति्’s question can deal
with either िक्ष्ू म-कारण शरीरम् or आत्मा. Which one of the two
िनचकेति् is asking about? So there is a vagueness. And
therefore only िनचकेति् himself clarifies his question in the
next section i.e., मन्त्र 1-2-14.

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
अतयर माा दतयरा माा दतयरास्मात्कृताकृतात् ।
अतयर भत
ू ाच्च भव्याच्च यित्पश्यनि तद्वद ॥ कठोपनिषत् १-२-
१४ ॥
So िनचकेति् says O यम मा राज! I am not interested in the
surviving िक्ष्ू म शरीरम्, I am not interested in the surviving
कारण शरीरम्, I am interested in knowing surviving आत्मा
तत्त्वम्. Therefore the question is देह व्यक्षतररत आत्मा कः. What
is that आत्मा which is other than the physical body and which
continues to exist even after the fall of the body, that आत्मा I
want to know. Continuing;
मतर 1-1-21
देवरै रानप नवनचनकनत्ितं पुरा ि नह िुनवज्ञेयमणुरेष मा ः ।
अतयं वरं िनचकेतो वण ृ ीष्व मा मोपरोत्िीरनत मा िज ै म् ॥ २१ ॥
ृ ि
In the twentieth मतर िनचकेति् has asked for the Self-
knowledge. यम मा राज is a ज्ञानि and he has got Self-
knowledge. And not only is he a ज्ञानि he has got the necessary
skill to communicate this wisdom also which means he is not
only ब्रह्मनिष्ठः he also happens to be a श्रोनरय who has the
methodology of communication. Therefore यम मा राज is ready
to give this wisdom, but the question is is िनचकेति् ready to
receive it. Because any transaction requires somebody fit to
give but it is not enough that somebody is fit to give, somebody
must be fit to receive also. Therefore यम मा राज wants to know
whether िनचकेति् is पात्रम्, a fit receptacle to receive this
wisdom. If िनचकेति् is not fit then communication will not
take place, the teaching will go above the head. And in fact if
िनचकेति् does not understand then no problem, the problem
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
is if िनचकेति् misunderstand. And if he wrongly understands
and come down to भल ू ोक and then starts teaching also. Then
he will become a wrong model which the tradition was very
much frightened of. They kept the wisdom very secret before
which was even misunderstood that the brahmins were with
vested interest did not want to part with this wisdom, that they
were selfish, and thus were criticized heavily, but the fact is not
that they wanted to keep it secret, they were interested in giving,
their worry was if it goes into wrong hands, a wrong tradition
will be initiated. And imagine there are so many traditions one
right and many wrong, because right can be only one, and
wrong traditions can be innumerable. A time will come you
don’t know which one is right and which one is wrong. It can
be a big mess. Lord कृष्ण tells in the third chapter
ि बुनद्धभेदं जियेदज्ञािां कमा िङ्नििाम् ॥ िीता ३-२६ ॥
Never confuse the society by giving this wisdom freely without
testing the capability. And therefore we have got an entrance
examination which we will see in the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 1-1-21 Continuing;
देवरै रानप नवनचनकनत्ितं पुरा ि नह िुनवज्ञेयमणुरेष मा ः ।
अतयं वरं िनचकेतो वण ृ ीष्व मा मोपरोत्िीरनत मा िज ै म् ॥ २१ ॥
ृ ि
In the twentieth मतर िनचकेति् has asked for
आत्मनवद्या or Self-knowledge through the third boon which
यम मा राज had offered to him and यम मा राज doesn’t want to
give Self-knowledge straightaway. Not because यम मा राज
doesn’t have the knowledge but because Self-knowledge
should be given only to a fit person. A person fit is called an
अन कारी in the शास्त्रs. The knowledge received by an
अन कारी alone will bless the person. The knowledge will not
bless a person if he is an अनन कारी. Not only will it not bless
a person the chances are that the teaching is misunderstood by
a person and still worse that misunderstood teaching might be
spread to other people creating a confused blind tradition. And
therefore there is a general instruction to all the ब्रह्मनवद्या िुरुs
that give the teachings only after making sure that the student
is an अन कारी. In keeping with this general instruction
यम मा राज wants to find out whether िनचकेति् is qualified to
receive this knowledge. Now the question is what are the
factors which make a person qualified for this knowledge. This
वेदातत शास्त्र already has indicated those factors which are
नववेक, वैराग्य, षट्किम्पनि and मुमुक्षुत्वम्.
a) नववेक means discrimination, discrimination of the fact
that Self-knowledge alone will give freedom from sorrow.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
Anything other than Self-knowledge cannot give freedom from
sorrow or if at all it can give only temporary freedom. So this
is called discrimination.
b) And the second is dispassion which is a natural
consequence of discrimination. Since I know that the other
things and accomplishments in the world cannot give me real
freedom I don’t consider them as primary in my life. Other than
Self-knowledge everything else should become subservient or
secondary. This attitude towards other goals of life is called
dispassion. It is not hatred towards them but knowing that they
cannot solve the human problems for good. This is called
dispassion.
c) The third qualification is discipline by which we mean
the integration of the personality. The personality consisting of
the physical body, sense organs of knowledge and actions, the
emotional mind and the rational intellect. All the organs must
be healthy and they should function in an integrated manner. It
should not be like bullock cart in which one bull is dragging in
one direction and the other in another direction. What will
happen to the cart? Doesn’t move at all. Therefore all our
organs and the physical body and the mind and the intellect
should function in uniformity. This is called षट्किम्पनि in
general. This is called discipline, self-mastery, self-integration,
self-organization, self-management.
d) The fourth and final one is desire. Intense desire, intense
craving for Self-knowledge. Just as a person underwater will
have only one desire to come out and breathe.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
Thus discrimination, dispassion, discipline and desire –
the four D’s makes a person अन कारी. Now यम मा राज wants
to have an entrance examination to find out whether िनचकेति्
has these four D’s. Of these four-fold qualification the first
examination is regarding the fourth whether िनचकेति् really
desires for this knowledge. And this intense desire is called in
िंस्कृत as either तीव्र मुमुक्षुत्वम् or तीव्र क्षर्ज्ञासा. How do you
find out whether a person has got intense desire? One method
used by the traditional teachers is discourage the student from
gaining this knowledge and give as many obstacles as possible,
ask the student to come after a month, etc., different methods
of putting obstacles the teacher deliberately does that. Not that
the teacher wants to hurt the student the teacher wants to find
out whether the desire is intense. If the desire is casual the
excuses given are plenty for not studying the scriptures. If there
is a slightest possibility of a remote drizzle then the class will
be bunked. Some excuse or the other, when the desire is feeble
excuses are many. When the desire is intense even if it is high
fever one cannot give up the pursuit. Therefore यम मा राज
wants to test िनचकेति् by discouraging him from this
knowledge. How does he do that? He says, एषः मा ः अणुः. मा ः
in this context means आत्मा. Normally the word मा ः means an
ethical way of life, moral way of life. Another meaning of the
word मा ः is आत्मा. How can you give both these meanings?
The word मा ः etymologically means that which sustains the
creation. The sustainer is called मा ः. It is derived from the √ ृ
to sustain, to hold. ारणात् मा ः. Ethics or morality is called
मा ः because only ethics or morality keep the society together.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
If the value system breaks down, if corruption becomes
dominant that society cannot survive. All the other countries
acknowledge the fact that India has got everything for progress.
Man-power is there, knowledge-power is there, national
resources are there and of course we have got wonderful
scriptures in our country and in spite of all this we manage to
remain at the lowest rung of the ladder because of corruption.
Perhaps sooner or later we will reach number one rank in the
world in corruption. Therefore if the world has to survive values
are required. Therefore values are the sustainer of the society
and therefore it is called मा ः. And extending the same principle
आत्मा is also called मा ः because sooner or later we will see
आत्मा is the ultimate substratum of the creation, it is िनृ ि
कारणम्, नस्र्नत कारणम् and लय कारणम्. Since आत्मा
sustains the creation आत्मा also can be called मा ः. भिवाि् can
be called मा ः. That is why one of the names in नवष्णुिहस्रिाम
is मा ः. मा ः means sustainer. So thus the word मा ः has several
meanings according to the context, in this context मा ः means
आत्मा. Why do we take this meaning in this context? Because
in the previous मतर िनचकेति् has asked for आत्मनवद्या. And
एषः मा ः – this आत्मा which is there in every living being,
which will continue to exist even after the death of the
individual – is अणुः. अणुः means like an atom. अणुः literally
means atom. In this context you have to take it is like an atom.
Not that आत्मा is an atom. Why do we say so? Because atom is
that which has got the smallest size but we know that आत्मा is
all-pervading, which we are going to see it later, therefore
आत्मा is certainly not of the size of an atom. Therefore we
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
should say आत्मा is like an atom. In what sense it is like an
atom? Atom is not available for our instruments of knowledge.
It is too subtle for us to perceive through the available sense
organs. In the same way आत्मा is also extremely subtle for us
to understand. And therefore in this context अणुः means subtle
like an atom. इक्षन्द्रय अगोचरम्, सवु प्रमाण अगोचरम्. Therefore
what? Since आत्मा is extremely subtle O िनचकेति्! You
cannot know this आत्मा very easily. It is a tougher course.
Therefore take some other simpler subject where you don’t
require बुक्षद्ध, you don’t require finer instruments, you don’t
require all the qualifications. So this is one discouragement.
आत्मा is extremely subtle. Therefore what is the conclusion? ि
नह िुनवज्ञेयम् – it cannot be easily grasped. There are many
people who have been in the field of Self-knowledge for
twenty-five years and they say ‘I have a doubt regarding आत्मा
only, everything else I have understood. I have understood
clearly about पञ्चकोशs, अवस्र्ात्रयम्s but they say something
called आत्मा that alone I haven’t understood.’ So thus you can
study for years and have a basic doubt regarding आत्मा. And
therefore यम मा राज says it is not easily comprehensible. And
in support of this conclusion यम मा राज says देवःै अनप अर
नवनचनकनत्ितम् – even gods are not able to know this आत्मा
then what to talk of ordinary human beings. Even gods who are
supposed to have better instruments, in spite of their superior
instruments and superior facilities unlike us who are having all
sorts of health problems, so even though they have the best
body, best mind, best sense organs, best environment, no
hunger, no thirst, that means constantly they can study. In spite
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
of all these facilities देवःै अनप नवनचनकनत्ितम् – this आत्मा was
doubted, was not clearly known by even gods, पुरा – long
before. So नवनचनकनत्ितम् means िंशनयतम्, सक्षन्दग्धम् इत्यर्ु ः.
This we known from केिोपनिषत्, wherein ब्रह्मि् appeared as
ििुण यि. This ििुण ब्रह्म itself अनग्ि, वायु and इति could not
recognize. If ििुण ब्रह्म itself is incomprehensible what to talk
of नििा ुण ब्रह्म. If देवs themselves could not understand what to
talk of human beings? And therefore िनचकेति् I think your
first two boons were intelligently asked the third boon is a
wrong choice. And therefore हे िनचकेतः अतयम् वरं वण ृ ीष्व –
choose some other वर. मा मा उपरोत्िीः – may you not compel
me to impart this Self-knowledge. May you not insist upon this
particular knowledge. मा अनतिज ृ – you please leave me.
Relieve me from this onerous task. So not only is it difficult for
िनचकेति् it is difficult for the teacher also, it is not easily
communicable.
आिया वत्पश्यनत कनिदे तमािया वद्वदनत तर्ैव चातयः ।
आिया वच्चैिमतयः शणृ ोनत श्रुत्वाप्येिं वेद ि चैव कनित् ॥ िीता
२-२९ ॥
The teacher is a wonder, the teaching is a wonder, the student
is a wonder, and the greatest wonder is in spite of elaborate
teaching the student says I don’t understand. That is the greatest
wonder. Continuing;
मतर 1-1-22
देवरै रानप नवनचनकनत्ितं नकल त्वं च मत्ृ यो यति िुज्ञेयमात्र् ।
वक्ता चास्य त्वादृितयो ि लभ्यो िातयो वरस्तुल्य एतस्य
कनित् ॥ २२ ॥
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
िनचकेति् is replying to यम मा राज. And here we find
the brilliance of िनचकेति्. यम मा राज gave certain reasons to
say that this is not a worthy boon. िनचकेति् uses the same
reason and concludes therefore this is the only worthy boon. So
whatever reasons were given for discouragement the same
reasons are used for encouragement.
1) Now look at it, he says, देवःै अनप अर नवनचनकनत्ितम् –
O यम मा राज! You say that even gods are not clear about this
knowledge. From this what conclusion can we make? This
knowledge is extremely rare. If gods themselves do not know
what to talk of the ordinary human beings? And since it is the
rarest wisdom it must be the most valuable wisdom and
therefore I want this wisdom. Because whatever is rare is
valuable and whatever is valuable is worth seeking. This is the
psychology of every human being also, when you have got
something in your house and if no other neighbor has got you
are very very proud. Owner’s pride, neighbor’s envy. So
therefore you don’t want others to have that. And the others
should ask you from where did you get and you try to keep it
secret and then ultimately you tell and they go to that shop and
they say the last one is sold, not available. And they come and
cry in front of you, you are so happy even getting मोि will not
give this much of joy. This is the human psychology. Therefore
िनचकेति् tells if nobody in the world has that wisdom I would
like to have exactly that only. This is the first reason.
2) The second reason is हे मत्ृ यो त्वं ि िुज्ञेयम् आत्र् – you
say that this teaching is not easily accessible that means I cannot

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
acquire this wisdom by own independent effort. And therefore
I necessarily require a िुरु. Because if it is not easily accessible
I should necessarily take an external assistant and I am not
going to get such an assistant on the earth because you say that
many people do not know. And therefore since I require an
external guide I should make use of this opportunity for seeking
this knowledge. This is the second supporting reason.
3) The third reason is even if I want a िुरु what type of िुरु
should I seek? I would like to have the best िुरु in the world.
Everybody wants for everything best only. Compared to human
िुरुs a celestial िुरु is definitely better. Not only will he have
the knowledge but skill also. And not only that even among
gods यम मा राज is the best choice. You know why?
िनचकेति्’s question is what will happen to the individual after
death. So the question is centered on death department. And
who is the Lord of death department? यम मा राज. So since
यम मा राज’s regular duty is destroying the living beings and so
he knows what is destroyed and what is not destroyed. And
therefore िनचकेति् tells as the third reason त्वादृक् वक्ता अतयः
ि लभ्यः – I can never get a teacher, a िुरु who is as great as
you. So I need the assistance and you are the best support. And
it is the rarest wisdom also.
So because of all these three reasons – that it is the most
rarest and valuable one, I need an external assistant and you are
the best guide for that purpose – my conclusion is अतयः एतस्य
तुल्यः वरः कनित् ि अनस्त – after reconsidering I will again
vote for the same boon alone. Therefore is no other boon equal

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
to this or better than this. Even if you ask hundred times I will
answer that only. I need आत्मज्ञािम्. I need आत्मज्ञािम्. Thus
िनचकेति् indicates his तीव्र मुमुक्षुत्वम् for आत्मज्ञािम्. This is
the fourth qualification known as desire, तीव्र मुमुक्षुत्वम्, तीव्र
क्षर्ज्ञासा. At the end of the भिवद्गीता Lord कृष्ण tells four
qualifications are required to study the िीता. And among those
four qualifications कृष्ण emphasizes one qualification – शुश्रषू ा.
ि चाशुश्रष
ू वे वाच्यं ि च मां योऽभ्यिय
ू नत ॥ िीता १८-६७ ॥
शुश्रषू ा means श्रोतुम् इच्छा, an intense desire to listen to the
teachings coming from a competent िुरु. This desire should
become intense as much I desire for food, as much I desire for
breathing. Continuing;
मतर 1-1-23
शतायुषः पुरपौरातवण ृ ीष्वा बहू तपशि
ू ् हनस्तनहरण्यमश्वाि् ।
ू ेमाहदायतिं वण
भम ृ ीष्व स्वयं च जीव शरदो यावनदच्छनि ॥ २३ ॥
Now यम मा राज is giving the second test. The first test
िनचकेति् cleared. In the second one is about the वैराग्यम्,
dispassion. Now when I have got a desire for something my
desire for that is indicated by my willing to sacrifice to the
things for the fulfilment of that desire. What all I am ready to
sacrifice to fulfil that desire. Directly proportional to the
sacrifice is the intensity of desire. For a feeble desire I am ready
to sacrifice only minor things. When the desire is more my
willingness to sacrifice also becomes more and more. Even a
book, when you see a book and you just browse through it and
like it, you say that I would like to buy the book. And then look

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
at the price. Three hundred and ninety five rupees. Now there
is a tug of war. Now for getting this book how much amount I
am ready to sacrifice? Suppose the desire for the book is only
feeble then seeing the amount we will keep the book down. But
suppose you find it is so nice then there is a tug of war. Now
desire is directly proportional to the quantity you are ready to
sacrifice. And therefore यम मा राज is tempting िनचकेति् by
offering several things instead of आत्मज्ञािम्. In the place of
आत्मज्ञािम् I am ready to give all these worldly gifts. Now you
have to decide whether you would sacrifice the gifts and choose
आत्मज्ञािम् or whether you are willing to sacrifice
आत्मज्ञािम्. Great िततयाि! िततयाि of आत्मज्ञािम् for
getting these worldly benefits. So there is now temptation. First
यम मा राज offers temptation in the form of this worldly
pleasures which any common human being will value. In
वेदातत शास्त्र it is called इह फलम्. All the pleasures of this
world यम मा राज is offering. What are the common things
desired by the people? He gives a list. पुरपौरातवण ृ ीष्व. This is
the normal course of human being. Get educated, get a job and
then get married, have children, educate them, find out a job for
them, then put him also in the same lot, i.e., get married. This
is the normal human tendency which is called अर्ा काम desire.
Ninety-nine percent of the people is carried away by अर्ा काम.
Therefore यम मा राज says I will give you children, वण ृ ीष्व. And
what type of children? शतायुषः. So if they have premature
death nothing more shocking than that. The most painful for a
parent is seeing the child’s death. Therefore यम मा राज says
‘you won’t have that problem children will live longer.’
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
शतायुषः means hundred years. बहू ि् पशि ू ् – I will give you
plenty of cattle wealth. पशु represents wealth because in those
days cattle represented wealth. That is if you see
बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् when र्नक has dialogue with याज्ञवल्क्य
for every teaching he gives thousand cows.
हस्त्यषृ भं िहस्रं ददामीनत होवाच ॥बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् ४-१-२ ॥
हनस्त ऋषभम्. हनस्त means elephant. ऋषभ means cattle.
िहस्रम् means thousand. So that was wealth. So I will give you
plenty of cattle wealth. हनस्त – elephant. If somebody gifts
elephant we should be very careful. It has to be fed properly. So
therefore यम मा राज says नहरण्यम् – I will give you sufficient
resources to maintain the elephant. And अश्वान् – horses also I
will give. After giving all these यम मा राज says भम ू ेः महत्
आयतिम् वण ृ ीष्व – you can take the biggest िाम्राज्यम्, empire
as a gift from me where you will have sufficient place to house
all the cattle. शङ्कराचाया writes in his commentary you
become an emperor, such a big status may you have. Because
only emperors can maintain all these things. If all these things
are gained by me and suppose I die young. Therefore he says
स्वयं च जीव – may you yourself live शरदः यावत् इच्छनि – as
many number of years as you want. Blank cheque! Who is
giving the promise? the promise is given by the departmental
head and therefore िनचकेति् will be safe. He will give an
authorization letter that any यमदूतs come then िनचकेति् can
show this letter – to whomsoever it may concern : never take
this person, let him live. So therefore all these pleasures may
you have. But you should not ask for आत्मक्षवद्या. That is the

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
condition. So you can see what is the status of िनचकेति्.
Therefore to know the intensity of your desire you can at
regular intervals read this मतरs and ask yourself suppose I am
offered like that what will I do? Then you will know where you
exactly stand. Wonderful self-examination श्लोक. Continuing;
मतर 1-1-24
एतिुल्यं यनद मतयिे वरं वणृ ीष्व नविं नचरजीनवकां च ।
महाभमू ौ िनचकेतस्त्वमे न कामािां त्वा कामभाजं करोनम ॥ २४
॥
यम मा राज continues his temptations. He wonders
perhaps िनचकेति् might have some other types of desires
because times are changing. During our times what did we ask
our parents? We asked for certain types of toys, certainly not
computer games. But nowadays the times have changed
therefore the children will ask for only modern days
entertainments. And therefore यम मा राज says O िनचकेति्! I
am not sure what is the global trend down below and therefore
I will tell you एतत् तुल्यम् वरम् – any other boon equivalent to
whatever I have offered. During those days the vehicles were in
the form of horses and elephants. Now we are traveling by
horses and elephants. Therefore you can add Benz car, BMW,
etc. एतत् तुल्यम् यनद वरं मतयिे – if you want anything
equivalent to that वणृ ीष्व – ask for all those things. All free of
cost! नविम् – the greater your possessions greater your
maintenance cost also. Somebody said that just wind screen was
broken and the replacement cost is forty-five thousand rupees.
So if you have got a bigger thing proportionately the
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
maintenance cost is also involved. Therefore यम मा राज says
नविं च – take any amount of wealth and नचरजीनवकां च – and
also long life which I had already promised. That means I am
not asking you to replace the past boons with the present. In
addition to what I have offered before you can add these also.
Therefore horses, elephants, cows plus vehicles and all those
things you can ask. In short, हे िनचकेतः महाभम ू ौ एन , we have
to supply the word चक्रचक्षतु. May you become the emperor of
the entire earth. Not one of the kingdoms. महाभम ू ौ – so in the
whole of the earth may you become the िाम्राज्य अक्षधपक्षत, and
not only that if I have not included everything in the list, if there
are things which I have not mentioned that also you add,
कामािां त्वा कामभाजं करोनम – I shall make you the enjoyer of
all the entertainments in the world and I shall make you the
possessor of all the forms of wealth. But one condition you
should not ask for आत्मज्ञािम्. So what is the indirect
teaching? The indirect teaching is if one has to choose
आत्मज्ञािम् one should be mentally ready to sacrifice all these
things. Whether one sacrifices or not is not the question.
Whether one is mentally prepared to sacrifice all these all
things. The one who is mentally prepared has got तीव्र वैराग्यम्.
Continuing;
मतर 1-1-25
ये ये कामा दुलाभा मत्या लोके िवाा ि् कामाँश्छतदतः प्रार्ा यस्व ।
इमा रामाः िरर्ाः ितय ू ाा ि हीदृशा लम्भिीया मिुष्यैः ।
आनभमा त्प्रिानभः पररचारयस्व िनचकेतो मरणं माऽिुप्राक्षीः ॥ २५
॥

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
Temptation continues just to find out the intensity of
िनचकेति्’s वैराग्यम. And in this यम मा राज offers some more
free gifts, not as a replacement of the previous gift, but to the
addition to the previous. What are they? He says, मत्या लोके ये
ये कामाः दुलाभाः – what all are the pleasures on the earth which
are extremely rare. So make a list of all those pleasures which
are extremely rare in the भलू ोक. Either it requires extraordinary
power or position or wealth, all those rarest of rare pleasures
may you make a list of. And then I am going to offer you all of
them. Not any one of them again. िवाा ि् कामाि् प्रार्ा यस्व –
may you choose all of those pleasures and all of those
possessions. छतदतः – very freely. You need not hesitate that
you are taking all of them freely. Don’t hesitate, just ask. And
having offered all these earthly pleasures यम मा राज looks at
िनचकेति्’s expression. िनचकेति् doesn’t show even the
remotest form of interest. Now यम मा राज is puzzled. So
therefore यम मा राज wants to tempt him further which we will
see in the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 1-1-25 Continuing;
ये ये कामा दुलाभा मत्या लोके िवाा ि् कामाँश्छतदतः प्रार्ा यस्व ।
इमा रामाः िरर्ाः ितय ू ाा ि हीदृशा लम्भिीया मिुष्यैः ।
आनभमा त्प्रिानभः पररचारयस्व िनचकेतो मरणं माऽिुप्राक्षीः ॥ २५
॥
Through the third boon िनचकेति् asked for Self-
knowledge which we saw in the twentieth मतर. And
यम मा राज does not give the for Self-knowledge immediately.
He will give the knowledge only later which we will see in the
next session from the eighteenth मतर onwards. Upto that
portion िनचकेति् is going to undergo an entrance examination
as it were. यम मा राज wants to find out whether िनचकेति् is
qualified enough to receive this teaching. The qualification is
called अक्षधकारीत्वम् or योग्यता. And to be an अक्षधकारी one
should fulfil four conditions and यम मा राज is testing
िनचकेति् to find out whether he has got these qualifications.
First we found that िनचकेति् is endowed with तीव्र मुमुिा or
तीव्र क्षर्ज्ञासा. Whether िनचकेति्’s desire for this knowledge
is incidental, casual or serious. How to find out? यम मा राज
used the language of discouragement. He said this knowledge
is extremely difficult, even देवs were not able to get this
knowledge why should you struggle to gain this knowledge,
why can't you enjoy your life, after all you are young. This is
the standard statement given by all family members – why are
you attending Upanishadic class now itself. That means when
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
one is old and good for nothing then one should come to the
scriptures. This is the general contention. So when you are
young, when your sense-organs are very capable at that time we
should enjoy sense-pleasures. And after growing old when you
look back ‘I missed those days’ you may regret also. Therefore
why can't you enjoy the life now and think of वेदातत later. So
this is the discouragement used by यम मा राज and िनचकेति्
wins the test in spite of यम मा राज’s discouragement.
िनचकेति् said
वरस्तु मे वरणीयः ि एव ॥ कठोपनिषत् १-१-२७ ॥
I want that and that alone. So having tested िनचकेति’् s
मुमुक्षुत्वम् now the second examination is going on, second
paper and that is with regard to िनचकेति’् s detachment,
वैराग्यम्. To what extent िनचकेति् is detached from the
worldly pleasures, how much value he has got for sense
enjoyment, what amount he is willing to sacrifice for the sake
of knowledge. As I said directly proportional to your desire is
your readiness to sacrifice. And therefore to test िनचकेति’् s
वैराग्यम् यम मा राज is offering varieties of temptations. And
the temptation can be divided into two. The first one is अर्ा -
काम temptations belonging to this world. इहलोक अर्ाु ः
इहलोक कामाः. All the wealth belonging to this world
यम मा राज offers. All the sense pleasures that are possible in
this world यम मा राज offers. And as far as िनचकेति् is
concerned he doesn’t even bat his eyelid, he doesn’t even
hesitate. He just sits down perhaps with his face down not
interested in listening to all these things. And having offered

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इहलोक िुखम् यम मा राज is going to offer परलोक िुखम्
which is superior both in terms of quality and quantity. That is
what we are seeing in मतर twenty-five. In the first line
यम मा राज says मत्या लोके ये ये कामाः दुलाभाः िवाा ि् कामाि्
प्रार्ा यस्व. So here the word कामः means sense objects. The
popular meaning of the word कामः is desire. But in this context
कामः does not mean desire but desired objects. Desirable
objects or sense objects. For िंस्कृत students it should be कमा
व्युत्पनि, काम्यन्ते इक्षत कामाः. And what all sense pleasures? ये
ये दुलाभाः – which are the rarest of sense objects. ये ये कामाः
दुलाभाः मत्या लोके, in the भल ू ोक, in the मनुष्यलोक. िवाा ि्
कामाि् प्रार्ा यस्व. काम includes अर्ा also. So all the अर्ा -काम
पुरुषार्ा s may you seek. And you need even feel bad to ask,
छतदतः प्रार्ा यस्व – without any hesitation, because everything
is free. Upto this is इहलोक िुखम्. And now hereafter
यम मा राज offers स्वगु लोक िुखम् which is indicated by मा
पुरुषार्ा or पुण्य पुरुषार्ा represents परलोक िुखम्. What is
परलोक िख ु म्? The same अर्ा -काम only, the same wealth and
pleasures only, but not the wealth and pleasures of this लोक
but the wealth and pleasures of other लोक. Like कामधेनु. कामं
कामं दोनग् इक्षत कामधेनु. Whatever you want you can milk
from कामधेनु. Only you have to think of that object you will
find immediately the object is ready. Anything you want
कामधेनु can give. And कल्पकवि ृ – whatever कल्पना you
have it will fulfil, सङ्कल्प मात्रेण परू यक्षत. So thus you have got
कामधेनु, कल्पकवि ृ , ऐरावतम्, and all of those things. They
are the wealth of the heavenly world and also the pleasures of
the heavenly world like the dance and music. रम्भोवा शी मेिका
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
नतलोिमा घतृ ाची मञ्जुघोषा etc., celestial women who sing very
well, who dance very well, and who serve also very well round
the year. So यम मा राज says all these things you can take. इमाः
रामाः – these celestial women, िरर्ाः – with their own
wonderful vehicles, ितय ू ाा ः – with their own musical
instruments, ि नह ईदृशाः लम्भिीयाः मिुष्यैः – such celestial
women one cannot imagine in भल ू ोक. And what am I going to
do? I will gift all of them to you. And not only will they sing
and dance आनभः मत्प्रिानभः पररचारयस्व – you can make them
serve you in any way you want. So पररचारणम् means शुश्रषू ा,
service. May you get yourself served by these celestial women.
All free. Upto here it represents परलोक िुखम्, परलोक अर्ा
काम. So इहलोक अर्ा काम have been offered, परलोक अर्ा
काम have been offered. But one condition हे िनचकेतः मरणं मा
अिुप्राक्षीः – so the condition is you should not ask for Self-
knowledge. Now choose between sense pleasures and Self-
knowledge. That is difficult thing. What we generally would
like to have is both of them. I would like to have the sense
pleasures in addition just to please you we may take Self-
knowledge. But if you ask me to choose one better I choose
sense pleasures, not the unknown Self-knowledge. That will be
our conclusion. So यम मा राज wants to find out what
िनचकेति् wants to do. So मरणम् means मरणिम्बद्धं प्रश्नम्,
the question related to death may you not ask. So this a
temptation test. The first test is discouragement test. The second
one is temptation test. Now what is going to happen to
िनचकेति्? िनचकेति् is going to win with distinction.

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
मतर 1-1-26
श्वोभावा मत्या स्य यदततकैतत् िवेंनियाणां जरयंनत तेजः ।
अनप िवं जीनवतमल्पमेव तवैव वाहास्तव ित्ृ यिीते ॥ २६ ॥
Upto the previous मतर is यम मा राज’s words which
started from मतर twenty-three. Twenty-three to twenty-five is
यम मा राज’s words, now from twenty-six onwards िनचकेति्
begins his reply. First we will see the last line, ित्ृ यिीते तव
भवताम् वाहाः तवैव भवन्तु. So हे यम मा राज! Music and dance
are all wonderful. It is so beautiful, it is so nice, but keep them
all with yourself. What a punch on यम मा राज’s nose. They are
all very beautiful, very great, very wonderful, but तवैव – keep
them all with yourself. And what about all these vehicles? वाहाः
अक्षप तवैव भवन्तु – all the vehicles are so nice, keep them with
yourself. In short, िनचकेति् rejected इह अमुत्र फलभोगः. That
is what we saw in तत्त्वबोध as इहामुरार्ा फलभोिनवरािः.
िनचकेति् rejects indicating his वैराग्यम् for all sense
pleasures. िनचकेति् has shown his मुमुक्षुत्वम् before. Now
here he is showing his वैराग्यम्. Of the four qualifications
िनचकेति् has shown two of the qualifications. Now we may
get a doubt. िनचकेति् has been shown here as a boy of eight
or nine years old.
तँ ह कुमारँ िततं दनक्षणािु िीयमािािु ॥ कठोपनिषत् १-१-२ ॥
It was pointed out before that िनचकेति् is eight or nine years
old, because कुमार means a boy less than ten years. And when
िनचकेति् rejects all these pleasures what we may think is he
rejected because he is not grown up enough to appreciate these
sense pleasures. Like a child you offer five hundred rupee note
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
and a chocolate. The child doesn’t know that this five hundred
rupee note can buy several chocolates, therefore the child will
vote for only the chocolate. And even if you hand over the
money it will tear off or put in the mouth. So therefore rejection
can be either because of childishness or the rejection can be
because of maturity. Now in the case of िनचकेति् what is the
cause of rejection? Is it his childishness or is it his immaturity?
So िनचकेति् wants to show that he has rejected them not
because of childishness. Or sometime we may reject certain
things out of frustration also. That is called grapes are savor
rejection. You might have heard the story of the fox which
attempted to get the grapes that was not available and therefore
grapes are savor. Similarly some person wanted to marry some
girl and he was not able to marry, therefore took सन्न्यास; it is
danger for सन्न्यास. That is called grapes are savor सन्न्यास,
it will never work. Or failure in business, failure in some exam,
etc. Therefore rejection can be caused by immaturity, rejection
can be caused by failure in life also. So here we have to find out
what kind of renunciation it is. True renunciation is born out of
discrimination. Discrimination born renunciation alone will
stand the test of time. That alone is ripe renunciation. Therefore
िनचकेति् wants to point out that he has rejected them not
because of his immaturity but because of thorough knowledge
of their limitations. I reject them fully knowing the limitation
of those sense objects. What are those limitations? िनचकेति्
himself talks about the limitations. The first limitation he points
out is श्वोभावाः – the objects whose future is unpredictable,
whose longevity is unpredictable. शङ्कराचाया beautifully
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
writes श्वो भनवष्यनतत ि वेनत िनतदह्यमाि एव येषां भावो भविं
त्वयोपतयस्तािां भोिािां ते श्वोभावाः. You cannot say whether
the sense objects will be there tomorrow or not. Tomorrow we
will survive or not we do not know. Whatever we possess we
will have tomorrow or not we do not know.
मा कुरु ि जि यौवि िवा म् हरनत निमे षात्कालः िवा म् ॥
भजिोनवतदम् ११ ॥
And you want my happiness to depend upon those
unpredictable objects. To depend upon unpredictable objects is
to depend upon unpredictable happiness. And if your happiness
is going to be constantly unpredictable you are never going to
enjoy life you are going to have anxiety only. Therefore
िनचकेति् says श्वोभावाः. And who is responsible for this
condition? How courageous you see! िनचकेति् says this
unpredictability is because of you only. You are called अततकः.
One of the names of यम मा राज is अततकः, the one who puts
an end to everything. Therefore you alone make things
unpredictable, therefore you know better, therefore I don’t want
to depend upon them. So हे मत्या स्य अततक – O destroyer of
everything mortal all things in life are unpredictable. Not only
that, even if they are going to survive longer, so you make them
permanent, िनचकेति् says even if sense pleasures are
permanent the sense organs with which I have to enjoy them
the organs loose their capacity to enjoy. If we go on watching
TV for hours we get headache. If we go on eating our system
will go bad. So at the age of seventy-two you have got false
teeth. What can you eat? You like Halwa very much and you

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
eat and when you open the mouth teeth are missing. So teeth
management becomes a project. िवेनतियाणां तेजः जरयनतत –
the sense pleasures weaken the faculties of every sense organ.
Ok, then why can't I go to ब्रह्मलोक? There you have got a very
long life. िनचकेति् says I don’t want to buy those arguments
because अनप िवं जीनवतम् अल्पमेव – even if I go to ब्रह्मलोक I
cannot be permanent, I can have a longer life, but that also will
have a last day. So therefore which intelligent person will vote
for this perishable sense pleasures. Therefore I am rejecting
them not out of foolishness, I am rejecting them out of wisdom,
नित्यानित्य-वस्तु नववेक. Thus िनचकेति् shows his नववेक in
these lines. Continuing;
मतर 1-1-27
ि नविेि तपा णीयो मिुष्यो लप्स्यामहे नविमिाक्ष्म चेववा ।
जीनवष्यामो यावदीनशष्यनि त्वं वरस्तु मे वरणीयः ि एव ॥ २७ ॥
िनचकेति् reveals his discrimination further. Even
though he is young in age in terms of his maturity he is very
very old. ज्ञानवद्ध
ृ ः even though he is not वयोवद्ध
ृ ः. Therefore he
says O यम मा राज! I know one important thing in life. the
greatest wisdom which every human being should have but it is
very difficult to have that wisdom and that is मिुष्यः नविेि ि
तपा णीयः – money cannot give happiness, money cannot give
fulness, money cannot give peace, money cannot give security,
money cannot give immortality. All the basic needs of life
money cannot give. If money can give all these things all the
rich people must be uniformly happy. But if you take a
statistical study you will find I don’t say all the rich people are
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
uniformly unhappy. What I say is there are many people rich
but in spite of their richness they are unhappy indicating that
between wealth and happiness there is no cause-effect
relationship. If there is a cause-effect relationship between two
things then the rule is wherever that cause is the effect must be
there. And not only that if richness is the cause of happiness all
the poor people should be uniformly unhappy. But that also we
don’t see. There are many poor people who are happy also. So
from this statistical study we come to the conclusion that wealth
and happiness do not have cause-effect relationship. Happiness
is connected with something else. That is why I have told you
very often happiness does not depend upon what I have, but
happiness depends upon what I am. Therefore concentrate on
what you are, don’t concentrate on what you have. So therefore
िनचकेति् tells this one million dollar statement – money does
not guarantee peace and joy. And thereafter िनचकेति्
recognizes even though money is not capable of giving
happiness, money is required for conducting the life. we only
say money cannot give happiness, we don’t say money is
useless. Very careful. We never criticize money. We never say
money is useless. We only say money cannot give happiness.
But money can give so many other things like food, clothing,
shelter; all the other needs of life we require money. That is why
during नवराक्षत्र we worship all the three goddesses. दुिाा stands
for health, लक्ष्मी stands for wealth and िरस्वती stands for
wisdom. All the three contribute their own, but we should know
what contributes contribute. Therefore िनचकेति् recognizes
the value of wealth also. But he says very intelligently that he
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
needs money, but he does not want to waste his boon for the
sake of money. I don’t want to waste a boon for the sake of
money. Because when I go back you are going to gift money.
Whether यम मा राज has plans or not िनचकेति् has decided.
Because I have visited you, you are a great देवता. And when I
go back will you send me back empty handed? Therefore
certainly I will get wealth and long life. and not through the
boon but because of your friendship. Therefore he says त्वा
अिाक्ष्म चेत् नविम् लप्स्यामहे – since I have seen you, I have
met you I am definitely going to get wealth as a gift from you.
And not only I will get wealth and gift जीनवष्यामः यावत्
ईनशष्यनि – I will get a long life also. As long as you are the
presiding deity of death, as long as you are the minister I know
that you will not kill me. Therefore I will have long life - free,
I will have money – free, so that I have got that extra boon,
through that boon I would like to have Self-knowledge only.
And therefore वरस्तु मे वरणीयः ि एव – the only boon I have to
ask is the boon of Self-knowledge. I am not willing to
compromise at all. Continuing;
मतर 1-1-28
अजीया ताममतृ ािामुपेत्य जीया तमत्या ः क्व ःस्र्ः प्रजािि् ।
अनभध्यायि् वणा रनतप्रमोदाि् अनतदीघे जीनवते को रमेत ॥ २८ ॥
So here िनचकेति् further argues pointing out that the
opportunity I have now is the rarest and ideal opportunity for
Self-knowledge. And if I am going to lose this opportunity no
one will forgive me for that mistake and therefore I am never
going to commit that mistake. Why do I consider this
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
opportunity as rare and ideal? िनचकेति् gives the reason.
क्व ःस्र्ः – भल ू ोकवाक्षस, क्व ः means the earth down below.
कुः plus अ ः. कु means भक्षू म. अ ः means down below. Why
does िनचकेति् say भल ू ोक is down below? Because now he is
talking from the heavenly world. Therefore I am भल ू ोकवाक्षस
which is down below. And as a भल ू ोकवाक्षस what is my lot?
जीया ि् मत्या ः – I am afflicted by two basic diseases which are
common to every human being जरा and मरणम्, the two terribly
frightening things. That is the time when यम मा राज has full
control over us. When we are young we have got so much will-
power, so much body strength. And therefore even we can
develop immunity and fight against all diseases. A time will
come when all immunity will come down. When the right time
comes you will find that we are at his mercy, everything that he
wants to do he can do. This is called जरा. We cannot even fight
against it. And he can create diseases in such a way that taking
medicine for one disease will aggravate the other disease. And
if you take medicine for the other disease it will aggravate the
first disease. So give medicine for both, the patient collapses.
So therefore यम मा राज can tie our hands and legs. This is
called जरा. And then this जरा will end up in what? मरणम्
which is still more painful. And therefore िनचकेति् tells as a
भलू ोकवाक्षस I am under the grip of जरा मरणम्. This is condition
number one. Then वणा रनतप्रमोदाि् अनभध्यायि् – I have thought
over all these sense pleasures born out of music and sports. वणा
means music, रनत means entertainment and प्रमोद means
pleasures. Pleasures born out of music and entertainment,
अनभध्यायि् – I have thought over very well. How wonderful
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
they are. And having thought out very well प्रजािि् – I have
very clearly understood their limitations. He is certain that they
cannot free him from these afflictions. So they cannot be a
remedy for the problem of जरा-मरणम्. Music and
entertainment cannot make me free from जरा-मरणम्. So this is
my lot. Therefore I am sincerely desiring for getting out of the
grip of जरा-मरणम्. And by chance I have landed here and I am
in front of a person who has transcended जरा-मरणम्. अजीया तां
अमत ृ ािां उपेत्य – I have reached a person who has conquered
जरा-मरणम्. Because यम मा राज is a ज्ञानि, who has conquered
mortality. So therefore I am suffering from संसार disease and I
am sincerely interested in getting out of the disease and here is
a person who has already got out of the disease and here is a
person who has the medicine for this disease. So now imagine
suppose I have got stomach pain and there is somebody who
has got medicine for stomach pain, seeing him I ask for the
medicine first. So therefore I am afflicted with संसार रोग and
you are endowed with संसार रोग औषधम्, how can I ask for
anything else? Therefore िनचकेति् tells अनतदीघे जीनवते कः
रमेत – which intelligent person will ask for the so-called long
life in the heaven or on the earth? Who will ask for longevity in
the heaven or on the earth? Nobody will ask for that. Any
intelligent person will ask for immortality only. and therefore I
have an ideal opportunity, I don’t want to allow this to slip.
Continuing;

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
मतर 1-1-29
यनस्मनतिदं नवनचनकत्िनतत मत्ृ यो यत्िाम्पराये महनत ब्रनू ह
िस्तत् ।
ू मिुप्रनविो िातयं तस्मातिनचकेता वण
योऽयं वरो िढ ृ ीते ॥ २९ ॥
िनचकेति् concludes in this मतर pointing out that he
does not want any boon other than आत्मनवद्या. He gives the
reasons for that choice also. अयं वरः – this boon of Self-
knowledge is not an ordinary boon, िढ ू म् अिुप्रनविः – it is a
hidden wisdom not easily accessible. This यम मा राज himself
has pointed out that even the देवs are not sure about that. So
when I have got an opportunity to get the rarest of the rare
shouldn’t I snatch that opportunity. So अयं वरः िढ ू म्
अिुप्रनविः and यनस्मि् इदं नवनचनकत्िनतत – with regard to this
boon of Self-knowledge everyone has got doubts, with regard
to this Self-knowledge there is confusion prevailing
everywhere. We have got twelve systems of philosophy of
which six accept the authority of the वेदs called आनस्तक
दशा िम् and the remaining six do not accept called िानस्तक
दशा िम्. Each system of philosophy talks about आत्मा in its
own way. Some people say आत्मा, the Self is the body alone. I
am the body. Some people say I am not the body, I am the mind.
Some people say I am neither the body nor the mind, I am the
soul. An among those people who say I am the soul there are so
many varieties – some people say soul is inert, some say soul is
sentient, some say soul is अणु, some say soul is all-pervading,
some say soul is neither अणु nor all-pervading. So many
confusions. So how can I get this wisdom clearly unless I have

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
a capable आचायु and when I have got a capable आचायु
shouldn’t I get the clear knowledge of the vaguest subject
matter आत्मा? And therefore यनस्मि् इदं नवनचनकत्िनतत – this
Self-knowledge is doubted by all people. And not only that
िाम्पराये महनत – this आत्मनवद्या is dealing with that great
आत्मन् which is beyond the body and empirical life. it is
dealing with a great आत्मा which is beyond the body, that is
why there is confusion. And not only that beyond empirical life
also which means even after the death of the individual that
आत्मा continues to survive. Therefore we are talking about
something which is beyond time, which is beyond space, and
which is beyond empirical world of perception. In fact it is
beyond even science. That is why science will never be able to
deal with Self-knowledge. That is why in our tradition we call
it अपौरुषेय नवषयः, that which is beyond human instruments of
enquiry. So this the subject matter. An आत्मनवद्या which is very
hidden, an आत्मनवद्या with regard to which everybody has got
doubt, an आत्मनवद्या which is dealing with the great Self, which
is beyond time, space and empiricality such an आत्मनवद्या alone
I have to get, nothing more, nothing less. अतयम् िनचकेताः ि
वण ृ ीते – other than such a Self-knowledge िनचकेति् will not
settle for anything else. So all these मन्त्रs reveal िनचकेति’् s
नववेक. Thus through these nine मतरs twenty-one to twenty-
nine the उपनिषत् reveals नववेक, वैराग्यम् and तीव्र मुमुक्षुत्वम्
of िनचकेति.् What about शमानद षट्क िम्पनि or discipline?
िनचकेति्’s discipline has been already revealed through the
story itself where िनचकेति् had the concentration in listening
to यम मा राज’s teaching, so he listened to the elaborate ritual,
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली १
he remembered the ritual, even he repeated back to यम मा राज,
all these thing indicate that िनचकेति् has got mind control,
sense control, he has got concentration, of course he has got
श्रद्धा, and he has got नतनतक्षा also for three days he was without
food. All these indicate he has got शमानद षट्क िम्पनि also.
Therefore we come to know िनचकेति् is qualified. Now
यम मा राज is very happy. Therefore before teaching further
यम मा राज is going to praise the glorify of the student, which
we will see in the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
प्रर्माध्याये नद्वतीया वल्ली
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
In the last session, i.e., the first section of कठोपनिषत्
we saw िनचकेति् asking for Self-knowledge through the third
boon. And before giving Self-knowledge यम मा राज wanted to
make sure that िनचकेति् is a fit receptacle for this knowledge.
Because if he is not a fit receptacle it will not bless the receiver
and it will also affect the other people in the society, such a
person can confuse the others also. And therefore यम मा राज
wanted to test him and we saw िनचकेति् happily passed the
test. And he proved that he has got all the qualifications
required for receiving the knowledge. He had the नववेक, the
discriminative power to differentiate the infinite from all other
finite goals of life including ब्रह्मलोक. He rejected all the gifts
belonging to भल ू ोक and he rejected all the gifts belonging to
the heavens also. Thus he had discrimination and also he had
discrimination based dispassion. Not only that his desire for
ब्रह्मक्षवद्या was so intense that he said that िनचकेति् will not ask
for anything other than this knowledge indicating his intense
मुमुक्षुत्वम्. Thus नववेक, वैराग्यम् and मुमुक्षुत्वम् all िनचकेति्
has in abundance. And also he is endowed with शमानद षट्क
िम्पनि, mental balance and grasping power which is indicated
by his receiving the नानचकेत ritual and also repeating the ritual
exactly as it was taught to him. So thus in short िनचकेति्
proved himself to be an उत्तम अक्षधकारी. And naturally when
यम मा राज found an ideal student यम मा राज was extremely

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
thrilled. Just as a student will be happy to get a competent
teacher the vice versa is also true a teacher also is happy to get
competent students like you. यम मा राज is going to say that.
And therefore in this section the first thirteen मतरs are going
to be the glorification of the student. यम मा राज is going to
glorify the student in general and िनचकेति् in particular. So
नशष्य स्तुनतः we find and thereafter यम मा राज is going to
glorify the आचाया also, the teacher is also a rare one. So आचाया
स्तुनतः or गुरु प्रशंसा we are going to get. And then यम मा राज
is going to glorify the very teaching itself, नवद्या-स्तुनतः. So not
only the teacher is rare, not only the student is rare, the teaching
that takes place between a rare teacher and a rare student that
teaching is also rare. िवा म् आिया म्. गुरु, नशष्य, नवद्या, िवा म्
आिया म्. This is going to be the topic of the first half of the
second section. I had told you before that the कठोपनिषत् has
got two chapters and each chapter has got three sections. We
have finished the first section, now we are going to enter the
second section. In the second section the first half will be
glorification and thereafter from मतर number fourteen
onwards the ब्रह्मनवद्या introduction will start. With this
background we will enter the second वल्ली.
मतर 1-2-01
अतयच्रे योऽतयदुतवै प्रेयस्ते उभे िािार्े पुरुषँ नििीतः ।
तयोः श्रेय आददािस्य िा ु भवनत हीयतेऽर्ाा द्य उ प्रेयो वणृ ीते ॥ १ ॥
यम मा राज glorifies the Vedantic student in general. In
the introduction to the उपनिषतs् we saw that the entire वेद is
divided into two portions वेदपवू ा and वेदातत. वेदपवू ा is कमा
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
प्रधानम् and वेदातत is ज्ञाि प्रधानम्. And therefore the वेदपवू ा
deals with varieties of कमा s – कानयक, वानचक, मािि कमाु क्षण,
physical, verbal and mental actions respectively. All the
उपासनs also come under कमा alone. The only difference is all
the meditations are mental कमा s. वेदपवू ा is a voluminous portion
dealing with infinite such कमा s. All these कमा s are meant for
giving िख ु म्, sense pleasures to the performer of these कमा s.
How do they give sense pleasures? By way of improving all the
factors connected with sense pleasures. The factors as we have
already seen are sense objects, sense organs and the
environment. Without sense objects you cannot enjoy sense
pleasures. The second factor is organs required for sense
pleasures. If the organs are not there one cannot enjoy like
having popcorn without teeth. So therefore by improving sense
objects, by improving sense organs and by improving the
environment for the enjoyment, the surrounding, the
atmosphere, the ambience what you call. Thus all the कमा s
produce the कमा फलम् in the form of improving these factors
and by improving these factors I can lead a happier life which
us called अिात्म िुखम्, sense pleasures. Thus वेदपवू ा deals
with कमा and कमा फलम्, and the कमा फलम् is in the form of
अिात्म िुखम्. Now we have to contrast this with the वेदातत
which does not deal with कमा , but which deals with ज्ञािम् and
also ज्ञािफलम्. This ज्ञािम् will lead to a फलम् which is in the
form of not अिात्म िुखम् but which is in the form of आत्म
िुखम्. अिात्म िुखम् is exported आनन्द, आत्म िुखम् is
indigenous आनन्द. So thus कमा and अिात्म िुखम् is वेदपवू ा ,
ज्ञािम् and आत्म िुखम् is वेदातत. In अिात्म िुखम् I
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
concentrate on what I possess, what I have; that becomes more
important. Whereas in आत्म-िुखम् the focus is not on what I
have, but the focus is on what I am. One deals with the
transformation of the surroundings and the other deals with the
transformation of myself. One makes me extrovert and the other
makes me non-extrovert. These are the two मािा s presented in
the वेद कमा मािा and ज्ञािमािा . अिात्म िख ु म् and आत्म िख ु म्.
And in this मन्त्र यम मा राज names the कमा मािा as प्रेयः and
ज्ञािमािा as श्रेयः. One is called प्रवनृ ि मािा and the other is
निवनृ ि मािा . Why कमा मािा is called प्रेयः? The कमा मािा is called
प्रेयः because it is appealing to the common man’s intellect
which is instinctive, natural. प्रेयः means naturally liked by
every person. That is why even as a child we always looked for
possessing things one toy after the other. So what is our
instinctive approach? Our happiness depends upon what we
possess. This is how we start. We snatch the toy from the
neighbor boy. And when the neighbor boy wants something
from me I tightly hold on to it. So thus value for possession and
value for happiness from outside is our instinctive feeling. And
therefore कमा मािा which talks about happiness from outside is
naturally appealing. Whereas ज्ञािमािा is called श्रेयः because it
alone is really good for every human being. प्रेयः is attractive
but श्रेयः is good. So one is desired while the other is desirable.
And therefore यम मा राज talks about प्रेयि् and श्रेयि् in the first
मन्त्र. He says अतयत् श्रेयः – ज्ञािमािा is one मािा prescribed in
the वेदs. And अतयत् उतैव प्रेयः – कमा मािा is another मािा ,
means prescribed by the वेदs. वेद has presented these two, there
is no third मािा .
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
लोकेऽनस्मि् नद्वनव ा निष्ठा पुरा प्रोक्ता मयािघ ।
ज्ञाियोिेि िाङ्ख्यािां कमा योिेि योनििाम् ॥ िीता ३-३ ॥
There are these two alone. And if you use the word भनक्तमािा ,
what do you mean by भनक्त? If you say भनक्त is only singing
भर्न्s it will come under कमा मािा because singing is वाक्षचक
कमु . If you say भनक्त is offering flowers it will again come
under कमा , काक्षयक कमु . Suppose you say भनक्त is enquiring
into the nature of God then भनक्त will come under ज्ञािमािा .
Therefore भनक्तमािा as distinct from कमा and ज्ञािम् does not
exist at all. भनक्त will either come under कमा or ज्ञािम्
depending upon what भनक्त exercise you do. It can never be
outside these two. Similarly any other िा ि. It has to come
under these two only. And therefore these are the two मािा s
prescribed by the वेदs. And what is the uniqueness of that? ते
उभे िािार्े – both these मािा s, paths or means have got a totally
different destinations. And what are they? One will give
अिात्म िुखम्, another will give आत्म िुखम्. One will give
pleasure from outside while the other will give pleasure from
inside. One makes you go after things while the other makes
you to withdraw from things. And therefore they are like north
pole and south pole, िािार्े. अर्ु means फलम्, िािार्े means
नभतिप्रयोजिे, they have two different destinations. Ans since
they have two different destinations almost diagonally opposite
one cannot follow both of them simultaneously. Because they
are going in different direction. It is like going to Kerala and
Delhi. Suppose you want to go to Delhi and Jammu, both are
on the same direction. So you can take the same route and have
any one of these two destinations. But when one route is leading
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
to Delhi and another is leading to Kerala, going towards one is
going away from the other. So you cannot say I will follow both
of them. And therefore necessarily you have to choose one goal
as the primary goal of life. You can have any number of
secondary goals we don’t care. Because life is full of many
secondary goals. Even maintaining health is a goal which is
required for कमा as well as ज्ञािम्. So thus we have got so many
secondary goals but here the teacher is bothered about what do
you consider the ultimate primary goal of life. Are you going to
be a materialist or a spiritualist? Are you going to be after
अनात्मा or आत्मा? यम मा राज distinguishes these two sets of
people. And one set of people certainly minority, what do they
do? तयोः श्रेयः आददािस्य – there are some people, a few who
can be counted in fingers. What do they chose? श्रेयः आददािस्य
– they chose ज्ञािमािा , they seek आत्म िुखम्, they are
bothered about what they are rather than what they have. And
those people िा ु भवनत – they will have a good result, a
propitious result. They will be successful in their life, they have
made their life. But they are very few. As कृष्ण says in the
seventh chapter
मिुष्याणां िहस्रेषु कनिद्यतनत निद्धये ।
यततामनप निद्धािां कनितमां वेनि तववतः ॥ िीता ७-३ ॥
How many people are interested in Me हे अर्ु न कृष्ण asked.
Very few are interested in Me. If at all they come they are
interested in the butter in my hand or something else. Or people
come to क्षवष्णु very often because लक्ष्मीदेक्षव is nearby. So they
are interested in लक्ष्मी through क्षवष्णु. So therefore very few

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
people choose that. Whereas य उ प्रेयः वण ृ ीते – there is the other
set of people, the majority of people प्रेयः वण ृ ीते – they choose
only कमा मािा by which they can increase their possession.
Because they think that through possession they will get
happiness, they will get security, they will get peace, they will
get fulfilment. Because of their wrong calculation they choose
this. And what is going to be their lot? Have they made a right
choice in life? यम मा राज says unfortunately no. अर्ाा त् हीयते
– so they loose real goal of life. अर्ा ः means परमपुरुषार्ा ः which
is the real goal of life, which will give real fulfilment; from that
goal they slip away, they stray away. So therefore श्रेयोर्ी and
प्रेयोर्ी, these are the two people. And यम मा राज says श्रेयोर्ी
is intelligent and प्रेयोर्ी is मतदः, dull-minded.
मतर 1-2-02
श्रेयि प्रेयि मिुष्यमेतः तौ िम्परीत्य नवनविनक्त ीरः ।
श्रेयो नह ीरोऽनभ प्रे यिो वण
ृ ीते प्रेयो मतदो योिक्षेमाद्वण
ृ ीते ॥ २ ॥
यम मा राज further clarifies the same topic with an
intention to glorify the spiritual student. He says this श्रेयोमािा
and प्रेयोमािा are available for the human beings only. Only a
मनुष्य has the privilege to follow either of the two. Why do we
say so? Because the human beings alone have the freewill as
we saw in the िीता class,
उद्धरे दात्मिात्मािं िात्मािमविादयेत् ।
आत्मैव ह्यात्मिो बत ुरात्मैव ररपुरात्मिः ॥ िीता ६-५ ॥
Human beings alone have the freewill. Freewill means choice.
How do you know that the human beings have the choice? What

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
is the proof for that? Very simple proof for choice is human
beings alone have conflicts in life. Conflicts is the proof for the
existence of choice. Where there is no choice there is no
question of conflict. A cow doesn’t have a conflict whether it
should be vegetarian or non-vegetarian. The cow is
instinctively vegetarian. A tiger also has no conflict because all
of them are programmed instinctively they follow a particular
way of life. So whether eating or building a shelter for them.
Now if you want to build a house how many options are there?
For just a window there are hundreds of books. Interior
decoration. My god! You can choose everything and the choice
means this one or that one. And always after buying you will
feel the other one was better. Be it a dress or a house or
marriage! So everything. So that we have conflicts proves we
have choice, that we have choice proves we have freewill.
Therefore कमा मािा and ज्ञािमािा for choice are available for
human beings. And therefore यम मा राज says श्रेयि् and प्रेयि्,
कमा मािा and ज्ञािमािा , spiritualism and materialism both of
them appear, they present themselves in front of a human being.
They come saying ‘take me, take me.’ Like the olden days
स्वयम्वर. The girl wants to get married, then the princess come
and they stretch their head for the garland to be put around it.
Similarly श्रेयि् also comes, प्रेयि् also comes. And both of them
request us to choose them. And मिुष्यम् एतः. एतः means they
present themselves, they appear. मिुष्यम् – the discriminative
human being. And ीरः – there are some human beings who are
intelligent. ीरः means who nourish the intellect and preserve
the discriminative power by appropriately using. Because any
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
faculty will be lost if you don’t use. If you stop walking, you
cannot walk later. Any faculty if you don’t use it will get
atrophied, it will become weak. Similarly बुक्षद्ध also if you don’t
use it will weaken. And if you see our lifestyle it is such that
the usage of बुक्षद्ध is nil or minimum. Whereas intelligent person
परीक्ष्य लोकाि् कमा नचताि् ब्राह्मणो निवेदमायात् ॥
मुण्डकोपनिषत् १-२-१२ ॥
An intelligent person keeps his discriminative faculty alive and
learns from every experience. For him the very life is a
university. And when he experiences and learns from life what
does he understand? He understands the limitations of
कमा फलम्. How? परीक्ष्य – by thoroughly examining them,
having studied, having gone through bitter painful frustrating
experiences he learns. What does he learn? All the कमा फलम्s
are wonderful alright but they have got three intrinsic defects –
दुःखनमनश्रतत्वम्, अतनृ िकरत्वम् and बत कत्वम्.
दुःखनमनश्रतत्वम् is the pain of acquisition, the pain of
preservation and the pain of ultimate loss. Every कमा फलम्
involves all these pains. It is never pure आनन्द. You should
pay a price and the price is worse than the benefit. The second
defect is अतनृ िकरत्वम्. Any amount of अनात्म सुखम् I get I
will never have satisfaction. I will ask for more and more and
more. In fact I will never enjoy what I have, I will always
compare my present status with what is possible and then
worry. This is अतनृ िकरत्वम्. And finally बत कत्वम्. अनात्म
सुखम् hooks me to अनात्म and I get dependent on them. They
are all dependence causing drugs. So this an unintelligent

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
person doesn’t understand because he refuses to think. But ीरः
is the discriminative person. Here the word ीरः does not mean
strong person or a heroic person. Here ीरः means नववेनक,
साक्षत्त्वक पुरुषः, कमा योनि इत्यर्ु ः. What does he do? िम्परीत्य
– analyzing exhaustively the experiences and the experience
born pleasures and the experience born pain and when the pain
comes he analyses whether the mistake is in the object or the
mistake is in my dependence. An unintelligent person blames
the object whereas an intelligent person says the object is not to
be blamed, that I depend on that object is my mistake. Why
should I depend? Because an object gets the power to hurt me
only when I depend on that object. Therefore the object is made
a poison not intrinsically but I am responsible for making the
object capable of hurting me. And therefore the world is not to
be blamed, as स्वाक्षमक्षर् beautifully says ‘The problem is you,
the solution is you’. How long are you going to blame the wife,
children and the government? This is called िम्परीत्य – having
analyzed thoroughly, नवनविनक्त – he discriminates between
अनात्म सुखम् and आत्म िुखम्, dependence and
independence, what I have and what I am, this discrimination
he does. And having done the discrimination ीरः श्रेयः वण ृ ीते –
so this intelligent person, this discerning person chooses the
श्रेयः, ज्ञािमािा alone. There is a word अनभ प्रेयिः, there the अनभ
part should be connected to the verb and we should read it as
अनभवण ृ ीते. अनभवण
ृ ीते means chooses. So the intelligent person
chooses श्रेयः प्रेयिः – rather than प्रेयि्, कमा मािा . He chooses
ज्ञािमािा . Whereas मतदः – अनववेनक
अङ्िं िनलतं पनलतं मुण्डं दशिनवहीिं जातं तुण्डम् ।
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
वद्ध
ृ ो यानत िहृ ीत्वा दण्डं तदनप ि मुञ्चत्याशानपण्डम् ॥
भजिोनवतदम् १५ ॥
So even though he is physically ripe but mentally still the
childishness continues. He is a वयोवद्ध ृ ः but not ज्ञानवद्ध ृ ः.
Therefore मतदः प्रेयः वण ृ ीते – chooses कमा मािा for योिक्षेमात्
– for his special project. What is the special project of a प्रेयोर्ी?
That project is called योिक्षेम project. What is योिक्षेम project?
योि means acquisition. Therefore he is busy acquiring all the
time. And it is not enough that you acquire as you increase the
acquisition there is a proportional concern about maintenance.
Therefore run here and there. And you have to depend on so
many people. So therefore योि or क्षेम, if you study the life of
an average individual all the time he spends either in योि or
क्षेम. Since our whole life is dedicated to योिक्षेम we have no
time for living at all. That is why कृष्ण said in the nineth chapter
अितयानिततयततो मां ये जिाः पया ुपािते ।
तेषां नित्यानभयुक्तािां योिक्षेमं वहाम्यहम् ॥ िीता ९-२२ ॥
Please give the योिक्षेम contract to Me. I am a very good
contractor, who will keep the word. And do you know the price
for the contract?
परं पुष्पं फलं तोयं यो मे भक्त्या प्रयच्छनत ॥ िीता ९-२६ ॥
The cheapest contractor in the world. But our problem is
because many other worldly contractors are unreliable, we are
not willing to trust भगवान् also. No one can we trust and
therefore भगवान् also we cannot trust. Therefore whole life is
योिक्षेम. So प्रेयः मतदः योिक्षेमात् वण
ृ ीते.

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
Ok, here I would like to add an aside point, you should
note. An intelligent person chooses ज्ञािमािा and an
unintelligent person chooses कमा मािा . The point to be
remembered is कमा योि also comes under ज्ञािमािा only
because it is done not for material accomplishment, but it is
done as a preparation for शास्त्र-नवचार. So since it is integrally
connected with ज्ञाियोि, since it is a stepping stone to
ज्ञाियोि कमा योि also comes under ज्ञािमािा . Then what is
कमा मािा ? Any कमा other than कमा योि. That means all the
िकाम कमा s which are meant for sense pleasures. Any कमा
meant for नचिशुनद्ध will come under ज्ञािमािा . So intelligent
person chooses this ज्ञािमािा which consists of कमा योि and
ज्ञाियोि. Continuing;
मतर 1-2-03
ि त्वं नप्रयानतप्रयरूपांि कामाि् अनभध्यायतिनचकेतोऽत्यस्राक्षीः ।
िैतां िङ ृ ् कां नविमयीमवािो यस्यां मज्जनतत बहवो मिुष्याः ॥ ३ ॥
In the previous two मतरs यम मा राज generally glorified
all the seekers of मोक्ष, आत्म सुखम् or ज्ञािमािा . Now in this
मतर यम मा राज wants to particularly deal with िनचकेति;्
because naturally िनचकेति् will wonder to which category
does he belong to. Am I ीरः or मतदः? Therefore यम मा राज
wants to say that you come under ीर category only. This is not
only यम मा राज’s word to िनचकेति् but this is the word of
every teacher to his student. The very fact that the student has
come to उपनिषत् class indicates that they are interested in
ज्ञािमािा . And therefore यम मा राज says O िनचकेति् you
come under ीर category. And if यम मा राज blindly praises
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
िनचकेति् then it will be mistaken as pretention. So यम मा राज
wants to say that you deserve that glorification. Why because
O िनचकेति् हे िनचकेतः अत्यस्राक्षीः – you threw away all the
sense objects that was offered by me free of cost. So many sense
pleasures I offered. हे िनचकेतः कामाि् अत्यस्राक्षीः. कामाः
means sense objects and not desire. What type of objects are
they? नप्रयाि् नप्रयरूपान्. So नप्रयाि् means pleasing objects like
children, grandchildren, spouse, etc. And then नप्रयरूपान् means
attractive objects in the form of heavenly chariot, musical
instruments, celestial women, gold, elephant, all of them I
offered. And what did you do? अत्यस्राक्षीः – without hesitation,
without batting the eyelid you threw it far away. And this
throwing away can come because of childishness also. It is not
like that, यम मा राज says अनभध्यायि् अत्यस्राक्षीः – so you very
deliberately, consciously, with knowledge. It is not grapes are
savor dispassion but it is dispassion born out of discretion.
Discretion based dispassion alone will last longer. Without
discretion if I give up it is not called renunciation, it is
suppression. Suppression can prove dangerous. O िनचकेति् in
your case you had well thought out of. अनभध्यायि् means
having thought out very well. How do we know that? Because
िनचकेति् clearly expressed श्वोभावा मत्या स्य
यदततकैतत्िवेनतियाणां जरयनतत तेजः । अनप िवं
जीनवतमल्पमेव ॥ २६ ॥ ि नविेि तपा णीयो मिुष्यः ॥ २७ ॥ he
gives the reason for his rejection. Therefore thoughtfully you
rejected everything. Therefore you are indeed a greatly matured
person. More in the next class.

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
यम मा राज tested िनचकेति् to find out whether he has
the required qualification for receiving the Self-knowledge,
which Self-knowledge he asked for through the third boon. And
यम मा राज happily discovers the fact that िनचकेति् is amply
qualified for receiving this knowledge. And therefore
यम मा राज wants to appreciate िनचकेति्. And therefore in the
first part of the second वल्ली यम मा राज glorifies all the
Vedantic seekers in general and िनचकेति् in particular. And
here यम मा राज is glorifying the नववेक and वैराग्यम् of a
seeker. नववेक means discriminative knowledge and वैराग्यम्
means the consequence choice of the right path giving up the
inferior मागु . And for this purpose यम मा राज introduced two
मागु s श्रेयो मागु and प्रेयो मागु , ज्ञािमािा and कमा मािा or प्रवक्षृ त्त
मागु and क्षनवक्षृ त्त मागु . श्रेयो मागु will lead a person to a
permanent goal, permanent happiness and permanent security,
and therefore that is the right choice but that is not so appealing.
Whereas प्रेयो मागु is an inferior मागु which gives only a
seeming security, a seeming happiness like a pseudo jewel.
Even though it is limited, it easily tempts a person, it is
appealing. And in spite of that they do not fall for those
temptations, they choose श्रेयो मागु only. And िनचकेति् you
happen to be one such rare discriminative person. This was said
in the third मन्त्र which was introduced in the last class.
िनचकेतः नप्रयाि् नप्रयरूपाि् कामान् च अत्यस्राक्षीः. You threw
away all the valuable gifts that I offered to you free of cost. Not
only things but even several celestial beings I offered. And your
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
rejection is not born out of immaturity but it is born out of
wisdom and therefore यम says अनभध्यायि् – having weighed
the pros and cons, having judged properly you rejected the
inferior one. Upto this we saw in the last class.
In the third line यम मा राज says एतां नविमयीं िङ ृ ् कां ि
अवािः. while giving the second boon यम मा राज gave a bonus
gift to िनचकेति.् The second boon was in the form of a ritual,
यम मा राज elaborately taught the ritual, िनचकेति् did not have
pen and note book or a music player to listen repeatedly, in spite
of that he recorded everything and he brought it out. And
appreciating the मेधाशक्षत of िनचकेति् यम मा राज offered an
extra gift, िङ ृ ् का – a garland. It is not a local garland but
नविमयीं िङ ृ ् काम् – a very expensive garland. And when I
offered that to you, though you are not going to lose any boon
because it is only an extra bonus, but you rejected that garland
also. Therefore he says एतां नविमयीं िङ ृ ् काम् – this costly
expensive necklace which I took from my own neck, ि अवािः
– you did not receive that. This is not said in the first वल्ली; in
the first वल्ली the उपनिषत् says only that यम मा राज offered
the gift. What is िनचकेति’् response is not said there. Here
only we come to know about the response because यम मा राज
himself says you rejected that offer. And what type of garland
is it? बहवः मिुष्याः यस्यां मज्जनतत. In fact most of the
humanity is only lost in, carried away by these expensive things
alone. Therefore यम मा राज says मिुष्याः मज्जनतत – people
are drowned in the topic of gold and diamond, dress and
अहङ्कार. People are immersed in that topic only. Whereas you
are not at all interested in such an affair. Therefore यस्यां
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
मज्जनतत. He uses the word मज्जनतत which means they get
immersed in that. Therefore you have got नववेक-जतयवैराग्यम्.
Continuing;
मतर 1-2-04
दूरमेते नवपरीते नवषच
ू ी अनवद्या या च नवद्येनत ज्ञाता ।
नवद्याभीनप्ििं िनचकेतिं मतये ि त्वा कामा बहवोऽलोलुपतत ॥ ४ ॥
So here यम मा राज says a particular problem that the
human beings face. श्रेयोमािा deals with spiritual goal. प्रेयोमािा
deals with material accomplishments. And both श्रेयोमािा and
प्रेयोमािा come to a human being. यम मा राज said श्रेयि प्रेयि
मिुष्यमेतः. And some human beings may think why should we
choose one of these two. Why can't we make a nice choice of
having both? So let me have मोि also and let me have the other
things also. You may think the conflict is only when we have
to choose one of them. Why can't we choose both श्रेयि् and
प्रेयि् as our goal of life. Here यम मा राज says unfortunately,
that alone is not possible because they are diagonally opposite
मािा s. That means the choice of one naturally means the
rejection of the other. That is why I explained this before in the
first मन्त्र of this section अतयच्रे योऽतयदुतवै प्रे यस्ते उभे िािार्े.
While explaining the word िािार्े I said if श्रेयोमािा is going in
northern direction प्रेयोमािा is going in southern direction.
Therefore going towards north invariably means going away
from the south. Therefore यम मा राज says materialistic pursuit
and spiritual pursuit are diagonally opposite, because one is
based on अनवद्या, one perpetuates अनवद्या, ignorance. Whereas
the other one is promoting नवद्या which is going towards नवद्या.

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
Therefore कमा मािा is called अनवद्यामािा and ज्ञािमािा is called
नवद्यामािा . Why do we say कमा मािा is अनवद्यामािा ? There are so
many reasons to support that. The first and main reason is all
the कमा s are based on Self-ignorance because to do कमा s one
has to be a कताा . And to be a कताा one has to identify with the
body-mind complex. So अनात्म अक्षभमान, देह अक्षभमान alone
makes me a कताा . That is why during sleep when I don’t have
देह अक्षभमान I don’t become a कताा . Therefore the prerequisite
for कता त्ृ वम् is अनात्म अक्षभमान which is based on ignorance.
This is the technical reason to establish that कमा is ignorance
solidified. Then we can see the phycological background also.
When a person takes to कमा मािा his aim is to accomplish
things, to add to the list of possessions. And why is a person
interested in adding to the possessions? What triggers a person
to go after possessions? It is very simple. That he has concluded
that I need external support to be secure and happy. And if I
don’t have the people around me, I don’t have the wealth
around me, the status around me I will be miserable, I will be
incomplete. This is the fundamental assumption for all कमा s. I
will be incomplete myself, I require external factors to be
complete. I am insecure myself I require people for my security.
So this self-conclusion that I am insecure myself, that I am
incomplete myself is, from Vedantic angle, the basic mistake.
This is exactly like आञ्र्नेय not knowing his glory. Somebody
has to tell you have to cross the ocean. Previously also he had
but he has to be reminded of that power. Similarly here also
because of Self disowning I have made a self-conclusion that I
am weak. And the more I am going to acquire things am I
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
confirming my conclusion or questioning my conclusion? All
my activities are not questioning my conclusion, all my
activities are confirming my conclusion. What conclusion?
That the presence of these things only will make me secure.
And therefore since the entire कमा मािा is leading from
dependence to dependence, leading from insecurity to
insecurity it is called अनवद्यामािा . Whereas ज्ञािमािा is
questioning the basic assumption – do I need external factors to
be secure? Do I need people to be morally comfortable and
strong? The moment you question your weakness and then try
to strengthen yourself that is called ज्ञािमािा . ज्ञािमािा is
strengthening your legs while कमा मािा is procuring crutches.
The more walking sticks you have, the weaker your legs will
be. Therefore in कमा मािा you go from dependence to
dependence, weakness to weakness. Whereas in ज्ञािमािा I
want to strengthen myself so that I can drop every one of my
crutches. Therefore यम मा राज says एते नवषच ू ी. नवषच
ू ी means
मागौ. Which मािा ? श्रेयोमािा and प्रेयोमािा . They are दरू ं नवपरीते
– far divergent. One makes me dependent on myself, the other
makes me dependent on the world. So one leads to
independence another leads to dependence. How can the path
to dependence and the path to independence be in the same
direction? It is not possible. And therefore only अनवद्या या च
नवद्या इनत ज्ञाता – one is called अनवद्या, the प्रेयोमािा or कमा मािा
because it perpetuates my conclusion that I need things to be
happy. It not only perpetuates, it promotes also. Whereas
ज्ञािमािा says stop acquiring, drop the crutches and start
walking. You may fall once or twice but you will find that your
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
legs can develop strength in due course, only thing is you have
to take that risk. What is that risk? Giving up; at least
temporarily. Try to go to some place alone. All the time taking
a company or taking a music player. So you don’t want to face
yourself at all, you don’t want to be alone at all. Therefore
whenever such a situation comes it becomes nightmarish. Go to
a place alone, and face yourself you can find later that you can
enjoy being yourself. But it requires initial risk. Any growth
involves pain. That we were in the womb of the mother was
very cozy and convenient. A protective sack, food also no
problem, very cozy and comfortable. But I cannot afford to
permanently remain even if I am willing which mother will be
ready to have permanent pregnancy? Therefore the baby has to
come out. When the baby comes out there is tremendous
insecurity. Because it has heard the heartbeat of the mother.
That is why they say to keep the baby to the chest so that the
baby hears the heartbeat of the mother. Because it feels the
comfort. Therefore the baby goes through the pain of separation
from mother and later the baby finds that is required for further
growth. Similarly when the children are educated and they want
to go for job there is a pain. So any growth is pain. In प्रेयोमािा ः
you avoid the risk of pain whereas in श्रेयोमािा you take the
challenge and take the risk and for that you get the benefit also
which is being happy with people around. And if anybody
threatens to leave you will say ‘goodbye, see you again’. What
a freedom! Otherwise they will blackmail. Even mother
blackmails the child. I won’t talk to you if you don’t do this.
That is blackmail relationship because I am weak. Therefore
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
श्रेयोमािा is risky but it is required for freedom. So नवद्या इनत
ज्ञाता – it is called नवद्या, you discover the inner freedom. And
िनचकेति् you decided to take the risk. Even though I provided
all the heavenly pleasures you rejected them. People say there
is no one at home, it is like desert. Can they not say it is like an
आश्रम. What is the difference between आश्रम and desert? The
difference is not outside but it is inside. When you love being
alone it is आश्रम, when you cannot face that it becomes
cremation ground. So mind required strength to enjoy being
alone. िनचकेति् you chose that. नवद्याभीनप्ििम् – you desired,
you chose श्रेयोमािा , and that too in spite of my temptation.
कामाः बहवः त्वा ि अलोलुपतत – any number of temptation did
not distract you, take you away from your chosen goal.
Therefore wonderful great you are. अलोलुपतत means you are
not cut off from श्रेयोमािा , and by extension cut off means stray
away, deviate. So these sense objects did not make you deviate
from the path chosen by you. Continuing;
मतर 1-2-05
अनवद्यायामततरे वता मािाः स्वयं ीराः पनण्डतंमतयमािाः ।
दतिम्यमाणाः पररयनतत मढ ू ा अत ेिवै िीयमािा यर्ात ाः ॥ ५ ॥
This मन्त्र is almost similar to the मुण्डकोपक्षनषत् मन्त्र
1-2-8. In the मुण्डकोपक्षनषत् this topic is still more elaborately
discussed. To glorify the discriminative student, the नववेनक
यम मा राज is contrasting him with an अनववेनक who falls in
majority. So by doing अनववेनक क्षनन्दा यम मा राज is indirectly
doing नववेनक स्तुक्षतः. अनववेनक क्षनन्दा द्वारा नववेनक स्तुक्षतः. And
who are these अनववेनकs? The indiscriminative people want to
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
continue in their delusion because to get out of this delusion
there is a risk involved as I have practiced using the crutches
and now I cannot imagine dropping them. Therefore whichever
person recommends crutches I like that person because he
supports my delusion. My cozy comfortable delusion whoever
supports, encourages and buy a few more crutches. I feel he is
my true friend. Whoever is providing me crutches I consider he
is a well-wisher. But there is one person telling how long are
you going to depend on these crutches. ‘Are there crutches
permanent?’ have you thought. ‘What will happen to you when
the crutches break?’ have you thought. So shouldn’t you think
in advance that as even I am using the crutches gradually I
should think of a life where I can throw away all these crutches.
ि कमा णा ि प्रजया ै े अमत
िेि त्यािेिक ृ त्वमािशुः ॥
कैवल्योपनिषत् ३ ॥
Have you ever thought dropping the phycological crutch? And
if anybody talks about that which is not very palatable because
I am used, I am attached to these crutches, whenever a Vedantin
asks the person to drop these dependences, you know what the
person will do? He drops. You know what? The Vedantic
teacher. Because he makes me uncomfortable, he asks me to
drop whichever I hold near and dear and therefore majority of
people are steeped in delusion and they are afraid of वेदातत.
Because वेदातत asks a person to become independent and to
become independent वेदातत prescribes renunciation. Not
external काक्षव type renunciation. Mentally learning to become

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
independent. And this many people are afraid. िौडपादाचाया
says,
अभये भयदनशा िः ॥ माण्डूक्य काररका ३-३९ ॥
वेदातत is a source of fearlessness. But these people because of
not understanding the aim of वेदातत they are afraid as they
don’t want to drop things. And therefore यम मा राज strongly
criticizes the people of attachment, the people of ignorance, the
people who want to cling onto things. अनवद्यायामततरे वता मािाः
– they are steeped in ignorance and delusion. Even though
शङ्कराचाया in his भर्गोक्षवन्दम् is trying to hammer this idea.
िम्प्रािे िनतिनहते काले िनह िनह रक्षनत डुकृञ्करणे ॥
भजिोनवतदम् १ ॥
यावत् नविोपाजा ि िक्तः तावनतिज पररवारो रक्तः । पिात्
पिाज्जीवनत जजा र देहे वाताा म् कोऽनप ि पच्ृ छै िेहे । ॥
भजिोनवतदम् ५ ॥
People will love you as long as you have money. But once you
are no more an earning person the treatment is different. This
शङ्कराचाया said a thousand years ago.
िनलिीदलित जलमनततरलं तद्वज्जीनवतमनतशयचपलम् ॥
भजिोनवतदम् ४॥
मा कुरु ि जि यौवि िवा म् हरनत निमे षात्कालः िवा म् ॥
भजिोनवतदम् ११ ॥
But the problem with these people is like our son-in-law. You
know our son-in-law? He has got all the virtues except two – he
doesn’t know by himself, nor can he be taught by others. Like

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
that these people neither are they intelligent enough to discern
this fact nor are they willing to expose themselves to
somebody’s teachings. The scriptures are repeatedly
announcing ‘may I help you’. But this person they don’t listen.
Therefore स्वयं ीराः पनण्डतंमतयमािाः – they think they are
intelligent and learned. Even though they are मख ू ु क्षशखामक्षण,
ignoramus, but still they do not accept that fact because the ego
comes in front. How can I learn from someone? How can I bend
in front of someone? And therefore stiff with arrogance,
intellectual arrogance. Then naturally what is going to be there
lot? You have to pay the price for every misconceptions. There
is no shortcut. भगवान् doesn’t show any sympathy because he
has provided the discriminative power to be prepared in
advance. A person who takes precautionary measures is a
farsighted person. भगवान् doesn’t expect us to be myopic
people, shortsighted people. If you are not going to think of the
future and we are going to be trapped भगवान् says at least may
you learn from kicks in life.
परीक्ष्य लोकाि् कमा नचताि् ॥ मुण्डकोपनिषत् १-२-१२ ॥
Some people understand by neighbor’s suffering, they are
called intelligent people; whereas some other people have to go
through their own suffering. And therefore यम मा राज says
दतिम्यमाणाः – they are carried away from one dependence to
another dependence. Like a person giving up smoking and
taking to snuff. Now what is your progress? From one
dependence to another dependence which is not a progress. And
therefore दतिम्यमाणाः – wandering here and there, roaming

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
here and there hoping to get some support. In the
मुण्डकोपनिषत् the reading is जङ्घतयमािाः because that is
still more powerful. जङ्घतयमािाः means tormented, through
every experience. पररयनतत मढ ू ाः – these indiscriminate people
travel all over not only during one जतम, according to वेदातत
the travel is from one body to another body.
अिानद अनवद्या वाििया पशु पनक्ष मि ृ ानद योनिषु पुिः पुिः
अिेक ा जनित्वा केिानप पुण्यकमा नवशेषेण इदािीं ति मािुष्ये
नद्वजतमनवशेषं प्रािवतः ॥ उपाकमा महािङ्कल्पः ॥
So we say what all wombs and bodies we have gone through
somehow we have got the human birth. And we do not know
how to handle this मनुष्य शरीरम् also. They are मढ ू ाः. And they
are like अत ेिवै िीयमािाः अत ाः यर्ा – they are like the blind
people being led by another blind. It is a famous example –
blind being led by the blind. Suppose a person is blind and he
is walking and he may fall into any pit. Suppose there is another
person who is also blind and holds onto the hand of the other
blind. What are the chances of falling? It has become more
because previously only I could fall, now when the other person
falls because I am holding him diligently, I will also fall.
Similarly here also these people are led by their own blind
intellect. So here the blind person represents my own blind
intellect, my reasoning power I use. शङ्कराचाया criticizes such
philosophers who heavily depend upon reasoning, who heavily
depend upon scientific analysis, and they claim that they are all
rationalists. They don’t want to take the support of the
scriptures. They consider it is beyond their dignity. And

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
therefore they say we are modern people, we are rationalists,
we will be capable of thinking and arriving at truth. He says
science can help in arriving at objective truth but when it comes
to subjective reality science or reasoning is helpless. So when I
want to see my own eyes just as I surrender to the mirror,
similarly when I want to discover myself, I have to surrender to
the scriptures. Surrender to the scriptures is a blind person
holding onto another person who is not blind. Why should I feel
bad about it? If I cannot see clearly I can hold onto the hand of
a person who can see clearly. With regard to the truth my
intellect is incapable, truth is अपौरुषेय नवषय, it is beyond the
instruments of knowledge. Why can't you take the help of
scriptures if you ask , his arrogance does not permit. Therefore
he is led by his own blind intellect. And therefore falls into pit,
i.e., called lower र्न्म, and once he gets lower र्न्म he has to
wait for some िनञ्चत पुण्यम् and again another chance is given.
Continuing;
मतर 1-2-06
ि िाम्परायः प्रनतभानत बालं प्रमाद्यततं नविमोहे ि मढ
ू म् ।
अयं लोको िानस्त पर इनत मािी पुिः पुिवा शमापद्यते मे ॥ ६ ॥
All our instruments of knowledge are known as पौरुषेय
प्रमाणम्. पौरुषेयम् means at the disposal of a human being. We
have got an intellect which can analyze the sensory data and
discovers so many laws of creation. Everything we don’t see.
When an apple falls down sense organs report only the apple
falling. The law of gravitation is not perceived. The law is
invisible which is discerned by the intellect. So if a percentage
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
can be perceptually known a very great percentage can be
known by intellectual analysis. And therefore that is also called
पौरुषेय प्रमाणम्. This perception and intellect put together can
discover fantastic thing, in fact all the scientific progress and
advancement are all the glory of पौरुषेय प्रमाणम्. Computers,
internet, communication revolution are all the glory of पौरुषेय
प्रमाणम्. But the scriptures point out that every प्रमाणम् has got
a particular field in which alone they can operate. This is the
fundamental law. Just as the eyes however powerful they may
be they can function only in the field of forms and colors.
However powerful eyes may be they are utterly useless in the
field of sound. It is a fact which we can happily accept. If we
know and accept the limitation of every प्रमाण then we don’t
use a wrong प्रमाण for a wrong field using an appropriate
instrument. When I want see stars I use telescope, when I want
to see bacteria I use microscope. There is nothing wrong I know
that each has its own field. Now what the scriptures say is both
the perception and intellect are wonderful and great but they
have a field of operation which is limited and it is called पौरुषेय
नवषय. पौरुषेय प्रमाणम् can operate only within पौरुषेय नवषय.
It has got a range. And there are things which are outside the
range of पौरुषेय प्रमाण and all those topics which are beyond
the पौरुषेय प्रमाण are called अपौरुषेय नवषयाः. So what is the
definition of अपौरुषेय नवषय? A field in which पौरुषेय प्रमाणs
cannot operate. I cannot use a car in the sea. A car can be used
only on the land and not water. The interesting thing is the
dream world is not available for waker’s sense organs. In fact
स्वप्न is अपौरुषेय नवषय with regard to the waker’s sense
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
organs and intellect. And this अपौरुषेय नवषय is divided into
two in our tradition. One is called धमा – the laws of कमा , the
laws governing the universe. And the second topic is called ब्रह्म
– the Truth, the Reality. Both धमा and ब्रह्म are अपौरुषेय नवषय
and therefore with regard to धमा and ब्रह्म do not rely upon your
sense organs and intellect, better rely upon the वेद प्रमाण, which
is called अपौरुषेय प्रमाण. So धमाु धमु म्, पुण्यपापम् topic is
अदृटम्. When पुण्यपापम् topic comes we have to hold onto वेद
प्रमाण. ब्रह्मि् topic comes we have to hold onto वेद प्रमाण. To
find the age of the moon you need not go to वेद प्रमाण. भगवान्
has given you the sense organs and intellect, you will be able to
do research, and you can fix the age of the moon. So what our
scriptures say is use appropriate प्रमाण for the appropriate topic.
This is called intelligence. And यम मा राज says the
unintelligent people they fail in this particular context. The
details we will see in the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 1-2-06 Continuing;
ि िाम्परायः प्रनतभानत बालं प्रमाद्यततं नविमोहे ि मढ
ू म् ।
अयं लोको िानस्त पर इनत मािी पुिः पुिवा शमापद्यते मे ॥ ६ ॥
Upto the thirteenth मन्त्र of this section यम मा राज is
glorifying the Vedantic student, the Vedantic teacher and the
Vedantic teaching. First he is glorifying the Vedantic student by
talking about his discriminative power, how he has chosen the
right and the best goal of life. The best goal of life is called श्रेयः.
And therefore यम मा राज says श्रेयोर्ी is discriminative person
who has understood the limitation of प्रेयस् consisting of finite
goals and he has rejected them in favor of श्रेयस्. But there are
only a few people who make such a right choice. Whereas
majority is lost in the pursuit of प्रेयस् only. And therefore to
glorify the seeker of श्रेयस् यम मा राज is strongly criticizing the
seekers of प्रेयस्. And therefore he talks about the non-
discrimination or delusion of a प्रेयोर्ी in मन्त्र number six
which we are seeing now. He says बालम् – most of the people
are childish people. Even though physically they are mature,
perhaps their hair also has turned into grey, but as far as inner
maturity is concerned they are retarded intellectually. And
therefore यम मा राज calls them बाल – indiscriminate one,
intellectually stunted ones, therefore incapable of learning from
the experiences of life, परीक्ष्य लोकाि् कमा नचताि् they are not
able to do, and therefore they continue to have wrong priorities
of life. Then यम मा राज further criticizes them, प्रमाद्यततम् –
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
they do not know the value of the rare human life, because in
any other life there is no possibility of getting liberation. This
is the only rare human जतम where knowledge and मोक्ष are
possible.
इह चेदवेदीदर् ित्यमनस्त ि चेनदहावेदीतमहती नविनिः ॥
केिोपनिषत् २-५ ॥
If a person doesn’t make it in this human जतम the loss is
infinite. Therefore we have to know the value of human life and
that too the first and last part of life are practically useless. In
the first part we are immature therefore we cannot spend in a
worthwhile manner, in the last part we are incapable and
therefore we cannot spend. Therefore if you trim the first and
last part of life we have got a few years. If we are negligent, if
we are complacent during that time it only shows the
foolishness of that person and therefore यम मा राज strongly
criticizes them प्रमाद्यततम् – careless with regard to the rare gift
of God. Negligence, waste precious time and faculty. प्रमाद
means negligence, प्रमाद्यततम् means negligent person. Why are
they negligent? Why can't they spend their time in worthwhile
manner? It is because नविमोहे ि मढ ू म् – they are lost in the
pursuit of wealth. They are carried away by the pursuit of
wealth which promises all the material comforts and
entertainments. In fact money represents all the three पुरुषार्ा s
– मा अर्ा काम, everything is purchasable by money. And
therefore नविमोहे ि – because delusion for wealth, मढ ू म् – this
person is carried away. There is no time to wait and think what
am I doing. Monday to Saturday I am busy, and Sunday I am

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
more busy, because whatever I could not do during these days
all piled up. And again Monday. And suddenly doctor says that
you have health problem. So therefore नविमोहे ि मढ ू म्, and
therefore only अयं लोकः ि परः इनत मािी – he believes only in
this world, he does not believe in the next जतम, he does not
believe in the future, he does not believe in पुण्यम्, he does not
believe in पापम्, he does not believe of course in मोक्ष. In short,
he does not believe in four पुरुषार्ा s, in his vision there are only
two पुरुषार्ा s – अर्ा and काम. Therefore अयं लोकः. This is
called चावाा क philosophy, materialistic approach. This visible
world alone is, िानस्त परः – there is no परलोक at all, इनत मािी
– so he proudly claims to be a rationalist, a scientist, and
therefore he does not believe in मा and मोक्ष. And therefore
naturally since he does not believe in मा and मोक्ष which are
the higher पुरुषार्ा s he is not going to believe in the वैनदक
िा िs leading to the higher पुरुषार्ा s. So when he doesn’t
believe in मा and मोक्ष goal he is not going to believe in the
path or way of life which will lead a person to मा and मोक्ष and
that means is prescribed by the वेद. Those वैनदक िा िs, the
Vedic disciplines which are meant for मा and मोक्ष पुरुषार्ा s he
doesn’t accept. If I don’t accept the goal how am I going to
accept the means. And the वैनदक िा िs, the Vedic way of life,
the Vedic disciplines, the Vedic rituals, the Vedic prayers is
called in this मतर as िाम्परायः. He doesn’t accept none of them
because they present these िा िs for acquiring मा and मोक्ष
both of which are invisible. पुण्यम् is invisible, पापम् is invisible
and therefore he asks the question why should I waste my
money, time and energy on religious rituals which will not give
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
any visible, tangible and concrete benefits. Therefore ि
िाम्परायः प्रनतभानत – the Vedic way of life does not appeal to
him at all. And therefore what is there for them? Money and
entertainment. What about values? If values are useful for
money and entertainment such values I will follow and if the
values are not going to be conducive for अर्ा -काम then I would
reject the values rather than अर्ा -काम. So these are the people
in the world. िनचकेति् you are a rare specimen, you are an
endangered species which has to be protected. Then what will
happen to them? What is the punishment for them? यम मा राज
says the punishment is they are going to be under his grip. यमः
means कालः. So such people are under the control of कालः
which means time will attack them and sooner or later they are
going lose everything they accomplish. Even they lose the
capacity to enjoy अर्ा -काम. The old age will be the most
frustrating part of life for them because they are unfit and
incapable of अर्ा -काम, and they don’t have anything else better
to do. So the normal things are gone, there is nothing worthier
to replacement and therefore the life becomes miserable. I
cannot even share with others because others are busy after their
अर्ा -काम. Therefore lying alone in the easy chair I have to
worry.
नकमहँ िा ु िाकरवम् । नकमहं पापमकरवनमनत । ि य एवं
नवद्वािेते आत्मािँ् स्पण
ृ ुते ॥ तैनिरीयोपनिषत् २-९-१ ॥
उपनिषत् graphically describes the mental agony of an old
person who has not led an worthwhile life. Why did I do such
actions? Why did I not do such actions? All kinds of regrets, all

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
kinds of guilt, all kinds of complexes. All the time is there but
I cannot do anything that I like to do. This is called यम मा राज’s
method of imprisonment and making you think of what is life.
In fact most of the people will turn philosophers in old age.
Therefore यम मा राज wants them ते मे वशम् आपद्यते – they will
come to my hold means old age and death, र्रामरणवशम्. And
death give them permanent freedom? यम मा राज says they die
repeatedly. Repeated death is possible only if there is repeated
birth. Therefore यम मा राज reminds पुिः पुिः – they will die
several times.
पुिरनप जििम् पुिरनप मरणम् पुिरनप जििी जठरे शयिम् । इह
िंिारे बहु दुस्तारे कृपयाऽपारे पानह मुरारे ॥ भजिोनवतदम् २१ ॥
So only rare people will come to मुरारर. Continuing;
मतर 1-2-07
श्रवणायानप बहु नभयो ि लभ्यः शण्ृ वततोऽनप बहवो यं ि नवद्युः ।
आियो वक्ता कुशलोऽस्य ल् ा आियो ज्ञाता कुशलािनु शिः ॥ ७ ॥
Until now यम मा राज talked about the glorify of the
Vedantic student by contrasting him with all the ordinary
people. So क्षशष्य स्तुक्षत was the topic. Now in this मतर
यम मा राज is glorifying the very teaching by talking about the
rareness of the teaching. वेदातत श्रवणम् is the rarest of the rare
thing. It is not easily accessible. Why do we say वेदातत श्रवणम्
is rare? First of all very few people are interested in the वेदातत,
because to come to वेदातत श्रवणम् a person has to graduate by
going to several levels. The first thing is out of the four पुरुषार्ा s
– मा अर्ा काम मोक्ष – the majority of people are interested in

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
अर्ा -काम. So seventy percent gone, busy in making money.
There may be another twenty percent who know that mere
money cannot make life, it is something more and therefore are
following मा , भनक्त, पर्
ू ा, र्प, etc. Therefore another twenty
percent are after मा . And still there are only very few people
who know that even मा has got its own limitation, even मा
cannot give मोक्ष, मा can maximum give स्विा alone which is
also returnable as we saw in मुण्डकोपनिषत्.
इटापत ू ं मन्यमाना वररष्ठं नान्यच्रे यो वेदयन्ते प्रमढ ू ाः ।
नाकस्य पष्ठ ृ े ते सुकृतेऽनुभत्ू वेमं लोकं हीनतरं वा क्षवशक्षन्त ॥
मुण्डकोपनिषत् १-२-१० ॥
In the भिवद्गीता
ते तं भुक्त्वा स्विा लोकं नवशालं क्षीणे पुण्ये मत्या लोकं नवशनतत ॥
िीता ९-२१ ॥
Therefore seventy percent after अर्ा -काम, twenty percent after
मा and only remaining percent are interested in मोक्ष.
Therefore the first stage is desire for मोक्ष, मोक्ष इच्छा. Then
thereafter also among those people those who desire मोक्ष many
do not know the way. There is the need but there is groping in
darkness, they will strongly claim that I want मोक्ष but they
don’t know what is the means. And there are so many versions
also. Some people say कमु णा मोिः, some other will say भक्त्या
मोिः, some other will say योगेन मोिः, some other will say
raising the कुण्डनलिी is मोिः, etc. Now I am confused. And
whenever I hear a lecture a particular thing is highlighted and
therefore I get inspired. After hearing a talks on ध्यानम् next
day I am tight in meditation. And another day somebody comes
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
and tells ध्यानम् is tougher, नामसङ्क्षकतु नम् is easier, so the
next day I will take instrument and sing. And another day
somebody says neither of them and he introduces SKY –
simplified कुण्डनलिी योग. Like fast-food restaurant this is fast
liberation restaurant. Now which one should I follow? And
therefore even among those who desire मोक्ष very few people
know that ज्ञािम्, Self-knowledge alone can liberate. Therefore
if I seek मोक्ष, I should seek knowledge. Thus मोक्ष इच्छा should
be converted into ज्ञाि इच्छा. This is a very big conversion
because the diagnosis is over and treatment I can take. In fact
diagnosis of a disease you have cured fifty percent because I
know this is the problem, I know the course. So मोक्ष इच्छा to
ज्ञाि इच्छा. But my next problem is I know Self-knowledge is
what I seek but I don’t know how to get knowledge. Again
several people present several methods. Some people say you
keep on doing your duty knowledge will dawn. Then others will
say by silencing the mind, or by letting a ज्ञानि to look at me,
or by allowing him to touch me, स्पशु क्षदिा, etc. So many
people give so many methods and among the seekers of
knowledge also only a few people know that वेदातत शास्त्रम् the
scriptures dealing with this knowledge are the meek means of
getting knowledge. शास्त्र प्रमाणम् एव. Without an appropriate
means of knowledge cannot take place. Any knowledge is
impossible unless I operate an appropriate means of knowledge.
And here the appropriate means is शास्त्र प्रमाणम्. And therefore
desire for knowledge should get converted to the desire for
शास्त्र-नवचार. That is next progress. So मोक्ष इच्छा to ज्ञाि इच्छा
to शास्त्र-नवचार-इच्छा. There is no other way. Then comes the
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
final stage. When I try to do शास्त्र-नवचार by myself I only get
confused and more confused. If I don’t understand the
scriptures I am lucky but worse is if I misunderstand. The
scriptures use an extraordinary method of communication
because the subject matter is extraordinary. It is not a regular
subject matter. We are not dealing with the objective universe,
we are dealing with the very subject itself. And therefore he has
to recognize enquire into the scriptures independently will not
lead anywhere, I require the assistance, the guidance of a person
who knows the method of communication with the help of
scriptures, who has the key to open the scriptures and reveal the
truth. And therefore the शास्त्र-नवचार-इच्छा should get
converted into िुरु-उपदेश-श्रवण-इच्छा, the desire to listen to the
teachings done by a competent आचायु . To put in simple form
श्रवण-इच्छा. So from मोक्ष इच्छा to ज्ञाि इच्छा to शास्त्र-नवचार-
इच्छा to श्रवण-इच्छा. And only when I come to श्रवण-इच्छा I will
look for an opportunity to listen to Vedantic teaching. Until then
I don’t know its value, I don’t know its relevance. Otherwise I
think that study of scriptures is a time pass. So if significance is
not known and therefore the desire for श्रवणम् is very very rare.
If मोक्ष इच्छा is in ten percent people, out of the ten percent also
there may be only seven percent desiring ज्ञािम्, out of which
only may be again five percent desiring शास्त्रम्, and there also
may be two percent desiring for listening to the scriptures.
बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् tells
आत्मा वा अरे ििव्यः श्रोतव्यो मततव्यो निनदध्यानितव्यः ॥
बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् २-४-५ ॥

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
So for Self-knowledge श्रवणम् is the first stage. And even
among those people who want to have श्रवणम्, how many
people will get the opportunity? Desire may be there but
opportunity may not be there or opportunity may be there but
the desire may not be there. All these things are required for
listening to the शास्त्रम्. Therefore यम मा राज says श्रवणायानप
बहु नभः यः ि लभ्यः – for most of the people there is no
opportunity even for listening to the शास्त्रs. And then शण्ृ वततः
अनप – even among those people who get the opportunity to
listen बहवः ि नवद्युः – they do not understand. They say ‘the
class is very good’ and when asked what was taught, they say
‘that only I don’t know’. How can you say something is good
without understanding? So therefore you feel nice but you
always miss the central teaching that can happen. And therefore
wherever successful communication is taking place their the
glory belongs to both the student, the receiver and also the
teacher who is the communicator. Therefore यम मा राज says
the communicator, i.e., the teacher is a wonder because he
communicates something which is not easily communicable.
The student receives something which is not easily receivable.
Why do we say so? The reason is we have got an orientation
that whenever we listen to the description of something we
imagine that something as an object. This is called
objectification orientation. Any description we begin to
imagine. Description of गङ्गोक्षत्र, description of बक्षद्रनार्. As I
listened to the description the first job I do is look for बक्षद्रनार्
around. And if it is not around then it must be far away.
Therefore you form concepts of the described entity. This is our
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
practice, habit, orientation. If with this orientation a person
comes to वेदातत and the teacher gives a brilliant description of
ब्रह्मि्. र्गत्कारणम्, सवु ज्ञः, सवु व्याक्षप. There are many
descriptions of ब्रह्मि्. and when the student listens to those
descriptions the first job he does is to look around to find out
whether anything falls under this list. Nothing he has
experienced until now comes in that list at all. And therefore he
keeps on forming concept of ब्रह्मि्, that is it is some kind of an
extraordinary thing in the world. This is called परोक्ष ज्ञािम्.
And having formed the concepts he completes the teaching
also, sometimes even studies for year and decades and he says
he has got designation and the description of ब्रह्मि्. Now I am
waiting for an opportunity to have a face to face experience of
ब्रह्मि्. And then he even starts meditation also hoping for a day
when ब्रह्मि् will give सािात् दशा िम्. He goes on meditating
and no ब्रह्मि् comes, gets so much frustrated also. He says I am
able to come to blankness, but don’t know what to do beyond.
and at last when you go on doing that mind when it is withdrawn
from the regular activities for some time mind is capable of
giving extraordinary experiences. A pressurized mind. So
therefore any such extraordinary experience I wrongly
conclude that this is ब्रह्मि् experience. So we say
अश्दम् अस्पशा म् अरूपम् अव्ययम् तर्ा अरिं नित्यम्
अित वच् च यत् ॥ कठोपनिषत् १-३-१५ ॥
ब्रह्मि् is not available for sensory perception. We are talking
about the seer of the experience. But this aspect of the teaching
he has not received properly. And therefore most of them miss

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
it, some rare student grasps. That the description of ब्रह्मि् is the
description of Myself, the observer of everything. It is never
going to become an observed object. It is the self-evident
consciousness.
प्रनतबो नवनदतम् मतम् ॥ केिोपनिषत् २-४ ॥
It is not something experienced in a particular event or a
moment, ब्रह्मि् is the very self-evident consciousness in which
all the particular events and moments come and go. तत्
ब्रह्माहमनस्म. This owning requires a very subtle mind. and by
subtle mind we define non-objectifying mind. Unlike the sharp
mind of a scientist who differentiates between subtle objects.
But वेदातत is not differentiating two objects, वेदातत requires a
subtle which should drop the very objectifying tendency. And
therefore such a student is rare. The teacher who makes the
student receive ब्रह्मि् without objectification is also rare. In fact
the responsibility lies more in the teacher, because at regular
intervals the teacher should warn ‘don’t look for mystic
experiences, don’t look for an extraordinary object, meditation
is not meant for an extraordinary experience’. He has to keep
on hammering and telling वेदातत is a matter for owning up of
the nature. Therefore यम मा राज says वक्ता आिया ः – the one
who teaches the Self, talks about the Self is a wonder. And
ल् ा आिया ः – the one who gets the आत्मा is also a wonder.
So the one who talks about the आत्मा is a wonder and the one
who accomplishes that आत्मा is also a wonder. Now
यम मा राज is worried because he has used the word the one
who gets the आत्मा is a wonder. And therefore यम मा राज says

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
getting आत्मा is equal to knowing आत्मा. ज्ञािम् एव प्राक्षप्तः.
There is no getting of the आत्मा other than knowing the fact
that the आत्मा is Myself. आत्मज्ञािम् एव आत्मप्राक्षप्तः
निद्धस्य नवनिः ित एव निनद्धः स्वप्िोपमािाः खलु निद्धयोऽतयाः
। स्वप्िः प्रबुद्धस्य कर्ं िु ित्यः िनत नस्र्तः नकं पुिरे नत मायाम्
॥ िद्दशा िम् ३७ ॥
निद्धस्य आत्मनः निनद्धः नवनिः एव. Getting the आत्मा is
knowing the आत्मा because You happen to be the आत्मा. तत्
त्वम् अक्षस. And therefore यम मा राज says आियो ज्ञाता – so the
one who knows the आत्मा is a wonder. How does he know?
कुशल-अिुनशिः – taught by a कुशलः, a competent आचायु .
आचायु has got tremendous responsibilities. Therefore he is
called कुशलः. Continuing;
मतर 1-2-08
ि िरे णावरे ण प्रोक्त एष िुनवज्ञेयो बहु ा नचतत्यमािः ।
अितयप्रोक्ते िनतरर िानस्त अणीयाि् ह्यतक्या मणुप्रमाणात् ॥ ८ ॥
So here यम मा राज is glorifying the आचायु , the teacher.
In this मतर it was the glorification of the teaching itself, before
that glorification of the student. See यम मा राज gives
importance to the student first! And then only he comes to the
teacher. So he says this आत्मज्ञािम् requires an extraordinary
आचायु who is an expert in communicating the non-
communicable. He gives the reason for that. अणुप्रमाणात्
अणीयाि् – आत्मा is measured or quantified in terms of the
number of properties. If you take the five elements the earth
element, the पनृ र्वी has got five properties – श्द-स्पशा -रूप-

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
रि-ित and therefore it is accessible to all the five sense
organs and therefore earth is supposed to be the grossest. Then
when you come to water, it has got four properties – श्द-स्पशा -
रूप-रि but it doesn’t have ित . Therefore it is accessible to
only four sense organs. And then अक्षग्न, वायु, आकाश have
three, two and one property respectively. Therefore among the
five elements the space which has got only one property
happens to be the subtlest and that is why if you have to talk
about space to a child it is very difficult to communicate. So if
the space itself is subtle what to talk of आत्मा which is
supposed to be free from even that श्द गुण and therefore
subtler than even the space. आकाशादक्षप सक्ष्ू मम्. And therefore
it is not available for any instrument of knowledge because
every instrument really studies the property only. In वेदातत we
never study the substance, all the time we are studying the
property only. When I am seeing you and appreciating your
existence it is only in terms of the five sense organs which
perceive your form, or your sound etc., which are all properties.
And therefore sense organs can or instruments can objectify the
properties. And since आत्मा is without properties it is not
available for any of the instruments. अप्रमेयम् and therefore
अक्षतसक्ष्ू मम् extremely subtle. And therefore only अतक्या म् –
आत्मा is not available for even reasoning. Why? Because any
logic is based on the data collected through perception. How
does the science progress? They collect data which is based on
the perception and thereafter from the data they are able to
project, extend, calculate, analyze and say that this particular
galaxy is so many light years away. Therefore तका works only
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
in a field where data are available. Since आत्मा is not at all
available for perception how are you going to collect data? And
if data are not available how are you going to study? And
without data collection whatever you conclude will come under
imagination. Imagine a doctor doesn’t take any test, no clinical
examination, no blood examination, he says I imagine I have
got a jaundice. Will you take medicine? Imagination is not a
valid means of knowledge. Speculation is not a valid means of
knowledge. तका can only lead to speculation. Therefore आत्मा
is अतक्या म् – beyond science, beyond logic. And therefore only
बहु ा नचतत्यमािः – it is variously speculated, imagined by
different people. Everybody had got one-one theory. Cause of
the cancer. Nobody knows the cause of the cancer. And
therefore anybody can say anything. Why because after all
cause is not known. So therefore speculations are infinite. There
are speculations regarding the very existence of आत्मा. There
are some philosophers who claim आत्मा is only body-mind-
complex. There is no such thing called आत्मा other than body-
mind-complex. So the basic doubt is regarding the very
existence of आत्मा’s speculations are there. Then there are
people who accept that there is an आत्मा other than body-mind-
complex. But regarding its nature there is confusion. Some say
आत्मा is atomic size, another says आत्मा is all-pervading,
another says आत्मा is of the size of the body. So elephant has
got bigger आत्मा and ant has got smaller आत्मा and we have
got medium आत्मा. So अणु पररमाण, क्षवभु पररमाण, मध्यम
पररमाण. And there are confusions regarding the number of
आत्मा. One आत्मा or many आत्मा? Is there a परमात्मा different
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
from all these जीवात्माs? Is आत्मा inert or sentient principle?
According to न्याय वैशेक्षषक philosophy आत्मा is insentient
matter. There are supposed to be logicians. And there are some
other who claim that आत्मा is Consciousness itself. and some
others say it is a mixture of both. So thus there are so many
confusions. Already I am confused, now I am confounded.
Therefore यम मा राज says बहु ा नचतत्यमािः – आत्मा is
variously speculated by various philosophers. And therefore ि
िुनवज्ञेयः – it can never be clearly, convincingly and doubtlessly
grasped unless there is a competent आचायु . Therefore
यम मा राज says an incompetent आचायु also cannot
communicate. The details in the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 1-2-08 Continuing;
ि िरे णावरे ण प्रोक्त एष िुनवज्ञेयो बहु ा नचतत्यमािः ।
अितयप्रोक्ते िनतरर िानस्त अणीयाि् ह्यतक्या मणुप्रमाणात् ॥ ८ ॥
After talking about the glory of the student and the glory
of the very teaching itself now यम मा राज is talking about the
greatness of the िुरु or the teacher. To talk about the glory of
the teacher यम मा राज talks about the subtlety of this subject
matter. And because this subject matter is extremely subtle िुरु
has to play a very great important role in communicating. And
here the subject matters happens to be आत्मा with regard to
which there are lot of confusions and misconceptions. So
यम मा राज said, we were seeing in the eight मन्त्र, अणुप्रमाणात्
अणीयाि् – it is subtler than even the subtlest atom which means
it is not available for any sense perception. And if it is not
available for sense perception it will not be available for
inference also as it is based on sensory data. Without data if I
conclude something it is not inference it is wishful thinking. It
is an imagination or speculation, it cannot be valid knowledge.
If inference has to be valid knowledge it should be based on
valid data. In the case of the आत्मा inference is not possible
because it doesn’t give any sensory data. Sensory data are not
possible because it is beyond sense perception. Therefore
यम मा राज said अतक्या म् – अनुमान अगोचरम्. अणुप्रमाणात्
अणीयाि् means प्रत्यि अगोचरम् अतक्या म् means अनुमान
अगोचरम्. And therefore only यम मा राज points out बहु ा
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
नचतत्यमािः – various philosophers talk about this आत्मा in
various ways. Some say body itself is आत्मा, some others say
other than the body there is a mind which is आत्मा, some others
say other than the body and mind there is something called
आत्मा, and having accepted that आत्मा they debate regarding
the nature of that आत्मा, some say आत्मा is inert, some say
आत्मा is sentient, some others say आत्मा is a mixture of both,
some say आत्मा is of the size of the atom, some say आत्मा is
all pervading, some say आत्मा is in-between. Some say आत्मा
is one and some others say आत्मा is many. Therefore
यम मा राज says बहु ा नचतत्यमािः. It is debated, in our
tradition there are twelve systems of philosophy – six वेद
believing systems and six वेद non-believing systems, each
system has got an idea about आत्मा, each one distinct from
another, each one vehemently quarrelling also. Therefore if you
try to learn about that आत्मा you will be confused. Since it is
very confusing एषः ि िुनवज्ञेयः – this आत्मा cannot be grasped
clearly, convincingly and doubtlessly if it is taught by, revealed
by an inferior teacher. अवरे ण िरे ण – हीिेि मिुष्येण, अवरे ण
गुरुणा. अवर means inferior, who doesn’t know how to
communicate this properly. If such a िुरु teaches then this
आत्मा will not be understood, not only that it is will be
misunderstood also. And we cannot form a philosophy mixing
up all of them also because each one is mutually contradictory.
If I am going to accept one philosophy which says आत्माs are
many, how can I accept the opposite philosophy which says
आत्मा is one. Therefore you cannot combine all the systems
and form an integral philosophy also, it is impossible. That
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
means I should clearly know which is right and which is not so.
And that is possible only when it is taught by a proper person;
an improper person cannot communicate. Therefore अवरे ण
िरे ण प्रोक्तः, प्रोक्तः means taught, revealed, communicated, एषः
– this आत्मा, which is our subject matter and which िनचकेति्
wanted to know through the third boon. Ok, then how can one
know? यम मा राज says there is only one way it can be known,
अितयप्रोक्ते – it should be necessarily taught, there is no doubt
regarding that. Self-experimentation, Self-enquiry by oneself
and self-meditation none of them is going to work. Scriptures
are required and that too the scriptures taught by a competent
आचायु . Both should go hand in hand. िुरु-शास्त्र उपदेश is
required. And the शास्त्र is like a mirror which helps me see
myself and िुरु is one who knows how to operate the शास्त्रम्.
The method of operation is as important as the शास्त्र itself. And
such a िुरु here is given a beautiful title अितयः. In
मुण्डकोपनिषत् that िुरु was called श्रोनरयब्रह्मनिष्ठः.
तत् नवज्ञािार्ा म् िः िुरुम् एव अनभिच्छे त् । िनमत्पानणः श्रोनरयं
ब्रह्मनिष्ठम् ॥ मुण्डकोपनिषत् १-२-१२ ॥
And what is the meaning of श्रोनरयब्रह्मनिष्ठः? ब्रह्मनिष्ठ means
the one who has discovered the fact that I am ब्रह्मि्, I am free.
Only if I am free I can help another person to become free. If
my hands themselves are tied together how can I use my hands
to release another person. Therefore the first condition is the
िुरु must know this fact that I am the ever free ब्रह्मि्. And if
the िुरु knows this fact without any doubt he can happily,
wholeheartedly tell every नशष्य that you are ब्रह्मि्. If I am

211
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
ब्रह्मि् is not clear to me how can I boldly say you are ब्रह्मि्.
Therefore the first qualification is ब्रह्मनिष्ठः. The second
qualification is श्रोनरयः – the one who knows the method of
revealing ब्रह्मि्. And this method of revealing is important
because, we saw in the last class, the student has got a general
problem – objectification orientation. He always tends to think
of ब्रह्मि् as a mysterious entity which he has to come across.
The teacher has to communicate in such a way that as even the
student listens to he should understand that the description of
ब्रह्मि् is the description of myself. Every word क्षनत्य शुद्ध बुद्ध
मुत सत्यम् ज्ञानम् अनन्तम् आनन्दम् all these words should
not have an external object, all those words should resolve into
Me. Just as the word table travels and resolves in the object
table, the word fan as even I use it goes and resolves in the
object fan, the word सत्यम् ज्ञानम् अनन्तम् should not travel
elsewhere they should come and resolve into Me that I am that.
And in such a way a teacher should communicate which is not
an ordinary task. And therefore the scriptures devise an
ingenious method. Not one ingenious method but several
methods are used by the scriptures to do this job efficiently and
that methodology is called िम्प्रदायः. It is a secret key. Only if
you use that secret key the उपनिषत्s will open and convey what
it has to. This key you can never get anywhere other than in the
tradition. Therefore I will have the key if I have been a disciple
of someone. And my िुरु will have the key if he has been a
disciple of someone. Therefore only in the िुरु नशष्य परम्परा
this िम्प्रदाय key is maintained. And the one who possesses this
key is called a श्रोनरयः or िम्प्रदायनवत्. And such a श्रोनरय
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
ब्रह्मनिष्ठ िुरु mentioned in the मुण्डकोपनिषत् is called here as
अितयः. अितयः is equal to श्रोनरयब्रह्मनिष्ठः. What is the
meaning of the word अितयः? अितयः means that िुरु for
whom ब्रह्मि् the subject matter is not a different object. Then
what does it mean? That िुरु for whom ब्रह्मि् is the िुरु
Himself. That is why we say
िुरुब्रा ह्मा ग्रुरुनवा ष्णुः िुरुदेवो महे श्वरः । िुरुः िाक्षात् परं ब्रह्म तस्मै
श्री िुरवे िमः ॥
That fact is clear to him. So अितयः means ब्रह्मणा एकीभत ू ः.
And therefore when he describes ब्रह्मि् for the िुरु the
description of ब्रह्मि् is description of himself. It is
autobiographical. Vedantic teaching is talking about his
biography as it were. And that is why he enjoys why because
who will not enjoy talking about oneself? When such a िुरु
communicates, here यम मा राज says the नशष्य helplessly
understand. When such a िुरु for whom वेदातत is his life and
the subject matter is himself when such a िुरु communicates
even if नशष्य doesn’t want to understand he will. So he says
अिनतः अर िानस्त, अिनतः means non-understanding, िनतः
means understanding, िानस्त – is not there, non-understanding
is not there means there is communication, knowledge will take
place. This is the glory of आचाया . The problem is we do not
know who that आचाया is. We can only learn from the आचाया
who is available to me and hope that my आचाया is a competent
one. And िनचकेति् is a lucky one because he has got a very
good आचाया . श्रोनरय-ब्रह्मनिष्ठः. The only thing we can do is to
pray that our आचाया is one. Continuing;

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
मतर 1-2-09
िैषा तकेण मनतरापिेया प्रोक्तातयेिवै िुज्ञािाय प्रेष्ठ ।
ू ातिनचकेतः प्रिा ॥ ९ ॥
यां त्वमापः ित्य नृ तबा तानि त्वादृङ्िो भय
In this मन्त्र also यम मा राज continues with the same
idea. Self-knowledge can come from an आचाया only. it cannot
come from any other source. That is why in the िीता also
तनद्वनद्ध प्रनणपातेि पररप्रश्नेि िेवया ॥ िीता ४-३४ ॥
तनद्वज्ञािार्ं ि िुरुमेवानभिच्छे त् ॥ मुण्डकोपनिषत् १-२-१२ ॥
आचाया वाि् पुरुषो वेद ॥ छातदोग्योपनिषद् ६-१४-२ ॥
Why do we emphasize आचाया and not the शास्त्रs? In fact really
speaking शास्त्रम् is the source of knowledge, therefore we
should be emphasizing शास्त्रम् really but we find आचाया is
given more importance because शास्त्रम् can be there without
आचाया . When I emphasize शास्त्रम् a person can study the
scriptures by himself. And शास्त्रम् without an आचाया can be
terribly misunderstood. That is why कृष्ण said बुनद्धभेदम् ॥
िीता ३-२६ ॥ it can create. Therefore शास्त्र need not include
आचाया but once you use the word आचाया शास्त्र is included
because आचाया is one who communicates with the help of
शास्त्रम् because the very definition of आचाया is
आनचिोनत च शास्त्र-अर्ाा ि् आचारे स्र्ापयनत अनप । स्वयम्
आचरते यस्मात्, तस्मात् आचाया उच्यते ॥
The very definition of आचाया is one who communicates with
the help of शास्त्र. Therefore when आचाया is mentioned the
शास्त्र is included, but when शास्त्र alone is talked about the

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
आचाया is not included. Therefore िुरु is emphasized more. िुरु
includes शास्त्र. In fact िुरु cannot play the role of a िुरु without
having the शास्त्रम्. If a िुरु is teaching without शास्त्रम् you
should be extra careful because he will give his own philosophy
and after two months he will come up with a new one. It is risky
thing. And why so? He gives the reason for the importance of a
िुरु. एषा मनतः तकेण ि आपिेया – आत्मज्ञािम् cannot be
gained by logical reasoning which was explained in the
previous मन्त्र. तका is always based on the perceptual data. The
entire scientific advancement is based on perceptual data and
आत्मा can never give the perceptual data. Therefore all the
scientific advancements will deal with matter alone, no science
can deal with Consciousness itself. The whole science is based
on objectification. And therefore यम मा राज says by तका you
are not going to get this knowledge. And human beings have
got only these two means of knowing – either I have to directly
perceive and know or I have to collect data and infer. If these
two doors are closed what other means is there for me. That is
why some scientists have come to the conclusion that
Consciousness will be eternally inaccessible to science because
our instruments can deal with only matter and not
Consciousness. They deal with the observed phenomena and
not the observer. Because the observer is never the observed.
Therefore यम मा राज says तका is great, science is wonderful
but it has got its own field. This is a very important concept that
we have to know when we come to वेदातत. Every means of
knowledge can function only in its own field. Eyes however
powerful they may be they can function only in the field of
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
forms and colors. We should respect the eyes but we should
know the limitation of the eye. Therefore when I want to know
the sound I have to use my ears, when I am using my ears I am
not disrespecting the eyes, I am being only pragmatic.
Pragmaticism is not fanaticism. Similarly I respect science very
much. Science is a very great thing; if we have reached this
much, in fact if I am able to talk to all of you it is because of
scientific instruments. शङ्कराचाया would not have been able
to do that. Science is wonderful but appreciating science does
not mean that you should depend on science for everything.
You should know there are fields which are beyond the field of
science. You know what is the most important thing? The
observer. Therefore यम मा राज says when the topic of आत्मा
comes don’t rely upon science. Then what do you do? You use
the appropriate instrument called शबद प्रमाणम्, शास्त्र प्रमाणम्
or िुरु प्रमाणम्. Therefore तकेण ि आपिेया. This line can be
read in two different ways which conveys two different
beautiful meanings. First we have to split the line as एषा मनतः
तकेण ि आपिेया. आपिेया means it cannot be attained through
logic. The second interpretation is therefore only this
knowledge cannot be negated by logic also. Why it cannot be
negated by logic? Because logic doesn’t have access to that. For
proving also it requires access, for negation also it requires
access. Since it doesn’t come under logic cannot reveal it, logic
cannot dismiss it. Suppose somebody says that clip is of pink
color and you want to confirm this. To confirm this color you
want to use your ears. What will happen? Can the ear confirm
the color? Ear cannot confirm it. Then can the ear negate it? Ear
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
cannot negate it also. Therefore what प्रमाणम् reveals another
प्रमाणम् can neither confirm nor negate. Science can neither
confirm वेदातत nor reject. Because science deals with अनात्मा,
वेदातत deals with आत्मा. There is no relationship in their
dealing. They have totally different fields. Science is wonderful
in the material field and the वेदातत is important in the spiritual
field. A true seeker is one who uses both of them in the
appropriate field. I see the necessity of science also and I see
the necessity of वेदातत also. Both of them play an important
role. Therefore logic has no accessibility with regard to मनतः.
मनतः means Self-knowledge. And if तका has no access then
what has access? यम मा राज says अतयेिवै प्रोक्ता – िुरु-शास्त्र
उपदेश is the only one by which this knowledge can be clearly
attained. See यम मा राज doesn’t prescribe even meditation. He
doesn’t prescribe meditation as a means of knowledge. While
many people have the misconception that knowledge takes
place in meditation, यम मा राज clearly says knowledge does
not and will not come in meditation. Knowledge has to come
through अतयेि प्रोक्ता – as revealed by a िुरु. Then meditation
is for what purpose? This is discussed in the introduction to the
sixth chapter of the िीता. Meditation has got other important
roles to play but knowledge has to takes place through िुरु-
शास्त्र उपदेश alone. िुज्ञािाय प्रे ष्ठ. प्रे ष्ठ is addressing the
student. O dear one! O blessed one! O wonderful student!
िुज्ञािाय – clear comprehension. This knowledge can be
clearly comprehended only through िुरु उपदेश. And that is
why िुरु प्राक्षप्त is considered a great blessing.

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
दुलाभम् रयमेवतै त् देवािुग्रहहे तुकम् । मिुष्यत्वम् मुमुक्षुत्वम्
महापुरूषिश्रयः ॥
Three things are rare. One is to be born as a human being,
second is having the desire for मोक्ष and the third is having the
desire for मोक्ष getting a competent आचायु to guide. All these
three are not in our hands, but they are in the hands of भिवाि्.
And यम मा राज congratulates िनचकेति् because he has got a
िुरु. Therefore he says यां त्वम् आपः. Very interesting
यम मा राज wants to say you have already got a िुरु. Because
he is going to serve as a िुरु, and therefore he wants to say you
have got a िुरु but instead of saying that यम मा राज says you
have got the knowledge. Why? Because he is so definite that
you are a qualified student and I am very competent in my
communication, therefore ideal combination and therefore you
have got the knowledge. Do not doubt. You are free. Therefore
त्वम् – O िनचकेति्! याम् – ब्रह्मक्षवद्याम्, मनतम्, आपः – you have
attained that knowledge. That means you have as good as
attained that knowledge. ित्य नृ तः बत अक्षस – because you are
a student of firm resolve. You are not half-hearted seeker. So
since you are a person of firm resolve ित्य नृ तः बत. यम मा राज
himself is wonderstruck at the glory of the student. And he says
that he would like to you have more students like you. Even
गुरु is greedy. Because the joy in getting nice students like you
is so much because गुरु gets inspiration from क्षशष्यs only. It is
just like any art, a musician also if the audience responds very
well then the best music comes out. And if the क्षशष्यs responds
very then the best teaching comes out. And यम मा राज enjoys
that. Therefore he says normally nobody comes to me, who will
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
like to become यम’s क्षशष्य, and you are a rare one who have
become my disciple. I would like to have more disciples like
you. So हे िनचकेतः त्वादृक् प्रिा – students like you, िः भयू ात्
– may I have more and more. Because what is श्रवणम् for the
students is निनदध्याििम् for the teacher. In fact teaching itself
is a form of निनदध्याििम् only. Continuing;
मतर 1-2-10
जािाम्यहं शेवन ररत्यनित्यं ि ह्यध्रवु ःै प्राप्यते नह ध्रुवं तत् ।
ततो मया िानचकेतनितोऽनग्िः अनित्यैिाव्यैः प्रािवािनस्म नित्यम् ॥ १० ॥
यम मा राज’s admiration for िनचकेति् is so high that he
feels like comparing himself with िनचकेति्. And he says O
िनचकेति् in fact you are even superior to me. Why? Because
you should remember यम मा राज also was once upon a time a
human being. स्विा लोक also is a कमा फलम् only. And every
देवता has become a देवता only as a result of पुण्यकमा . देवता is
not God. You should know the difference between देवता and
ईश्वरः. God is one who is the creator, preserver and destroyer.
But देवता means only a र्ीव who has got an exalted body-mind-
complex. उत्तम उपाक्षधक र्ीवः एव देवता. In fact any one of us
can become यम by doing appropriate rituals. We have seen in
the context of the second boon that even नहरण्यिभा , ब्रह्मानज
himself is a name of a post which can be attained by a ritual.
Therefore यम मा राज says that I was also a human being. And
when I was a human being instead of asking for मोक्ष, I
performed various कमा s to attain स्विा लोक, to attain higher
status. And that I have got now यम position is only because
during my previous human birth I have done the noble कमा s.

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
That means when I was a human being I did not vote for मोक्ष
like you, that time I didn’t know, only after becoming
यम मा राज I knew the limitation and later gained Self-
knowledge. This we saw in केिोपनिषत् all the देवताs got the
Self-knowledge later. First इति got the Self-knowledge and
there afterwards
तस्माद्वा एते देवा अनततरानमवातयातदेवातयदनग्िवाा युररतिस्ते
ह्येितिेनदष्ठं पस्पशा ुस्ते ह्येित्प्रर्मो नवदाञ्चकार ब्रह्मेनत ॥
केिोपनिषत् ४-२ ॥
Therefore he says when I was a human being I did not ask for
मोक्ष but you as a human being are wiser than even me.
Therefore he says अहम् शेवन ः अनित्यम् इनत जािानम – when I
was a human being I did know that all the कमा फलम्s are
अनित्यम्. शेवन ः means कमा फलम्. स्विा लोक, देवता स्र्ानम्,
they are अनित्यम् I did know. Which human being doesn’t
know that everything is अनित्यम्? Because daily he is seeing
everywhere insecurity is there. And I also knew अध्रुवःै ध्रुवम् ि
प्राप्यते – that limited कमा cannot give limitless result. I knew
that. Because as the action is so the result is. We saw this in
मुण्डकोपनिषत्,
प्लवा ह्येते अदृढा यज्ञरूपा अिादशोक्तमवरं येषु कमा । एतच्रे यो
येऽनभितदनतत मढ ू ा जरामत्ृ युं ते पुिरे वानप यनतत ॥
मुण्डकोपनिषत् १-२-७ ॥
Rituals are finite, the result of the rituals also will be finite only.
यम मा राज says I knew that. So I knew स्विा लोक is अनित्यम्,
I knew कमा फलम् is अनित्यम्. But still I did not utilize my
human birth for Self-knowledge. What did I do? मया िानचकेतः
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
अनग्िः नचतः – O िनचकेति् I only performed कमा s and
उपासनs instead of getting ज्ञािम् there itself. and as a result of
those कमा s, अनित्यैः िव्यैः अनित्यम् प्रािवािनस्म – through the
अनित्य rituals and materials, through the finite rituals,
impermanent rituals I have attained only this अनित्य फलम्.
And the only consolation is नित्यम् प्रािवािनस्म – but this
स्विा लोक फलम् even though it is अनित्यम् but compared to
मनुष्य लोक this is considered to be नित्यम्. Therefore here the
word नित्यम् means relatively eternal. यम मा राज’s post I have
got which is also really speaking non-eternal only. and what do
you mean by relatively eternal? Compared to sixty or seventy
years of life स्विा लोक’s life is very long and therefore it is
seemingly eternal. Whereas O िनचकेति् you did not vote for
कमा s and उपासनs instead you are asking for आत्मज्ञािम्. So
what a maturity you have which I didn’t have. Thus यम मा राज
glorifies the disciple. Continuing;
मतर 1-2-11
कामस्यानिं जितः प्रनतष्ठां क्रतोराितत्यमभयस्य पारम् ।
स्तोममहदुरुिायं प्रनतष्ठां दृि्वा त्ृ या ीरो िनचकेतोऽत्यस्राक्षीः ॥ ११ ॥
In fact these two मतरs ten and eleven are the
glorification of the student once again. After talking about the
greatness of the teacher now once again the student is glorified.
Here यम मा राज is glorifying िनचकेति्’s वैराग्यम्. How
disinterested he is with regard to sensory, material pleasures.
Ninety-nine percent of people are after material pleasures but
you are not of that type. The highest material pleasure promised
is ब्रह्मपदक्षव, the position of ब्रह्माक्षर्. He is supposed to have the

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
greatest sense pleasure possible in the relative world. We are
not talking about the spiritual आनन्द. Within the field of sense
pleasure the highest possible is ब्रह्माक्षर्’s. Because for sense
pleasures three conditions are required.
1) The first is the object which should be finer. Finer the
sense object finer the pleasure.
2) The instrument of enjoyment also should become finer
and finer. Appreciation of beauty, appreciation of music,
appreciation of poetry. Suppose you read poetry in front of a
buffalo. Its sense organs are powerful but it is not matured, its
mind and intellect are not matured enough to appreciate the
poetry which we can do. And the joy is of a different quality.
Dimensional difference. So sense objects determines and sense
organs including mind and intellect.
3) The third conducive factor for sense pleasure is the
environment. The environment should be ideal.
In ब्रह्मलोक all the three are supposed to be superlative. Best
उपाक्षध, best क्षवषय and best लोक. And this highest pleasure was
offered to you O िनचकेति् and you rejected all of them. What
is the glory of that ब्रह्मपदक्षव? कामस्य आनिम्. आनिम् means the
culmination, the pinnacle, the apex, the highest point of sense
pleasure, काम is ब्रह्मलोक पदक्षव or ब्रह्मानज’s post. जितः
प्रनतष्ठाम् – being the very support, the substratum of the entire
creation. Because ब्रह्मानज is नहरण्यिभा who is िमनि िक्ष्ू म
प्रपञ्च and therefore ब्रह्मानज being macro which is the support
of every micro. Therefore ब्रह्मानज being the total he is the
sustainer of the individual. Therefore प्रनतष्ठाम् of the र्गत.्
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
And क्रतोः अितत्यम् – it is relatively infinite result attainable
through उपासनs. क्रतुः means उपासन, meditation. So
ब्रह्मानज’s post is almost infinite because two thousand चतुया ुिs
is suppose to be one day of ब्रह्मानज. One चतुया ुि is suppose to
be forty-three lakhs twenty thousand years. Like that two
thousand चतुया ुिs make one day of ब्रह्मानज. So imagine the
longevity of ब्रह्मानज. Therefore it is as good as infinite. And
अभयस्य पारम् – it is the most secure place, the most secure
post. And स्तोमं महत् – it is the most adorable post because
even देवता worship him. िवेऽस्मैदेवा बनलमावहनतत. We will
see in तैनिरीयोपनिषत् all the देवताs worship ब्रह्मानज including
इन्द्र. And therefore it is the most adorable post. उरुिायम् – vast
in terms of area. It is a post in which the power extends to
maximum area. And महत् – great in terms of quality. Such a
प्रनतष्ठाम् – powerful post is attainable to you, you can get it.
But what did you do? Even such a great post you rejected. Not
out of childishness but out of wisdom. More we will see in the
next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 1-2-11 Continuing;
कामस्यानिं जितः प्रनतष्ठां क्रतोराितत्यमभयस्य पारम् ।
स्तोममहदुरुिायं प्रनतष्ठां दृि्वा त्ृ या ीरो िनचकेतोऽत्यस्राक्षीः ॥ ११ ॥
After glorifying the teaching and the teacher यम मा राज
is once again glorifying the student, िनचकेति् by contrasting
िनचकेति् against himself. And he pointed out that before
getting this यम’s post he was also a human being in one of the
previous र्न्मs and only by doing पुण्यम् he came to this post.
But when he was a human being he was never like िनचकेति्
desiring मोि. Whereas now you are a human being not only
did you not desire any of these things even when I offered all
of them freely then also you rejected them. What िनचकेति् has
been offered is the highest worldly pleasure which is called
ब्रह्मानज’s post, नहरण्यिभा पदक्षव even such a पदम् िनचकेति्
rejected. The first three quarters of this मन्त्र talks about the
greatness of नहरण्यिभा पदक्षव. The best body is available for
sense pleasure, the best sense objects are available and the best
environment is there and he is the ruler of other देवताs also.
आप्िोनत स्वाराज्यम् । आप्िोनत मििस्पनतम् ।
वाक्पनतिक्षुष्पनतः । श्रोरपनतनवा ज्ञािपनतः । एतितो भवनत । ॥
तैिरीयोपनिषत् १-६-२ ॥
It is said in the तैिरीयोपनिषत् that नहरण्यिभा is the controller
of even इन्द्र. Such a wonderful post was offered to िनचकेति्
and he rejected the whole thing. How did he reject? Not out of
foolishness, not out of childishness, but दृि्वा ीरः िनचकेतः
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
अत्यस्राक्षीः. दृि्वा means having studied that particular post
very well, having weighed the pros and cons, having seen the
advantages and disadvantages. यम मा राज talked about the plus
points of ब्रह्मानज’s post, but िनचकेति् is so intelligent that he
saw the minus points of ब्रह्मानज’s post, and also that the e minus
point is more intense or worse than the plus points. Because
even ब्रह्मानज’s post comes within संसार only. And therefore
दृि्वा – दोषदशु नम् कृत्वा, having seen the minus points. And
how could he do all these things? ीरः – because he happens to
be a क्षववेक्षक, a sharp-intellected person capable of क्षनत्य-
अक्षनत्य-वस्तु क्षववेकः. And therefore as a discriminative person
he studied all of them very carefully and then अत्यस्राक्षीः –
threw far away. That too not halfheartedly, त्ृ या – with
firmness, without any hesitation, whole-heartedly. Sometimes
we clean our houses and keep certain things for throwing away.
And after sometime our mind has changed perhaps it may be
useful for grandchild’s play. Even before the child is married
this person thinks after the child’s marriage when the
grandchild is born this empty matchbox will be useful for
playing. So it is not that halfhearted renunciation but त्ृ या –
willpower, firmly he rejected which indicates the height of
वैराग्यम् born out of क्षववेकः. Continuing;
मतर 1-2-12
तं दुदाशं िढ
ू मिुप्रनविं िुहानहतं िह्वरे ष्ठं पुराणम् ।
अध्यात्मयोिान िमेि दे वं मत्वा ीरो हषा शोकौ जहानत ॥ १२ ॥
Having appreciated the glory of the student and having
talked about the glory of the teacher and the teaching, now in
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
these two मतरs twelve and thirteen यम मा राज is summarizing
ज्ञाि-िा िम्, what is the means of attaining the knowledge of
the Self which िनचकेति् wanted through the third boon. He
names the ज्ञाि-िा ि as अध्यात्मयोि. Several names are
given in the scriptures for the pursuit of knowledge. The most
popular name is ज्ञाियोि. And sometimes it is called
अध्यात्मयोि. In माण्डूक्य काररका it is called as अस्पशा योि.
Thus several names are used. Here it is called अध्यात्मयोि.
And that is summarized in these two मतरs. And through this
अध्यात्मयोि one has to know the आत्मा. First he talks about
the nature of the आत्मा. दुदाशाम् – that which is not perceptible
to the sense organs, इनतिय अिोचरम्. So आत्मा is that which is
not objectifiable to the sense organs. And from this we can
extend further. If it is not available for sense organs it is also
not available for other means of knowledge because all the
other means of knowledge are based on sensory data. And
therefore सवु प्रमाण अगोचरम् अप्रमेयम् इत्यर्ु ः. Where is that
आत्मा located? िुहानहतम् – the आत्मा which is very much
present or located in the heart or the mind as a witness of both
the mind with thoughts and the mind without thoughts. The
आत्मा obtains as the witness of the thoughtful and the
thoughtless state of mind. And because of the आत्मा witness
alone I am aware of thoughtful state of mind and I am also
aware of the blank state of mind. Therefore it is called
िुहानहतम्. Why is the mind called िुहा? Because just as a cave
is enveloped in darkness similarly the mind also is enveloped
in ignorance.
अज्ञािेि आवतृ म् ज्ञािम् तेि मुह्यनतत जततवः ॥ िीता ५-१५ ॥
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
Therefore the mind is full of तमः. Therefore mind is called िुहा.
That is why one of the names of Lord िुब्रह्मण्य is िुहः. It is a
beautiful name. It is a philosophical significant name. िुहः
means the one who resides in the mind. but even though it is
very much in the mind िढ ू मिुप्रनविम् – because of the
darkness in the mind the आत्मा is hidden, it has got itself hidden
within the darkness mind or the mind with ignorance. Ok, what
do we mean by that? When we say आत्मा is hidden inside, we
should carefully understand really speaking आत्मा cannot be
hidden or covered by anything. Because if something has to
cover आत्मा the covering substance must be bigger than the
covered. And there is nothing bigger than आत्मा why because
आत्मा itself is infinite. And therefore we should understand
covering of the आत्मा is only in a figurative sense. Never
should we take it in a literal sense which is a mistake generally
committed by people who think that आत्मा is physically
covered by the five कोशs and therefore they think of removing
the five कोशs and removing the thoughts also and they try to
see the आत्मा. Thought like a cream is covering the आत्मा and
when your mind is still the thought screen is removed, आत्मा
will be seen. These are all the general misconceptions. In fact
thoughts can never cover the आत्मा. Then what do you mean
by covering? शङ्कराचाया says the thoughts distract the mind
from the ever-evident आत्मा. Distraction is a form of covering.
For example, if somebody comes in front of you and your
attention is turned towards that person, temporarily your mind
is taken towards that person and at that time you cannot listen
to my lecture. So at that time my words are covered that does
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
not mean anything is stopping the sound, your ears are open but
still the distraction makes my word unheard. And therefore we
can say distraction is a form of covering. Similarly the ever
evident Consciousness is as though covered because I am
always bothered about other things other than Consciousness.
If I am looking outside the world distracts me, if I am looking
inside my thoughts distract me, I never turn my attention to the
witness of the world as well as the thoughts. And therefore
िढू मिुप्रनविम् – प्राकृतनवषयनवज्ञािैः प्रच्छतिम् – शङ्कराचाया
says because of worldly preoccupations Consciousness is as
though hidden. And therefore once we lose sight of आत्मा
which is our true nature, when there is covering, when there is
darkness there is hope for all misconceptions. When the rope is
covered because of twilight or semi-darkness rope is not known
and therefore it is mistaken as snake. Therefore any ignorance
is the seed for error, wrong idea. Therefore instead of claiming
I am the आत्मा I claim the body-mind complex as myself.
Therefore the आत्मा is now surrounded by िह्वरे ष्ठम् – deep
problems, abysmal problems. िह्वर means a deep cave which is
full of problems the आत्मा is surrounded by िंिार. And such
an आत्मा which is imperceptible , which is in the body-mind
complex but which is not recognized through because of our
extrovertedness, and which is surrounded by problems िंिार
that आत्मा has to be rescued. Now a high jacking has taken
place. So now we should have a mission of rescue. And how do
you rescue the highjacked आत्मा? अध्यात्मयोि-अन िमेि – by
resorting to the commando forces of the शास्त्र, िुरु. By taking
to अध्यात्मयोि or ज्ञाियोि, अन िम – resorting to, देवं मत्वा –
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
one knows the देव – चैतन्यस्वरूप आत्मा. The self-effulgent,
the self-evident आत्मा is called देव. So here देव does not mean
one of the gods in the heaven. Here देव means आत्मा which was
talked about in केिोपनिषत्,
केिेनषतं पतनत प्रेनषतं मिः केि प्राणः प्रर्मः प्रैनत युक्तः ।
केिेनषतां वाचनममां वदनतत चक्षुः श्रोरं क उ देवः युिनक्त ॥
केिोपनिषत् १-१ ॥
That देवः is this देव. So देवं मत्वा. मत्वा – having known, having
recognized, having understood the आत्मा as Myself, ीरः – a
qualified student. We often use this word ीरः to indicate that a
qualified seeker alone can get this knowledge. िा ि चतुिय
िम्पतिः अक्षधकारी इत्यर्ु ः. So upto this is ज्ञाियोि talked
about.
Now the फलम् is mentioned. हषा शोकौ जहानत – one
transcends both the relative pleasures of the world as well as
relative pains of the world. We had discussed before that the
worldly pleasures are invariably mixed with pain like the two
sides of the same coin. And since they are inseparable called
द्वतद्वs there is no question of accepting one and rejecting the
other. Either you have to accept both or reject both. Our
problem is we want to accept the pleasure part of the world and
trying to reject the pain. Now it is never going to work,
therefore you have to either accept both or reject both. If you
are rejecting both that person is called आश्रम िततयानि – he
renounces all worldly pleasures, material wealth, family and
relationships. Therefore either be a िहृ स्र् and accept both
equally or be a िततयानि reject both equally. But one thing
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
whether you accept both or reject both it is possible only
through Self-knowledge. As a िहृ स्र् if you want to accept both
– the enjoyment of your children’s company and also the
problem created by them, you require Self-knowledge. Or if
you are trying to become a िततयानि rejecting both that also
requires Self-knowledge. So in either case you require Self-
knowledge. So मत्वा ीरः हषा शोकौ जहानत. Here the word
means worldly pleasures. अनात्म सुखम् and अनात्म दुःखम्
both one transcends which is otherwise called मोिम् प्राप्नोक्षत.
Thus it is a beautiful मन्त्र which talks about ज्ञाियोि and
ज्ञाियोि फलम्. The same idea is repeated in another way in
the next मन्त्र.
मतर 1-2-13
एतच्रुत्वा िम्पररिह्य ृ म्या मणुमेतमाप्य ।
ृ मत्या ः प्रवह्य
ि मोदते मोदिीयँ नह ल्ध्वा नववत ृ ँ िद्म िनचकेतिं मतये ॥ १३ ॥
In the previous मतर अध्यात्मयोि was presented as the
means to Self-knowledge. So naturally our question will be
what is अध्यात्मयोि? What am I supposed to do? Here it is
defined as वेदातत श्रवण-मिि-निनदध्याििम्. श्रवणम् is
defined as systematic and consistent study of the scriptures for
a length of time under the guidance of a competent िुरु. Then
मििम् is reflection to remove the doubts in the teaching. And
निनदध्याििम् is to assimilate the teaching. These three are
presented here. So एतत् श्रुत्वा मत्या ः. Here मत्या ः means the
seeker who is now mortal as it were. Because until wisdom
comes he mistakes himself to be a mortal. Only after wisdom
he knows he is immortal. Therefore he uses the word मत्या ः.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
एतत् श्रुत्वा – he should listen to the आत्मतत्त्वम् taught by an
आचायु . So श्रवणम् कृत्वा. So when I say scriptures the
scriptures that talk about the आत्मा, i.e., the वेदातत scriptures
and not the वेदपवू ु भाग. Then what should one do? िम्पररिह्यृ –
one should clearly grasp the teaching or understand the आत्मा
as Consciousness principle. We know about Consciousness in
five points.
1) Consciousness is not a part or property or product of the
body,
2) It is an independent entity separate from the body, which
pervades and enlivens the body,
3) It is not limited by the dimensions of the body,
4) It continues to survive even after the fall of the body,
5) That continuing Consciousness cannot transact not
because it is absent but because the transacting medium is not
there.
To assimilate this we saw the example of the light which is
different from the hand. All these things we should remember.
िम्पररिह्य ृ – having distinctly grasped Consciousness not as an
adjective of the body but as a noun in itself. So पररग्रहणम्
means grasping, िम्पररिह्य ृ means clearly grasping,
doubtlessly grasping. That clear grasping indicates मििम्. If
there are any doubts you have to remove them. Thus श्रवणेन
ज्ञानम् प्राप्य मननेन संशयान् क्षनरस्य then प्रवह्य
ृ – the आत्मा
should be separated, taken out of the body, extracted out of the
body. Here extraction is not a physical job it is a cognitive
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
intellectual process exactly like you understand the light even
though you see the light along with the body your बुक्षद्ध separates
the light from the body. The separation between hand and light
is not a physical process but in terms of knowledge. Similarly I
should use the word ‘I’, and I should understand the I as
Consciousness and when I understand Myself as Consciousness
I should include the body-mind-complex in that. So this is
called प्रवह्य
ृ – having separated the आत्मा from the body, then
आप्य – one should own up, claim that Consciousness clearly as
oneself. The claiming is done by the mind alone, so I should
clearly know that I am the Consciousness principle. And what
type of आत्मा is it? म्या म् अणुम् आत्मािम्. These two words
are adjective to आत्मा which is म्या म् – that which is not away
from मा , that which is not separate from मा , that which is the
sustainer. धारणात् धमु ः. This is one meaning. Another meaning
is that which is attained through मा . So धमेण प्राप्यम् म्या म्.
You can never attain the आत्मा or मोि without following मा .
And अणुम् – िक्ष्ू मम् – that which is extremely subtle. Literally
अणु means atom. Very careful, आत्मा is not अणु. Because अणु
is spatially limited, being a small atom it is never all-pervading,
if आत्मा is also literally अणु then it will not pervade even this
body. Then why is it called अणु? Just as an atom is so subtle for
perception similarly आत्मा is subtle. This is called गौणप्रयोगः.
It is like saying he is a lion. That doesn’t mean he walks on four
legs, it means he has got common features with lion. Similarly
अणु and आत्मा have certain common features, the main one
being it is subtle. So once a person does this job then what will

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
happen to him? िः मत्या ः नवद्वाि् मोदते – that person revels.
After owning up the आत्मा the whole life is revelry.
ितदनत ितदनत ितदत्येव ॥ भजिोनवतदम् १९ ॥
योिरतो वा भोिरतो वा िङ्िरतो वा िङ्िनवहीिः । ॥
भजिोनवतदम् १९ ॥
योिरतो वा means िततयािाश्रम, भोिरतो वा means िहृ स्र्ाश्रम,
िङ्िरतो वा is िहृ स्र्ाश्रम, िङ्िनवहीिः is िततयािाश्रम. To
whatever आश्रम you may belong, यस्य ब्रह्मनण रमते नचिं
ितदनत ितदनत ितदत्येव, the whole life is fulness, पण ू ु त्वम्, िः
मोदते. And why he revels? Because मोदिीयं नह ल्ध्वा – he has
attained something which is a source of आनन्द. So having
attained आनन्द स्वरूप आत्मा he enjoys आनन्द. So िनचकेति्
is very eager and therefore यम मा राज says that O िनचकेति्!
You are going to attain that मोि very soon, for you the door of
मोि is already open.
मोक्षव्दारकपाटपाटिकरी काशीपुरा ीश्वरी नभक्षां देनह
कृपावलम्बिकरी मातातिपणू ेश्वरी ॥ अतिपण
ू ाा स्तोरम् ४ ॥
िद्म means the palace of मोि, the abode of मोि is open for
you. But again you should remember this is a figurative
expression. So for you मोि is as good as attained. िनचकेतिं
मतये – for you िनचकेति्. Continuing;
मतर 1-2-14
अतयर माा दतयरा माा दतयरास्मात्कृताकृतात् ।
अतयर भत
ू ाच्च भव्याच्च यित्पश्यनि तद्वद ॥ १४ ॥

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
By this time िनचकेति् has become impatient because
he asked for आत्मज्ञािम् in मतर twenty of the last chapter. In
the nine मतरs of the last chapter यम मा राज kept entrance
exam. Then िनचकेति् succeeded and expected to get the
knowledge at least later. Then he started glorifying the student,
the teacher and the teaching. And he says I was not like you.
Therefore िनचकेति् wanted to cut short यम मा राज’s
monologue. Enough of diversion, please come to topic he wants
to say. Therefore before यम मा राज could go to the next मतर
िनचकेति् interrupts and puts the third boon once again. So
now we have िनचकेताः उवाच. Through this मतर िनचकेति्
again is re-presenting the same boon which he has asked in 1-
1-20. Therefore 1-2-14 is only paraphrasing 1-1-20. This
should not be taken as the fourth boon, because यम मा राज has
given only three. In fact in ब्रह्मसत्र
ू there is an अक्षधकरणम् to
discuss how many boons are there. So we won’t say it is a
separate boon, it is third boon only. Now in this very important
मतर, we should remember this मतर at least कठोपनिषत् is
over, and very significant मतर also, even though it is a question
from िनचकेति् it is a very powerful मतर. This शङ्कराचाया
quotes it very often. In the first quarters of this मतर िनचकेति्
himself defines आत्मा. We get a wonderful definition of आत्मा
which has got lot of philosophical significance. अतयर माा त्
अतयर अ माा त् – आत्मा is that which is beyond मा and अ मा
which is beyond good and bad. This is a very significant
expression from which we can derive so many corollaries. We
will see just two of them, शङ्कराचाया uses this in िमतवय
अक्षधकरणम् also very significantly. When we talk about God,
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
God is often presented as free from all the evils. But many
theologies present God as free from all the evils and the
embodiment of all virtues. Even in नवनशिाद्वैतम् Lord is
defined as िकल-कल्याण-िुण-िम्पतिः. And therefore even
when we say नििा ुणम् those people interpret नििा ुणम् as free
from all bad िुणs, दुिा ण ु -रनहतम्. शङ्कराचाया says we don’t
accept. Because virtues and vices are pairs of opposite
belonging to the empirical world which always go together like
the two sides of a coin. Therefore if we reject evil from the
Lord, we have to also reject the positive virtues. And therefore
in His absolute nature Lord is beyond both. In His absolute
nature Lord is goodness embodiment. Therefore व्यावहाररक
ईश्वरः कल्याण-िुण-िम्पतिः but पारमानर्ा क ईश्वरः तु नििा ुणः
भवक्षत. So this is very important corollary he derives. Ultimately
God is beyond both. And that is why in the भिवद्गीता also
िवा माा तपररत्यज्य, we have to transcend the मा also. We
should not give up मा right now, we can give up मा only after
giving up अ मा . One has to give up अ मा first, follow मा for a
long time and thereafter give up मा also which is represented
by िततयािाश्रम. So this is corollary one. The second corollary
is this. मा and अ मा are both कमा फलम्. All the कमा s will
produce either पुण्यम् or पापम्. Anything you do should
produce a favorable or unfavorable result. So therefore मा and
अ मा are both कमा फलम्. निनषद्ध कमा फलम् अ मा and क्षवक्षहत
कमा फलम् मा . So the result of good is मा and the result of bad
action is अ मा . So therefore the result of all actions will come
under either मा or अ मा . By saying that आत्मा or God is
beyond मा and अ मा the उपनिषत् is implying that it is not a
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
कमा फलम्. Neither god actions will give you आत्मा nor bad
actions. We should not actions will give आत्मा because all the
actions will come under these two only. Therefore we say no
action will give आत्मा. Then what will give आत्मा? ज्ञािम्. So
कमा doesn’t give आत्मा, ज्ञािम् एव. so this is the corollary
शङ्कराचाया derives in his िमतवय सत्र ू very elaborately.
Therefore आत्मा is beyond मा and अ मा . Then अतयर-
अस्मात्-कृत-अकृतात् – कृतम् means a product or an effect,
अकृतम् means a cause. So कृतम् अकृतम् means cause and
effect, आत्मा is अतयर, अतयर means beyond or other than both
cause and effect. This also we can use in deriving so many
corollaries. And therefore only it is not a कमा फलम्. Because it
is कमा फलम् then it will come under an effect. And not only that
cause and effect exist within time; cause modified is effect, seed
modified is tree, milk modified is curd. Therefore cause and
effect are within time, in fact cause at a later time is called an
effect, effect at an earlier time is cause. आत्मा is beyond cause
and effect means it is beyond time, कालातीतः. Then अतयर
भतू ाच्च भव्याच्च – therefore only आत्मा is beyond past, present
and future. Being कालातीतः it is beyond कालत्रयम्. And such
an आत्मा यत् पश्यनि – which आत्मा you seem to know O
यम मा राज, पश्यनि means you are knowledgeable I know. That
आत्मतत्त्वम् which you clearly know तत् वद – may you teach
me, may you reveal that आत्मतत्त्वम् to me. So thus िनचकेति्
impatiently puts the question again and यम मा राज has to
respond which we will see in the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण
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237
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 1-2-13 & 14 Continuing;
एतच्रुत्वा िम्पररिह्य ृ म्या मणुमेतमाप्य ।
ृ मत्या ः प्रवह्य
ि मोदते मोदिीयँ नह ल्ध्वा नववत ृ ँ िद्म िनचकेतिं मतये ॥ १३ ॥
अतयर माा दतयरा माा दतयरास्मात्कृताकृतात् ।
अतयर भत
ू ाच्च भव्याच्च यित्पश्यनि तद्वद ॥ १४ ॥
In the fourteenth मतर which we just completed
िनचकेति् presented his third boon once again which boon he
had mentioned or asked for in 1-1-20. येयं प्रेते नवनचनकत्िा
मिुष्येऽस्तीत्येके िायमस्तीनत चैके । The same boon he
presents once again in a different language. And here he defines
आत्मा as the absolute principle which is beyond मा and अ मा ,
which is beyond cause and effect and which is beyond past,
present and future. And now the rest of the entire कठोपनिषत्
is going to be the answer to this question. And therefore only
कठोपनिषत् becomes आत्मक्षवद्या. And यम मा राज begins his
response from the next मतर onwards. We shall see the मतर
fifteen.
मतर 1-2-15
िवे वेदा यत्पदमामिनतत तपाँनि िवाा नण च यद्वदनतत ।
यनदच्छततो ब्रह्मचयं चरनतत तिे पदँ िंग्रहे ण ब्रवीम्योनमत्येतत् ॥ १५ ॥
यम मा राज feels that the ब्रह्मि् or आत्मन् which
िनचकेति् wants to know is too subtle for many people to
comprehend. It requires a सक्ष्ू म बुक्षद्ध to understand. And
therefore before beginning to teach यम मा राज prescribes a
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
िा ि for those who are not yet ready for comprehending
ब्रह्मि्, the absolute. And that िा ि he prescribes is ॐकार
उपािि in the following three मन्त्रs fifteen, sixteen and
seventeen. In this उपािि ॐकार will be a symbol for
meditating on the Lord both in the ििुण स्वरूपम् as well as
नििा ुण स्वरूपम् or higher nature, both the काया ब्रह्म as well as
the कारण ब्रह्म. By doing this उपािि a person can take two
different routes. One is after meditating upon ॐकार or
meditating upon the Lord through ॐकार symbol a person can
come to नििा ुण ब्रह्म in this life itself. So first practice ॐकार
उपािि, sharpen the mind, then come to नििा ुण क्षवचारः, enquiry
into नििा ुण. This is one method and the second method is one
can practice ॐकार उपािि throughout his life if that person is
not confident of coming to नििा ुण तत्त्वम्, he feels it is too subtle
for him then that person can do ॐकार उपािि throughout his
life and also at the time of his death. And if a person practices
ॐकार उपािि throughout his life then the शास्त्र says he can
go to ब्रह्मलोक after death and in ब्रह्मलोक he can gain नििा ुण
ब्रह्मज्ञािम् easily. And by gaining नििा ुण ज्ञािम् in ब्रह्मलोक
one can get मोक्ष. The second method is called क्रममुनक्त. The
first method is called जीवतमुनक्त. In the first method one should
do ॐकार उपािि in this life and one should come to नििा ुण
ब्रह्म क्षवचार also in this life and one should get the knowledge
अहं ब्रह्माक्षस्म. Then liberation here and now. If a person cannot
accept अहं ब्रह्माक्षस्म, it is too much for me if one feels, he can
meditate on ईश्वर with the help of ॐकार symbol and pray for
liberation, of course, it should be निष्काम उपािि and pray for
liberation and practice ॐकार उपािि by the grace of the Lord
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
he will go to ब्रह्मलोक, gain knowledge and attain liberation.
Thus ॐकार is useful for जीवतमुनक्त here and now or ॐकार
can be used for क्रममुनक्त also, thus ॐकार उपािि is a versatile
िा ि. And therefore यम मा राज wants to present that. In this
मन्त्र he introduces ॐकार as a symbol for ब्रह्मि् just as
नशवनलङ्ि and शानलग्राम are the symbols for नशव and नवष्णु
respectively. Similarly the very ॐकार sound represents ब्रह्मि.्
what type of ब्रह्मि्? The glory of ब्रह्मि् is revealed in the first
three quarters. िवे वेदाः यत्पदं आमिनतत. पदम् means
destination, the ultimate goal. All the वेदs uniformly declare
that ब्रह्मि् alone is the ultimate goal of all the people. The only
difference is some people know this fact and some people do
not this fact. No doubt in the beginning portion of the वेद known
as वेदपवू ा भाि वेद prescribes the other goals of life. It accepts
wealth as one of the goals – अर्ु , it accepts sense pleasures as
another goal – काम, it also accepts स्विा लोक as another goal.
And वेदपवू ा भाि presents the rituals and attain these goals. And
then वेद has got a hidden agenda. Just as a mother gives a sugar
coated pill in which laxative is there for purging the child
receives it as a chocolate but inside is the medicine. So what is
openly presented is a chocolate for enjoyment but what is
hidden inside is medicine. Similarly वेद gives all the sense
pleasures as the goal of life initially, but what वेद expects is a
person will go through all these sense pleasures and he will see
their limitations. Because some people know the limitations of
the sense pleasures even without going through them. They are
rare intelligent variety. They need not see the world to know the
limitation. They are capable of imagining, they are capable of
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
extending and projecting the limitations of worldly pleasures
but such people are rare. Majority requires kicks in life. And
therefore वेद says go through the worldly enjoyments, go
through the worldly relations, and by going through what
happens is
परीक्ष्य लोकाि् कमा नचताि् ॥ मुण्डकोपनिषत् १-२-१२ ॥
Like that example where a person learnt music for seven years
and then he said what is the benefit of learning the music for
seven years, I understood that music will not come for me.
Seven years struggle is worth it because at least he knew what
he cannot. Similarly वेद says even though मा अर्ा कामs are
presented as the goals of life the hidden agenda is वैराग्यम्,
detachment from money, detachment from the so called sense
pleasures, detachment from name, fame, position, relationship.
How will they know? If the वेद talks about detachment in the
beginning people will get detached from वेद itself. Therefore
never openly present वैराग्यम् as the destination, openly you
should present sense pleasures. The hidden agenda is वैराग्यम्.
The aim of वेदपवू ा is वैराग्यम् detachment from the world and
the benefit of that वैराग्यम् is he will start उपनिषत् class. The
benefit of Vedantic study is मोक्ष. Therefore the entire वेद has
only one goal, initially वैराग्यम् and later ब्रह्मि्. Therefore he
says िवे वेदाः – all the वेदs both the कमा काण्डम् and
ज्ञािकाण्डम् have got only one पदम् means लक्ष्यम्, कमा
व्युत्पनि, पद्यते इक्षत पदम्, आमिनतत – they talk about. And
तपांनि िवाा नण च वदनतत – initially, we don’t recognize that
destination. And therefore we are groping in darkness. We do

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
not know exactly what we want. In fact many people even after
seventy years of life what exactly they want they do not know.
Knowing what I want itself is a great accomplishment. Exactly
like diagnosing a disease. Otherwise it is an experimental
medication go on changing medicines. Thus we have also been
struggling for peace of mind. As children we thought when I
grow up peace of mind will come. After graduation perhaps
peace of mind will come. Perhaps after employment it will
come. Perhaps after marriage it will come. Perhaps after
children it will come. And now we are in grandchildren stage
and still looking for peace. Therefore many people even do not
know but some rare people recognize that their goal is पण ू ु त्वम्,
and they are able to stand any sense of limitation. And that
पणू ु त्वम् is called ब्रह्मि् and therefore they want मोक्ष, some
people get direction. Until one gets that direction वेद says go
after मा -अर्ा -काम पुरुषार्ा s, nothing wrong but be righteous.
And once I have become a मुमुक्षु, a man of direction वेद says
तपांनि – I will prescribe various disciplines for मोक्ष
preparation. Now that you have known मोक्ष is the goal, now I
can openly talk about the destination. No more hidden agenda,
it has become an open agenda. तप means all disciplines.
ऋतं तपः ित्यं तपः श्रुतं तपः शाततं तपो दमस्तपः शमस्तपो दािं
तपो यज्ञं तपो भभ ू ा ुवः िुवब्रा ह्मत
ै दुपास्वैतिपः ॥
महािारायणोपनिषत् ११-१ ॥
So तपस् is defined in महािारायणोपनिषत् as every spiritual
discipline as a form of तपस्. All the values are तपस्, all the
rituals are तपस,् acquiring िा ि चतुिय िम्पनि is तपस्, thus

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
varieties of तपस् are prescribed यत् वदक्षन्त, यत् means for the
sake of that ब्रह्मि्. यत् means यदर्ु म्, ब्रह्मार्ु म्, यस्मै वदक्षन्त.
चतुत्यु र्े प्रर्मा. For the sake of that ब्रह्मि्. So thus previously
िहृ स्र्ाश्रम was meant for अर्ा -काम, wealth and entertainment
when I was groping in darkness. In fact I even don’t know why
we got married. Why because our parents are married.
Therefore the first part of िहृ स्र्ाश्रम is अर्ा -काम प्रधान
िहृ स्र्ाश्रम because there is no direction. The second part of
िहृ स्र्ाश्रम is मा -मोक्ष प्रधान िहृ स्र्ाश्रम. And it is during that
time that कमा योि, prayers, and service to humanity becomes
dominant. And then what does he discover? He discovers that
ब्रह्मि् requires ज्ञािम्. You cannot attain ब्रह्मि् without Self-
knowledge. He understands Self-knowledge cannot come
without dedicated study. Scriptures are the mirrors by using
which I can look at myself. Without mirror I cannot see my
face, without scriptures I cannot see my true nature. And
therefore I require quality time in which I can forget everything
like a िततयानि or a research scholar I can die to my
relationships, I can die to my family situation, political
situation, social situation and I can plunge into the Self-enquiry.
So when he comes to know that शास्त्र says यनदच्छततो ब्रह्मचयं
चरनतत – these seekers take to a student’s life once again.
Previously the student’s life was during college days. That is
गुरुकुलवास- called ब्रह्मचयाा श्रम. Then he entered िहृ स्र्ाश्रम
and after that once again he has to go back to the student days.
In fact according to शास्त्र ब्रह्मचयाा श्रम is student’s life,
िततयािाश्रम also is student’s life. In ब्रह्मचयाा श्रम कमा काण्डम्
is studied, in िततयािाश्रम ज्ञािकाण्डम् is studied. Therefore
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
the second गुरुकुलवास begins. गुरुकुलवास does not mean
that you have to go to college but it means student’s lifestyle.
Otherwise वेदातत cannot give the full benefit. If you have a
casual approach to वेदातत the benefit that you get also will be
casual. And therefore यनदच्छततः – desiring that ब्रह्मि्, ब्रह्मचयं
चरनतत – the seekers take to the Vedantic study, गुरुकुलवास,
वेदातत क्षवचार once again. And that ब्रह्मि् तत् ते पदम् – is the
real destination of every human being. He doesn’t know that he
is seeking that. It is like a person having milk and he is looking
for ghee. Like that he doesn’t know that what he is seeking is
here itself. And therefore तत् ते पदम् – that itself is your
ultimate goal. िङ्ग्रहे ण ब्रवीनम – if I have to put that ब्रह्मि् in
the simplest language, in one word if I have to present that
ब्रह्मि् ओं इत्येतत् – ॐकार represents that ब्रह्मि्. How ॐकार
represents that ब्रह्मि् will be elaborately discussed in another
उपनिषत् called माण्डूक्योपनिषत्. In तैनिरीयोपनिषत् also we
will see the glory of ॐकार. Here यम मा राज briefly talks about
ॐकार मक्षहमा in the next two मतरs.
मतर 1-2-16
एतद्ध्येवाक्षरं ब्रह्म एतद्ध्येवाक्षरं परम् ।
एतद्ध्येवाक्षरं ज्ञात्वा यो यनदच्छनत तस्य तत् ॥ १६ ॥
So these two मतरs talk about the glory of ॐकार. And
how ॐकार उपािि should be practiced and what is the result
of that उपािि. यम मा राज says ॐकार can represent both परम्
ब्रह्म and अपरम् ब्रह्म. परम् ब्रह्म means कारणम् ब्रह्म which is
called ईश्वर, अपरम् ब्रह्म means काया म् ब्रह्म which is called
नहरण्यिभा and नवराट्. Therefore he says एतत् अिरम् एव – this
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
letter ॐकार alone is ब्रह्म. We have to supply the word अपरम्
ब्रह्म. अपरम् means नहरण्यिभा and नवराट्. एतत् अिरम् एव परम्
– the same ॐकार is परम् ब्रह्म, ईश्वर, the कारणम् ब्रह्म also. And
एतत् एव अिरम् ज्ञात्वा. In this context ज्ञात्वा means ध्यात्वा –
उपास्य, having meditated upon. We are not talking about the
enquiry into the नििा ुण ब्रह्म, but only meditation. How should
be the meditation? By invoking either नहरण्यिभा or ईश्वर in
ॐकार. In simple language नहरण्यिभा means the total mind and
ईश्वर means the cause of that total mind, the original cause. You
can meditate upon either of them काया म् or कारणम् ब्रह्म by
taking the ॐकार. Then what is the benefit? यः यनदच्छनत तस्य
तत् भवनत – whatever be the goal that he likes a person can
accomplish that. What do you mean by that? This उपािि can
be both िकाम as well as निष्काम उपािि. िकाम उपािि
means meditation for worldly well-being. Power like
अिमहानिनद्धs, money, sense pleasures, the best body, the best
environment, overlordship. We can use ॐकार उपािि and as
a result of that we will become नहरण्यिभा .
आप्िोनत स्वाराज्यम् । आप्िोनत मििस्पनतम् ।
वाक्पनतिक्षुष्पनतः । श्रोरपनतनवा ज्ञािपनतः । एतितो भवनत ।
आकाशशरीरं ब्रह्म । ित्यात्म प्राणारामं मि आितदम् ।
शानततिमद्ध
ृ ममत ृ म् । इनत प्राचीि योग्योपास्व ॥ तैिरीयोपनिषत्
१-६-२ ॥
The glories of नहरण्यिभा is said. Power over natural forces,
control over thunder, lightning, earthquake. We can get these.
If we say that is also finite and we want to attain मोक्ष then the
very same ॐकार उपािि will help you attain मोक्ष also. What

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
type of मोक्ष? It will lead to क्रममुनक्त. So thus ॐकार उपािि
can give sense pleasures also and it can give liberation also. It
is two-in-one. The same idea is reinforced further.
मतर 1-2-17
एतदालम्बिँ श्रेष्ठमे तदालम्बिं परम् ।
एतदालम्बिं ज्ञात्वा ब्रह्मलोके महीयते ॥ १७ ॥
Since it is a multipurpose आलम्बिम्, since it is a
versatile मन्त्र here यम मा राज says एतत् श्रेष्ठम् आलम्बिम् –
this is the greatest symbol of the Lord. आलम्बिम् means a
symbol. आलम्बिम् is of two types. When it is a form with clear
limbs like a human being like राम, कृष्ण, etc., that is called
प्रनतमा आलम्बिम्. There is a second type of आलम्बिम् where
these limbs and other clear features are not there like
नशवनलङ्िम्, शानलग्रामम् and अनस्मि् हररिानबम्भे श्री
महािणपनत ध्यायानम, a lump of turmeric powder you take and
invoke िणपनत, you take a flame and invoke देवी, all these are
called प्रतीक आलम्बिम्. ॐकार comes under प्रतीक
आलम्बिम्. Therefore this is the greatest प्रतीक for ईश्वर, the
Lord, because एतत् आलम्बिम् परम् – because this symbolizes
both the कारणम् ब्रह्म, the higher ईश्वर as well as काया म् ब्रह्म,
the नहरण्यिभा . So you have to add अपरम्. Here परम् alone is
there, you have to add अपरम् also to indicate that it represent
both परम् and अपरम्. And therefore एतत् आलम्बिम् ज्ञात्वा –
having meditated upon this आलम्बिम्, ब्रह्मलोके महीयते – one
attains ब्रह्मलोक. The word ब्रह्मलोक has to be read twice. If it
is िकाम उपािि the word ब्रह्मलोक means the real ब्रह्मलोक,
where ब्रह्माक्षर् is there, the seventh heaven and where one can
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
have all the desired fulfilled. If it is निष्काम उपािि the word
ब्रह्मलोक means नििा ुणम् ब्रह्म. लोक means चैतन्यम्. So for
निष्काम उपािि the फलम् is not ब्रह्मलोक the place but ब्रह्म
चैतन्यम् itself. And where will he find ब्रह्म चैतन्यम्? You
should ask the counter question ‘where will he not find?’
Because we saw in केिोपनिषत्
प्रनतबो नवनदतम् मतम् ॥ केिोपनिषत् २-४ ॥
In every transaction Consciousness is there. That
Consciousness is ब्रह्मि् he will recognize ultimately. Thus for
िकाम उपािि ब्रह्मलोक means world. For निष्काम उपािि
ब्रह्मलोक means क्रममुनक्त he will attain. Continuing;
मतर 1-2-18
ि जायते नम्रयते वा नवपनिि् िायं कुतनिति बभवू कनित् ।
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो ि हतयते हतयमािे शरीरे ॥ १८ ॥
In the previous three मतरs यम मा राज talked about a
preparatory उपािि for those who are not ready for नििा ुणम्
ब्रह्म discussion. So for मतद मध्यम अक्षधकारीणाम् for the lower
and mediocre students ॐकार उपािि is the साधन. And if a
student says ‘I don’t require all those उपाििs, my intellect is
subtle enough and I am ready to take नििा ुणम् ब्रह्म’ then
यम मा राज says now we shall start the teaching. From this
eighteenth मतर starts real उपनिषत्. It starts with a bang.
Xactly as कृष्ण did in the िीता
ितािि
ू ितािंि
ू िािुशोचनतत पनण्डताः ॥ िीता २-११ ॥
He started नििा ुण आत्मा discussion,

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
ि त्वेवाहं जातु िािं ि त्वं िेमे जिान पाः ॥ िीता २-१२ ॥
In fact most of the आत्मा definition verses of the िीता are
borrowed from कठोपनिषत् only. कृष्ण seems to be a lover of
कठोपनिषत्. In fact this very मन्त्र कृष्ण has bodily lifted with
a slight change.
ि जायते नम्रयते वा कदानचत् ॥ िीता २-२० ॥
So from here onwards आत्मलक्षण श्लोकाः, the definition of
आत्मा, very important portion, subtle portion. The previous
story portion is not real कठोपनिषत्. So that father asked him
to go here and go there is all story part. That is not the real
कठोपनिषत्. But this portion alone is real part. If somebody
asks what is the essence of िीता and suppose you say
पाञ्चजतयं र्हषीकेशो देवदिं िञ्जयः ।
पौण्रं दध्मौ महाशङ्खं भीमकमाा वक
ृ ोदरः ॥ िीता १-१५ ॥
कृष्ण blew His conch. Is this िीता? So they are all preparations.
Similarly here also the story really happened or not we don’t
care, this is the teaching. Now what is the nature of आत्मा?
नवपनित् – all-illuminating Consciousness, िवा -प्रकाशक
चैततयम्. Therefore आत्मा is of the nature of Consciousness.
Then our next question is what is Consciousness?
1) Consciousness is not a part or property or product of the
body,
2) It is an independent entity which pervades and enlivens
the body,
3) It is not limited by the boundaries of the body,

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
4) It continues to survive even after the death of the body,
5) The surviving Consciousness cannot transact with the
world not because it is absent but because the transacting
medium is not there.
This is the Consciousness that is here talked about as नवपनित्.
What is this Consciousness? यम मा राज says षड्नवकार रनहतः.
This Consciousness is not subject to modification unlike the
body which has six modifications – अनस्त, जायते, व ा ते,
नवपररणमते, अपक्षीयते and नविश्यनत. अनस्त means potentially
existing in the womb of the mother. जायते – it is born as a baby.
व ा ते – it grows. नवपररणमते – it metamorphosis. अपक्षीयते – it
declines. नविश्यनत – it perishes. In the very same modifying
body Consciousness is intimately present but the beauty is
Consciousness does not undergo any of the changes. Exactly
like the light example. Light intimately pervades my hand but
whatever modification takes place in the hand light does not
change. If I move the hand light does not move. If I split my
fingers light does not get split. If wrinkles are formed in my
hand light does not get wrinkles. Therefore the first lesson that
यम मा राज gives is आत्मा क्षनक्षवुकर चैततयम् – it is changeless
Consciousness . And therefore it doesn’t fall within time.
Because time alone is responsible for all the changes.
कालः क्रीडनत िच्छत्यायुः ॥ भजिोनवतदम् १२ ॥
So if आत्मा is changeless time has no influence on आत्मा. And
that is the content of this मतर. ि जायते ि नम्रयते – it is neither
born nor does it die. अयं ि कुतनित् – Consciousness does not
emerge or arise from anything. That means it is not a product,
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
not an effect, not कायु म्. ि बभवू कनित् – it does not become
anything also. Therefore it is not a cause also. seed is called
cause because seed becomes the tree. If X becomes Y, X is
called the cause. Consciousness does not become anything and
therefore Consciousness is not a cause also. Therefore it is
neither कायु म् nor is it कारणम्. It doesn’t come from anything
and nothing comes from Consciousness. िनचकेति् asked the
question – what is beyond cause and effect? यम मा राज’s
answer is that Consciousness is beyond cause and effect. So this
is a very significant line, very important line. The full
significance of this we will see in माण्डूक्योपनिषत् in the third
chapter where forty-eight मतरs are going to elaborate this one
line. It is called अजानतवादः. Therefore only अजः – therefore
आत्मा is birthless. नित्यः – deathless. शाश्वतः – decayless,
अपक्षय रनहतः. पुराणः – growthless, वक्षृ द्ध रक्षहतः. It doesn’t grow
because it is infinite. Infinite is that which can neither increase
nor decrease.
ि व ा ते कमा णा िो किीयाि् ॥ बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् ४-४-२३ ॥
Therefore infinite is beyond both – increase and decrease. And
then ि हतयते – it doesn’t undergo change. Literally हतयते
means afflicted. Here afflicted means deformation. When body
is afflicted by time and body undergoes shrinkage because of
old age, Consciousness does not have that. And this line
indicates न नवपररणमते. Of the six modifications अजः means न
जायते, birthless; नित्यः means deathless, शाश्वतः means
decayless, पुराणः means growthless, ि हतयते means
metamorphosisless. Thus five modifications have been

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
negated. The sixth modification is not negated here, we have to
supply. Therefore it does not have temporary existence like
child in the womb, but it is eternal. Therefore षड्नवकार रनहत
चैततयम् आत्मा. More in the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 1-2-18 Continuing;
ि जायते नम्रयते वा नवपनिि् िायं कुतनिति बभवू कनित् ।
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो ि हतयते हतयमािे शरीरे ॥ १८ ॥
From this eighteenth मन्त्र only यम मा राज begins his
main teaching through which he wants to teach the nature of
आत्मा. Through the third boon िनचकेति् wanted to know
आत्मा which is the real nature of oneself. In fact the word
आत्मा means Self. And Self means one’s own real nature in this
context. And that आत्मस्वरूपम् discussion begins from this
मतर. And therefore the real कठोपनिषत् begins from the
eighteenth मन्त्र only. The first feature or nature of आत्मा that
यम मा राज revealed is आत्मा नवपनित्. नवपनित् means चैततय
स्वरूप, ज्ञाि स्वरूप, क्षवज्ञाि स्वरूप, of the nature of
Consciousness. When we use the word Consciousness
यम मा राज does not take Consciousness as an adjective or a
property of the physical body. Because generally we use the
word Consciousness as a property of a living body. As opposed
to a dead body a live body is called a sentient body. And
therefore we understand Consciousness only as the property of
the body. And if Consciousness is taken as a property then it
will never have an independent existence. Just as tallness,
bigness, smallness, etc., as property they do not have separate
existence. when I say a tall man the word tall is only an
adjective, it can never exists independently. Either it should be
a tall man, tall tree, tall mountain. Similarly we use the word
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
conscious also as a conscious body or as a unconscious body.
When a person swoons we say he has become unconscious. In
all these expressions we have learnt Consciousness only as an
attribute of the body but here यम मा राज doesn’t talk about
Consciousness as an attribute Consciousness but
Consciousness as the very noun itself which is an independent
substance, the only difference is it is an invisible substance
because it is a substance without property. So thus
Consciousness is presented here as an independent substance
without form, color, smell, taste, touch or any of the attributes,
and therefore it is not visible, perceptible to the sense organs.
This non-perceptible, attributeless substance is called चैततयम्
in this context. And this चैततयम् is our real nature,
आत्मस्वरूपम् according to यम मा राज. Having defined आत्मा
as the basic Consciousness यम मा राज gives the various other
features of that आत्मा and the second feature that he gave in
this मन्त्र is that this Consciousness is not subject to
modification, it is a different type of substance. Normally when
I say it is a substance have only experienced substances which
are subject to modification in time. We know substance as
matter which is changing and we know even energy as a
substance but subject to modification. So thus we know
changing matter, we know changing energy but यम मा राज is
introducing another substance which is neither changing matter
nor changing energy but it is a changeless entity. Therefore
क्षनक्षवुकार स्वरूपः is the second feature. The first feature is
चैततय स्वरूपः. These modifications are generally classified
into six types and यम मा राज negates all these forms of
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
modifications like potential existence, origination, growth,
metamorphosis, decay and finally destruction. All these six
modifications are not there, this changeless Consciousness is
आत्मा. Upto this we saw in the last class. Further features are
to be given in the next मन्त्र, we will read.
मतर 1-2-19
हतता चेतमतयते हततँु हतिेतमतयते हतम् ।
उभौ तौ ि नवजािीतो िायँ हनतत ि हतयते ॥ १९ ॥
In this nineteenth मन्त्र यम मा राज is introducing two
more features of this आत्मा and they are अकताा and अभोक्ता.
अकताा – not a performer, a doer of any type of action and
अभोक्ता means not the reaper of result of action. So कताा is
association with कमा , भोक्ता is association with कमा फलम्. And
अकताा means कमा -िम्बत रनहतः and अभोक्ता means कमा -
फल-िम्बत रनहतः. Why do we say आत्मा is अकताा and
अभोक्ता? Because to be a कताा is to be associated with action
and to be associated with action is to undergo change. Because
any action means change on the part of agent. The physical
body is called a कताा because the body is capable of doing
action which means it is capable of undergoing change. Change
in what sense? Movement from one place to another, i.e., spatial
change and the other one is time-wise change. When I am
talking my body is undergoing change. I cannot do any action
without undergoing change and that is why after one hour find
you are hungry. So why are you hungry? Because the body has
been spending energy; even for sleeping you spend energy.
How do you know? When you wake up in the morning you are
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
hungry. Therefore any activity means change and आत्मा cannot
have any activity because in the previous मन्त्र we have said
आत्मा cannot undergo any change, therefore what action आत्मा
will do? It cannot do पुण्य कमा , it cannot do पाप कमा , it cannot
do कानयक कमा , वानचक कमा and मािि कमा . कानयक कमा
belongs to body because it can change, वानचक कमा belongs to
speech because it can change, and मािि कमा belongs to mind
because it can undergo change. What is the change of mind? It
is nothing but change of thought. And since Consciousness
cannot undergo any change it is free from कमा . And if it is free
from कमा it cannot reap the result of कमा , therefore कमा फलम्
also is not there, अभोक्ता आत्मा. And if you extend this further
we can say therefore आत्मा is free from िनञ्चत, आिानम and
प्रार् कमा . And these कमा s are responsible for पुिरनप जििम्
पुिरनप मरणम्. So if आत्मा is free from िनञ्चत, आिानम and
प्रार् , it is free from पुिरनप जििम् cycle also. And therefore
आत्मा is नित्यमुक्तस्वरूपः, it is free from िंिार. This is the
essence of this मतर. But यम मा राज presents it in a different
language. How does he presents? First he wants to say that
आत्मा is अकताा . And to convey this idea यम मा राज says
आत्मा is not the subject of any action. He is using a
grammatical language. In the same way he wants to say आत्मा
is अभोक्ता. That he presents in a different language. आत्मा is
not a victim of any action or कमा फलम्. And therefore आत्मा is
not the object of any action. How do we experience कमा फलम्?
Suppose it is पुण्य कमा फलम् what is going to happen in our life?
somebody is going to glorify, somebody is going to do nice
things to me then I become an object of good experiences. And
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
when पाप कमा फलम् comes to me then also I am going to be an
object, object of bad or negative experiences. Therefore to be a
भोक्ता is to be a victim or object of pleasurable and painful
experiences. And therefore we can say to be a कताा is to be a
subject of action, to be a भोक्ता is to be an object of other’s
action. And आत्मा is अकताा and अभोक्ता means आत्मा is
neither a subject nor an object of any action. And among many
types of actions the most powerful one is killing. यम मा राज
takes this example of killing someone. Therefore यम मा राज
says आत्मा is not the subject of killing action and आत्मा is not
the object of killing action also. Therefore आत्मा is neither the
killer nor the killed. आत्मा is neither the striker nor struck.
आत्मा is neither the eater nor eaten. आत्मा is neither insulter
nor insulted. Thus आत्मा is िवा -व्यवहार-अिोचरः. It is beyond
all the व्यवहारम्s, because all the transactions are those in
which you are either the subject or an object. And this also
यम मा राज presents in a different language. He wants to say
आत्मा is neither the killer nor the killed. He could have directly
said that. But he puts in an indirect language. He says some
people consider आत्मा to be a killer or a striker. They say I am
a striker. And some others take आत्मा as killed. They say I am
struck by an arrow in a battlefield. So the victim says I am
struck and the other person says I am the stricker. यम मा राज
says both people are wrong. So some people say I am the actor
and some others say I am the victim, the one who considers
himself to be an actor and the one who considers himself to be
a victim both of them are wrong. So from this what do you
derive? Suppose I want to say राम is not intelligent. In a simple
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
and direct way we can say राम is not intelligent. What is
indirect method? Some people look upon राम as intelligent one
they are wrong. It means राम is unintelligent. Like that
यम मा राज says some people say आत्मा is the subject, some
others say आत्मा is the object, both are wrong indicating that it
is neither the subject nor an object. Now look at the मन्त्र. हतता
हततंु मतयते – a person thinks I am the killer. The word killer is
only a representative word, here we should understand it as an
actor, the subject of an action. This is the thought of some
people. हतः चेत् मतयते हतम् – another person says that I am
the struck one, hit one, the victim of that action, I am the object
of that action. So thus some people take themselves as subject,
some people take themselves as object. And what is
यम मा राज’s verdict? उभौ तौ ि नवजािीतः – both of them do
not know. Because अयं न हनतत – आत्मा is neither the doer of
any action. ि हतयते – nor is the आत्मा the victim of, the object
of any action. If we extend it at the psychological level we find
an interesting thing. Most of our pains in the life are in the form
of hurt and guilt. We say I was extremely hurt by my son’s
behavior. So when I am getting hurt by another’s behavior will
I look upon myself as subject or object? Hurt means somebody
did not respect me, insulted me, therefore as a भोक्ता when I
take experiences from others it leads to lot of hurt. So therefore
भोक्ता produces hurt in life. And how does guilt come? You say
I did this to my child, to my spouse, to my गुरु. Guilt is always
generated by कताा . Thus कताा produces guilt, भोक्ता produces
hurt and as long as I am कताा and भोक्ता throughout the life I
will be assailed by, tormented by hurt and guilt. And hurt and
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
guilt is िंिार. What is pain? If you watch your mind most of
the time it is by hurt and guilt. That is why तैनिरीयोपनिषत्
defines मोि as freedom from both hurt and guilt.
नकमहँ िा ु िाकरवम् । नकमहं पापमकरवनमनत । ि य एवं
नवद्वािेते आत्मािँ् स्पण
ृ ुते ॥ तैनिरीयोपनिषत् २-९-१ ॥
And how has the ज्ञानि transcended both hurt and guilt? Only
by transcending कता त्ृ वम् and भोक्तृत्वम्. How do you transcend
कता त्ृ वम् and भोक्तृत्वम्? As a body you will ever be a कताा and
भोक्ता, as the organ of speech you will be a कताा and भोक्ता, as
the mind you will be a कताा and भोक्ता; if you have to transcend
them both you have to own up the चैतन्यम् I am the
Consciousness behind them, I am free from both of them.
Therefore no hurt, no guilt. I keep on doing my actions with
good motive but I don’t allow my day to day transactions to
create hurt and guilt. And the problem is every day we gather
this. Just as we physically gather dust similarly mentally we
gather the two-fold pollution of hurt and guilt and generally we
don’t have any soap to wash off these two. Then we go on
accumulating these two and in our old age we have got tons and
tons and then we come to वेदातत and we find that वेदातत seems
to work in some level and hurt and guilt seem to work in some
other level. And we say that we understand वेदातत but there is
no peace of mind. Therefore वेदातत will work only when it can
remove कता त्ृ वम् and भोक्तृत्वम्. And that is why कृष्ण also in
the second chapter emphasizes these two ideas only.
य एिं वेनि हततारं यिैिं मतयते हतम् ।
उभौ तौ ि नवजािीतो िायं हनतत ि हतयते ॥ िीता २-१९ ॥
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
The second line of this verse कृष्ण quietly pinched,
pickpocketed from the वेद. Continuing;
मतर 1-2-20
अणोरणीयातमहतो महीयािात्माऽस्य जततोनिा नहतो िुहायाम् ।
तमक्रतुः पश्यनत वीतशोको ातुप्रिादातमनहमािमात्मिः ॥ २० ॥
All these मतरs are important मतरs. They are all
आत्मलक्षण मतराः or आत्मस्वरूप मतराः. So these are all
important मतरs of कठोपनिषत् eighteen, nineteen and twenty.
Now we have seen four features of आत्मा.
1) चैततयस्वरूप,
2) क्षनक्षवुकारस्वरूप,
3) अकताा and
4) अभोक्ता.
Now in this मतर यम मा राज reveals that this आत्मचैततयम् is
inherent or pervades the entire creation. It is not confined to the
physical body. We cannot say Consciousness is in the body but
we should say Consciousness is in the body also. Like it is
wrong to say light is on the hand, but we should say light is on
the hand also. Ok, what is the big difference? When I say ‘light
is on the hand’ it appears also it is located here, and therefore it
is a localized finite entity. But when I say it is on the hand also
it means light is beyond the hand also. The only difference
being on the hand you can recognize the light, beyond the hand
it is in the unrecognizable, unmanifest form. In the same way

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
यम मा राज says Consciousness or आत्मा is सवु अक्षधष्ठानम् सवु
अनुस्यत
ू म्, सवु अनुगतम्.
ू े मनणिणा इव ॥ िीता ७-७ ॥
िर
Just as a thread in an invisible form is in and through all the
beads of a माला, you don’t see the thread but without the thread
the माला cannot be together. Why don’t you see the thread?
Because the beads are covering. But how do you know the
thread is there? Without that the माला will not be माला.
उिमादीनि पुष्पानण वता तते िर ू के यर्ा । उिमाद्यास्तर्ा देहा
वता तते मनय िवा दा ॥ अद्वैतािुभनू त ३० ॥
ृ ेत्िर
यर्ा ि िंस्पश ू ं पुष्पाणामुिमानदता । तर्ा िैकं िवा िं मां
देहािामुिमानदता ॥ अद्वैतािुभनू त ३१ ॥
ू ं ि िश्यनत । तर्ा देहेषु ििेषु िैव
पुष्पेषु तेषु ििेषु यद्वत्िर
िश्याम्यहं िदा ॥ अद्वैतािुभनू त ३२ ॥
So the thread is talking about itself. I am in and through every
bead but invisible. The superiority or inferiority of the beads do
not affect the thread because thread is neither inferior nor
superior. And finally when the beads are gone the thread
continues to exist. So here यम मा राज says आत्मा is the thread
of Consciousness in and through all the beads. The beads are
our bodies. In fact शङ्कराचाया gives the example of flowers.
The flowers are threaded together by the invisible thread of
Consciousness. Not only Consciousness pervades all the
sentient beings, it is there in and through the insentient also. So
if आत्मा is the thread in and through the entire creation what
should be the nature of that आत्मा? So we have to find out what
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
is that principle which is in and through every thing and being?
You cannot say body. Body is not everywhere, mind is not
everywhere, intellect is not everywhere, organs are not
everywhere, nothing is everywhere. What is that principle
which is in and through every thing and being? If you analyze
शास्त्र says there is one thing. What is that? When you are
describing any object what do you say? Here is a clip, here is a
mic, there is a person, there is a car, there is Sun, moon. What
is the common factor in all of them? The “is”ness or Existence
is the thread that is in and through the creation.
यस्यैव स्फुरणं िदात्मकमित्कल्पार्ा कं भािते
िाक्षािववमिीनत वेदवचिा यो बो यत्यानश्रताि् ॥ श्रीदनक्षणामनू ता
स्तोरम् ३ ॥
Therefore आत्मा is the very सद्-रूपम् in and through
everything. Earlier it was said that आत्मा is the क्षचद्-रूपम्, and
quietly यम मा राज has indicated that the आत्मा is the very
Existence. Existence where? In the smallest atom also and in
the biggest star also. Not only is it inherent in every object in
fact that is the very substance behind all the objects. So
therefore to give a better example आत्मा is like water in a every
wave, bubble, smallest foam or the biggest ocean. In fact one
water alone appears as wave, foam, river etc. Similarly आत्मा
is that one substance which appears as the smallest atom as well
as the biggest star. Therefore the smallness and bigness belong
to िाम-रूप, name and form but the substance is one आत्मा
alone. This is the terse teaching contained in this मन्त्र. So he
says अणोः अणीयाि् – आत्मा is the substance which appears in

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
the form of the smallest atom also, महतः महीयाि् – आत्मा is
the very same substance which is in the form the biggest object
also. Like water which alone appears as a wave, i.e., called
microcosm and water exists as ocean also i.e., called
macrocosm. अणु represents micro, महत् represents macro. One
substance appears both individual and total because of name
and form. Remove wave name and form, remove ocean name
and form there is neither wave nor ocean there is only one water
left behind. Similarly by itself आत्मा is neither अणु nor महत्,
but with the association of an object with name and form, it
appears as अणु or महत्. Where is this आत्मा to be found? This
is a meaningless question. When I say आत्मा is thread in the
entire creation where can I find the आत्मा is like the wave going
in search of water.
लहर ढूंढे लहर को कपडा ढूंढे ित
ू जीव ढूंढे ब्रह्म को तीिों ऊत
के ऊत ॥
The first one says the wave went in search of water, because
somebody introduced water as सक्षृ ट क्षस्र्क्षत लय कारणम्, सवु
अक्षधष्ठानम्, by realizing which you will get liberation, and
therefore wave wanted liberation, therefore it started a spiritual
journey in search of water. And there was another spiritual
seeker i.e., the cloth and it went in search of thread because
somebody introduced water as सक्षृ ट क्षस्र्क्षत लय कारणम्,
therefore it has search for it for liberation, in the same way
जीवात्मा started his spiritual journey in search of परमात्मा and
somebody was even consoling don’t worry, your journey will
not be long, if you take ten steps forward भगवान् will take

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
twenty steps. And therefore looking for परमात्मा जीव started
his search and all the three – the wave in search of water, the
cloth in search of thread, and the जीवात्मा in search of परमात्मा
– are filtered fools (in Tamil it is வாடிகட்டின முட்டால்).
So one thing you cannot seek is that. And therefore यम मा राज
says never search for that आत्मा, आत्मा निनहतः. The all-
pervading आत्मा is very much located in िुहायाम् – in the mind
of जततोः – every living being. So आत्मा अस्य जततोः
ब्रह्मानदस्तम्बपया ततस्य प्रानणजातस्य िुहायां र्हदये निनहतः
आत्मभत ू ः नस्र्त इत्यर्ा ः. Then he says I will not search outside,
I will search within. Somehow he loves searching. Then he
closes his eyes and sits in intense meditation. And then he says
he is able to eliminate all thoughts. Thereafter he doesn’t know
what to do? We say both search will never fructify. When you
remove all the thoughts and search you will come to blankness
alone. After removing all thoughts if you do that you have to
tell yourself I will not find the आत्मा because I am the आत्मा
which is aware of the blank mind. Therefore आत्मा is present
as I, the witness of the mind. It is never seen within the mind
but आत्मा has to be owned up as the very witness of the mind
and I also remember not only am I the witness of the blank mind
even when thoughts appear later I am very much there. Just as
the arrival of the wave cannot displace water, the arrival of
thoughts can never displace आत्मा. Therefore allow the
thoughts to be in the mind and say now I am the witness of the
thoughts. Therefore I am eternally present as the witness of both
the thoughtful mind as well as the thoughtless mind. Now when
this class is taking place is आत्मा there or not? Now you are the
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
आत्मा present as the witness of thought that is arising. And
imagine I observe silence. What is in the mind? Blank. Then
whether I am there or not? I am there as the witness of
blankness. Therefore आत्मा is a matter for owning up, it is not
a matter for finding out. You never find आत्मा, you always own
up आत्मा as I am. Therefore यम मा राज says आत्मा अस्य
जततोः िुहायां निनहतः. And who can own up this आत्मा? What
is the condition for owning up? So many conditions are there
and one condition यम मा राज emphasizes, अक्रतुः – अकामः – a
mind which is free from expectations, a mind which is not
restless. A mind with expectations is a restless mind. Therefore
it is always busy, it is always crowded, it is always noisy. And
when the mind is a restless noisy mind we are distracted by
those thoughts, we are preoccupied by those thoughts that we
lose sight of the ever evident Consciousness. Not that the
desires displace Consciousness, very careful. Desires do not
displace Consciousness, desires distract. They distract my
attention. So when I am silent I don’t appreciate the
Consciousness but the mind is preoccupied with or I am
preoccupied with the pressure. Therefore a relaxed mind. It is
just like imagine you are sitting in the railway station and you
have not gone to receive any one. Your mind is not absorbed or
restless or preoccupied. But when you have gone to receive
someone then you don’t see anything, because you are
preoccupied with the person concerned. Similarly I am so
preoccupied with what is happening in the mind that I never
turn my attention to the witness of what is happening. Therefore
अक्रतुः. A relaxed person, a person without agenda, a person
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
without plan, motive. Just like during the daytime the tick of
the clock is not heard even though it is there; it is overpowered
by noise. Therefore our mind is noisy, therefore it loses sight of
the witness Consciousness. Therefore अक्रतुः तम् पश्यनत – only
the desireless person or the one who has got वैराग्यम्. So
वैराग्यम् is emphasized here. Such a person sees. आत्मनः
मनहमािम् – the glory of the real Self, the glory of real I, the
glory of my own higher nature. What is that glory? You have to
remember the five features we saw before – क्षचद्रूपत्वम्,
क्षनक्षवुकारत्वम्, अकता त्ृ वम्, अभोक्तृत्वम् and सवु -अक्षधष्ठानत्वम्.
All these five features are here referred to as मक्षहमा. This five-
fold मक्षहमा that person recognizes. ातुप्रिादात् – by the grace
of his organs, instruments of knowledge. So the sense organs
must cooperate for this knowledge. Sense organs of knowledge,
sense organs of action, mind, intellect and the physical body
must cooperate. Imagine in the middle of the talk knee pain
starts. Then what happens? You have got knee ध्यानम्.
Therefore body has to cooperate without distraction. Therefore
ातुप्रिादात् – by the grace. That is why when we have the
शाक्षन्तपाठ
भिम् कणेनभः शण ृ ुयाम देवाः । भिं पश्येमाक्षनभया जराः ॥
नस्र्रै रङ्िैस्तुिुवांिस्तिनू भः ।
आप्यायततु ममाङ्िानि वाक्प्राणिक्षुः श्रोरमर्ो बलनमनतियानण
च िवाा नण ।
All the शाक्षन्तपाठs say may all my organs be वेदातत friendly
organs. So by the grace of the organs one recognizes the glory
of the आत्मा. And then what is the result of this knowledge?
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
नवितशोको भवनत – the greatest benefit of this knowledge is no
more worry in life which is our eternal complaint. अजा ुि also
was complaining.
ि नह प्रपश्यानम ममापिुद्याद् यच्छोकमुच्छोषणनमनतियाणाम् ॥
िीता २-८ ॥
हे कृष्ण my grief is so intense that I don’t think all my
possessions will help me out of this grief. This basic grief of
humanity will go only by one method. Owning up my higher
nature. So नवितशोको भवनत means he becomes free from grief
and sorrow.
ितािि
ू ् अितािि
ू ् च ि अिुशोचनतत पनण्डताः ॥ िीता २-११ ॥
And if a person thinks that there are alternative methods वेदातत
says let him try. And he or she will miserably fail. One has to
know आत्मा for freedom from sorrow. More in the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 1-2-20 Continuing;
अणोरणीयातमहतो महीयािात्माऽस्य जततोनिा नहतो िुहायाम् ।
तमक्रतुः पश्यनत वीतशोको ातुप्रिादातमनहमािमात्मिः ॥ २० ॥
From the eighteenth मतर यम मा राज has started the
main teaching of आत्मस्वरूपम् which the student िनचकेति्
wanted to know through the third boon. यम मा राज has been
talking about various features of आत्मा in these मन्त्रs. Firstly
he presented आत्मा as चैततयस्वरूपम् – of the nature of
Consciousness.
1) Consciousness is not a part or property or product of the
body,
2) It is an independent entity separate from the body, which
pervades and enlivens the body,
3) It is not limited by the boundaries of the body,
4) It continues to survive even after the fall of the body,
5) That continuing Consciousness cannot transact not
because it is absent but because the transacting medium is not
there.
Such an independent, formless, eternal, all-pervading
Consciousness is the nature of आत्मा. In short, आत्मा
चैततयस्वरूपः.
Then the next feature यम मा राज revealed is आत्मा
क्षनक्षवुकारस्वरूपः – it is free from all the six forms of
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
modifications like potential existence, origination, growth,
metamorphosis, decay and finally destruction. So षड्नवकार
रनहतः क्षनक्षवुकारस्वरूपः आत्मा.
Then the third feature he revealed in the nineteenth मतर
is आत्मा अकता ृ अभोक्तृ स्वरूपः. Being changeless आत्मा cannot
perform any action and therefore it has no association with any
कमु and therefore no association with any कमु फलम् also.
When I have no association with action I am called अकताा and
when I have no association with कमु फलम् I am known as
भोक्ता. This has to be extended to पुण्य रनहतः, पाप रनहतः,
िनञ्चत, प्रार् , आिानम रनहतः. They are all extension of
अकता त्ृ व अभोक्तृत्व स्वरूपम्.
Then the next feature that we saw in the twentieth मतर
is आत्मा सवु अक्षधष्ठान स्वरूपः. आत्मा is the inner essence of
every thing in the creation. In fact आत्मा is the basic substance
out of which the whole creation is made. Just as wood is the
basic substance with which all the furniture are made. That
means one substance alone manifests in manifold form.
Similarly one आत्मा alone manifests in manifold form. That
means the smallest ornament is gold and the biggest ornament
is also gold. आत्मा is सवु अक्षधष्ठानम्. Upto this we saw in the
last class. Now we have to see the further features of आत्मा.
मतर 1-2-21
आिीिो दूरं व्रजनत शयािो यानत िवा तः ।
कस्तं मदामदं देवं मदतयो ज्ञातुमहा नत ॥ २१ ॥

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
So this a subtle मतर, has to be carefully understood.
Here यम मा राज talks about two aspects of आत्मा. The all-
pervading Consciousness which we call िामातय चैततयम्,
general Consciousness, diffused Consciousness, pervasive
Consciousness. And this िामातय चैततयम् does not have any
location and therefore it is unlocated Consciousness. How do
we experience this िामातय चैततयम्? Or when do we
experience this िामातय चैततयम्? During sleep we experience
िामातय चैततयम्, unlocated Consciousness. We are conscious
beings but now we are located conscious beings but in sleep we
don’t experience any location. Until you go to sleep you are
aware that you are in such and such place, all the sense of
localization is only until you go to sleep, the moment you sleep
you don’t experience any location. That means during sleep you
are unlocated िामातय चैततय स्वरूपः. In fact that is your real
nature, all-pervading general Consciousness. But when we
wake up what happens is the mind which was asleep becomes
alive, active, functional. When the mind becomes functional in
waking or dream this all-pervading Consciousness gets
reflected in mind. The mind serves as the reflecting medium. In
the reflecting medium of the mind the Consciousness is
reflected and this reflected Consciousness is located only in the
reflecting medium. This reflected Consciousness we call नवशेष
चैततयम्, special Consciousness, localized Consciousness,
entrapped Consciousness. This can be experienced only when
the mind is alive and functional. That means in र्ाग्रत् अवस्र्ा
नवशेष चैततयम् localized Consciousness is experience. And the
beauty is नवशेष चैततयम्, reflected Consciousness comes into
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
being it overpowers as it were the all-pervading general
Consciousness. And therefore नवशेष चैततयम् dominates
िामातय चैततयम् during the waking state. Not that िामातय
चैततयम् is absent, िामातय चैततयम् is present but नवशेष
चैततयम् dominates it. In पञ्चदशी नवद्यारण्य स्वानम gives a
beautiful example to convey this idea. During the daytime the
sunlight is there all over, and therefore we are able to
experience the sunlight all over. Imagine you bring a mirror and
place it at forty-five degrees angle against the wall and then the
reflected Sun throws a patch of light over the wall. Now where
the patch of light is there, there are two sunlights. One is the
general diffused sunlight all over the wall and in a particular
area where you direct your mirror in that area additionally the
reflected sunlight also is there. Now the question is whether the
general sunlight is present where the reflected sunlight is there.
The general sunlight continues to exist, but when the reflected
sunlight falls over that patch of area there the general sunlight
is overpowered by the नवशेष िय ू ा प्रकाश. And behind the नवशेष
िय ू ा प्रकाश there is a िामातय िय ू ा प्रकाश. So how do you prove
that behind the नवशेष िय ू ा प्रकाश there is a िामातय िय ू ा प्रकाश?
I am seeing only the powerful reflected patch behind that the
िामातय प्रकाश is there how do you prove? Very simple,
remove the mirror then the reflected patch of light disappears,
नवशेष िय ू ा प्रकाश disappears but even the disappearance of
नवशेष िय ू ा प्रकाश we experience the िामातय िय ू ा प्रकाश. Now
नवद्यारण्य says in this body there are two Consciousnesses. One
is िामातय चैततयम् and the other is नवशेष चैततयम्. This नवशेष
चैततयम् is formed because of the active mind. Because of the
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
active condition of the mind in the waking state there is नवशेष
चैततयम् in the body. And in addition to नवशेष चैततयम् there is
िामातय चैततयम्. Of this नवशेष चैततयम् is localized and
िामातय चैततयम् is unlocalized, all-pervading. During waking
state नवशेष चैततयम् is dominant, that आत्मा appears to be the
localized नवशेष चैततयम्. नवशेष चैततयम् being so dominant
during waking state आत्मा appears to be localized नवशेष
चैततयम्. And since it is a localized Consciousness as it were it
travels from place to place because of the movement of
reflecting medium, because of the movement of the entrapping
mind, and along with the mind नवशेष चैततयम् has traveled.
Therefore आत्मा appears to be traveling. Really speaking
आत्मा is the non-traveling िामातय चैततयम्. But during
waking state because of the active mind आत्मा appears to be
नवशेष चैततयम् and नवशेष चैततयम् it seems to travel from place
to place. At the time of death the mind travels along with नवशेष
चैततयम्. Therefore it appears as though आत्मा, the soul is also
travelling from one body to another. And it is going to different
लोकs and we have to do श्राद्ध तपु ण, etc., to release the soul.
All these travelling souls is because of the नवशेष चैततयम्. Why
िामातय चैततयम् is not recognized? Because नवशेष चैततयम्
always overshadows the िामातय चैततयम्. When I ask you
‘where are you’, you say in such and such a place. When you
say you are in such a place you are referring to नवशेष चैततयम्.
Suppose you understand you are िामातय चैततयम्. Suppose
you understand that the नवशेष चैततयम् is an incidental
localization caused by the entrapping mind but whether the
mind is there or not I am the िामातय चैततयम्, and then when
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
I ask you ‘where are you’. You will ask a counter question
‘where am I not’. Ok, now you are able to clearly understand
that I am the localized नवशेष चैततयम् which is dominant in
र्ाग्रत् अवस्र्ा, and suppose you want to experience िामातय
चैततयम्. In र्ाग्रत् अवस्र्ा the experience िामातय चैततयम् is
difficult because िामातय चैततयम् must go away. is
overshadowed by नवशेष चैततयम्. Like in the example the patch
sunlight overshadows the diffused sunlight. If you want to
experience the general sunlight you turn the mirror. Like that if
you want to experience िामातय चैततयम् now then the नवशेष
चैततयम् which overshadows the िामातय चैततयम् must go
away. How will नवशेष चैततयम् go away? Only when the
reflecting medium goes away. How will it go away? At this
moment let the mind resolve you are no more नवशेष चैततयम्, I
am िामातय चैततयम् without any boundaries. So thus चैततयम्
has िामातय-नवशेष-अंशद्वयम् caused by the presence and
absence of mind. नवशेष चैततयम् is called िोपान क चैततयम्
and िामातय चैततयम् is called निरुपान क चैततयम्. This is
what यम मा राज is trying to convey in this मतर. आिीिः दूरं
व्रजनत. आिीिः – sitting in the waking state; आिीिः refers to
being seated. That means in the र्ाग्रत् अवस्र्ा, दूरं व्रजनत –
आत्मा travels as it were far and wide. Because in the र्ाग्रत्
अवस्र्ा िामातय चैततयम् is non-dominant, नवशेष चैततयम् is
dominant and wherever the mind travels the नवशेष चैततयम् also
travels. Therefore दूरं व्रजनत – it travels far and wide. And
according to वेदातत when I am observing an object, suppose I
am seeing the wall in front of me. According to वेदातत the mind
travels and pervades the wall. This is the Vedantic theory of
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
perception. In the scientific theory of perception the light
travels into my mind through the sense organs.
िािानच्छिघटोदरनस्र्तमहादीपप्रभाभास्वरं ज्ञािं यस्य तु
चक्षुरानदकरणद्वारा बनहः स्पतदते ॥ श्रीदनक्षणामनू ता स्तोरम् ४ ॥
When the mind travels and pervades the wall then the reflected
Consciousness also travels and pervades. Therefore now the
wall is pervaded by what? चैततयम्. Which चैततयम्? नवशेष
चैततयम्. When the नवशेष चैततयम् pervades an object, the
object becomes known. When I am looking in this direction the
wall is there and the िामातय चैततयम् is also there but I cannot
know it. The wall is known only when the नवशेष चैततयम्
pervades that wall. So therefore when I look here the नवशेष
चैततयम् travels here, when I look there the नवशेष चैततयम्
travels, when I am watching star नवशेष चैततयम् travels to the
star. Therefore यम मा राज says दरू ं व्रजनत – very far it travels.
This is from which angle? नवशेष चैततय दृट्या र्ाग्रत्
अवस्र्ायाम् आत्मा दूरं व्रजनत. शयािः – when one goes to sleep
the mind resolves, the reflecting medium is no more functional
and therefore reflected Consciousness is also not available and
therefore there is no more localization of नवशेष चैततयम्. Then
what is left behind? Once नवशेष चैततयम् goes you will see
िामातय चैततयम् is there. Where is that िामातय चैततयम्?
िवा तः यानत – it is all-pervading. So शयािः means सुषुक्षप्त
अवस्र्ायाम्, आिीिः means र्ाग्रत् स्वप्न अवस्र्ायाम्, दूरं
व्रजनत इव – it travels as though. In सुषुक्षप्त अवस्र्ा it is all-
pervading general Consciousness. Thus आत्मा has got िामातय
रूपम्, नवशेष रूपम्, इक्षत रूप द्वयम्. What is the problem of

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
scientists who are trying to understand Consciousness? What
Consciousness are they studying all the time? The scientists are
always studying the नवशेष चैततयम् obtaining in the reflecting
medium of mind or brain and they are trying to find out the
relationship between Consciousness and the brain. They have
misunderstood that the Consciousness is the property of brain.
Whereas the वेदातत says brain doesn’t have property of
Consciousness, but the brain only entraps the all-pervading
Consciousness. Just as the electricity is entrapped by the bulb,
and you are able to appreciate the electricity in the bulb, but
outside the bulb you are not able to appreciate. Similarly body
is like bulb and mind is like filament and death is like fused
bulb. Electricity is not gone. If you have doubt you can touch
and check; instant realization and liberation also. so the
filament and bulb are gone and therefore the electricity is not
appreciated. Similarly here also all the Consciousness that is
studied by the scientists is only the नवशेष चैततयम् in the mind,
even the नवशेष चैततयम् they are not able to understand. They
think that it is the product of the brainy phenomenon. What
वेदातत says is brain has nothing to do with Consciousness like
the light is not generated by the hand, light is experienced in the
hand. Similarly Consciousness is experienced in the mind or the
brain. Therefore शयािः यानत िवा तः इक्षत सवु व्यापक. And this
आत्मा मदामदं देवं. देवम् means चैततयम्. िामातय-नवशेष- रूप
चैततयम् is the आत्मा). And this देवम्, चैततय स्वरूपः, िामातय-
नवशेष चैततय स्वरूपः आत्मा मदामदम् – is both with and
without pleasure. मदम् means pleasure, joy, happiness. And
अमदम् means without pleasure or happiness. आत्मा is both
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
मदम् and अमदम्. How? This also you have to carefully
understand. Mind alone experiences pleasure at a particular
time. Pleasure is a mental experience. That is why in sleep when
the mind is resolved you don’t experience any specific pleasure.
In fact pleasure is a thought modification.
तस्य नप्रयमेव नशरः । मोदो दनक्षणः पक्षः । प्रमोद उिरः पक्षः ॥
तैनिरीयोपनिषत् २-५-१ ॥
I am happy, happier, happiest. Therefore you know joy or
pleasure as a mental state, that is why when the mind is
fluctuating the pleasure also is fluctuating. And what is there in
the mind? नवशेष चैततयम् is there. And therefore when there is
pleasure in the mind it appears as though the pleasure belongs
to the नवशेष चैततयम् which is in the mind. Mind is there, in the
mind नवशेष चैततयम् is there, in the mind pleasure is also there.
Therefore the pleasure seems to belong to the नवशेष चैततयम्
obtaining in the mind. Therefore from the नवशेष चैततयम् angle
आत्मा seems to have pleasure. नवशेष चैततय दृट्या आत्मा
seems to be happy. But िामातय चैततय दृट्या, from the
standpoint of the िामातय चैततयम् आत्मा is without pleasure.
Because in the desk also िामातय चैततयम् is there. And here
does the desk have pleasure or pain? Desk doesn’t have any
pain. So for िामातय चैततयम् there is no pleasure. Whereas for
नवशेष चैततयम् there is seemingly pleasure because नवशेष
चैततयम् obtains in the mind. And therefore नवशेष चैततय
दृट्या आत्मा has pleasure. िामातय चैततय दृट्या आत्मा is
without pleasure. And when I say pleasure you have extend it
to pain also. नवशेष चैततय दृट्या आत्मा is as though endowed

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
with pain, िामातय चैततय दृट्या आत्मा is painless. And that is
why ignorant people take themselves as the नवशेष चैततयम्.
Therefore I say I am now happy and next moment I am now
unhappy. Why? नवशेष चैततय दृट्या. What does ज्ञानि do? The
ज्ञानि no more identifies with the नवशेष चैततयम्, he claims
himself to be िामातय चैततयम्. िामातय चैततय दृट्या ि
पुण्यम् ि पापम् ि िौख्यं ि दुःखम् ि मतरो ि तीर्ो ि वेदो ि
यज्ञ ॥ निवाा ण षट्कम् ४ ॥ ि मे द्वेषरािौ ि मे लोभमोहौ मदो िैव
मे िैव मात्िया भावः ॥ निवाा ण षट्कम् ३ ॥ How come one says I
am jealous, I am angry, etc., and another says I am not so. Just
shift in the I. what type of shift? नवशेष चैततयम् to िामातय
चैततयम्. That is liberation. In fact, वेदातत over. So मदामदं
देवम् – आत्मा is with or without pleasure, with or without
movement, with or without location. And since आत्मा has got
these two contradictory features because of नवशेष चैततयम् and
िामातय चैततयम् and therefore understanding आत्मा is
difficult. So you may feel that it is quibbling with words but for
the words to be meaningful the mind has to be trained and
subtle. That is why repeated listening is also required. When
you repeatedly listen it will become gradually clearer and
clearer. So therefore यम मा राज says कः ज्ञातुम् अहा नत – who
can understand this आत्मा? यम मा राज himself is pessimistic!
Because it is दूरं व्रजनत from one angle, and it is all-pervading
without travel from another angle. It is मदम् from one angle,
and अमदम् from another angle. It is localized from one angle,
and it is unlocalized from another angle. Since it seems to have
contradictory features कः ज्ञातुम् अहा नत. And यम मा राज wants
to enjoy some self-glorification. And therefore he says कः
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
मदतयः ज्ञातुम् अहा नत – who other than me can understand this
आत्मा? This is to indicate the difficulty in grasping the आत्मा.
आत्मनः दुनवा ज्ञेयत्वं दशा यनत. The essence of this मतर is that
आत्मा is not easy to comprehend. In िंस्कृत it is called
दुनवा ज्ञेयत्वम्. Now a question may come of if यम मा राज is sure
that nobody else other than him can understand आत्मा, why
should he teach? Isn’t it waste of time? And therefore
शङ्कराचाया adds a note. अस्मदादेरेव िक्ष्ू मबुद्धेः पनण्डतस्य
नवज्ञेयोऽयमात्मा. Nobody else other than people like यम मा राज
can understand. That means those who have got a subtle mind
only can understand. Here यम मा राज indicates a subtle minded
person. Therefore nobody other than िक्ष्ू मबुक्षद्ध can understand
this आत्मा. To put in positive language स्र्ल ू बुक्षदः, the gross
minded person can never understand this आत्मा. And
िनचकेति् happens to be िक्ष्ू मबुक्षद्ध and therefore he is taught.
Therefore मदतयः – who else other than people like me can
know this आत्मा. Continuing;
मतर 1-2-22
अशरीरँ शरीरे ष्विवस्र्ेष्ववनस्र्तम् ।
महाततं नवभुमात्मािं मत्वा ीरो ि शोचनत ॥ २२ ॥
In this मतर the all-pervasiveness of आत्मा is being
pointed out. In the previous मन्त्र दुनवा ज्ञेयत्वम् of आत्मा, how it
is difficult to know the आत्मा is pointed out. अशरीरम् – आत्मा
is without a body. आत्मा cannot be embodied. What is the
reason? If आत्मा has to be embodied it should exist within a
body. Only when it is surrounded by a body आत्मा can be
embodied. But आत्मा cannot have a body because it is all-
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
pervading. An all-pervading thing cannot be contained within a
body. Therefore you cannot say आत्मा is in the body. But
sometimes in the scriptures it is said आत्मा is in the body.
अङ्िुष्ठमारः पुरुषो मध्य आत्मनि नतष्ठनत ॥ कठोपनिषत् २-१-
१२ ॥
ू ािां र्हद्दे शेऽजा ुि नतष्ठनत ॥ िीता १८-६१ ॥
ईश्वरः िवा भत
तं दुदाशं िढ
ू मिुप्रनविं िुहानहतं ॥ कठोपनिषत् १-२-१२ ॥
It is said आत्मा is in the body. Now here you are saying आत्मा
cannot be in the body because it is all-pervading. Then how am
I to understand? Whenever the उपनिषत् says आत्मा is in the
body we should add the word ‘also’. आत्मा is in the body also.
we should not take ‘in the body only’. If you take आत्मा is ‘in
the body only’ then आत्मा must be smaller than the body, isn’t
it? Because the content should be always smaller than the
container. And therefore आत्मा cannot be embodied because it
is all-pervading. Therefore it is called अशरीरम् – शरीर रक्षहतम्.
At the same time शरीरे षु अिवस्र्ेषु अवनस्र्तम् – even though
it does not have a body it exists in all the bodies. Just as space
is not contained within a vessel, at the same time space is within
every vessel. You cannot say it is the content because if you say
it is the content it will mean that space is existing only within
the vessel. And therefore शरीरे षु अवनस्र्तम् – it is in every
body. What type of body? अिवस्र्ेषु – which is impermanent.
Thus the permanent, all-pervading Consciousness is present in
every impermanent physical body. Just like the relatively
permanent all-pervading space is present within every
impermanent pot. When the pot is broken, the space continues
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
to survive. Similarly when the body is destroyed the content
Consciousness or the in-dwelling Consciousness will continue
to exist. And therefore अिवस्र्ेषु शरीरे षु अवनस्र्तम्. What is
its dimension or size? महाततम् – it is big. And how big? नवभुं
महाततम् – it is infinitely big. Because the word big is a relative
word. आत्मा is infinitely big, it is the biggest, it is all-pervading.
And this आत्मा one should know. मत्वा – ज्ञात्वा, so every
seeker of freedom has to know this आत्मा. And how should the
आत्मा be known? You should not say I have an आत्मा within.
Suppose you say I have an आत्मा within then I means the body,
certainly not आत्मा. I have a dog means what? I am not dog. So
when you say I have an आत्मा you are distancing yourself from
आत्मा and you are claiming yourself to be the miserable dying
body. That knowledge is useless. Therefore never say I have an
आत्मा. How do you know the आत्मा? I am the आत्मा. such a
knowledge is called अपरोक्ष ज्ञािम्. So मत्वा is equal to and
create अपरोक्षतया ज्ञात्वा, अहमेव आत्मा इक्षत ज्ञात्वा. And once
I own up this fact that I am आत्मा all the previous features
described I should claim as my features. I am the
Consciousness, क्षनक्षवुकारः – free from six modifications,
instead of saying आत्मा is क्षनक्षवुकारः, I should say I am
क्षनक्षवुकारः. Instead of saying आत्मा is अकताा अभोक्ता, I should
say I am अकताा अभोक्ता. Instead of saying आत्मा is सवु -
अक्षधष्ठानम्, I should say I am सवु -अक्षधष्ठानम्. You should say
and mean it. And when this is done what is the benefit? What
will I get? ीरः – such an intelligent person, such a sharp
intellect person, a िक्ष्ू मबुक्षद्ध, ीरः means िा ि चतुिय
िम्पतिः अक्षधकारी, such a rare person
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
आियो वक्ता कुशलोऽस्य ल् ा आियो ज्ञाता ॥ कठोपनिषत् १-
२-७ ॥
ीरः ि शोचनत – thereafter he doesn’t know what is sorrow.
ितािि
ू ् अितािि
ू ् च ि अिुशोचनतत पनण्डताः ॥ िीता २-११ ॥
Because I am the िामातय चैततयम्, the नवशेष चैततयम् comes
and goes and travels but I don’t care about that because I am
the िामातय चैततयम्. नवशेष चैततयम् becomes my क्षवभक्षू त, my
glory but I am not attached to that. More in the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 1-2-22 Continuing;
अशरीरँ शरीरे ष्विवस्र्ेष्ववनस्र्तम् ।
महाततं नवभुमात्मािं मत्वा ीरो ि शोचनत ॥ २२ ॥
From the eighteenth मतर onwards यम मा राज has been
talking about आत्मस्वरूपम् which िनचकेति् wanted to know.
1) Firstly he pointed out आत्मा चैततयस्वरूपः, of the nature
of Consciousness.
2) Then आत्मा क्षनक्षवुकारस्वरूपः – it is free from all the six
forms of modifications.
3) Then आत्मा अकता ृ अभोक्तृ स्वरूपः – it is neither a doer
nor an enjoyer.
4) Then आत्मा सवु अक्षधष्ठान स्वरूपः – it is the inner
essence of every thing in the creation.
5) Then आत्मा दुनवा ज्ञेयस्वरूपम् – it is incomprehensible.
Because it has got a higher nature, the absolute nature and also
a lower nature, an inferior nature. सपू ाक्षधक क्षनरुपाक्षधक स्वरूप
द्वयम्.
6) And finally in twenty-second मतर we saw it is infinite,
महाततम्. आत्मा अनन्तस्वरूपः.
Upto this we have seen in the last class. Now in the following
two मतरs यम मा राज wants to emphasize certain िा िs
required for knowing this आत्मा. Because यम मा राज said that
it is not easily comprehensible for people, it is comprehensible
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
only for people like me he said. मदतयः ज्ञातुम् न अहा नत. From
this it is clear that knowing this आत्मा requires certain special
preparations and some of them यम मा राज wants to highlight in
मतरs twenty-three and twenty-four. Therefore this a diversion.
आत्मस्वरूपम् to ज्ञाििा िम् there is a diversion. We will read
the मन्त्र.
मतर 1-2-23
िायमात्मा प्रवचिेि लभ्यो ि मे या ि बहु िा श्रुतेि ।
यमेवषै वण
ृ ुते तेि लभ्यः तस्यैष आत्मा नववण
ृ ुते तिँ ू स्वाम् ॥ २३ ॥
This is a मतर occurring in मुण्डकोपनिषत् also. In this
मतर यम मा राज is highlighting the most important value – the
desire for Self-knowledge. Unless a person has a burning desire
for Self-knowledge a person cannot get this knowledge. If it is
only a casual academic interest then a person can study this but
it will not fully bless the person. If the knowledge has to fully
bless then the desire also must be intensely deep. In fact the
blessing is directly proportional to the sincerity we have. In the
शास्त्रs they give different examples. One example they give is
a person’s hair has caught fire. And such a person will look for
water and he is not going to bother about the type of water, he
will just jump into it. Not only that he is not going to see for
proper time to jump into it (राहु कालम्, यमिण्डम् etc.).
Somehow or the other he wants to jump into the water.
Similarly, we should feel the fire, the fire of िंिार.
आध्यानत्मक, आन भौनतक and आन दैनवक िंिार ताप should be
intensely recognized. Then to get out of ताप we will seek the
cool Ganges waters called ब्रह्मनवद्या which will quench the fire.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
Therefore intense नजज्ञािा, in िंस्कृत it is called तीव्र नजज्ञािा
or तीव्र मुमुक्षुत्वम्. And how can I recognize I have तीव्र
मुमुक्षुत्वम् or not? You can conduct an imaginary test. Imagine
God comes in front of you and says I will give you only one
boon what will you choose. If my mind tells I will choose
आत्मज्ञािम् that is burning desire. Otherwise आत्मज्ञािम् is
eternal, you can get it at any time. Water problem only comes
once in a while and that has to be immediately solved. So thus
when I look into my heart if I can say आत्मज्ञािम् alone is the
top priority, not that the other things are not there but they are
all subservient to that particular goal. This is called आत्मवरणम्
in this मतर. This is like स्वयंवर of the olden days. The princess
who has to marry will be given a garland in hand and there will
be a maid who will take and give a description of every prince.
After hearing all descriptions this princess will put the garland
on the neck of one prince. Similarly we all have got the माला,
we are all princess and then there are so many goals given in
the शास्त्र. Now we have to choose one. And if choose आत्मा,
ब्रह्मि् or मोि it is called आत्मवरणम्. And here यम मा राज
says if this intense desire is there all the other िा िs will
fructify. If this intense desire is not there all the other िा िs
will not fructify. Therefore all the other िा िs are validated,
are made meaningful only if it is with that sincerity. And for
this purpose यम मा राज enumerates a few िा िs. And he says
these िा िs are very important, very powerful alright, but all
these िा िs enumerated will fructify only if it is backed by
मुमुक्षुत्वम्. Like you put many zeroes in the cheque book, but
all those zeroes are meaningful only if there is one on the left
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
hand side. Or in a train you can have twenty-five compartments
only engine is missing. No use. Similarly आत्मवरणम् is
important. This is the essence of this मन्त्र. Now look at the
secondary िा िs enumerated.
1) प्रवचिम्. प्रवचिम् means वेद अध्ययिम्. Normally it is
used in the sense of discourse. But शङ्कराचाया takes it as
(अिेकवेदस्वीकरणेि) वेदस्वीकरणम् – learning to chant the
वेदs. This is considered to be a very important िा ि capable
of uplifting a person spiritually. In बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत्
तमेतं वेदािुवचिेि ब्राह्मणा नवनवनदषनतत ॥ बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत्
४-४-२२ ॥
Among all the िा िs वेद-अध्ययिम् is considered to be the
first one. In तैनिरीयोपनिषत्
स्वाध्यायप्रवचिे च ॥ तैनिरीयोपनिषत् १-९-१ ॥
स्वाध्याय means Vedic chanting. It can be understood as
chanting any Vedic scripture. This is the first िा िम्.
2) मे ा – getting the text by-heart, memorizing,
ग्रतर्ार्ा ारणशक्षतः, capacity to remember the text as well as
the meaning. Why remembrance is important? Because the
whole teaching is a thought build up. In one class I cannot teach
the entire वेदातत therefore I build up upto a particular height
and in the next class I am supposed to start from where I left
and build the next stage. That means when the student comes to
the second class the student is supposed to remember what has
already gone by. In the tradition the summary of the last class
is given by the student, that is the rigorous method. While
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
talking about the second boon also it was mentioned not only
िनचकेति् listened to the entire ritual but he repeated the whole
thing. And this capacity to receive and retain is called
मे ाशक्षतः, very important for a student. And that is why in
सक्षमधादानम् there are several prayers for मे ाशक्षतः.
मे ावी भय
ू ािम् । तेजस्वी भय
ू ािम् । वचा स्वी भय
ू ािम् ।
श्रद्धां मे ां यशः प्रज्ञां नवद्यां बुनद्धं नश्रयं बलम् । आयुष्यं तेज आरोग्यं
देनह मे हव्यवाहि ॥
मनय मे ां मनय प्रजां मय्यनग्िस्तेजो द ातु । मनय मे ां मनय प्रजां
मयीति इनतियं द ातु । मनय मे ां मनय प्रजां मनय ियू ो भ्राजो द ातु
॥
The मे ाशक्षत is repeated because any student of any science
require memory power. Therefore that is the second िा िम्.
3) श्रवणम् – repeatedly listening to the teaching for a length
of time from a competent आचाया . Systematically taught for a
length of time. Consistent and systematic study of the scriptures
for a length of time under the guidance of a competent आचाया .
This is the third िा िम्.
Now यम मा राज says all these three िा िs are
wonderful but all these three िा िs will be fruitful only if they
are backed by desire for knowledge. What is the difference
अध्ययिम् and श्रवणम्? In अध्ययिम् one learns only to chant
without knowing the meaning, whereas in श्रवणम् one learns the
meaning. One is श्द-ग्रहणम्, the other is अर्ा -ग्रहणम्.
Grasping the words is अध्ययिम्, grasping the meaning is
श्रवणम्. So if तीव्र नजज्ञािा is not there all these are worthless.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
And therefore what is important? Develop तीव्र नजज्ञािा. This
is the essence. अयम् आत्मा प्रवचिेि न लभ्यः – this आत्मा
cannot be attained by mere वेद अध्ययिम् if one doesn’t have
intense desire for मोि. ि मे या लभ्यः – this आत्मा cannot be
attained by any amount of memorizing also if one doesn’t have
the sincere yearning for this आत्मा. ि बहु िा श्रुतेि – even by
repeated listening for decades even centuries one cannot get
आत्मा if this listening is not backed by the sincere for this
knowledge. That means a casual approach will not be enough.
Then to whom all these three िा िs will bless? यमेवषै वण ृ ुते
तेि लभ्यः – this आत्मा can be attained by only those who chose
the आत्मा as the ultimate goal of life. Their value for मा अर्ा
काम or their value for प्रेयस् must be subservient to their value
for श्रेयस्.
श्रेयि प्रेयि मिुष्यमे तः तौ िम्परीत्य नवनविनक्त ीरः ॥
कठोपनिषत् १-२-२ ॥
तस्य एष आत्मा स्वां तिं ू नववण ृ ुते – to such a seeker who is
sincere enough to choose the आत्मा as the goal आत्मा reveals
its स्वरूपम्. That means he gains the आत्मज्ञािम् effortlessly.
Now this मतर has got another interpretation also if you go
strictly grammatically. Instead of saying the one who chooses
the आत्मा will get आत्मा, the other way round it is said whoever
is chosen by the आत्मा that person will get the आत्मा. If we put
the word God in place of आत्मा, it will be clear. There are two
observations. Some people will say that I will get God if I
choose God. Some other people say I will get God if God
chooses me. Therefore the basic question is whether should I

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
choose God or should God choose me. Or to put in another
language whether self-effort is more important or ईश्वर अिुग्रह
is more important? In वेदातत we always emphasize self-effort.
We don’t say that God chooses a person and gives मोक्ष. Why?
There are many reasons. The first and main reason is if we say
that God chooses a person it will certainly mean that God is
partial. Why should God chose someone and give मोक्ष and
keep the others suffering in िंिार? God is supposed to be
impartial, God is supposed to be compassionate. Therefore if
you say God has to choose then for a thinking person God
becomes partial. And if God is partial how can I worship a
partial God? Therefore we emphasize self-effort. Then there is
a second reason also. We do admit that God’s grace is
important. In fact as important as self-effort. Not that Vedantins
are arrogant, not that Vedantins do not have भक्षत. In fact they
start the class with िहिाववतु । िह िौ भुिक्तु । which is
seeking the grace of the Lord. If Lord’s grace is also important
why is it not emphasized, only effort is emphasized. The reason
is according to a Vedantin God’s grace is always there. Like the
solar energy the sun need not give the energy at a particular
time. In fact sun is made up of energy. In fact it is not sun has
energy, but sun is energy. Therefore what is required is we have
to tap the solar energy which is all the time flowing and those
who tap the solar energy will get the benefit and others do not
get the benefit, as far the solar energy is concerned it is always
there. Similarly God’s grace is flowing all the time.
शङ्कराचाया tells that in his िौतदया लहरी

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
दृशा िाघीयस्या दरदनलतिीलोत्पलरुचा दवीयांिं दीिं स्िपय
कृपया मामनप नशवे । अिेिायं तयो भवनत ि च ते हानिररयता
विे वा हम्ये वा िमकरनिपातो नहमकरः ॥ िौतदया लहरी ५७॥
O Mother! You are like a cool moonlight. He doesn’t want to
say sunlight because very hot. And you don’t have any
partiality whether it is a palatial house or is it a slum colony the
moonlight will send the radiance everywhere uniformly
similarly you are going to bless me. And since grace part is
already there, we have to emphasize our effort. And when we
emphasize our effort we don’t discredit the grace what we mean
is grace is already there. And therefore शङ्कराचाया instead of
saying God chooses, he interprets as the seeker has to choose
God. And that is called तीव्र नजज्ञािा or तीव्र मुमुक्षुत्वम्.
मतर 1-2-24
िानवरतो दुिररतातिाशाततो िािमानहतः ।
ै माप्िुयात् ॥ २४ ॥
िाशाततमाििो वाऽनप प्रज्ञािेिि
Here some more िा िs are highlighted.
1) One िा ि is a moral lifestyle. An immoral student
cannot get benefit from the Vedantic study. He may take up the
वेदातत for his PhD thesis and he may get a doctorate and he
may get a job as a professor, that is all possible, but if वेदातत
has to bless with मोक्ष that student must be morally a sound
person. Therefore दुिररतम् must have ended. दुिररतम् means
immoral ways of life one should give up. That is number one
धमु ः.

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
2) Then the next value emphasized is दमः or इनतिय-निग्रहः
or sense-control which we have seen in िा ि चतुिय िम्पनि
topic.
3) Then the third िा ि highlighted is a focused mind. Not
a mind without direction but a mind which has got clear idea,
व्यविायानत्मका बुनद्धः, which was called in तत्त्वबोध as
नचििमा ािम्. In fact the अिाङ्ि योि of पतञ्र्क्षल is meant
only to develop these values. यम and नियम will take care of a
moral life, आिि-प्राणायाम-प्रत्याहार will help me develop
control over the external organs. ारण-ध्याि-िमान will help
me gain control over the internal organs. So thus िमा ािम्.
4) Then the fourth one is शमः or mind control, thought
discipline, मनो क्षनग्रहः.
So thus शम, दम, िमा ािम् and धमु these are the four values
emphasized here. And यम मा राज says if these four values are
there then a person can never get knowledge and even if he gets
knowledge that knowledge will be only an academic
knowledge, verbal knowledge, it will not bless him. This is the
essence of this मतर. दुिररतात् अनवरतः – the one who has not
withdrawn from immorality that means the one who is immoral,
one who doesn’t have values. Then अशाततः – the one who
doesn’t have sense control, without दम. अिमानहतः – the one
who doesn’t have a focused attention, clarity with regard to the
goal. अशाततमाििः – the one who doesn’t have mind control.
All these four people without morality, without sense control,
without focus and without mind control, all these four people
एिं ि आप्िुयात् – will never get आत्मा, will never get मोि. In
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
fact they cannot get even knowledge, really speaking, but even
if knowledge comes it will be purely superficial knowledge. It
will be in head but it will not sink into the heart. It will be an
information, it will not bring about a transformation. And
therefore he will be an educated संसारर, Vedantically educated
संसारर. And therefore यम मा राज wants if your study should be
meaningful better make sure that you have all these values like
शम, दम, िमा ािम् and धमु . In short, िा िचतुियिम्पनिः.
So thus in these two मतरs twenty-three and twenty-four
िा िचतुियिम्पनि is highlighted whereas in the previous
मन्त्र मुमुक्षुत्वम् is highlighted. Now यम मा राज concludes this
particular discourse in the twenty-fifth मन्त्र which we will
read.
मतर 1-2-25
यस्य ब्रह्म च क्षरं च उभे भवत ओदिः ।
मत्ृ युयास्योपिेचिं क इत्र्ा वेद यर िः ॥ २५ ॥
Having taken a small diversion into the topic of िा िs
यम मा राज now comes back to the old topic of आत्मस्वरूपम्.
In this मतर he brings about another very important feature of
आत्मा. This is a very important, significant मतर from which
we can take many corollaries, but a very symbolic मतर. First
we shall see the meaning then we shall see how the मतर brings
about that meaning. The feature that यम मा राज wants to bring
in here is आत्मा िनृ ि-नस्र्नत-लय-कारणम् – आत्मा is the basis,
the very locus from which the world arises, in which the world
rests, and into which the world will resolves back. This is the
idea. And in this यम मा राज focuses on the last part आत्मा लय
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
कारणम्, आत्मा swallows the whole creation at the time of
प्रलयम्. This is the essence. Here यम मा राज wants to show that
time is also an integral part of the creation. This was not
understood before by scientists, in classical Physics they taught
time and space are separate entities, they exist eternally like a
carpet and the creation will appear and disappear, time and
space will be there like this hall or the carpet. But only the
modern Physics, especially the Theory of Relativity etc., have
found that you can never separate time and space from the
creation. Time is like a property of the creation, it is an integral
part of the creation. That means you can talk about the creation
only along with time and when creation is absent, you cannot
even talk about time. From this important idea we get many
corollaries. One important corollary we shall see whose details
we shall study in the माण्डूक्योपनिषत्. Since we look upon
time as an integral part of creation, whenever we talk about the
origination of creation we are talking about the origination of
time also. Why? Because time is an integral part of the creation.
Therefore when somebody asks a question when did the
creation come, it amounts to asking when did the time come.
And to the question when the time came you can never give a
logical answer because I cannot say that time came at seven
o’clock. Why? Because if I have to talk about time coming at
seven o’clock it means even before time came there was time.
So to talk about the beginning of the time we require another
time and so on and so forth. You will either get into infinite
regress problem or you will get into self-dependence logical
problem. Therefore you can never answer the question when
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
time came into being. The very word when is meaningless
before time. You think over this concept, it is a very important
one. That is why we say the universe is अनिवा चिीयम्, logically
inexplicable. You cannot say when time came, you cannot say
where space exists or you cannot say how causality came into
being. All these three are logical absurdity. Thus we can derive
all these corollaries from this मन्त्र. यम मा राज says that the
creation along with time came from आत्मा and the creation
along with time is swallowed by आत्मा. This idea is conveyed
symbolically by comparing the world as food (ओदिः) of
आत्मा. So at the time of प्रलयम् आत्मा swallows the whole
world as food. The time principle is like a side dish for आत्मा.
The creation is like the main dish and time is like a side dish.
आत्मा swallows the creation along with time which includes
space also. Now once you say आत्मा swallows time and space,
it is very clear that आत्मा is beyond time and space. That means
आत्मा is not locatable in time and space. Therefore never ask
the question where आत्मा is. If I have to answer that question
आत्मा has to be located in space. I can never answer that
question because आत्मा is not located in space on the other
hand space itself is within the आत्मा. Similarly don’t ask when
did the आत्मा arise. To talk about that आत्मा has to be located
in time and that is never possible as time itself is within the
आत्मा. Therefore all the conventional questions regarding
आत्मा cannot be answered. That is why those scientists who are
studying the nature of Consciousness they are beginning to say
that Consciousness is a mystery. It doesn’t fall within the
physical laws, chemical laws, it doesn’t have physical
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
parameters. In fact Consciousness cannot be located at all. For
all those modern scientific discoveries we have got the
fundamental basis in this particular मन्त्र. Thus आत्मा is र्गत्-
िनृ ि-नस्र्नत-लय-कारणम् and along with that देशकाल-िनृ ि-
नस्र्नत-लय-कारणम्. That is what is said in श्रीदनक्षणामनू ता
स्तोरम् also.
बीजस्याततररवाङ्कुरो जिनददं प्राङ्निनवा कल्पं पुिः
मायाकनल्पतदेशकालकलिावैनच्यनचरीकृतम् ॥ श्रीदनक्षणामनू ता
स्तोरम् २ ॥
Time, space and creation arose out of this आत्मा. Last one more
point before coming to this मन्त्र. यम मा राज wants to say
creation is food and time is the side dish. But instead of using
the word creation यम मा राज says all the ब्राह्मणs and the
क्षनरयs are the food for आत्मा. That is why this is a mystic
मन्त्र. Instead of saying the world is the food for आत्मा
यम मा राज says the ब्राह्मणs and the क्षनरयs are the food for
आत्मा. Why because ब्राह्मणs and क्षनरयs are supposed to be the
most prominent people in the creation according to शास्त्र. Why
ब्राह्मणs and क्षनरयs are important? ब्राह्मणs are defined as
though people who teach and follow ानमा क way of life. And
मा is very important for the survival of the creation. So thus
for the survival of the world मा is important, मा is protected
by ब्राह्मणs by teaching and living, demonstration. There fore
ब्राह्मण is important. क्षनरयs are also important because they are
supposed to provide the infrastructure for a ानमा क way of
living by maintaining law and order system. पररराणाय िा ि ू ां
नविाशाय च दुष्कृताम्. By protecting ानमा क people and by

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली २
destroying the अ ानमा क people a क्षनरय also maintains मा .
Thus क्षनरय by punishment and ब्राह्मण by teaching, these two
people protect मा which protects the creation and therefore
they two are important. And therefore यम मा राज says the
whole creation along with ब्राह्मण and क्षनरय is food for आत्मा.
ब्रह्म च क्षरं च. ब्रह्म means ब्राह्मणाः, क्षरम् means क्षनरयाः. And
these two represents what? The entire creation. उभे – both of
them, भवतः ओदिः – they become the food, यस्य – आत्मनः,
for this आत्मा during प्रलयम्. And what about time principle?
मत्ृ युः यस्य उपिेचिम्. उपिेचिम् means a side dish. For आत्मा
to swallow the creation the side dish is the time principle. That
is why Lord क्षशव is called कालकालः. He is the यम for यम
himself. कालकालः means the one who is the swallower of the
कालः, यम मा राज himself. In fact every ज्ञानि is कालकालः.
कः इत्र्ा वेद – which seeker will know the आत्मा in this
manner. How many seekers know this आत्मा in this manner,
indicating there are only very few who can do in this manner.
यर िः – who can say where the आत्मा is located. This is not a
question, it has an answer inside. Who can say where the आत्मा
is located means nobody can talk about the location of आत्मा.
That means आत्मा is never located, everything is located in
आत्मा. So with this आत्मस्वरूप description is over for the time
being. And with this the second section is also over.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
प्रर्माध्याये ततृ ीया वल्ली
We have completed the first two sections or वल्लीs of
the first chapter of कठोपनिषत्. In the first वल्ली the उपनिषत्
presented the conditions for the teaching of आत्मनवद्या
indirectly providing the qualifications of the student, the
teacher as well as the glorify of this knowledge. Through the
third boon, which was offered to िनचकेति् by यम मा राज,
आत्मनवद्या was asked for by िनचकेति्. This came in the first
section twentieth मतर and again it was repeated in the second
section fourteenth मतर also. And as a reply to this question the
entire कठोपनिषत् proceeds. The actual teaching begins from
the eighteenth मतर of the second section. And from the
eighteenth मतर upto the end of the second section, i.e., the
twenty-fifth मतर आत्मनवद्या presented in a condensed manner.
And we saw some of the important features of आत्मा –
चैततयस्वरूपम्, नििा ुणम् (property-less), निनवा कार (free from
modification), अकताा -अभोक्ता (without कमा and कमा फलम्),
िवा -अन ष्ठािम् (it is the very essence of the entire creation)
and finally िनृ ि-नस्र्नत-लय-कारणम् (it is the substratum from
which the whole creation arises, exists and resolves).
यम मा राज said not only आत्मा is the substratum from which
the creation comes even time and space themselves arise, rest
and resolve in आत्मा; through which यम मा राज conveyed a
very important and significant idea – आत्मा is not in time and
space, on the other hand space and time are in आत्मा. And

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therefore आत्मा is unconditioned by, not confined or
circumscribed by देशकाल, it is देशकाल अतीतम्. Therefore
only we should never ask the question where is आत्मा. the very
question is wrong because if I have to answer the question I will
have to locate the आत्मा in space. Because when you ask the
question where is the आत्मा you are asking for the spatial
location of आत्मा. and since आत्मा doesn’t have spatial
location the question is unanswerable not because we don’t
know the answer but because the question is wrong. Similarly
when did the आत्मा come also is out of question because the
very question when indicates time-wise location. And since
आत्मा is unlocatable in time the very question when with regard
to आत्मा is irrelevant. And therefore we cannot answer the
question. Thus
कालदेशावन भ्यां निमा ुक्तं नित्यमुक्तं नििमशतिहस्रेण
निभाा स्यमािम् ॥ िारायणीयम् १-१॥
This is the description of गुरुवायरू प्पन् (कृष्ण). By naming him
गुरुवायरू प्पन् we are locating the Lord in गुरुवायरू ; our
foolishness. िारायणभट्टनतरर in his िारायणीयम् says that we
cannot locate you O Lord in गुरुवायरू because all the fourteen
लोक are located in that आत्मा. And what do you mean by the
word आत्मा? Don’t forget that! आत्मा means first person
singular. All the features of आत्मा indicate My features,
therefore I have to train myself assimilating these features by
claiming I am निनवा कार, अकताा -अभोक्ता, िवा -र्गत्-
अन ष्ठािम्. This is called आत्मनवद्या. Thus by
comprehensively presenting the nature of आत्मा यम मा राज has

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
briefly answered the third question of िनचकेति् and with that
the second वल्ली is over. Now we are ready to enter the third
and final वल्ली of the first chapter. In this following section also
यम मा राज is going to focus on आत्मनवद्या only. And if any
student claims to have gained आत्मनवद्या from the second वल्ली
itself then यम मा राज will say you need not listen to this third
वल्ली. But since the teaching is too subtle यम मा राज feels पुनः
पुनः अभ्यासः is required.
आवनृ िः अिकृदुपदेशात् ॥ ब्रह्मिर
ू म् ४-१-१॥
Only when you listen to the teaching repeatedly, as the saying
goes when the ant runs on a rock repeatedly even the rock
begins to show the mark. Similarly our rocky head will have to
listen to this repeatedly then slowly it will sink in. Therefore the
third वल्ली also is going to talk about आत्मनवद्या. But here
यम मा राज is going to focus on the qualifications required,
आत्मनवद्या िा नाक्षन. So आत्मनवद्या िा िs are going to be
highlighted, then आत्मनवद्या itself will be talked about and of
course आत्मनवद्या फलम्. These are the three topics क्षवद्या
साधनम्, क्षवद्या, क्षवद्या फलम् or ज्ञाि साधनम्, ज्ञािम्, ज्ञाि फलम्
discussed in this वल्ली. With this background we will enter the
first मन्त्र.
मतर 1-3-01
ऋतं नपबततौ िुकृतस्य लोके िुहां प्रनविौ परमे परा े ।
छायातपौ ब्रह्मनवदो वदनतत पञ्चाग्ियो ये च नरणानचकेताः ॥ १ ॥
The उपनिषत् or the teacher यम मा राज begins this
section by introducing जीवात्म-परमात्मलक्षण. This is a

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
significant मतर, an important मतर which has been analyzed in
ब्रह्मिर
ू in िुहाप्रनविान करणम्. Of these two जीवात्मा and
परमात्मा, परमात्मा has been talked about in the second section
itself, we have to remember the features of परमात्मा. As the
very word परम आत्मा shows it is the all-pervading infinite
Consciousness, देशकालातीत, देशकाल अनवक्षच्छन्न चैततयम्.
आत्मा means चैततयम्, परम means infinite. And since परमात्मा
is all-pervading Consciousness it can be only one, because
infinite can be only one. Therefore it is एकः. एकः means non-
dual. It is नित्यः – eternal, िवा ितः – all-pervading or most
comparable to space. Just as the space is all-pervading and
therefore only one, and not only that being all-pervading it
cannot undergo any change, it is निनवा कार, changeless
principle. Therefore only it cannot even travel from one place
to another place, because the all-pervading one cannot travel.
Travel is always from a place where it is to a place where it is
not. How can the all-pervading space travel. And therefore it is
अचलः. We have to remember the िीता श्लोकs here.
नित्यः िवा ितः स्र्ाणुरचलोऽयं ििातिः ॥ िीता २-२४ ॥
अव्यक्तोऽयमनचतत्योऽयमनवकायोऽयमुच्यते ॥ िीता २-२५ ॥
In fact if you do a co-relative study you will benefit a lot. That
is how it should be. Parallel ideas will have to be strung
together. This all-pervading Consciousness will be everywhere
including my own body and mind also. So िुहां प्रनविः. िुहा
means the mind, बुक्षद्ध, अन्तःकरणम्. So परमात्मा pervades
everywhere including the mind of the individual. Then the
scriptures point out that our mind has got a unique capacity. No
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
doubt it is made up of inert matter only. According to शास्त्र
mind is a subtle form of matter. People generally define mind
as a flow of thoughts. We don’t say mind is a flow of thoughts
though many people say so, but strictly speaking We should not
say mind is a flow of thoughts but we should say that the mind
has the flow of thoughts. Mind is a material, it is a substance
like a lake or a sea, in the substance called mind thoughts arise
and dissolve. And even when the thoughts are absent the mind
continues to exist as a material substance. In sleep thoughts are
not there but mind is there thoughtlessly. How do you know
that? Next day it comes to function. From that it is very clear
that mind is a subtle substance made up of
ू ःै कृतं ॥ तववबो ः ३-२ ॥
अपञ्चीकृतपञ्चमहाभत
five subtle elements. Being subtle matter the mind is inert only
like any object in the creation. But even though mind is an inert
substance it has got a unique capacity to reflect or manifest or
capture the all-pervading Consciousness. Thus the mind can
become a sentient entity which this book cannot. Even though
this book is matter and Consciousness pervades this book also
but this book cannot capture Consciousness and become
sentient. It doesn’t have the capacity but mind being endowed
with a peculiar configuration like a filament in the bulb
becomes bright when the electricity passes through it. But pass
the electricity through water. Water doesn’t become bright.
Why? Water doesn’t have the capacity to become bright by
borrowing electricity. Whereas the electricity flows through a
filament the filament has become white hot and it can shed

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
light. Exactly like that the mind captures Consciousness. This
captured Consciousness, manifest Consciousness, this reflected
Consciousness technically called चैततय-प्रनतनबम्ब or नचदाभाि.
Just as the filament becomes bright because of borrowed
electricity, the mind also becomes sentient. आत्मा is also
sentient, mind is also sentient, but the difference is आत्मा is
intrinsically sentient but mind is not naturally sentient, it is
sentient because of borrowed blessing. Now the mind is चेतन
अन्तःकरणम् because of नचदाभाि or चैततय-प्रनतनबम्ब. What is
the nature of this नचदाभाि or reflected Consciousness? So we
have seen this in तत्त्वबोध. नचदाभाि or चैततय-प्रनतनबम्ब or
reflected Consciousness is called as RC. The all-pervading or
the original Consciousness is called OC. The mind which is the
reflecting medium is called RM. Now we will analyze the
features of RC.
1) The first feature is that it is located. While the OC does
not have any location, RC has to be necessarily located in the
reflecting medium. Your reflected face will be only in the
mirror. If you take the mirror from left side to right side your
reflected image will be in the right side. Therefore the first
feature is it is finite, पररनच्छतिः.
2) The second feature is it is subject to change, िनवकारः.
How is it िनवकारः? As even the RM changes or moves, the
reflection also moves accordingly.
3) This RC will be अिेकः. It is not one; as many reflecting
media are there so many reflections will be there. Even though
the original Sun is one if you have got ten mirrors there will be
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
ू ु ः. And therefore नचदाभाि will be as many
ten प्रक्षतक्षबम्ब सय
living beings are there. Therefore पररनच्छतिः, िनवकारः and
अिेकः.
4) This नचदाभाि is subject to travel form one place to
another, गमन-आगमनवान्. And since this नचदाभाि is
associated with a mind and the mind is associated with a body,
this नचदाभाि is capable of doing action. Therefore नचदाभाि
becomes a कताा . Because ज्ञािेनतियs, कमेनतियs, स्र्ल ू शरीरम्
are there. So भोग आयतनम्, भोग साधनाक्षन are there, therefore
नचदाभाि becomes a कताा . And once it becomes a कताा , the
natural consequence is भोक्ता also. And therefore now this
नचदाभाि which is functioning through this body doing
varieties of action, reaping varieties of results after sometime
gets out of this body along with mind. So the mind plus
नचदाभाि quits this physical body and travels.
ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभत ू ः ििातिः ।
मिःषष्ठािीनतियानण प्रकृनतस्र्ानि कषा नत ॥ िीता १५-७ ॥
The नचदाभाि along with mind goes out of this body. Then the
physical body becomes a dead body. So the definition of a dead
body is that body in which there is no नचदाभाि. The क्षचत,् the
all-pervading Consciousness is there just as in the mic and the
desk क्षचत् is pervading, in the dead body also क्षचत् is pervading
but it is not alive because of the lack of नचदाभाि. Therefore
differentiation of living being and a dead matter is through the
Consciousness available. In a living being there are two
Consciousnesses, i.e., OC plus RC, whereas in a dead matter
there is only one Consciousness, i.e., the OC only. Once RC
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
goes away the body becomes a dead body. And the scriptures
say this RC is called जीवात्मा and OC is called परमात्मा. The
mind is endowed with both OC and RC. Suppose the mind
perishes the RC part will go, but the OC will survive. So every
individual has got OC, the परमात्मा and RC, the जीवात्मा. And
even though both are चैतन्यम् – one is original and the other
reflected their features are diagonally opposite, because OC is
all-pervading and RC is aal-pervading (तनमळ् aal means
person). So one is पररनच्छतिः and another is अपररनच्छतिः, one
is एकः and another is अिेकः, one is क्षनक्षवुकारः and another is
िनवकारः, one is क्षनत्यः and another is अक्षनत्यः, one is अकताा
and another is कताा , one is अभोक्ता and another is भोक्ता, one
is अचलः and another is चलः. So therefore they are diagonally
opposite in their features and this जीवात्मा and परमात्मा are
there in every individual. Now look at this मन्त्र. छायातपौ
जीवात्मपरमात्मानौ भवतः – so there is the जीवात्मा and
परमात्मा which are like छाया and आतपः, which are diagonally
opposite. छाया means shadow or shade and आतपः means light
or Sun. Just as light and shade are opposed to each other,
similarly जीवात्मा and परमात्मा are diagonally opposite. We
have to supply इव, छायातपौ इव – comparable to light and
shade. By using this word light and shadow the teacher is
implying another significant idea that shadow cannot exist
without light. And therefore shadow has got dependent
existence, नमथ्या, while the light has independent existence,
ित्यम्. So such छाया आतपौ इव जीवात्मपरमात्मानौ भवतः.
You have to supply these two are residents of this individual.
Where do they reside? लोके – अनस्मञ्शरीरे – in this physical
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
body. And where in this physical body? िुहां प्रनविौ. िुहा
means mind, अन्तःकरणे, प्रनविौ means lodged, residence. And
within the mind also where? परमे परा े – in the sacred space
which is comparable to sanctum sanctorum. If the body is the
temple, mind is the sanctum, and within the गभु गहृ of the mind
the आत्माs – जीवात्मा and परमात्मा are present. That sacred
space is given a title परा े – परा े परस्य ब्रह्मणोऽ ं स्र्ािम्. पर
means परमात्मा, अ ा ः means space. Therefore परा ा means
परमात्मा वासस्र्ािम्. ब्रह्मस्र्ािम्, the sacred abode of
परमात्मा. This स्र्ािम् is sacred not because of जीवात्मा. It is
like in a temple devotees are also there and also the deity.
Temple is sacred because of भगवान्. Like that this mind is
sacred because of परमात्मा, the deity. But in the same place the
devotee is also there. What are they doing there? ऋतं नपबततौ.
ऋतम् means कमा फलम् in this context. These are all contextual
meanings, not a regular dictionary meaning. The regular
meaning of ऋतम् is truth or reality. नपबततौ means consuming.
So जीवात्मा is busy consuming the कमा फलम्. How do you
know? Sometimes he laughs, sometimes he cries, sometimes he
cryingly laughs. That means consuming the कमा फलम्. So when
the पुण्य कमा फलम् is consumed he smiles, when the पाप
कमा फलम् is consumed he cries. Whose कमा फलम्? िुकृतस्य –
स्वयङ्कृतस्य – the कमा फलम् of one’s own कमा . It is not
transferable. One has to reap what one sows. Therefore you
cannot say father’s कमा is exhausted by or experienced by
children. Father’s कमा will be experienced by experienced the
father. If you say when the father is enjoying the son also
enjoys. So therefore the पुण्यम् of the father is certainly coming
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
to the son. Simpleton! If son is enjoying it is not because of
father’s कमा , but the son has got the पुण्यम् to be the son of
successful father. Son is able to enjoy only because he has the
पुण्य कमा to be in the family being the child of such a father.
Therefore िुकृतस्य, this should be connected with ऋतम्.
िुकृतस्य ऋतं नपबततौ – जीवात्मपरमात्मा are residing
consuming the कमा फलम्. Here some technical problems are
there. In मुण्डकोपनिषत् we have discussed this idea through
the tree example.
द्वा िुपणाा ियुजा िखाया िमािम् वक्ष
ृ म् पररषस्वजाते ॥
मुण्डकोपनिषत् ३-१-१ ॥
जीवात्मा and परमात्मा are the two birds in the individual. And
there it was said जीवात्मा consumes the कमा फलम् but परमात्मा
remains as the witness, does not enjoy कमा फलम्.
तयोरतयः नपप्पलम् स्वाद्ववयिश्नतितयो अनभचाकशीनत ॥
मुण्डकोपनिषत् ३-१-१ ॥
There it was said out of the two only one consumes the
कमा फलम्. Whereas in this मतर the उपनिषत् says ऋतं नपबततौ
grammatically it is dual number, which means both जीवात्मा
and परमात्मा are the consumers of the कमा फलम्. Isn’t it a
contradiction? By using the dual number consumers instead of
using the singular number consumer which is applicable to
जीवात्मा only and परमात्मा should not be taken as consumer at
all, doesn’t it contradicting? We are not worried but
शङ्कराचाया is worried about the dual number. And he says
पाति ृ म्बत ात् नपवततौ इत्युच्यते एते च्छनरतयायेि. It is not that
परमात्मा consumes, because परमात्मा is closely associated
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
with जीवात्मा and since परमात्मा’s blessing is involved it looks
as though परमात्मा is also experiencing. Therefore we should
say one is directly experiencing, the other is as though
experiencing. So these two जीवात्मा and परमात्मा are there in
the mind of everyone. And now he says this जीवात्मा and
परमात्मा are talked about both in कमा काण्ड as well as
ज्ञािकाण्ड of the वेदs. Both कनमा s and ज्ञानिs talk about these
two. ब्रह्मनवदः वदनतत – ज्ञानिs, who focus on the ज्ञािकाण्ड of
the वेदs, talk about these two but the difference is in the
ज्ञािकाण्ड the hero is परमात्मा. So we all are talking more
about अकताा , अभोक्ता, िवा ितः, नित्यः, शुद्धः, परमात्मा whereas
in कमा काण्ड the focus is on the miserable जीवात्मा who is a
कताा , therefore bothered about प्रार् and therefore bothered
about पररहार. So पञ्चाग्ियः ये च नरणानचकेताः. These are two
technical words referring to the ritualistic people, कमा काक्षण्डs.
They are given here two titles पञ्चाग्ियः. This has been already
discussed in the second section where we saw several meanings
for the word अनग्ि and one of the meaning is the special fire
which is kindled specifically for specific ritual. By specific
means it has to be kindled in a particular time, at a particular
place, in a particular manner, with particular मन्त्रs. In fact
when a person becomes a िहृ स्र् he has to maintain different
fires. So when he wants to do certain यागs he has to use a
particular fire. Whereas if it is a household ritual like child birth
or उपनयनम्, then it is another type of fire. Whereas if it is
क्षपतक
ृ मु another type of fire. And even the होमकुण्ड will vary.
All these specific fires are given names. Five specific fires
specifically kindled and maintained for specific ritual
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
mentioned in the कमा काण्ड are िाहा पत्य आहविीय दनक्षणा
िभ्य and आविथ्य. Therefore all the कनमा s are known as
पञ्चाग्ियः. The final meaning is a ritualist. Similarly the word
नरणानचकेताः also refers to a ritualist who performs a specific
ritual called िानचकेत अक्षग्न ritual three times. This was talked
about in the first chapter second section मन्त्र twelve to
nineteen. So these ritualistic people also talk about जीवात्मा and
परमात्मा. So thus in the first मन्त्र the heroes have been
introduced. Now from the second मन्त्र onwards more about
these two आत्माs will be talked about which we will see in the
next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 1-3-01 Continuing;
ऋतं नपबततौ िुकृतस्य लोके िुहां प्रनविौ परमे परा े ।
छायातपौ ब्रह्मनवदो वदनतत पञ्चाग्ियो ये च नरणानचकेताः ॥ १ ॥
In this section यम मा राज is going to deal with three
topics – आत्मज्ञािम्, आत्मज्ञाि साधनम् and आत्मज्ञाि फलम्,
Self-knowledge, the preparatory disciplines for Self-knowledge
and the benefit of Self-knowledge. Of these three topics
यम मा राज is going to focus on the preparatory disciplines
more in this section. Before he begins with that topic he gives
an introduction in the first two मन्त्रs of which we have seen the
first मन्त्र in which जीवात्मा and परमात्मा have been
introduced. जीवात्मा has been defined as नचदाभाि, the
reflected Consciousness (RC) in the mind. The mind along with
the sense organs as well as the physical body is called जीवात्मा.
The all-pervading or the original Consciousness (OC) is called
परमात्मा. The all-pervading Consciousness happens to be
within the mic also. Thus जीवात्मा and परमात्मा are there
within one and the same individual. And the common factor to
both of them is चेतन तत्त्वम्, sentient. Just as the reflected Sun
is also bright and brilliant, the original Sun is also bright and
brilliant similarly क्षचत् and नचदाभाि, नबम्ब चैतन्यम् and
प्रनतनबम्ब चैतन्यम् both are sentient, that is the common feature.
And there are so many uncommon features which are more in
fact and therefore only the teacher used the word छाया आतपौ.
The main differences being जीवात्मा is finite, कताा , भोक्ता;
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
whereas परमात्मा is infinite, अकताा , अभोक्ता. Since जीवात्मा is
finite, कताा , भोक्ता it is capable of traveling from one body to
another, it is capable of having destinations in life, it is capable
of working for the fulfilment of those destinations. All these are
possible for that जीवात्मा. And then यम मा राज said this
जीवात्मा and परमात्मा are talked about both in कमा काण्ड as
well as ज्ञािकाण्ड of the वेदs. The only difference is in in
कमा काण्ड the emphasis is more on the जीवात्मा aspect because
कमा काण्ड is full of कमा . Whereas in ज्ञािकाण्ड the focus is on
the परमात्मा. Both कमा काक्षण्डs and ज्ञािकाक्षण्डs talk about the
जीवात्मा and परमात्मा. Upto this we saw in the last class. Now
we shall see the next मन्त्र.
मतर 1-3-02
यः िेतुरीजािािामक्षरं ब्रह्म यत् परम् ।
अभयं नततीषा तां पारं िानचकेतँ शकेमनह ॥ २ ॥
The जीवात्मा introduced in the previous मतर is a कताा
as well as a भोक्ता which can be expressed in the human birth.
When the जीवात्मा takes an animal birth the कता त्ृ वम् is
overpowered because of animal शरीरम्. And therefore animals
are also जीवात्माs only, animals also have कता त्ृ वम् and
भोक्तृत्वम् but the animals cannot express itself in animals body.
That is why animal birth is a tragedy. It is a जीवात्मा, therefore
कता त्ृ वम् is potentially there just as in the plants िक्ष्ू मशरीरम्
also पञ्च इक्षन्द्रयाक्षण, five sense organs are there, but in a plant
body all the five sense organs cannot express; provision is not
there in the plant body. Only one इक्षन्द्रयम् works that is त्वग्
इक्षन्द्रयम्, touch. Although the िक्ष्ू मशरीरम् has got all the
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seventeen organs but to express all of them a human physical
body is required. In other physical bodies all the seventeen
organs are not absent, the seventeen organs cannot express.
Extending the same principle in animal life कता त्ृ वम् cannot
express. Animals do not have the freewill. Animals cannot fight
for animal’s right. Who fights for animal’s right? Human being
will fight for human’s right, and human being alone fights for
animal’s rights also. Animals have got the भोक्तृत्वम् because of
which they suffer, but unfortunately कता त्ृ वम् is not absent but
कता त्ृ वम् cannot be expressed in animal’s body. For that animal,
for that जीवात्मा, i.e., the िक्ष्ू मशरीरम् and नचदाभाि which is
behind the animal’s body will have to wait for the पुण्यम्.
Which पुण्यम्? Not प्रार् पुण्यम् because it doesn’t have प्रार्
पुण्यम्, and it can work for आिानम पुण्यम् because in this र्न्म
it cannot acquire. The animal has to wait for the िनञ्चत पुण्यम्
to fructify and then that िक्ष्ू मशरीरम् because of some old
िनञ्चत पुण्यम् has to take a human body and then कता त्ृ वम् is
not born but कता त्ृ वम् can express itself. So how lucky we are
that we have got a human body, therefore as a human जीवात्मा
we have कता त्ृ वम् and भोक्तृत्वम्. And that is why only human
beings attend कठोपनिषत् class. And therefore जीवात्मा can
have पुरुषार्ा s (goals, destinations, ambitions, objectives) when
the जीवात्मा obtains within the human body. Normally the
पुरुषार्ा s are divided into four – मा -अर्ा -काम-मोक्ष but in
कठोपनिषत् these four पुरुषार्ा s are reduced into two as we saw
in the previous section.

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
श्रेयि प्रेयि मिुष्यमेतः तौ िम्परीत्य नवनविनक्त ीरः । श्रेयो नह
ीरोऽनभ प्रेयिो वण
ृ ीते प्रे यो मतदो योिक्षेमाद्वण
ृ ीते ॥ कठोपनिषत्
१-२-२ ॥
श्रेयि् means spiritual goal, प्रेयि् means materialistic goal.
These two goals the human जीवात्माs can set can plan. And if
these two goals are possible there must be corresponding paths
also; if the िाध्यम्s differ, the िा िs also differ, if the end
differs, the means also differs. That also we saw in the previous
section if the goal is spiritual goal the मािा is ज्ञािमािा , if the
goal is material goal the मािा is कमा मािा . So thus the जीवात्मा
has got election now. What is the goal of your life, the ultimate
priority of your life? You can have so many secondary goals
वेदातत is not interested in discussing that, but through the entire
life what do you want to accomplice? What is the goal? And
that goal can be spiritual goal accomplishable through ज्ञािमािा
or it can be material goal accomplishable through कमा मािा .
That is the idea given in this मन्त्र. शकेमनह – so we the
जीवात्माs, that is the subject of the sentence we have to supply
जीवात्मानः वयम्, can accomplice these two possible goals.
They are material goal (that we have to supply) which is
accomplishable through the मािा called िानचकेतँ शकेमनह –
िानचकेत ritual. This िानचकेत ritual is only a symbolic
representation standing for all the कमा s. Therefore शकेमनह –
we can accomplice material goals through िानचकेत ritual. This
िानचकेत ritual is given a title यः ईजािािां िेतुः. यः – this
िानचकेत ritual, िेतुः – मािा , path, for ईजािािाम् – ritualistic
people. ईजाि means यर्मान, कमु काक्षण्डनः, कमु अनुष्ठाक्षयनः,
कमु ठः. So thus for the ritualistic people िानचकेत type of ritual
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
is the path and through such कमा मािा they can accomplice
materialistic goals. By materialistic goals what do you mean?
Three basic things.
1) Better instruments, better body. That is one type of
materialistic goal. So healthy body, healthy sense organs, etc.,
is one type of materialistic goal.
2) The second type of materialistic goal is sense objects
which you want to contact and enjoy, श्द-स्पशा -रूप-रि-ित .
In fact all the entertainment gadgets for which you are working
all come under sense objects.
3) The third materialistic objective that we can have is a
healthy environment to enjoy them. If you are in a country
where regularly bomb explosions go on here and there. Now
you have got a wonderful house and wonderful sense objects
but when and where the bomb explodes you are not sure. In
such a case how can you enjoy life because there is a constant
threat. Therefore the environment should be one of peace and
harmony.
They are called उपाक्षध, क्षवषयाः, and लोक. These are the three
basic material goals of human being – better health, better sense
objects and better environment. All our desires can be brought
within these three. When you say my son has gone to America
with an intention to return but now he says won’t return. Why
because there is better environment, working condition,
everything works, roads are there and one need not search
whether there is a road or not, electricity is on, water is there,
and your merit is appreciated. Why come to India and suffer?
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
So what do they want? लोक. So thus ईजािािां िेतुः कमा . And
there are some other people, some other जीवात्माs among us
who are interested in अक्षरम् ब्रह्म – for whom the infinite ब्रह्मि्
is the means. Here ब्रह्मि् should be understood as ब्रह्मज्ञािम्.
So for whom अक्षरम् ब्रह्म मािा is the means. For accomplishing
which goal? Not for improving the body. They are not
interested in improving the body because anyway it is going to
go away. They are interested in something else अभयं पारं
नततीषा ताम् – the other shore of िंिार, mortality. What type of
immortality? अभयम् – which is the only security, ultimate
security, fearlessness. In body security is not there, in money
there is no security, in any उपाक्षध, क्षवषय, and लोक there is no
security, in fact the higher you go the more insecure you are.
Therefore they have understood the entire materialistic field is
insecure. The only security is ब्रह्मि् or भिवाि.् And therefore
अभयं पारं नततीषा ताम् – those who want to reach the ever secure
shore of िंिार the means is अक्षरम् ब्रह्म – ब्रह्मज्ञािम् otherwise
called ज्ञािमािा is the means. And of these two means शकेमनह
– we can resort to any one. Do you want finite or infinite goal?
You can choose any one. Most of the people unfortunately after
long thinking choose प्रेयि् only, finite goals only. That is why
in the previous section it was said
प्रेयः मतदो योिक्षेमाद्वण
ृ ीते ॥ कठोपनिषत् १-२-२ ॥
The dull-witted, the unintelligent, indiscriminate person
chooses प्रेयि् but िनचकेति् like people choose the श्रेयि् as
the destination. Continuing;

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
मतर 1-3-03
आत्मािँ रनर्तं नवनद्ध शरीरँ रर्मेव तु ।
बुनद्धं तु िारनर्ं नवनद्ध मिः प्रग्रहमेव च ॥ ३ ॥
With the previous two मतरs the introductory part is
over. And in the introduction जीवात्मा, the traveler has been
introduced. And two forms of destinations also have been
introduced – श्रेयि् and प्रेयि.् And two paths also have been
introduced – ज्ञािमािा and कमा मािा . Traveler is ready,
destinations are ready and paths are also set, here afterwards we
have to talk about the journey. And the उपनिषत् doesn’t want
to talk about the materialistic journey, i.e., the कमा काण्ड of the
वेदs. Now that we have come to the Upanishadic portion the
उपनिषत् assumes that we are all interested in the spiritual
journey. And therefore the उपनिषत् wants to talk about the
ideal condition for the success of spiritual journey, how to make
the spiritual journey successful. What is the most important
general rule? The general rule is for any journey to be
successful, the instrument or the vehicle used for the journey
must be made journey worthy. If you want to take your car for
a long journey you know what all things to be checked up. That
is why all the drivers or pilots have got a list of criteria to be
checked before they start the journey. If that is true of any
journey in this life’s journey also before you start the journey
you decide and check whether the vehicle is in fit condition.
Now the next question is what is the vehicle that we use for the
life’s journey. The उपनिषत् gives a beautiful analogy known
as रर्कल्पिा. It is a very famous example, one of the brilliants

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
examples of the उपनिषत्s called रर्कल्पिा, chariot analogy.
In those days they were using chariot for the journey. Here
भिवाि् has given us a beautiful vehicle for travel. This analogy
is discussed from मतर number three upto मतर number nine,
an important portion. First we shall see the gist of this analogy
so that it will be easy for us to understand the मन्त्र. Now in the
chariot what are the factors or parts involved for the journey?
1) The chariot (रर्ः),
2) The horses (अश्वाः) to draw the chariot,
3) The reins to control the horses,
4) The charioteer who controls the horses and the chariot
through the reins,
5) The master who is the traveler, who is seated behind. He
doesn’t drive.
6) The roads (मािाा ः) through which the horses and the
chariot travel.
These are the six factors involved in the regular journey and the
उपनिषत् says for the life’s journey also these six factors are
involved. What are those six?
1) In the place of chariot here we have the physical body
because it moves from place to place.
2) In the place of the horses we have the sense organs
which draw the body from one place to another. Just as horses
draw the chariot the sense organs draw the body. Why all your
bodies are in this hall? Your ears want to hear the talk.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
Therefore it is the ears which have decided to bring your body
here. If there is an important function to attend you would have
gone there. If you are hungry you go to the place of eating. And
therefore the sense organs are comparable to the horses,
therefore this body is a five horsed chariot.
3) Then the horses are controlled through the reins,
similarly the sense organs are regulated through the mind.
Therefore the mind is compared to the reins. So the mind
decides which sense organ should operate. That is why I have
told you often even if you have decided to attend the class and
you have come to the class and you are seated here, your body
is here and your hearing power is wonderful but still if your
mind is slightly disturbed or worried about son or daughter or
spouse at this moment if the mind refuses to be behind your ears
then today’s talk is gone. Even though intellectually you are
strong, intellectually you are sharp, in spite of your intellectual
competence if you are emotionally disturbed today’s class is
gone. Mind has to be behind. बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् beautifully
says
अतयरमिा अभवू ं िादशा मतयरमिा अभवू ं िाश्रौषनमनत मििा
ह्येव पश्यनत मििा शण
ृ ोनत ॥ बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् १-५-३ ॥
That is why sometimes people complain also that say I was
looking at you with a smile but you never returned my smile.
Why? Because you were looking at that person but your mind
was not behind the eyes. And therefore what controls the sense
organs? The mind. Therefore mind is comparable to the reins.

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
4) Then the reins themselves are controlled by, handled by
the driver, बुनद्ध, the intellect. The intellect can control the mind,
the emotion. That is why knowledge becomes very important.
All our emotional problems can be solved by an enlightened
intellect. That is why कृष्ण said,
ितािि
ू ् अितािि
ू ् च ि अिुशोचनतत पनण्डताः ॥ िीता २-११ ॥
All sorrows can be cured by wisdom. Attachment problems can
be solved by wisdom. Hatred problems can be solved by
wisdom. That is why नवज्ञािमय कोश is more powerful than
मिोमय कोश. The only thing is sometimes we feel that in spite
of powerful नवज्ञािमय कोश the मिोमय कोश’s emotions
seems to overpower, it is because we have not tackled the
emotional problems at the root level itself. If the नवज्ञािमय
कोश handles the mind in the beginning it is easy, but if the
emotions have been nourished, नवज्ञािमय कोश is not utilized
then the मिोमय कोश appears to be too powerful than the
नवज्ञािमय कोश. I am using the word appears to be. नवज्ञािमय
कोश is still stronger only thing is it requires longer effort. Like
breaking any habits. If you are used to a particular habit for a
short time you can break it but if you have nourished your habit
for long time breaking it is not impossible but it requires longer
effort. Therefore intellect is the driver, mind is the reins, sense
organs are the horses and the body is the chariot.
5) Now the next is यजमािः, the traveler, the जीवात्मा of
the first मन्त्र, the छाया, the नचदाभाि.
6) Then the roads through which the chariot travels. The
उपनिषत् says since there are five horses there are five lanes as
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
it were for the five horses to travel. Those lanes are five-fold
sense objects, श्द-स्पशा -रूप-रि-ित . The ears travel
through the sound road, that means the music, lecture, etc., the
eyes travel through the रूप road, varieties of pictures and forms
and colors; the nose travel through the smell road (by travel it
means nose is in the field of smell). Thus पञ्च इक्षन्द्रयाक्षण पञ्च
क्षवषयाः. इक्षन्द्रयाक्षण are the horses and क्षवषयाः are the मागाु ः.
Now the vehicle is ready. With this vehicle we have to
make the journey. And the उपनिषत् says don’t be in a hurry to
start the journey. If you want the journey to be successful make
sure that the vehicle is journey worthy. If you want to attend a
music function greater the musician greater the preliminary
preparation. So if that musician is very particular about the very
fine adjustments, if one hour concert requires so much care then
a rare life இப்பிறவி தப்பினால் எப்பிறவி வாய் க்கும ா
(इनप्पऱनव तनप्पऩाल् ऐनप्पऱनव वाय्क्कुमो) I don’t know what will
be my next birth. How much importance I should give for fine
tuning my equipments. Therefore what are the preparatory
disciplines? All the four factors should be healthy.
a) The first factor is the body which must be healthy. A
spiritual seeker can never afford to ignore the health of the
body. वेदातत warns us against the pampering of the body, but
वेदातत equally warns us against the negligence of the health.
Pampering of the body is one extreme, negligence of the body
is another extreme. Proper care of the body is the right attitude.
Therefore whatever is required for your health do it like
exercises, etc. You have to keep your body fit. That is why in

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
our tradition अिाङ्ि योि has been given a prominent place.
शङ्कराचाया writes often in his भाष्यम् even a िततयानि has to
practice अिाङ्ि योि to keep his body fit. Otherwise often you
are sick means how are you going to study the scriptures?
Therefore the first condition is health. That is why in our
शानततपाठ also
ॐ भिं कणेनभः शण ृ ुयाम देवाः । भिं पश्येमाक्षनभया जराः ॥
नस्र्रै रङ्िैस्तुिुवांिस्तिनू भः ।
नस्र्र अङ्ि means steady, fit, healthy limbs O Lord may I have.
Not only for मोि, but even for material pleasures I require a
good health. Therefore preparation number one is keep your
body fit and do whatever is required for that.
b) The second condition is keep the sense organs fit, the
horses must be healthy, the chariot must be fit. Even to do
वेदातत श्रवणम् you require good ears. If you have to read the
text eyes are required.
c) The third condition is the mind should be healthy, you
should be emotionally resilient. We won’t say emotions should
not be there but it should be balanced. I should not be carried
away by the emotions. I should not allow the emotions to cloud
my thinking, which I cannot afford. Because thinking is the
most important part of decision making and if my thinking must
be sound I should not allow my emotions to highjack my
discriminative power which means they must be managed by
me. And a healthy mind is one which has got sufficient
immunity against violent emotions. Sufficient immunity to
withstand violent emotions and recover from emotions. A
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
healthy body is one which can withstand the diseases even if
the diseases come the body itself should have the immunity
power to fight and recover. If my mind doesn’t have the
immunity power then I have got emotional AIDS. An
emotionally unsound person is one who doesn’t have the power
against depression, sorrow, anxiety, etc. It is not that we should
not have anxiety but when anxiety comes we are able to fight
that anxiety, manage, recover and carry on with my life. We
should not be moody all the time. दयानन्द स्वाक्षमक्षर् says those
who are controlled by moods are called मढ ू ाः. We all have got
moods, nothing wrong but we should be able to manage,
recover and carry on. That is called a sound mind. So emotional
well-being is the next condition.
d) The next important condition is Intellectual health. I
should be intellectually sound and sharp and intellect knows
only one language that is reasoning. Therefore I should be
sound in reasoning because I am interested in knowledge. And
knowledge can be dropped into the intellect only through the
funnel of reasoning. You cannot afford to get knowledge
without reasoning. You can have blind faith and suppress
reasoning. That is why many people try to be भक्तs of God
without understanding about God. And as long as life moves
they will be भक्तs but when things go violently wrong they
begin to have question if भगवान् is compassionate why doesn’t
He help. Is there a भगवान् at all? The faith is shaken. So
therefore you can never suppress the intellect. You might have
the most powerful fate but at the crucial time intellect will
question. Therefore the best way is to answer your question.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
That is why we say वेदातत is not a matter for faith but it is a
matter for knowledge, understanding. Your reasoning intellect
must be convinced, which means intellect must be sound, the
soundness of the intellect is the capacity to logically thinking.
That is why in those days they also taught those शास्त्रs which
will train in proper thinking. तका शास्त्र is exclusively
developed for developing the faculty of logical thinking. So
therefore capacity of the intellect to think is the health of the
intellect. And the second capacity of the intellect is language
analysis called मीमांिा. Because our knowledge is received and
conveyed through language. I am trying to give my language
only through the medium of language. And therefore I must
have the capacity to present my knowledge n an appropriate
unambiguous language. And not only the teacher should be able
to convert his knowledge into words but the student also should
have the skill to convert the words into knowledge. Because
here language, the teaching and the words are the only vehicle
of communication. Unfortunately there is no medium of
transferring the knowledge other than language, words whether
it is written or spoken. Whatever you study is through the
language. And therefore language skill is another important
intellectual skill which is called an analytical intellect, मीमांिा
शास्त्र. And above all grammar. Because language goes along
with grammar. Thus three sciences they develop for tuning the
intellect. The science of language analysis called मीमांिा
शास्त्रम्, science of grammar called व्याकरण शास्त्रम् and
science of logical thinking called तका शास्त्रम्. These were
given as the fundamental tools just as our children learn the
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
computer language. Before you plan to communicate anything
through the computer you should know the computer language.
So this is called the soundness of the intellect. Therefore the
first preparation is body, sense organs, mind and intellect. More
in the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
In the first two मतरs of this section यम मा राज
introduced जीवात्मा and परमात्मा and pointed out that the
जीवात्मा can choose the destination of his or her life. The
destination can be either श्रेयस्, the spiritual destination or
प्रेयस्, the materialistic goals. And the attainments of these
destinations can be compared to a journey for which the Lord
has provided the र्ीव with a competent vehicle and with the
help of this vehicle only the र्ीव has to reach the destination.
And in िंस्कृत this vehicle is called रर् and therefore this
portion is called रर्कल्पना portion, chariot imagery. In the last
class we were seeing about this vehicle. The body is
comparable to the chariot, the sense organs are comparable to
the horses, the mind is comparable to the reins controlling the
horses, intellect is comparable to the driver who knows the
destination as well as the road leading to the destination, and
ultimately the जीवात्मा, the master, the यर्मान who is sitting
behind. And this chariot has to move on the roads. Here the
roads are the five-fold sense objects, since the sense organs are
five the sense objects are also five. And from this imagery we
come to know that the success of the journey depends upon the
condition of the vehicle. And therefore we have to take care of
the following factors.
a) The first factor to be taken care of is the vehicle, the
body should be healthy, fit.

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b) Not only the body should be healthy the sense organs
also must be healthy and obedient.
c) Not only the sense organs must be healthy and obedient
they must be under the control of healthy mind and therefore
emotional sanity, phycological balance is also a necessary
condition. It is thought once upon a time that the success was
directly proportional to the IQ. There afterwards they found that
mere intelligence is not enough if a person is emotionally
irritable or disturbable however great knowledgeable a person
may be if the emotion mind is disturbed all the knowledge
becomes useless. Therefore they started saying that not only IQ
but also EQ is equally important, the capacity to remain
emotionally balanced in crisis. Because only when one is
emotionally balanced the knowledge and the information is
available for tapping. Otherwise it is like water in the water tank
and the pipe is blocked, you don’t get any benefit. Later they
wanted to find out which one is important between IQ and EQ,
and they found out that EQ is more important than even IQ
because only when emotional balance is there, whatever बुक्षद्ध is
there that can be used. And therefore emotional health becomes
important. And for that all the values mentioned in the शास्त्र
becomes important. The उपनिषत्s do not dwell upon the values
very much because they take for granted that a person who
comes to Upanishadic classes has already gone through the
values. Only कृष्ण knows our secret and therefore in the
भिवद्गीता he talked about आसुरी सम्पत् दैवी सम्पत् साक्षत्तक
रार्स तामस etc., because emotional balance is directly
dependent on values. शमाक्षद षट्क िम्पनिः depends upon धमु ,
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
where धमु is there शम is, where धमु is lacking there the peace
of mind is impossible. Without धमु a person may get lot of
money, perhaps without धमु only you can get much more. You
can earn more by match fixing than by match winning. So
therefore by violating धमु money can be easily got वेदातत
doesn’t question. By violating धमु EQ, the balance of mind is
impossible. And therefore mental health should be connected to
values.
d) And not only mental health is important IQ, intellectual
sharpness is also important because here it is a matter for
knowledge. The whole मोि depends upon knowledge and
where knowledge comes doubts are inevitable. And if you want
to eliminate doubts intellect knows only one language and that
is the language of reasoning. Therefore without developing and
building up the reasoning capacity, analyzing capacity,
communicating capacity a person cannot get the knowledge and
therefore intellectual ability also becomes important. So thus
the health of the body, sense organs, mind and intellect all
becomes extremely important. To put in िंस्कृत the health of
the body is called आरोग्यम्, health of the sense organs is called
दमः, health of the mind is called शमः, health of the intellect is
called नववेकः., मेधाशक्षतः. So all these are required.
e) Then comes the final and equally important value. Not
only each organ must be healthy all these organs should
function in coordination. If there is no आर्ु वम्, coordination,
harmonization, integration nothing can work. Like a music
concert there may be many members in the concert all of them

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
top in their field, but still if the concert should shine they all
must coordinate. So आर्ु वम् is important.
मिस्येकम् वचस्येकम् कमा ण्येकम् महात्मिाम् । मिस्यतयत्
वचस्यतयत् कमा ण्यतयत् दुरात्मिाम् ॥ िुभानषतानि ॥
A महात्मा is one whose organs are in alignment. If the intellect
decides to come to this class, the mind also obeys and remains
in this hall. And not only the mind must cooperate the sense
organs also must be here and later when I am speaking the
words also must be in coordination with my thoughts.
वाङ् मे मिनि प्रनतनष्ठता मिो मे वानच प्रनतनष्ठतम् ।
O Lord let my words be in coordination with my thoughts and
let my thoughts be in coordination with my words. Thus all the
seventeen organs of the िक्ष्ू मशरीरम् must work as a team.
Nowadays in the management the maximum importance they
give is for team work. Even if the best officers and workers are
there if they don’t work as a team they don’t succeed. Even in
sports each player might be wonderful, but if they are interested
in their personal achievements then the team don’t succeed. So
therefore we have got seventeen components, members and if
they do not work in harmony nothing can be achieved. Even to
read a newspaper the eyes, the mind and the intellect must be in
coordination. Therefore the fifth value is आर्ु वम्.
आरोग्यम्, दमः, शमः, नववेकः and आर्ु वम्. All these five
values are disciplines are conveyed through this रर्कल्पना.
With this background we will see the meaning of the words
which should be easier and as I said in the last class this

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
रर्कल्पना is from मतर number three to nine. Now coming to
the third मतर the meaning is as follows. आत्मािँ रनर्तं नवनद्ध.
आत्मा means the जीवात्मा, the traveler, the क्षचदाभास चैतन्यम्,
the reflected Consciousness along with the reflecting medium.
परमात्मा cannot be the traveler. Why? Poor परमात्मा cannot go
for a picnic or pilgrimage. Therefore जीवात्मा is called here
आत्मा. रनर्िं नवनद्ध – is the traveler, the यर्मान seated on the
chariot. शरीरँ रर्मेव तु – शरीरम्, the physical body is the रर्म्,
the vehicle. In िंस्कृत शरीरम् means that which is fast
decaying and deteriorating. You cannot eternally postpone.
यावत्स्वस्र्नमदं शरीरमरुजं यावज्जरा दूरतो
यावच्चेनतियशनक्तरप्रनतहता यावत्क्षयो िायुषः । आत्मश्रेयनि
तावदेव नवदुषा काया ः प्रयत्िो महातितदीिे भविे तु कूपखििं
प्रत्युद्यमः कीदृशः ॥ िरुडपुराणम् २-१३-२५ ॥
Before this body disintegrates travel. When all the organs are
functioning you do the journey. And not like that car in which
everything except horn makes sound. Because if you say
everything makes sound then it means at least horn is working.
Therefore everything except horn makes sound means it is unfit
vehicle. Before the vehicle becomes unfit better you make the
journey. That is why the word शरीरम् is used. रर्मेव तु is the
chariot. बुनद्धं तु िारनर्ं नवनद्ध – the intellect is the driver, and
therefore the driver should be informed. It is very difficult for
the intellect to know the path by itself because it is so confusing.
Therefore the best way is to have a guide map in the hand. That
guide map is called शास्त्रम्. So don’t be egoistic. Don’t think
that I will myself find out my way. The life may be wasted if

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you are going to experiment. Therefore don’t waste your life,
take the guidance of गुरु and शास्त्र. दयानन्द स्वाक्षमक्षर्
beautifully says intelligence is seeking help at the appropriate
time. Without any ego problem I should be able to seek help
just as अजा ुि recognized that he could not solve the problem
therefore without feeling any inferiority complex he said
नशष्यस्तेऽहं शान मां त्वां प्रपतिम् ॥ िीता २-७ ॥
Therefore intellect must be informed and it should make use of
गुरु-शास्त्र-उपदेश. Therefore बुनद्धं तु िारनर्ं नवनद्ध. And another
thing is they will always write avoid drunken driving. Even an
informed driver cannot reach the destination if the driver is
drunk. Similarly even the most informed intellect cannot reach
the destination if it is drunk with delusion.
पीत्वा मोहमयीं प्रमादमनदरामुतमिभत
ू ं जित् ॥ वैराग्यशतकम्
४३ ॥
भता हृ रर says whole humanity is drunk. What is the drink?
भ्रानततः, delusion, confusion. Whether money gives security,
status gives security, position gives security or wisdom gives
security he doesn’t know.
भजिोनवतदम् भजिोनवतदम् िोनवतदं भजमढ
ू मते ॥
भजिोनवतदम् १ ॥
Therefore मोह drink should not enter the intellect. So it should
have नववेक and it should have the required information also.
ज्ञािम् and नववेक. मिः प्रग्रहमेव च – mind is the प्रग्रह – the
reins, which is behind the sense organs. And therefore only if
the mind is properly in balance then alone it can control the
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
sense organs, if the mind is unruly then the sense organs cannot
be mastered. Then what are the further parts?
मतर 1-3-04
इनतियानण हयािाहु नवा षयाँ स्तेषु िोचराि् ।
आत्मेनतियमिोयुक्तं भोक्तेत्याहु मा िीनषणः ॥ ४ ॥
इनतियानण हयान् आहु ः. हयः means अश्वः, horse. So
इनतियानण हयान् आहु ः means sense organs are comparable to
the horses. The horses drag the chariot, similarly the sense
organs drag the body from one place to another for hearing
something, seeing something, smelling something, tasting
something or touching something. Where do the sense organs
move? क्षवषयाँ स्तेषु िोचराि्. नवषयाः means sense objects. In
the शास्त्र they have got a technical way of presenting. When
we talk about sense object we enumerate various things in the
creation. We may say television is a sense object. But वेदातत
will not say so. You are not interested in television box but in
the television you are seeing the pictures, therefore when you
say television is the sense object what exactly means is the
रूपम् or the forms which are presented by the television is the
sense object. And then it also gives you audio. Therefore audio
and video these are the two things you are interested and
therefore शास्त्र will not say television it will say शबद and रूप
are the sense object. And if you say the delicious dish is a sense
object शास्त्र will not say the dish is not a sense object, but रि,
the taste is the sense object. Your sense organs are not interested
in the object but in the श्द, स्पशा , रूप, रि, ित part.
Therefore there are only five sense objects. The whole world is
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
divided only into five sense objects – श्द, स्पशा , रूप, रि,
ित . And the five sense organs are moving in that field.
Therefore क्षवषयान् शबदाक्षदन् तेषु िोचराि्. िोचर means मािा .
So they are the five-fold path or field of movement. And this
रनर्, the जीवात्मा, the traveler is called भोक्ता. So भोक्ता इक्षत
आहु ः – this रनर्, this traveler is called भोक्ता. Because the very
purpose of travel is to experience. a person becomes a कताा only
for the sake of becoming a भोक्ता. Nobody is interested in कमा
per se everybody is interested in कमा फलम्. And therefore the
traveler is a कताा so that he can become a भोक्ता. Either he wants
to enjoy the प्रेयो भोिः or श्रेयस् भोिः. Either he wants the
अक्षनत्य सुखम् or he is after क्षनत्य सुखम्. For these two only all
are working for. And this भोक्ता consists of आत्म-इनतिय-मिः-
युक्तम् प्रनतनबम्ब चैततयम्. The प्रनतनबम्ब चैततयम् otherwise
called the क्षचदाभास चैततयम् otherwise called the reflected
Consciousness is called भोक्ता endowed with three things आत्म
– the physical body, इनतिय – the sense organs, मिः – the mind.
युक्तम् means endowed with. Then we have to supply प्रनतनबम्ब
चैततयम्. The full meaning is the reflected Consciousness along
with the body, the sense organs and the mind is called the भोक्ता
जीवात्मा who is now becoming a कताा so that he can later
become a भोक्ता. That is why in the sleep state even though the
जीवात्मा is very much there, the जीवात्मा cannot enjoy
anything because the media of enjoyment are not available. The
body is taking rest, the sense organs are taking rest and the mind
is taking rest and therefore जीवात्मा cannot do any भोि. In the
waking and dream the body, the sense organs and the mind
come and therefore जीवात्मा becomes a भोक्ता. In सुषुक्षप्त it
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
cannot become a भोक्ता because of the lack of these three
instruments of transaction. इक्षत – so this रर्कल्पिा, chariot
imagery is presented by मिीनषणः आहु ः – thus the wise people
talk about the journey of life. And the उपनिषत् itself says ‘thus
the wise people say’. That means even the उपनिषत् is not the
beginning of वेदातत. Because the Upanishadic ऋनषs
themselves say we have not invented this, this has been talked
about by our िुरु ऋनष who in turn have heard it from their िुरु.
इनत शुश्रुम पवू ेषाम् ये िस्तद्वयाचचनक्षरे ॥ केिोपनिषत् ३ ॥
That is why we say this परम्परा of teaching is अिानद परम्परा,
it doesn’t have a date of origination at all. Continuing;
मतर 1-3-05
यस्त्वनवज्ञािवातभवत्ययुक्तेि मििा िदा ।
तस्येनतियाण्यवश्यानि दुिाश्वा इव िारर्ेः ॥ ५ ॥
Now the question is the vehicle that you possess is your
friend or your enemy. The शास्त्र says it all depends. What
answer would you give if you are asked that the car you possess
is your friend or your enemy. You should not give the answer
you should say it all depends. Depends on the condition of the
vehicle. If the vehicle is in fit condition it is your greatest friend
it can take you anywhere you want. Whereas if the vehicle is
unfit or not under your control then the very same vehicle
becomes your enemy, it takes to a different destination, to the
िुरु of कठोपनिषत्, i.e., यम मा राज. So if there are people
suffering in emergency ward is all because of failure of breaks.
Some mistake or the other. And therefore we say your own

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
body-mind-complex can be your friend, your own body-mind-
complex can be your enemy, a burden. This idea alone कृष्ण
borrows from here and He presents in the sixth chapter of the
िीता
बत ुरात्मात्मिस्तस्य येिात्मैवात्मिा नजतः ।
अिात्मिस्तु शरुत्वे वतेतात्मैव शरुवत् ॥ िीता ६-६ ॥
A healthy body is your friend, whereas a sick body becomes
your enemy. A happy mind is your friend, whereas an unhappy
mind becomes your enemy. You have to find out the methods
of killing that mind. My mind gives me worries, fear, anxiety,
and the tragedy is you cannot run away from the mind. If there
is a problem from people we can leave them and go. But even
if you go to कैलास मानसरोवर you cannot leave the mind here.
At night you won’t get sleep because of worries. Imagine the
tragedy! The tragedy is more because everybody is sleeping.
You have to alone face your own disturbing mind. And people
don’t know how to handle and therefore go for alcohol, drugs,
etc. All because I cannot handle my mind. And even a suicide
is not a solution because in suicide you can destroy only the
body, the mind will continue and then another body will come
and the mind will haunt. And therefore the mind can be
wonderful friend or terrible enemy. And therefore you have to
pay attention to our mind. therefore steady of mind is a very
important thing. You cannot take your mind for granted. What
are the thoughts in the mind, why such thoughts come, what is
the reason? Because this is most important instrument, without
understanding my mind how can I do anything. And therefore

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
if the vehicle is fit it is your friend and it will take you to your
destination, if your vehicle is unfit it will take you to नरक only.
Therefore he says यस्तु अनवज्ञािवाि् भवनत – suppose the
intellect driver is uninformed, doesn’t know what is life, what
is the goal of life, the purpose of life, and अयुक्तेि मििा िदा
– suppose the mind is unruly, the mind is undisciplined, i.e., the
thoughts happen. What do you mean by undisciplined mind? A
mind in which thoughts happen without my permission is an
undisciplined mind. And even when I want to change the course
of thought if the mind does not obey me then that mind has
become Frankenstein. Therefore if I have got such a terrible
mind अयुक्तेि – undisciplined mind, िदा. Now all the time the
mind may not be disciplined. शास्त्र doesn’t accept that also. It
is not that all the time it is perfectly under control. The mind
can be undisciplined but predominantly what is the condition.
If the indiscipline is dominant and discipline is practically not,
it is unfortunate. Like the physical condition. Not that a person
will fall sick. Everybody falls sick. Anytime cold may come,
fever may come; nothing wrong. Our expectation is not that we
should never fall sick. But the question is most of the time
where I am. If I am generally sick and once in a while healthy
then that is the problem. It should be generally healthy and once
in a while sickness allowed. Similarly the mind can have anger,
it can face jealousy, but the thing is if that is dominant शास्त्र
says that is a problem. There is no hundred percent healthy
mind. In every mind there are problems like काम-क्रो -लोभ-
मोह, but if that is dominant that is here criticized by the
उपनिषत् िदा अयुक्तेि – it is a problem if it is undisciplined all
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
the time. Then naturally what will be the consequence? The
driver is not alright. And the reins are not under control, the
steering is not functioning. तस्य इनतियानण अवश्यानि – all his
sense organs will be unruly. कामचार, कामवाद, कामभिः.
कामचार – whatever I feel like doing I do, that means
कमेक्षन्द्रयाक्षण no discipline. कामवाद – chattering all the time.
कामभिः – eating anything. So कामचार, कामवाद, कामभिः
will be the problem. A licentious life will be the problem. I am
not in charge of my life. The first rule of spirituality is I take
charge of my life. I am responsible and accountable for my life.
And we may wonder how can I take charge of my life because
I am such a feeble person, then the शास्त्र says you can take the
assistance of God, you can take the assistance of िुरु, you can
take the assistance of शास्त्रs, they all are there to assist you but
they cannot take charge of your life. They all can serve as
assistance you alone have to take charge of your life. You
should become responsible. That is why somebody said watch
your thoughts they become your words, watch your words they
become your actions, watch your actions they become your
habits, watch your habits they become your character, watch
your character it becomes your destiny. Therefore your ultimate
destiny depends upon character which depends upon habits,
which depends upon actions, which depends upon words,
which depends ultimately upon your thoughts. If you go to
तलकावेरर it starts with only a few drops later it becomes such
a big river. Similarly our entire life starts in our mind in the
form of trickles of thoughts alone. I cannot take my thoughts
for granted, I cannot take my words for granted. And
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
यम मा राज says that in the case of a person who doesn’t take
charge the problem will be इनतियानण अवश्यानि –
undisciplined, uncontrolled. अवश्यानि – न वश्यानि – not under
control. Like what? दुि अश्वाः इव िारर्ेः – his sense organs are
comparable to the unruly horses of the driver. On the other hand
the contrast.
मतर 1-3-06
यस्तु नवज्ञािवातभवनत युक्तेि मििा िदा ।
तस्येनतियानण वश्यानि िदश्वा इव िारर्ेः ॥ ६ ॥
यम मा राज is contrasting now. Previously he has talked
about the unhealthy vehicle now he talks about the healthy
vehicle in which every component is very very fit. So
नवज्ञािवाि् भवनत – intellect is very clear about the goal of life.
He certainly have immediate goals and ultimate goal. We
should know both the immediate goals and ultimate goal. Like
if you are going to Delhi by train or plane your immediate goal
is going to the railway station or airport. But even when you are
travelling to the station or airport you know that it is not you go
to the airport do some shopping and come away. You don’t
forget for what purpose you went to airport. You know that
airport is an intermediary destination the Delhi is the ultimate.
Similarly we have come to this life, we are doing so many
things, a person goes through education, he gets job, he gets
married, he gets children, it is all done for what? If I don’t know
very clearly then problem. Whereas if I take the guideline of
शास्त्र it will say all these are meant for preparing the mind.
Money is not an end in itself, getting married and educating the
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
children is not an end in itself, they will come and go they will
have their own life. They are all incidental and intermediary
things coming and going. In the process of doing all these things
am I growing िा ि चतुिय िम्पनि? That must be constantly
seen. Let the physical growth, financial growth takes place,
nobody objects to that but am I internally growing I should see.
कृष्ण said in the िीता,
व्यविाय-आनत्मका बुनद्धः एका इह कुरु-ितदि ।
बहु -शाखाः नह अितताः च बुद्धयः अव्यविानयिाम् ॥ िीता २-४१
॥
The unintelligent people either they do not know their
destination or they forget the destination. Whereas the
intelligent person is नवज्ञािवातभवनत – all the time ज्ञाियोग्यता
प्राक्षप्त, ज्ञाि प्राक्षप्त. This is his daily मन्त्र. ज्ञाियोग्यता प्राक्षप्त, ज्ञाि
प्राक्षप्त and then ज्ञािनिष्ठा प्राक्षप्त. This won’t be forgotten under
any circumstances. If forgotten then what to do?
ित्िङ्ित्वे निस्िङ्ित्वम् ॥ भजिोनवतदम् ९ ॥
ित्िङ्ि should always be there. Association with the
महात्माs whose life and teaching will remind you of this. And
therefore नवज्ञािवातभवनत – who knows the destination and the
path. युक्तेि मििा िदा – he knows the necessity of the
balanced mind. If the mind is not balanced I will be carried
away by the terrorists. I am flying for मोि and these राग-द्वेष-
काम-क्रो -लोभ-मोह terrorists took to नरक. Therefore I
should never allow the emotions to overpower me. वेदातत does
not say you should not be emotional at all. No. we are human

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
beings, we have emotions. But the idea is I am not overpowered
by the emotions. I know how to manage the emotions. If it is
too much I give some rest. And thereafter I should get up and
walk the spiritual path. That is called िमत्वं योि उच्यते ॥ िीता
२-४८ ॥ So by कमा योि way of life, by a धाक्षमुक way of life, I
make sure that िमत्वम् is maintained even in the worst crisis
of life. तस्य इनतियानण वश्यानि – if the mind and intellect are
managed, naturally the sense organs are also managed because
they are ultimately controlled by the mind and intellect only.
The sense organs go to the field which you value more. And
therefore by changing the values I can change the way of life
itself. You come here because you have a value for this
teaching. And once the values come nobody can stop you. And
if you don’t have a value nobody can force you to sit here.
Therefore तस्य इनतियानण वश्यानि – only that person’s sense
organs are mastered, like what? िदश्वाः इव िारर्ेः – like the
well tamed horses of this wonderful driver. Therefore the first
condition in spirituality is make sure that all the organs and the
instruments are in fit condition. And not only I should put forth
the effort, पुरुषार्ा , it should be there but at the same time I
should control the sense organs.
चञ्चलं नह मिः कृष्ण प्रमानर् बलवद् दृढम् ।
तस्याहं निग्रहं मतये वायोररव िुदुष्करम् ॥ िीता ६-३४ ॥
अजा ुि openly confesses and कृष्ण concurs with him and says it
is not an easy thing. This we have to know because we are
bound to fail initially and if we are going to fail we need not
feel guilty. Because failure is definite in everyone case. Failure

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
only indicates that it requires more effort and time. It is
challenging, but a worthwhile pursuit. That is why in all the
उपनिषत्’s शाक्षन्तपाठs we pray to the Lord also
नस्र्रै रङ्िैस्तुिुवांिस्तिनू भः,
शरीरम् मे नवचषा णम् । नजह्वा मे म ुमिमा,
आप्यायततु ममाङ्िानि वाक्प्राणिक्षुः श्रोरमर्ो बलनमनतियानण
च िवाा नण ।
So we take the help of Lord also. Thus effort plus grace of God
is the mastery of organs is possible. There is no question of
option. It is a compulsory exercise. More in the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 1-3-05 & 06 Continuing;
यस्त्वनवज्ञािवातभवत्ययुक्तेि मििा िदा ।
तस्येनतियाण्यवश्यानि दुिाश्वा इव िारर्ेः ॥ ५ ॥
यस्तु नवज्ञािवातभवनत युक्तेि मििा िदा ।
तस्येनतियानण वश्यानि िदश्वा इव िारर्ेः ॥ ६ ॥
From the third मतर onwards the teacher यम मा राज is
giving an analogy a model of a chariot and he compares our life
into a journey done with the help of the body chariot. And
various parts of the chariot are compared to various organs. And
if the journey has to be successful all the parts, all the factors
should be fit and they should all function in a coordinated
manner. And the main point that he wants to highlight is that
the ultimate controller is the intellect. So the emotional mind is
not the ultimate controller, the sense organs are not the ultimate
controller, even the body is not the ultimate controller, the
central agency the controlling principle is बुनद्ध alone. Therefore
if we want to bring about a radical change in the lifestyle and if
we want to bring about a radical change in the direction of life
we have to address the intellect alone. And the intellect can be
controlled or managed only by two methods – it should have
sufficient information and based on the information it should be
able to judge and discriminate properly. And therefore
educating the intellect becomes very important. Shastric study
becomes very important and proper judgement becomes very
important. And therefore यम मा राज says if a person is an
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
informed person then he will be able to choose the right
destination. And if that person knows the destination and the
route then he will pass the message to the mind and through the
mind the message will go to the sense organs and through the
sense organs the message will go to the body and therefore the
whole direction of the life is changed. On the other hand if a
person is not an enlightened, informed person the very goal will
be wrong. Then the mind is given a wrong message, the sense
organs are given a wrong message, and then the body also goes
in a wrong direction. And that is why educating the mind,
informing the mind, enlightening the mind becomes important.
Imagine I take a car without knowing what is what about the
car. That is why in the beginning stage of life should be
education alone. And even leading a religious life should be
only after knowing what is religious life. The most unfortunate
and funny thing is people want to follow all type of िा िs and
when we ask the question do we study the scriptures they don’t
and they are even interested. It is contradiction because how can
I practice something without knowing the theory. If I say I want
to do र्प I should know what is र्प and what is the purpose of
र्प; and how do you know that without studying the scriptures.
People say I want to practice ध्यानम् and when we ask what
exactly is ध्यानम् they do not know what is ध्यानम् and what is
the purpose of ध्यानम् and still they practice ध्यानम्. Therefore
to practice something without understanding the theory, the
principle, the purpose etc., is like handling an electrical
equipment without knowing where to touch and where not to

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
touch. And that is why in all our scriptures the first िा ि
advised is study the scriptures.
स्वाध्यायप्रवचिे च ॥ तैनिरीयोपनिषत् १-९-१ ॥
And even in the अिाङ्ि योि of पतञ्जनल which is supposed
to be the most important book on meditation पतञ्जनल never
advises a student to start with meditation. In the first two stages
यम and नियम he introduces, स्वाध्याय, the study of scriptures
as fundamental. When you buy a gadget before you operate it
you first go through the manual. Without reading if I operate
not only do I get the benefit I may even spoil it and destroy.
How can I think of any spiritual journey without reading the
manual of spiritual journey? Therefore the first exercise is
learning the theory of spiritual or religious life and being
informed what are the intermediary stations that I have to pass
through, what is the immediate destination and what is the
ultimate destination. All these understandings are important.
And if I don’t have that बुनद्ध is not informed, it cannot guide
the mind properly and the mind cannot guide the sense organs
properly and therefore in the name of spiritual journey I may be
going in the opposite direction. My intention is good but I don’t
know what is the road and therefore in मतरs five and six
यम मा राज says first get informed by the study of the scriptures.
नवज्ञािवाि् भव – gain knowledge. And if you have the clear
understanding of the destination
व्यविायानत्मका बुनद्धः एका इह कुरुितदि ॥ िीता २-४१ ॥
And if don’t have clear understanding the problem will be
anybody talks about any िा ि I will practice that for next three
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
days. Somebody talks about the glories of र्प next one week
doing only र्प. Then another person comes and tells about
ध्यानम् next one week doing only ध्यानम्. Then somebody tells
about कुण्डक्षलनी will give you instantaneous liberation
therefore go to मल ू ाधार. Then they say all these things are not
necessary you do भर्न्s. I cannot discriminate, I cannot decide
what am I supposed to do. Why because I don’t have the
knowledge. And therefore confusion alone will be the result in
the field of िा ि if I am not properly informed and therefore
नवज्ञािवाि् भव – study the scriptures so that you know what is
the role of र्प, ध्यानम्, भर्न्, social service. And therefore
systematic study is important, then I know where I stand. I will
not be confused by stray talks and stray lectures. The people
who talk they know and they are right. But when I study in bits
and pieces here and there I don’t know what is what. I don’t
have the total picture. And therefore यम मा राज said in the fifth
मतर अनवज्ञािवाि् भवनत – if the intellect is uninformed the
person’s life will go out of control like दुि अश्वाः इव िारर्ेः –
unruly horses of a person. Whereas यस्तु नवज्ञािवातभवनत –
when the intellect is properly informed he is able to manage his
very life and direction like having tamed horse. Upto this we
saw. Now Continuing;
मतर 1-3-07
यस्त्वनवज्ञािवातभवत्यमिस्कः िदाऽशुनचः ।
ि ि तत्पदमाप्िोनत िंिारं चान िच्छनत ॥ ७ ॥
What will happen if the vehicle is not in a fit condition?
What will be the consequences for such a person? The
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
consequence is he cannot get liberation or still worse he may
spiritually fall down also. Either spiritual stagnation or spiritual
fall down that is the result of unintelligent handling of life. And
what is unintelligent handling? यम मा राज says यस्तु
अनवज्ञािवाि् भवनत – the first problem is he does not know
what is what in religion and spirituality, he does not know
where he stands at this moment, and he does not know which
िा ि is relevant for him at this moment. And therefore he is
confused, अनवज्ञािवाि्. And therefore अमिस्कः – when the
intellect is uninformed the mind is not managed properly. Even
the mind management requires the understanding of the mind.
If you have to use a gadget properly you should have some basic
understanding of the gadget only then you won’t use it
improperly. Similarly mind management requires some
understanding about the nature of the mind. And therefore mind
is also not managed properly, therefore mind is unruly. And
when the mind is unruly अमिस्कः – that person is called
अमिस्कः – a person without a mind. It is not that he is without
a mind, he has a mind but it is an unruly, disobedient mind. And
according to यम मा राज when the mind is not obedient, it as
good as not there. You have a servant who has a small
complaint – doesn’t do what he asked to do. So if the servant is
not going to do what you ask him to do the presence of the
servant and the absence of the servant is both one and the same.
Therefore having an unruly mind is as good as not having a
mind because it doesn’t serve you at all. If it doesn’t serve you
it is ok but it creates problem also. अमिस्कः – this person
doesn’t have the benefit of the wonderful human mind. And
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
once the mind is unruly, disobedient, unmanageable, beyond
control the next consequence is िदा अशुनचः. अशुनचः literally
means impure and here यम मा राज is talking about the impure
sense organs. So अशुनचः means that person becomes impure in
terms of the sense organs. That means the sense organs will
always move about in अ ानमा क, unhealthy, improper field only.
Because the sense organs have to be managed by the mind but
the mind, the boss is not alright and therefore the sense organs
will have a field day. Therefore whatever the scriptures say not
to see the mind enjoys seeing that and whatever the scriptures
say not to hear the mind enjoys hearing that. It will wallow in
unhealthy field. At least in those days the society had some
norms and मा , now the society also doesn’t have any
restriction and especially after the television has come the
whole world is in your drawing room, whatever is to be seen,
whatever is not to be seen, whatever is to be heard, whatever is
not to be heard all enters your room. Previously you have to go,
now you need not, it will come. Therefore external control is
impossible, therefore the control has to come from myself. I
should be able to say this one is not healthy for my mind
therefore I should not see it, I should be able to withdraw my
senses. For that the mind should have the strength and the mind
gets strength only from the intellect through enlightenment.
And what is the enlightenment? Even though it is enjoyable in
the present long terms effects are negative, like smoking or
drinking, immediately it may give me a sense of well-being यत्
तत् अग्रे िुखम् इव पररणामे नवषम् भवनत. If intellect knows that
even if those sense pleasures are enjoyable intellect will say
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
turn your senses away. Temptations cannot pressurize that
person. Whereas in this case he will succumb to the temptation
because weak senses which are backed by weak mind which is
backed by weak intellect which is an unenlightened immature
intellect. Therefore िदा अशुनचः – impure sensory pursuits.
Then what will happen? As told the other day watch your
thoughts they become your words, watch your words they
become your actions, watch your actions they become your
habits, watch your habits they become your character, watch
your character it becomes your destiny. And in the case of this
person he doesn’t watch thoughts or words or actions or habits
or character, therefore the consequence will be िः तत् पदम् ि
आप्िोनत – such an indisciplined person does not attain the
destination. तत् पदम् means ब्रह्म पदम्, मोक्ष पदम् ि आप्िोनत.
It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t progress spiritually, at least if he
remains where he is it is good, because even if he doesn’t
progress at least he can remain in status quo position. But
unfortunately unknowingly he can and he may go behind also.
Therefore यम मा राज says िंिारं च अन िच्छनत – he falls
further down. And falling down spiritually doesn’t require any
effort, in the river if you have to move down along with the
current what effort is required? It will just take without any
effort on our part. Whereas if you want to go forward not only
have you to swim your swimming should be more intense than
the speed of the river. And therefore either he stagnates or he
falls down. िंिारं च अन िच्छनत – he falls into further िंिार.
And where does it begin? यस्तु अनवज्ञािवाि् भवनत all these are
because proper information is not there. Suppose without
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
proper knowledge, understanding I control my sense organs
through force, it is not the mastery of the sense organs it will
become suppression. What is the difference between mastery
and suppression? With understanding when I say no it is
mastery. Without understanding when I say no it becomes
suppression. And suppression means inner pressure is
mounting up. Like making a dam to a river. Without releasing
the water the pressure mounts up and then the dam breaks one
day. And therefore without understanding stopping the sense
organs is suppression; never do that, through understanding you
do. Therefore knowledge becomes very important, therefore
only scriptural study becomes important. Now contrasting the
other person यम मा राज says,
मतर 1-3-08
यस्तु नवज्ञािवातभवनत िमिस्कः िदा शुनचः ।
ि तु तत्पदमाप्िोनत यस्माद्भय
ू ो ि जायते ॥ ८ ॥
So whereas imagine a person who has got right
understanding. He knows the role of every action in life. First I
have to fulfil my worldly desires अर्ा -काम desires can be
fulfilled but it should be in keeping with मा . Therefore
straightaway he doesn’t go to meditation and all. He takes to
the proper and legitimate fulfilment of अर्ा -काम desires. And
parallelly he continues purification of his mind by doing his
नित्यिैनमनिक कमा . And gradually my desires will get refined,
instead of अर्ा -काम desires gradually the emphasis will get to
मोक्ष. There is a tilt in the balance. Initially it is अर्ा -काम प्रधान
later it becomes नचिशुनद्ध मोक्ष प्रधान. Thus he knows what are
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
the gradual stages. First कमा योि stage, then उपासन stage, and
then वेदातत श्रवणमिि stage, he is informed of each stage.
Therefore where is confusion? There is no suppression at all
because initially we allow the mind to fulfil the desires. If you
want to eat, happily eat but not twenty-four hours. So there are
rules. Before eating do the prayer. Then let it be moderate. Thus
any desire you have शास्त्र says fulfil. But it says let it be within
the limit or moderation. And gradually I don’t suppress but I
grow out of the materialistic desires and they are replaced by
Vedantic desires, मुमुक्षुत्वम्. So the total roadmap must be very
clear. And similarly we have got the four आश्रमs representing
the gradual entry into active life and then gradual withdraw
from active life. The whole picture must be very clear and that
is why in our tradition in ब्रह्मचयाा श्रम the roadmap of life is
given so that this person is not confused; he has got clearly, no
worry, no confusion. This alone कृष्ण calls व्यविायानत्मका
बुनद्धः – well informed intellect. And therefore only िमिस्कः –
he has got a balanced mind. He is not going to be excited by
anything. He has the knowledge of the ways of the mind – its
strengths as well as its weaknesses. िमिस्कः – he is endowed
with a mind. Why is he endowed with a mind? Because the
mind is his servant, he is not the servant of his mind. An
obedient mind he has got. And therefore only िदा शुनचः – if the
mind is managed then the sense organs are also managed
properly like a person who is taking the dog for a walk which
moves here and there, and he has to pull it. In some cases you
wonder whether is he leading the dog or is dog leading him.
Therefore give freedom to the dog, let it move but when it goes
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
to the wrong place there should be a check. Similarly let the
sense organs move around in the world but when it goes to the
wrong place I should be able to say no. And the sense organs
should be saying yes sir. That is called िदा शुनचः. The senses
are ever pure in the right road. कृष्ण also talks about this in the
िीता
रागद्वेषक्षवयुतैस्तु नवषयानिनतियैिरि् ।
आत्मवश्यैनवा ेयात्मा प्रिादमन िच्छनत ॥ िीता २-६४ ॥
आत्म-वश्यैः राि-द्वेष-नवयुक्तैः इनतियैः – the one who is in
command of his activity. िः – such a person, तत् पदम् आप्िोनत
– that guarantee, definitely cent percent such a person will reach
that destination. तत् पदम् means that destination, here it means
ब्रह्म पदम्, मोक्ष पदम् आप्िोनत. What is the greatness of ब्रह्म
पदम्? यस्मात् भय ू ः ि जायते – from which he will not fall into
िंिार again. Here र्न्म means mortality, limitation time-wise,
space-wise. In short, he attains मोक्ष. Therefore what is the
lesson that we have to learn? That is said in the last मतर of this
topic.
मतर 1-3-09
नवज्ञाििारनर्या स्तु मिः प्रग्रहवातिरः ।
िोऽध्विः पारमाप्िोनत तनद्वष्णोः परमं पदम् ॥ ९ ॥
So he concludes the रर्कल्पिा here. And therefore a
person should be this following one. नवज्ञाििारनर्ः – a person
should have a driver in the form of an informed intellect. And
what information? Not about the mundane things. Here we are
talking about the information regarding the goal of life. What

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
for have we come, were are we heading towards and now where
should we step in? So information regarding spiritual journey.
And such an informed driver, नवज्ञाििारनर्ः is equal to
नवज्ञाियुतिारनर्ः, suppose I have, driver here means the
intellect. And therefore only मिःप्रग्रहवाि् – once the intellect
is informed then naturally it will have the mind in its control
like the reins of the chariot. So प्रग्रह means the reins in the form
of the managed mind. नरः means the seeker. And then you have
to supply and also he has got the sense organs which are
obedient, tamed, not wild. And this alone in technical language
is called िा ि चतुिय िम्पनि. A man in charge of his life is
called िा ि चतुिय िम्पतिः. And such a person, िः अध्विः
पारम् आप्िोनत. पारम् – the end, the destination of अध्व – मािा ,
the path or the journey, अध्विः पारम् means the end of the
journey which is the destination. What is that destination? Can
the death be the destination? Death is not the end of the journey
because at the time of death itself we die with many incomplete
desires. Because I die with unfulfilled desires death is not the
end of the journey.
कामाि् यः कामयते मतयमािः ि कामनभजाा यते तर तर ।
I am again born with those desires and struggling to fulfill them.
So there is no end to the journeys.
पुिरनप जििम् पुिरनप मरणम् ॥ भजिोनवतदम् २१ ॥
You have reached the destination only when the cycle ends.
And therefore यम मा राज says तत् – that destination is परमं
पदम् – the ultimate पदम् of नवष्णोः – नवष्णु. नवष्णु पदम् आप्िोनत
– such a seeker attains नवष्णु पदम्. What is नवष्णु पदम्? Our
348
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
immediate orientation is to reach a place. So शङ्कराचाया takes
all the trouble to negate all our conventional thinking because
if the destination is a particular place which I will reach by
traveling that place will be finite. Therefore शङ्कराचाया says
नवष्णु पदम् does not mean any लोक but नवष्णु पदम् means नवष्णु
स्वरूपम्. पदम् means स्वरूपम्, the very nature of नवष्णु. Then
the next question is what is the nature of नवष्णु? Immediately
our orientation will be
शङ्खचक्रिदापाणे द्वारकानिलयाच्युत । िोनवतद पुण्डरीकाक्ष
रक्ष मां शरणाितम् ॥
Here the उपनिषत् knows and therefore it puts a beautiful
adjective परमं पदम् – the higher nature of Lord नवष्णु. When
higher nature is talked then naturally it implies there must be a
lower nature. What is the difference between them? Lower
nature is finite nature, higher nature is infinite nature. And this
शङ्खचक्रिदापाणे स्वरूपम् is lower nature. We feel like
accepting it as higher nature because we love it. But you have
to use your बुक्षद्ध here, so any form is finite nature. However
beautiful that form might be, attractive form it might be,
charming form it might be form means limitation. And
therefore it is lower form only. Then what is higher form? To
say higher form is a contradiction. Formlessness alone is the
higher nature, because infinite cannot have form, कठोपनिषत्
itself will say,
अश्दम् अस्पशा म् अरूपम् अव्ययम् तर्ा अरिं नित्यम्
अित वच् च यत् ॥ कठोपनिषत् १-३-१५ ॥

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
Formless, colorless, smellless, tasteless, touchless, in fact
नििा ुण चैततयम् is the real nature of नवष्णु, the all-pervading
formless Consciousness is नवष्णु पदम्. And if all-pervading
formless Consciousness is नवष्णु पदम् how much should you
travel to reach there? There is no travel at all, you reach नवष्णु
पदम् means you understand that नवष्णु पदम् is never away from
me. Dropping the notion of distance is reaching the real Lord.
Just as the dreamer reaches the waker not by traveling but only
by waking up. And therefore this person will discover the नवष्णु
पदम्. Reaching means discovering. Not only that the very word
नवष्णु if you analyze it means formless Consciousness only. The
word नवष्णु is derived from the √क्षवश् – to surround, to pervade,
to enter into. िवं वेवेनि व्याप्िोतीनत नवष्णुः – that which
pervades everywhere, that which is all-pervading. If नवष्णु is all-
pervading what form will he have? If space is all-pervading
what form it has? It is impossible. Therefore नवष्णु has no form.
Then why in the temples they keep the form and worship?
Giving form is an intermediary stepping stone, going to
formlessness is the destination. From form to formless is our
destination. Therefore go to form nothing wrong, but don’t
permanently stay there. Go to school alright, but still at the age
of fifty-seven studying college! No. So therefore have formed
God but don’t die with a formed God. Go beyond the form. That
is why in गीता and उपनिषत् we talk about एकरूप भक्षत,
अएकरूप भक्षत and अरूप भक्षत. Continuing;
मतर 1-3-10
इनतियेभ्यः परा ह्यर्ाा अर्ेभ्यि परं मिः ।

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
मििस्तु परा बुनद्धबा ुद्धेरात्मा महातपरः ॥ १० ॥
With the previous मतर the रर्कल्पना, the chariot
analogy is over. And through this analogy five-fold disciplines
were mentioned. First you should have a healthy body
(आरोग्यम्), then healthy sense organs (दमः), then healthy mind
(शमः), then informed discriminative intellect (क्षववेकः), and
finally not only each one should be healthy all of them should
function as a team, team-work is important. Even with best
players if the team-work is not there they cannot win a single
match. And this coordination of the organs is called आर्ु वम्.
These five disciplines are highlighted through the रर्कल्पना.
Now the रर्कल्पना topic is over, now from the tenth मन्त्र
यम मा राज is entering into the topic of ज्ञािम्. The previous
topic is ज्ञाि िा नाक्षन.
In the previous मतर we saw that there is no question of
physically reaching नवष्णु पदम्. Why because नवष्णु पदम् being
the all-pervading Consciousness, there is no question of
reaching, reaching if at all we use the word it is only figurative
reaching which is nothing but discovering which in turn is
dropping the notion that नवष्णु is away. नवष्णु is not away, नवष्णु
is everywhere. What is that नवष्णु? The all-pervading
Consciousness which is otherwise called परमात्मा चैततयम् or
क्षबम्ब चैततयम्. We saw in the mind there are two चैततयम्s,
ऋतं नपबततौ िुकृतस्य लोके िुहां प्रनविौ परमे परा े । छायातपौ
ब्रह्मनवदो वदनतत पञ्चाग्ियो ये च नरणानचकेताः ॥ कठोपनिषत्
१-३-१॥

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
There is an all-pervading Consciousness in the mind and also
the reflected Consciousness. Of these two the original all-
pervading Consciousness is called नवष्णु परमात्मा. So now what
is our goal? Turn our attention to the original Consciousness
which is called नवष्णु पदम् which is called परमात्मा. This is not
a physical journey but it is an intellectual journey of
understanding journey of knowledge. And why should we take
the understanding as an intellectual journey? Because the
उपनिषत् gives this understanding step by step. The उपनिषत्
does not suddenly reveal the Consciousness because the
Consciousness being formless, colorless, soundless, touchless,
smellless, the intellect cannot suddenly grasp the attributeless
Consciousness because our intellect is used only to all kinds of
attributes. And therefore the उपनिषत् takes our mind gradually
step by step from the ििुण world to नििा ुण चैततयम्, ििुण
अनात्मा to नििा ुण आत्मा, देहम् to नििा ुण देही, ििुण शरीरम् to
नििा ुण शरीरी. The journey should be gradual because our mind
is very gross now. This method of taking our understanding
from ििुण to नििा ुण, from the formed to the formless is called
पञ्चकोश नववेक. And for this journey our personality is divided
into five factors or components. अतिमय – the grossest
physical tangible body personality. Then our mind is taken to
प्राणमय – the energy personality. Then to मिोमय – to the
emotional personality. Then to नवज्ञािमय – the intellectual
personality. Then to आितदमय – the sleep personality. And
from there to the witness of the sleep the Consciousness. More
in the next class.

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

353
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 1-3-10 Continuing;
इनतियेभ्यः परा ह्यर्ाा अर्ेभ्यि परं मिः ।
मििस्तु परा बुनद्धबा ुद्धेरात्मा महातपरः ॥ १० ॥
Through the chariot imagery यम मा राज talked about
certain important िा िs in the form of physical health, in the
form of sense control, mind control, right judgement regarding
the priorities of life and finally the integration of all the organs
so that they work as a team. And generally in the scriptures the
अटाङ्ग योग of पतञ्र्क्षल is prescribed as a means of acquiring
all these virtues. And even if a person doesn’t practice अटाङ्ग
योग even उपासन is considered as a method of acquiring these
virtues. And having talked about the ज्ञाि िा नाक्षन, the
preparatory disciplines now in the next two मतरs, i.e., the tenth
and the eleventh मतरs यम मा राज talks about the spiritual
journey or the inner journey. If the life is compared to a journey,
the जीवात्मा can make an external journey and acquire various
worldly things. It is an outgoing journey. Not only can he go to
the various places within this world by doing extraordinary
पुण्यम् the journey can be extended to even higher लोकs upto
ब्रह्मलोक. And this external journey alone is called प्रेयः,
worldly pursuits. And now a spiritual seeker is one who has
seen enough of this external journey these external
achievements and also their limitations.
परीक्ष्य लोकाि् कमा नचताि् ॥ मुण्डकोपनिषत् १-२-१२ ॥

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
And therefore now he is interested in the pursuit of श्रेयस् which
is not बक्षहमु ख यात्रा but it is an अन्तमु ख यात्रा, travelling
within. And what do you mean by traveling within? It is not a
physical journey, by inner travel we mean gradually shifting my
अक्षभमान or identification. When the mind is the grossest mind
I identify with my grossest physical personality. Spiritual
journey is gradual disidentification from the physical body and
I learn to see the physical body as a superficial dress, वािांनि
जीणाा नि which has to be used for some time and it has to be
discarded. And having shifted my identification from the body
I go to my next higher personality which is still subtler than the
physical body. And this method of gradual disidentification
from the grosser and identification with the subtler personality
is called inner spiritual journey. For this purpose five stages are
prescribed – अतिमय, प्राणमय, मिोमय, नवज्ञािमय and
आितदमय. अतिमय is the grossest one, प्राणमय is subtler,
मिोमय is still subtler, and I have to gradually identify with the
subtler layers. . Initially my physical personality is important,
later my emotional needs become important. So even if the
children are giving food some parents complain they give me
all my physical needs but they don’t give me the love and care.
So I will go to old age home. So now more than the physical
need the need becomes emotional we want people to ask about
our well-being. That means even though you are given food
only the servants feed you, you don’t want that food, even if it
be a piece of bread let my son or daughter give then it is
meaningful. That means I am seeing my emotional personality
as more important, I am ready to even physically starve if my
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
emotional hunger is fulfilled. Then subtler than the emotional
personality is intellectual personality. That is why when the
parents send the children outside certainly emotionally there is
a pang of separation because of marriage or higher education
they go away and certainly it is painful emotionally but when
they think what is good for children intellectually I am
convinced that they have to go and grow. I cannot keep the
daughter permanently in my house even though I love her she
has to get married and go. Therefore the intellectual value
overtakes the emotional suffering. That is why they have
divided the कोश, each later कोश is subtler, each later कोश is
stronger and each later कोश is closer to my nature. So
सक्ष्ू मतरम् and it is प्रत्यक् तरम्. प्रत्यक् means it is more and
more closer to my real nature. So it is subtler, it is closer and
also शङ्कराचाया writes it becomes more extensive also.
अतिमय has got limited pervasion, प्राणमय has got still more
pervasion, मिोमय still more pervasion, नवज्ञािमय still more
pervading. So each later one pervades more, it is more subtler
and it is more closer also. And when I come to my real nature
the आत्मा it will be the subtlest one and it will be the closest
one, in fact ‘the closest’ is not the word it is Myself and also it
will be maximum pervading. िक्ष्ू मा महातति प्रत्यिात्मभत ू ाि.
So this is the पञ्चकोश क्षववेक journey which is starting from
the tenth मतर, we will see the meaning. इनतियेभ्यः परा नह अर्ाा ः
– so the grossest one is the physical body. The उपनिषत् does
not mention that, we supply it. So the first level is स्र्ल
ू शरीरम्.
And superior to and subtler than the स्र्ल ू शरीरम् are
इनतियानण. That also we have to supply. The grossest
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
personality is physical, subtler than the physical body is the
sense organs because sense organs have control over the
physical body. If you remember the रर्कल्पिा just as the
horses drag the chariot, the sense organs can drag the body to
various places. If I want to see a movie the eyes draw me to a
movie theatre. If I want to hear the Upanishadic lectures the
ears have drawn your physical body to this particular place.
And therefore since sense organs are controllers of the physical
body they are considered to be subtler. And subtler than the
sense organs are अर्ाा ः – the sense objects. पर means superior.
Superior to the sense organs are the sense objects. Why are the
sense objects said to be superior? Because the sense objects
have got the capacity to tempt the sense organs. Therefore we
have to supply perceived sense objects are subtler than sense
organs. When do they tempt me? Only when it is right in front
of me I have perceived then I fall. Perceived sense objects
which have entered the mind, therefore here अर्ाा ः means the
sense objects which have entered the mind through the sense
organs they have the capacity to draw the body.
ध्यायतो नवषयातपंुिः िङ्िस्तेषपू जायते । िङ्िात्िञ्जायते
कामः ॥ िीता २-६२ ॥
I will go on meditating on that object and I say it is nice object,
then I say it is worth having, then I say I want it, then I say
without that I cannot survive. परब्रह्म स्वरूपम् has come to this
miserable condition, a slave of perishable fleeting sense object.
Thus sense object seems to be so powerful to drag the sense
organ. Therefore अर्ाा ः, वक्षृ त्तरूप अर्ाा ः are superior to sense

357
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
organs. अर्ेभ्यि परं मिः – superior to this perceived sense
objects is the mind. Why do we say so? The perceived sense
objects exist in the form of thoughts in the mind. Therefore here
word अर्ाा ः means अर्ा वत्तृ यः. And here यम मा राज says mind
is superior to even the thoughts because it is the cause, उपादाि
कारणम् of every thoughts. The thoughts arise from the mind,
exist in the mind and dissolve into the mind, therefore thought
is like a wave and mind is like a lake and therefore the mind
should be superior to even the thoughts of the sense objects.
Therefore अर्ेभ्यः परं मिः. As even you are listening to that
what are we supposed to do? I have to gradually withdraw my
identification from each one of them. So give up देह अक्षभमान,
give up the thought अक्षभमान and come to the mind. And मििः
तु परा बुनद्धः – the intellect is superior to even the mind, it is
subtler than the mind, more powerful than the mind. What is
the difference between the mind and the intellect? Very careful.
The mind and the intellect are not separate organs. They are two
names of one and the same organ which is called अततकरणम्
otherwise called the internal organ. This one internal organ is
known by two different names based on its function. Like one
and the same person when he is a managing director in office
he is called MD there, and suppose he is a secretary of social
service association in that context he is called secretary, and
when he comes here he is neither secretary nor MD, nor
husband, but he is a student. The whole person is called by
different names based on function. Thus the अततकरणम् is
called a mind when it has got a doubting and emotional
function. िङ्कल्प-क्षवकल्पात्मकम् मनः. And when the very
358
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
same internal organ takes the role of determination is called the
intellect, क्षनश्चयात्मक अततकरण वक्षृ त्तः. Why the intellect is
superior to the mind? Because क्षनश्चय can conquer संशय.
Determination can destroy doubt. And therefore
नवज्ञािमयकोश or बुनद्धः is superior to the mind. And not only
बुनद्धः can destroy doubts, all your emotional problems also can
be handled by the knowledge in the intellect. ज्ञािम् is so
powerful that it can conquer sorrow. Sorrow belongs to the
mind. ज्ञािम् belongs to the intellect. This intellectual
knowledge can conquer emotional sorrow. In fact the entire
िीता is about conquering the sorrow through knowledge.
ितािि
ू ् अितािि
ू ् च ि अिुशोचनतत पनण्डताः ॥ िीता २-११ ॥
Wisdom can conquer sorrow. And whenever we say sorrow it
implies all emotional problems, depression, anger, anxiety,
frustration, inferiority complex, jealousy. Therefore certainly
intellects superior. And that is why in the chariot imagery also
the intellect was compared to the driver and the mind was
compared to the reins indicating intellect is the controller of the
mind. Therefore you should give up your मिोमय अक्षभमान and
identify with the नवज्ञािमय. Therefore मििस्तु परा बुनद्धः.
Then the next internal spiritual journey is बुद्धेः परः – superior
to the intellect is महान् आत्मा. महान् आत्मा here means the
total intellect. बुनद्धः refers to the individual intellect, महान्
आत्मा refers to the total intellect. If I have to use a technical
word हैरण्यिभा is superior. Because the total intellect pervades
and influences the individual intellect. Just as the ocean can be
compared to the total intellect and wave can be compared to the

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
individual intellect. Therefore what are we supposed to do?
Having withdrawn sufficiently, that is called we should go
deeper, and not only should we go deeper, but the mind should
expand also. Self-knowledge requires depth and expansion. It
is said that Lord िुब्रह्मण्य has a spear as his weapon. Somebody
nicely interprets through that Lord िुब्रह्मण्य is indicating what
should be the nature of your mind. It should be sharp, wide and
deep. With that spear you can destroy the अज्ञाि असुरः, िंिार-
रािस. Our mind has to expand to identify with the total
intellect, which means I should understand there is no
individual intellect separate from the total intellect. Just as there
is no individual body separate from total matter, similarly there
is no individual intellect separate from the total intellect. This
is the travel from micro to macro, expansion of the mind. The
point to be noted is the word आत्मा does not refer to
सक्षच्चदानन्द आत्मा, but it refers to the intellect only. महान्
means समक्षट. Continuing;
मतर 1-3-11
महतः परमव्यक्तमव्यक्तात्पुरुषः परः ।
पुरुषाति परं नकंनचत्िा काष्ठा िा परा िनतः ॥ ११ ॥
महतः परम् – superior to महत् तत्त्वम् is the total
intellect, superior to the total intellect is अव्यक्तम्. अव्यक्तम् is
that stage in which the intellect is resolved, all the knowledge
is resolved, all the divisions have gone to the potential
condition. What is that state? It is called कारण अवस्र्ा, the seed
condition of the creation. The total intellect falls within the
creation, during the प्रलयम् or dissolution, even the total
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
intellect will resolve into unmanifest condition where all forms
of knowledge go to the seed condition. So you can imagine it
as प्रलय अवस्र्ा where the world is in the seed form. It is called
कारण प्रपञ्च. The intellect belongs to िक्ष्ू म प्रपञ्च and अव्यक्तम्
corresponds to कारण प्रपञ्च, कारण प्रपञ्च is subtler than even
िक्ष्ू म प्रपञ्च. Now suppose you want to know what will be the
condition when the whole world goes to the seed state, potential
state. We daily experience that. The state in which the mind is
resolved, emotions are resolved, intellect is resolved, not only
intellect but all the knowledge in the intellect will get resolved
in the deep sleep state. In deep sleep state our knowledge and
emotions are not absent but they are in seed form, potential
form, that is the subtlest form of the creation. when it is the
subtlest form you will not be able to differentiate one
knowledge from another just as in a seed you cannot
differentiate the roots, branches etc. But we know that all these
are present in the seed. Remember genetic mapping is already
going on. What is genetic mapping? Even in gene stage your
entire personality is stored. But you are not able to see it with
gross eyes, with special equipment you can see. That is called
अव्यक्त अवस्र्ा or क्षनक्षवुकल्पक अवस्र्ा. So when I sleep my
emotions are in क्षनक्षवुकल्पक अवस्र्ा, during प्रलयम् the whole
creation is in क्षनक्षवुकल्पक अवस्र्ा. That is the subtlest form of
matter. So deep sleep stage is the subtlest form of matter
because we are not able to differentiate. So महतः परम्
अव्यक्तम्. अव्यक्तम् means undifferentiated, क्षनक्षवुकल्पक
अवस्र्ा. Grasping that is very difficult. What is our personality
in sleep? Very difficult to understand but that is our personality.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
During sleep we are very much there, else we would not go to
sleep. We happily go to sleep only because we are very sure we
are existing in sleep. But what is our personality? सक्ष्ू मतम, the
subtlest personality. Then is this आत्मा? No. Then what is
आत्मा? अव्यक्तात्पुरुषः परः. The blank state of sleep is the
subtlest form of matter. The blank state of sleep is not void
because the next day from the so called void alone everything
is emanating, emerging and therefore what you experience as
blankness is not शन्ू यम्. That is why scientists also say space is
not emptiness, it is a substance from which things arise. The
blank state is the subtlest form of अनात्मा. It is called कारण
शरीरम्, कारण प्रपञ्च, आितदमय कोश, र्गद्बीर्म्, अव्यतम्,
माया, प्रकृक्षत. These are all the synonymous for the subtlest
form of matter. And superior to that blankness is पुरुषः – the
Consciousness principle which is witnessing that blank state.
That there is a blank state in sleep is known to us. Because after
waking up I very clearly say that I slept like a log of wood, I
did not experience anything, which is equal to I experienced the
absence of all experiences. That means the blankness is matter,
the witness of blankness is the Consciousness. The blankness
comes during िुषुनि, the blankness goes during र्ाग्रत् स्वप्न, I
the witness Consciousness am permanently there. When the
matter goes to blankness I am there, and again thoughts emerge
I am there, so presence of thoughts I am witness, the resolution
of thoughts I am witness, I have to turn my attention to the
Consciousness which is inherent in the blankness as the very
witness of blankness. To give an example. Now the hall is full
and all of you go at the end of the class. I say that the hall is
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
empty. Now I ask the question how do you know that the hall
is empty. You have to say the very light which illumined the
presence of people in the hall, the very same light is inherent in
the hall illumining the emptiness of the hall also. Therefore
what you call as empty hall is really not empty hall but the hall
pervaded by the light which illumines the emptiness. If the light
is absent you cannot talk about the emptiness. Therefore you
can withdraw your attention from your body, sense organs,
emotions, knowledge and when all of them you withdraw you
come to a state of total blankness. Then what should be your
aim? Instead of turning your attention to the blankness, you
own up the Consciousness which is aware of the blankness. So
I am the Consciousness which is the witness of the silent mind,
the thoughtless mind, the blank mind. If people enter the hall
light is, people go away from the hall light is, similarly thoughts
arise Consciousness is, thoughts depart Consciousness is. And
you don’t require a proof because if Consciousness is absent
you will not be aware of the blankness of the mind. Therefore
turn your attention to the Consciousness. How do you turn your
attention to Consciousness? By owning up the Consciousness
as I am. So turning is equal to owning, owning is equal to
claiming, claiming is equal to I am चैतन्यस्वरूप अक्षस्म. That is
said here अव्यक्तात्पुरुषः परः. So superior to that अव्यक्त,
कारण प्रपञ्च is equal to पुरुषः, चैतन्यम्. Why Consciousness is
called पुरुषः? The word पुरुषः has got two derivations. पुरु
means body, षः means indweller, resident. So पुरुषः means the
resident of the body. Just as the light is residing within the hall,
similarly the चैतन्यम् is residing. पुरे शेते इनत पुरुषः. The
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
second derivation is परू यक्षत िवा म् इनत पुरुषः – that which
pervades everything. Just as the light pervades the entire hall,
the Consciousness pervades the entire universe illumining the
matter and therefore it is called पुरुषः, the pervading
Consciousness. It is within and without. अततर् बनहः च तत्
िवा म् व्याप्य िारायणः नस्र्तः । And पुरुषाति परं नकनञ्चत् –
after arriving at the Consciousness there is no more further
journey. There is nothing subtler than आत्मा, nothing more
interior than आत्मा, nothing more pervasive than आत्मा.
Therefore the inner journey should culminate in the चैतन्यम्.
Therefore िा काष्ठा – that is the culmination, the end of the
journey. काष्ठा literally means the pinnacle, the apex, the
highest limit of the inward journey. And िा परा िनतः – that is
considered to be the ultimate destination or goal. All the others
are intermediary stations only. The very same पञ्चकोश क्षववेक
is very elaborately analyzed in तैनिरीयोपनिषत्. There the
उपनिषत् asks us to remain in each personality for some time.
Having come to प्राणमयकोश for some years you meditate upon
only one fact – I am not the body. It takes a considerable time
to get rid of देह अक्षभमान. I should clearly see I am not the body.
It is a bubble in the ocean of matter which can pop off at any
time. Therefore let me not get attached to the body, any body.
That देह अक्षभमान for going itself will take ages perhaps, get out
of that. Thereafter प्राणमय, then emotional अक्षभमान, I want
love. So when I am missing love from a particular person
shattered I am. It is emotional अक्षभमान. I want care from certain
type of people, love, some enquiry. So that is my emotional
personality is so strong and I am so sensitive that generally I am
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
upset, once in a while happy. So I have to get over these
emotional needs, emotional weaknesses, and then comes
intellectual problems, scientists problems. Scientists don’t
bother about the emotional needs but they want to solve various
questions in the creation. and if they can't solve the problems
they are shattered. Each अक्षभमान should go away, you take any
number of years. And therefore each stage is an intermediary
station, arriving at the आत्मा is destination. Continuing;
मतर 1-3-12
एष िवेषु भत ू ेषु िढ
ू ोऽऽत्मा ि प्रकाशते ।
दृश्यते त्वग्र्यया बुद्ध्या िक्ष्ू मया िक्ष्ू मदनशा नभः ॥ १२ ॥
With the previous two मतरs the पञ्चकोश क्षववेक topic
is over. Here यम मा राज is talking about a condition or a
qualification which is required for the successful पञ्चकोश
नववेक. That qualification is that one should have a very subtle
mind. पञ्चकोश नववेक is a very subtle operation, it is like a
micro surgery. So here we are talking about the subtlest
Consciousness, therefore the mind should be made extremely
sensitive. And if the mind is not sensitive आत्मा can never be
recognized. This is true for not only this field but any field. So
when we sing a song and you call an advanced classical
musician. He will say the श्रुक्षत is not matching, what to talk of
स्वर. But when we hear it appears to be right only. So you have
to go on training, the mind should be so sensitive that even
subtler changes. This is possible only if the mind is that field
for years. If the local things require sensitization what to talk of
that? As long as the mind is not sensitized आत्मा remains
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
comfortably hidden from your vision. Therefore the उपनिषत्
says एषः आत्मा िवेषु भत ू ेषु वता ते – the Consciousness is present
in everybody, in every body. You need not import it, you need
not go in search of that, fortunately everyone has got that
चैतन्यतत्त्वम्. But what is the problem? िढ ू ः – it is hidden
amidst the अिात्मा, it is intertwined with अिात्मा, it is
inseparably intermingled with अिात्मा or पञ्चकोशs and
therefore I miss it. िढ ू ः literally means covered, but as said
before we should not take the word covered in the literal sense
because the all-pervading Consciousness cannot be covered by
anything. For covering the condition is the cover should be
bigger than the cover. So आत्मा can never be covered, therefore
here covered means as though covered by अिात्मा. So अिात्मा
covers the आत्मा as it were. How does it do that? By turning
our attention towards अिात्मा, not allowing the mind to turn
towards the आत्मा, the पञ्चकोशs take our attention all the time.
So either we are bothered about the body, or hunger and thirst,
or instead of turning our attention towards the Consciousness in
the mind I am worried about the various thoughts in the mind.
It is like when asked what is here you will say everything except
the most important thing, i.e., the light. You will lose sight of
one thing because of which the hand is visible the light
principle. Why do you miss the light over the hand? Because
the light is subtle, it is formless and the hand is grosser which
distracts your attention. Similarly our grosser अतिमय प्राणमय
मिोमय, our physical problems, our emotional problems, our
family problems takes our attention all the time that we don’t
have time for turning our attention to our real nature.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
बालस्तावत् क्रीडािक्तः तरुणस्तावत् तरुणीिक्तः ।
वद्ध
ृ स्तावत् नचततािक्तः परमे ब्रह्मनण कोऽनप ि िक्तः ॥
भजिोनवतदम् ७ ॥
No time to think of आत्मा.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 1-3-11 & 12 Continuing;
महतः परमव्यक्तमव्यक्तात्पुरुषः परः ।
पुरुषाति परं नकंनचत्िा काष्ठा िा परा िनतः ॥ ११ ॥
एष िवेषु भत ू ेषु िढ
ू ोऽऽत्मा ि प्रकाशते ।
दृश्यते त्वग्र्यया बुद्ध्या िक्ष्ू मया िक्ष्ू मदनशा नभः ॥ १२ ॥
After talking about ज्ञाि िा िs in the first nine मतरs
the उपनिषत् is talking about ज्ञािम् in these two मतरs – ten
and eleven. And in these two मतरs the उपनिषत् is revealing
the nature of आत्मा by gradually leading us from one अनात्मा
to another अनात्मा. The entire अिात्मा is divided into five
कोशs and the उपनिषत् leads us from one grosser कोश to
another subtler कोश and finally to आत्मा. In this eleventh मतर
we saw महतः परमव्यक्तमव्यक्तात्पुरुषः परः पुरुषाति परं
नकंनचत्िा काष्ठा िा परा िनतः. When you withdraw your mind
from अनात्मा and you come to the subtlest form of अनात्मा it
is called अव्यक्तम्. अव्यक्तम् is the अनात्मा or matter in the
dormant form. The manifest अनात्मा is in concrete form
whereas the dormant अनात्मा is in abstract form as we have
matter and energy in science. We know matter and energy are
interconvertible the only difference being matter is visible,
concrete therefore gross whereas energy is also matter only but
not in gross visible form but in invisible potential form. And
imagine the entire material universe goes to dormant form,
अव्यक्त रूपम्. That dormant form should be the subtlest form
of अनात्मा. And when do we experience it? During प्रलयम् the
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
whole creation is in potential form. But you cannot wait for
प्रलयम् because before प्रलयम् comes we will disappear.
Therefore we should go in for some such experience which is
very very similar to प्रलयम्. Just like when they have to train
the astronauts to move in the space where the setup is totally
different, gravitational pull will not be there, everything is
different. And if a person goes there without preparation he may
even die. Therefore during training what do they do? They
create on the earth itself an atmosphere which is similar to the
outer space. It is a simulated travel. If we can't survive in this
simulated atmosphere then there is no use of thinking of going
to the space. Similarly we cannot actually wait for प्रलयम् in
which the whole material universe is in potential form therefore
we wait for an experience which is very very close to प्रलयम्
and that is easily available sleep. The sleep is also of two types
– natural sleep which will come often without your invitation
and another is artificial sleep in which you deliberately suspend
your mental activities. And when you deliberately suspend your
mental activities or you go to sleep what you are experiencing
is total blankness and according to the शास्त्र that total
blankness is not absence of things but total blankness is whole
material universe in dormant अव्यक्त condition. And therefore
in पञ्चकोश नववेक you come upto that level. So imagine your
sleep experience where you experience nothingness. That
nothingness is subtlest form of matter. Like black hole. We call
it black hole because not that the things are absent there, in
black the things are so dense and the pull is so much that even
light cannot escape from the black hole. Therefore for you it
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
appears that it is empty but it contains the densest form of
matter. So therefore black hole is a matter. Similarly here also
what you experience as blankness in meditation, blankness in
sleep is the subtlest कोश called आितदमय कोश and bring
your mind to that experience. keeping awake imagine, simulate
that experience. And what will people generally do? Having
gone to that experience people will wait for आत्मा to come.
Here alone problem comes. Having gone to that blank state they
look for आत्म अनुभव or आत्मा to arrive and give दशु नम्. But
here alone the teaching becomes important. Having come to
that blank state instead of looking for something I should learn
to own up the I, the Consciousness principle who am aware of
this blankness also. And this I who am aware of the blankness
is आत्मा, the साक्षि which will continue when the mind is blank,
which will continue when the mind has got thoughts. Thus
आत्मा is the witness Consciousness which is aware of the
thoughtful mind which is called मिोमय नवज्ञािमय कोश and it
is also witness of thoughtless mind which is called आितदमय
कोश. And this आत्मा is not going to arrive but it is the witness
of all the arrivals and all the departures. The witness of arrivals
and departures itself does not arrive and depart. And this
Consciousness I should learn to own up as my स्वरूपम्. Of
course to own up this Consciousness I have to use my mind as
an instrument. But when I own up the Consciousness the mind
is not included in that. Just as I use my spectacles for my
transactions but the spectacles is not included in me as a person.
Similarly with the help of the mind I own up the I, which is free
from the mind also. And arriving at this I is the end of the
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
spiritual journey, the inner journey. And यम मा राज said िा परा
िनतः – this is the ultimate destination. Now यम मा राज says
this साक्षि चैतन्यम् is called आत्मा which is present in िवा भत ू ेषु.
So this so called destination of human life or the life of all living
beings is not something far away but it is already present in
everyone. This has to be emphasized because once I say
परमात्मा is the destination or the goal, our orientation is that
परमात्मा is sitting somewhere and we have to travel and merge.
And we also read when somebody dies he attained क्षवष्णुपदम्,
क्षशवपदम्, परमपदम् which indicates the र्ीव reaching and
merging. We think that परमात्मा is somewhere and जीवात्मा is
somewhere and therefore यम मा राज the fit candidate to teach
tells that परमात्मा is never away from us for us to travel and
merge. Then where is that परमात्मा? He says एषः – here only.
In whom? िवेषु भत ू ेषु – in every living being परमात्मा is there.
There is no distance between जीवात्मा and परमात्मा. Therefore
there is no merger in the form of a physical event. Then what is
merger? It is nothing but dropping the notion that परमात्मा is
away which is purely intellectual phenomenon because notion
belongs to बुक्षद्ध all erroneous notions, false notions belong to
the intellect and the intellect should drop the notion based on
understanding. Knowledge based dropping of the notion that
परमात्मा is far away alone is merger. Therefore यम मा राज
says एषः आत्मा िवेषु भत ू ेषु वता ते. In what form? In the form of
the awareness. And what is its ‘job’? Its ‘job’ is being the
witness of presence of thoughts in the mind as well as the
absence of thoughts. And in which अवस्र्ा? जाग्रत्, स्वप्ि,
िुषुनि or िमान ? General answer would be तुरीयम्, the fourth
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
state where आत्मा will come. No. That आत्मा is available in
जाग्रत्, स्वप्ि and िुषुनि. And if you want to go to िमान there
also it is there. But you don’t require िमान for the आत्मा to
be evident, in fact आत्मा is evident as Consciousness in all the
three states. In fact everything else is evident because of आत्मा
only.
प्रनतबो नवनदतम् मतम् ॥ केिोपनिषत् २-४ ॥
But what is the tragedy? यम मा राज as a गुरु is worried. This
आत्मा is िढ ू ः – this self-effulgent Consciousness is as though
concealed, as though covered. What do you mean by covering
of the आत्मा? If you really analyze आत्मा can never be covered
by anything because to cover the cover must be bigger than the
covered. And since there is nothing bigger than आत्मा how can
it be covered. And therefore covering is within quotation, what
is that? The thoughts in our mind distract our attention and
therefore we are always preoccupied with one thought or the
other, we never turn our attention to the Consciousness which
illumines the thought. If I ask what is here you will tell
everything except the light. Therefore I can say that hand is
figuratively covering the hand by drawing your attention to the
hand. And to give another example the movie characters are
covering the screen as it were by drawing your attention to the
characters that you lose sight of the screen. Similarly when I
look at myself I am preoccupied with अतिमय sometimes,
प्राणमय sometimes, मिोमय often times, नवज्ञािमय rarely,
आितदमय most. Thus we are absorbed in the five कोशs that
we lose sight of the चैततयम्. And therefore िढ ू ः – it is

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
concealed because of our extroverted nature. And therefore ि
प्रकाशते – आत्मा is not evident for the person of extroverted
nature. And therefore what is required? You need not bring the
आत्मा, to reveal the light to you I need not invite the light to the
hand because light is already there. In fact even when you are
talking about the hand you are looking at the light also.
Therefore hand is also evident, light is also evident, both are
evident what is required is turning your attention from the hand
aspect to the already evident light aspect. I am requesting you
to turn your attention from the hand part to the light part. And
once you have turned your attention I can talk about light and
say light is not limited, light is al-pervading, light is not polluted
by the hand, light is indivisible, light is formless. I can talk
about the light not as a new entity but something which you are
all the time perceiving. Similarly I am not introducing a new
Consciousness, Consciousness is already there. I am only
asking you to turn your attention to the already evident
Consciousness. And once your attention is turned I can say that
Consciousness is limitless, that Consciousness is indivisible
and ultimately that Consciousness is your real nature. But
यम मा राज says to turn your attention to Consciousness you
require a very subtle mind. A gross mind will be absorbed in
the body or the mind, a gross mind can turn its attention to the
thoughts also, a gross mind can turn its attention to even the
blankness but a subtle mind alone can turn its attention to the
ever evident Consciousness. How do you turn your attention?
In the form of owning up. I am not the thought, but I am the
awareness because of which the thought is awarded. I am not
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
the body, but I am the awareness because of which the body is
sentient. I am not even blankness obtaining in meditation but I
am the awareness which pervades the blankness and which
illumines the blankness. This ‘I am the awareness’ owning up
requires an extremely sensitive subtle mind. Therefore he says
ि प्रकाशते – this awareness is not evident for a स्र्ल ू बुक्षद्ध,
gross mind cannot recognize. Whereas दृश्यते – the very same
awareness is owned up as अहम् चैततयम् अक्षस्म, नचदाितदरूपः
नशवोऽहम् नशवोऽहम्. ि मे द्वेषरािौ – I don’t have रागद्वेष,
because they belong to the mind as they are thoughts, ि मे
लोभमोहौ मदो िैव मे िैव मात्िया भावः, they all belong to the
mind. Then who am I? I am neither the mind nor those thoughts
but I am the awareness, unpolluted awareness, spreading over
those thoughts and making those thoughts known exactly like
the light spreading over the hand unpollutedly and making the
hand known. Therefore दृश्यते – it is owned up. By what?
अग्र्यया बुद्ध्या – with the help of a very sharp intellect which
can make fine distinction between thought and Consciousness
in the thought, like separating light and hand. Separation cannot
be done physically, you have to use your intellect to separate.
Similarly thought and Consciousness have to be separated in
terms of understanding. I should see the thought rising and
setting whereas Consciousness does not rise and set. Thought
arises Consciousness is, thought sets Consciousness is. When
thought is Consciousness illumines the thought, when the
thought is resolved still Consciousness is illumining the
thoughtless state. Therefore thought is object, Consciousness is
subject. Thought is illumined, Consciousness is illuminator. To
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
discriminate it you require a very fine intellect. And therefore
यम मा राज says अग्र्यया – like laser surgery is required for eye
operation and you commit a smallest mistake eyes are gone.
Similarly thought and Consciousness discrimination requires a
very sharp intellect. And िक्ष्ू मया – not only should it be sharp
but it should be subtle also. Why it should be subtle? The reason
is this. When you want to separate two objects it is relatively
easier. You can use your intellect and you can see like light is
different and hand is different. You can understand because
both are objects. But when I ask you to differentiate thought
and Consciousness what mistake generally you will commit?
They want to know pure Consciousness separated from
thought. Therefore what do they do? Sit in meditation. Deep
meditation with eyes closed tightly. They remove all the
thoughts and according to their calculation previously there was
thought and Consciousness, I have removed all the thoughts so
Consciousness should be left over. And therefore after
removing all the thoughts they look for thoughtless pure
Consciousness. And they don’t find anything. The problem is
when we want to distinguish thought and Consciousness we
remove the thought and look for Consciousness but what is
required is if you remove thought you don’t look for
Consciousness you say that left out Consciousness is myself.
You don’t look for it, you say that ‘the looker’ is the left out
Consciousness. So therefore objectification tendency should be
dropped. Looking for a mystic experience is a tendency. That
tendency should be dropped. A flashy change happening we
look for that. That should drop. In fact all sorts of expectations
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
should drop. And what is required? When the thoughts are gone
what is left out is not something to be seen but I, the seer. And
later when the thoughts come I am aware of the thoughts. When
the thoughts are not there I am left behind. And a mind which
can drop the tendency of objectification that mind is called a
subtle mind. And therefore यम मा राज says िक्ष्ू मया – with the
help of a िक्ष्ू म बुक्षद्ध which is free from objectification tendency,
objectification orientation and which is very sharp with the help
of such a mind, िक्ष्ू मदनशा नभः – by those seekers, िक्ष्ू मदनशा s,
those who are the seers of the subtle आत्मा, by those seers the
आत्मा is known as अहम् एव आत्मा. Continuing;
मतर 1-3-13
यच्छे द्वाङ्मििी प्राज्ञस्तद्यच्छे ज्ज्ञाि आत्मनि ।
ज्ञािमात्मनि महनत नियच्छे िद्यच्छे च्छातत आत्मनि ॥ १३ ॥
So in the previous मतर यम मा राज said that one requires
िक्ष्ू म अग्र्या बुक्षद्ध, a sharp and a subtle intellect is required. That
मतर is very important मतर because the उपनिषत् clearly says
mind is required for आत्मज्ञािम्. Many people think that mind
cannot know the आत्मा and therefore you have to drop the mind
for Self-realization. This is another misconception in spiritual
field, they say mind cannot know the आत्मा because mind is a
limited instrument, limited instrument cannot know the
limitless and therefore you have to transcend the mind and that
is what they define as िमान . In िमान you have transcended
the mind then alone Self-realization is possible. Whereas
उपनिषत् clearly says you cannot transcend the mind, you
cannot drop the mind, you have to use the mind alone to know
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
the आत्मा. दृश्यते तु अग्र्यया बुद्ध्या – through बुक्षद्ध alone you
have to know. Then शङ्कराचाया elsewhere raises a question.
In the scriptures themselves elsewhere it is said the mind cannot
know the आत्मा. Now here you are saying the mind alone has
to know the आत्मा. Isn’t it a contradiction? In केिोपनिषत् it is
said
यतमििा ि मिुते ॥ केिोपनिषत् १-६ ॥
ि तर चक्षुिाच्छनत ि वाग्िच्छनत िो मिः ॥ केिोपनिषत् ३ ॥
यतो वाचो निवता तते । अप्राप्य मििा िह ॥ तैनिरीयोपनिषत् २-४
॥
Mind cannot know. And here you say that mind alone has to
know. How do you resolve this contradiction? Several answers
are given. The simplest answer given by शङ्कराचाया is when
the scriptures say the mind cannot know it means unprepared
mind cannot know. A gross and blunt mind cannot know. And
then the उपनिषत् says mind alone has to know. What should
you say अग्र्यया िक्ष्ू मया बुद्ध्या. Where is contradiction? So
mind cannot know means unprepared mind cannot know. Mind
can know means prepared mind alone has to know.
मििैवािुििव्यम् ॥ बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् ४-४-१९ ॥
एषोऽणुरात्मा चेतिा वेनदतव्यः ॥ मुण्डकोपनिषत् ३-१-९ ॥
With mind alone has to know but by prepared mind. Now what
is our next question? How to get a prepared mind? How to get
अग्र्या िक्ष्ू मा बुक्षद्ध? For that several िा िs are said. Here the
teacher is emphasizing meditation as a method for preparing the
mind. Very careful, meditation not as a method for knowing the
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
आत्मा. That we do not accept. Meditation can never be used for
knowing the आत्मा. आत्मा has to be known only through the
िुरु-शास्त्र-उपदेश, through the teaching of the िुरु and शास्त्रs
alone knowledge has to take place. But for the िुरु-शास्त्र-
उपदेश to work you require a prepared mind. Meditation helps
in preparing the mind. And this meditation is of two types. One
is you prepare the mind before श्रवणम् itself, and that
meditation is called उपाििम्. उपािि is practicing meditation
before coming to वेदातत in the form of ििुण ईश्वर ध्यािम् like
मानस पर् ू ा, मानस र्प, मानस पारायणम्, all उपाििs will
make the mind sensitive, subtle, sharp, expanded, unified. In
fact, you will see varieties of उपाििs later in तैनिरीयोपनिषत्.
So this is the normal method. उपािि, preparation of the mind,
and you do श्रवणम् and you understand. Thereafter you do not
require anything. But suppose a person comes to श्रवणम्
through the back door that means without going through
उपािि preparation. The वेद says that if you have not practiced
उपािि before Vedantic study you will have to practice
meditation after Vedantic study, and this meditation is called
निनदध्यािि ध्यािम्. Either practice उपािि ध्यािम् before or
practice निनदध्याििम् ध्यािम् after. What will happen if you
have not practiced उपािि ध्यािम् before? Your Vedantic study
will remain undigested in the corner. You will find knowledge
is there, you are a scholar but scholarly संसारर. Previously you
were unscholarly संसारर, now scholarly संसारर making you
more miserable. And therefore what will निनदध्याििम् do?
निनदध्याििम् will go to the undigested knowledge which is
sitting in a corner and it will act upon the knowledge and it will
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
assimilate the knowledge and spread over your entire system.
So do I require निनदध्याििम् or not depends upon whether I
have come to वेदातत after preparation or before preparation.
And generally, one आचायु says, people will come without
preparation only. And therefore निनदध्याििम् becomes
compulsory for most of them. And therefore in this मन्त्र
निनदध्याििम् ध्यािम् is hinted at. In fact, the sixth chapter of
the गीता is based on such मन्त्रs from कठोपनिषत् only. At two
three places of कठोपनिषत् निनदध्याििम् is hinted. यच्छे त्
वाङ् मििी प्राज्ञः. प्राज्ञः means one who has done श्रवणम्, and
therefore knowledge is there, but it is not digested, it remains
as scholarship only, it has not blessed that person. And such a
person is called ज्ञानि, but he is not a ज्ञािनिष्ठः. ज्ञानि will not
get full benefit, ज्ञािनिष्ठः alone will get benefit. And that प्राज्ञः
one who has gone through श्रवणमििम्, वाक् मििी यच्छे त् –
he should sit silently in a place. This indicates he has to
withdraw from all the functions of ज्ञािेनतियs and कमेनतियs.
वाक् is one of the कमेनतियs; organ of speech. And organ of
speech represents all the ten organs. He should withdraw.
Where should he bring that? मििी – into his mind, the मिोमय
कोश. So the प्राणमय कोश activities should be withdrawn to
मिोमय कोश. यच्छे त् means one should withdraw. Learn to sit
silently for some time. तत् ज्ञाि आत्मनि यच्छे त् – that mind one
should withdraw to ज्ञाि आत्मनि – नवज्ञािमय कोश, so one
should withdraw from मिोमय कोश to नवज्ञािमय कोश. That
means from इदम् वक्षृ त्त to अहम् वक्षृ त्त. From the thought centered
on the objective world he should come to the thought centered
on himself. So इदम् वक्षृ त्त is मिोमय कोश, अहम् वक्षृ त्त is
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
नवज्ञािमय कोश. Then ज्ञािं महनत आत्मनि नियच्छे त् – that वक्षृ त्त
नवज्ञािमय कोश one should resolve or withdraw into महनत
आत्मनि – िमनि intellect, i.e., the नहरण्यिभा , the total. What
does it mean? It is nothing but the recognition of the fact that
there is no individual intellect separate from the total intellect.
It is like when you look at तनमळ्िाडु as one of the states you
look at the same land and say this is तनमळ्िाडु and then I say
you look at the very same place but see it as India. In this what
change has taken place? Your eyes are seeing the same place
only but instead of looking at it as तनमळ्िाडु you see it as India
in which vision there is no तनमळ्िाडु separate from India. Then
I tell you look at the same place and see it as Asia. An attitudinal
change. Similarly instead of looking at your intellect as an
individual intellect you learn to look at it as the िमनि बुनद्ध. So
महनत आत्मनि नियच्छे त्. Then तत् यच्छे त् शातत आत्मनि –
from that intellect, which is full of thoughts, turn your attention
to the शातत आत्मा, the Consciousness which is the witness of
the intellect and the thoughts. Like turning the attention to the
light. Instead of seeing the thoughts think of the Consciousness,
not objectifying the Consciousness. Own up the Consciousness
because of which all the thoughts are illumined. Not only in my
mind but the thoughts are illumined in all the minds. That
means the Consciousness which is the same behind all the
intellect. Thus, you gradually fall back unto your Self as the
observer I. Turning the attention from the observed to the
observer. This practice is called निनदध्याििम्. Therefore तत्
शातत आत्मनि यच्छे त्. And having come to the Consciousness
I dwell upon that by claiming I am not limited by the
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
dimensions of the body. When I say ‘I’ it refers to the
Consciousness part only. Then you say I am not polluted by the
impurities of the body; so limitless I am, uncontaminated I am,
indivisible I am. Thus owning up my higher nature and also
disowning the lower part. Disowning is this body is an
incidental thing which will be here for some time and whether
I like or not it will disintegrate but I the चैततय अंश will not
disintegrate. The only change that can happen is as long as the
body is available I will be able to say I am Consciousness, when
the body is not there I cannot say I am Consciousness but
whether I say it or not I am Consciousness. This practice is
called निनदध्याििम्. So you spend time on निनदध्याििम् until
you find this knowledge transforms yours personality. How
long will it take? Depends. There is no uniform rule, it all
depends upon the obstacles. It is none of your concern to think
how long will it take, enjoy owning up this teaching. Enjoy the
journey itself without thinking of the destination or time or
duration. This is निनदध्याििम् मतर.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 1-3-13
यच्छे द्वाङ्मििी प्राज्ञस्तद्यच्छे ज्ज्ञाि आत्मनि ।
ज्ञािमात्मनि महनत नियच्छे िद्यच्छे च्छातत आत्मनि ॥ १३ ॥
यम मा राज the teacher gave his student िनचकेति्
आत्मज्ञािम् by using the method of पञ्चकोश क्षववेक. This was
done in two मतरs the tenth and the eleventh मतर. And then
यम मा राज points out that if the method of पञ्चकोश क्षववेक
should work a person should have a very subtle mind or subtle
intellect. Not only the intellect must be sharp it should be subtle
also. By subtle intellect what we mean is that it should be free
from the tendency of objectification which is the orientation of
any ordinary intellect. When it listens to something the intellect
forms a concept and it assumes that it is an object that is being
talked about. And having formed a concept the intellect later
wants to come in direct contact with that. The more the
description the more your visualization, and having visualized
you go that one day that object of visualization will come
straight in front of you. This objectification tendency is called
बक्षहमु खत्वम्. And this बक्षहमु खत्वम् should go away
अन्तमु खत्वम् should come. And for this purpose alone
उपाििs are prescribed before coming to वेदातत. And if a
person has not practiced sufficient उपािि this बक्षहमु खत्व
obstacle will be there. And if such an obstacle is there a student
who comes to वेदातत with this obstacle will receive the
knowledge but still he will call it an intellectual knowledge,
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
objective knowledge, theoretical knowledge he will use all such
expressions, the knowledge will not be internalized. And
therefore some other िा ि should be done to remove the
obstacle of बक्षहमु खत्वम्, to develop the faculty of
अन्तमु खत्वम् and therefore निनदध्याििम् is prescribed to
compensate for the lack of उपािि. And as I said in the last
class if a person has done sufficient उपािि then श्रवणम् itself
is enough निनदध्याििम् is not required. If sufficient उपािि is
not done it should be compensated by निनदध्याििम्. How does
one know whether one needs निनदध्याििम्? The only method
of knowing is if श्रवणम् itself transforms my personality, if I get
the वेदातत फलम् directly through श्रवणम् and I am able to see
the change in the mind then it means I don’t require
निनदध्याििम्. As long as I feel वेदातत is a theory it will not
work for the practical problems of life, then I require this
process of making the mind subtle. Therefore I myself have to
decide whether I require निनदध्याििम् or not. I should ask the
question whether वेदातत has transformed my personality, to the
extent it transforms to that extent I have सक्ष्ू मता. And therefore
यम मा राज prescribed निनदध्याििम् for those who require, it
is not for all the people but for the required ones. Upto this we
saw. Continuing;
मतर 1-3-14
उनिष्ठत जाग्रत प्राप्य वरानतिबो त ।
क्षुरस्य ारा निनशता दुरत्यया दुिं पर्स्तत्कवयो वदनतत ॥ १४ ॥

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
Another very beautiful and comprehensive मतर which
talks about the entire range of spiritual िा िs. It is very
parallel to the मुण्डकोपनिषत् मतर,
परीक्ष्य लोकाि् कमा नचताि् ब्रह्मणो निवेदमायात् ॥
मुण्डकोपनिषत् १-२-१२ ॥
What is the first stage of िा ि? The first stage is knowing our
problem. before dealing with any particular िा ि we have to
know what exactly we need. If a person has got some disease
any doctors’ first approach is not treating the disease but doing
diagnosis. Because one headache can be caused because of
twenty-four thousand reasons. Therefore a doctor cannot give a
treatment without finding the problem and therefore the first
stage is diagnoses the problem. And the only method is
कमा योि. कमा योि way of life will help us in knowing what
exactly we need. It will purify and sensitize the mind and it will
make us think whether the problem is with the world or within
us. An immature mind finds fault with everything in the
creation except myself. I am very intelligent in blaming others
including God, including planets, including lines on the hand,
except ourselves. कमा योि will make the problem very clear
that the problem is I have not strengthened myself, Self-
ignorance is the problem. So we have to arrive at the problem
as अज्ञािम्.
अज्ञािेि आवतृ म् ज्ञािम् तेि मुह्यनतत जततवः ॥ िीता ५-१५ ॥
कृष्ण tells in the fifth chapter all living beings are suffering
because of only one problem अज्ञाि, ignorance of oneself. so
this discovery itself is a great discovery. And that is here
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
indicated as उनिष्ठत wake up to your problem, recognize your
problem, diagnose your problem as Self-ignorance. How long
will it take? It depends. For some people it takes years, for some
people decades, for some people centuries, for some people
र्न्मs.
अिेक-जतम-िंनिद्धः ॥ िीता ६-४५ ॥
This is called उनिष्ठत recognize your Self-ignorance. Then
what is the next stage? जाग्रत. Once you have understood that
your problem is ignorance of yourself then the next stage is
wake up to your nature, ever free nature, ever pure nature, ever
secure nature, ever wonderful nature. Wake up to your nature
just as a dreamer who is suffering in a dream has to wake up to
his waker’s nature comfortably lying down in an air-
conditioned room on a comfortable bed. But in the dream he is
suffering because of various problems. The dreamer gets over
the problem only by waking up to his comfortable nature.
Therefore जाग्रत् means ज्ञाियोि िा ि which is the means to
wake up to your nature. The first stage is wake up to your
problem, know your problem through कमा योि and the second
is know your nature through ज्ञाियोि. And knowing the nature
alone is solving the problem. thus in one line कमा योि and
ज्ञाियोि both stages of िा ि are pointed out. Now the next
question is how can I wake up to my nature. How will I know
my nature? Suppose I go on following कमा योि will I get the
knowledge one day suddenly? Will the knowledge dawn? Will
I develop intuitive power to recognize the Self? How does the
knowledge come? Will it happen like hair growing? यम मा राज

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
says knowledge never happens. Aging happens, hunger
happens, death happens, everything will happen in time
knowledge will never happen, you have to make it to happen.
What should I do to make it happen? प्राप्य वराि् निबो त. वर
means िुरु. Literally वर means श्रेष्ठ पुरुष. And श्रेष्ठ पुरुष
means ज्ञानि पुरुष, श्रोनरयब्रह्मनिष्ठ ॥ मुण्डकोपनिषत् १-२-१२
॥
तनद्वज्ञािार्ं ि िुरुमेवानभिच्छे त् ॥ मुण्डकोपनिषत् १-२-१२ ॥
was said there, instead of िुरु it is said here वराि् प्राप्य. You
should go to your िुरु reverentially. That is why in our पुराणs
even the greatest emperor has to go to the आचाया . Therefore
नवन वदुपितिः. निबो त – it is not enough you go to a िुरु,
you should ask for this knowledge. अ ीनह भिवो ब्रह्मक्षवद्यां
वररष्ठाम्.
नशष्यस्तेऽहं शान मां त्वां प्रपतिम् ॥ िीता २-७ ॥
We have to ask for this knowledge. Then what will िुरु do?
उपदेक्ष्यनतत ते ज्ञािं ज्ञानििस्तववदनशा िः ॥ िीता ४-३४ ॥
If he is a traditional आचायु he knows how to give knowledge.
The only way of giving knowledge is by systematic and
consistent teaching for a length of time. Just as the moment
अजा ुि surrendered कृष्ण gave knowledge not by touching his
head, etc. Knowledge cannot be transferred by any short cut
method. If there is a short cut कृष्ण would have known that, all
the Upanishadic आचायु s would have known that. यम मा राज
himself would have taught िनचकेति् by touching. But the very
fact that he teaches systematically indicates a सम्प्रदाय गुरु
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
knows that the knowledge is given through systematic
consistent teaching until the student understands अहम्
ब्रह्माक्षस्म. And therefore निबो त – श्रवणमननाभ्याम् निबो त.
May you know through श्रवणमननम्. He says this pursuit of
ज्ञाियोि is extremely difficult. पर्ः दुिं कवयः वदनतत. पर्ः
means ज्ञािमािा , Self-knowledge दुिाम् – difficult to pass
through, very difficult to tread. कवयः वदनतत – thus the wise
people declare, Vedantic आचायु s declare. And how difficult is
it? An example is given. क्षुरस्य निनशता ारा इव. क्षुर means a
razor. From this only barber gets the name क्षुरकः because he
uses the razor. What type of razor? निनशता ारा – a razor
whose edge is sharp. Imagine such a razor is there and you are
asked to walk over that. Is it possible? दुरत्यया – just as it is
extremely difficult to walk through the sharpened razor’s edge
similarly ज्ञािमािा also is दुिाम्. And therefore what will be our
conclusion? We are waiting for some excuse! Because
ज्ञािमािा is difficult we will avoid that. Then there are people
waiting outside telling so many other योगs, therefore we will
say because ज्ञािमािा is difficult you skip that and approach
other मािा s. For that alone our answer, you should know very
clearly, ज्ञािमािा cannot be avoided because ज्ञािात् एव तु
कैवल्यम्. There are no other paths for liberation.
िातयः पतर्ाः नवद्यतेऽयिाय ॥ पुरुषिक्त
ू म् १७ ॥
Therefore you cannot skip ज्ञािमािा . Then what are we
supposed to do? You say ज्ञािमािा is very difficult and you say
ज्ञािमािा cannot be skipped also. Then what are we supposed
to do? Our answer is make ज्ञािमािा easy. If ज्ञािमािा is

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
difficult your job is not skipping it but making it easy. How to
make ज्ञािमािा easy? We have an answer. ज्ञािमािा can be
made easier by preparing your personality. So therefore prepare
yourself. So thus anything is difficult for the unprepared and
anything is easy for the prepared. Therefore if somebody asks
ज्ञाियोि is difficult or easy, we will ask a counter question for
whom. Our answer will be for the unprepared it is difficult and
for the prepared it is easy and if it is difficult for you it means
you are not prepared. Therefore prepare yourself make
ज्ञाियोि easy, follow it and be free. What is the preparation?
िा िचतुियिम्पनिः. How to get िा िचतुियिम्पनि?
Through कमा योि and उपािि. So follow कमा योि, follow
उपािि, thus prepare yourself, thus make ज्ञाियोि easy, then
follow ज्ञाियोि and be free. Therefore क्षुरस्य निनशता ारा इव
– like the razor it is sharp and difficult, similarly ज्ञाियोि is
difficult for the unprepared, therefore prepare. Continuing;
मतर 1-3-15
अश्दमस्पशा मरूपमव्ययं तर्ाऽरिं नित्यमित वच्च यत् ।
अिाद्यिततं महतः परं ध्रुवं निचाय्य ततमत्ृ युमुखात् प्रमुच्यते ॥ १५ ॥
Another very important मतर. One of the most important
मतरs of the entire कठोपनिषत्, one of the most important
मतरs of the entire Upanishadic literature itself. In this
यम मा राज gives the definition of ब्रह्मि,् the definition of
आत्मा. So wherever the definition of ब्रह्मि् or आत्मन् comes
they all are worth noting and if possible worth memorizing also.
In मुण्डकोपनिषत् also we saw

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
यिदिेश्यमग्राह्यमिोरमवणा मचक्षुःश्रोरं तदपानणपादम् ॥
मुण्डकोपनिषत् १-१-६ ॥
Very similar to that what is the nature of ब्रह्मि.् And here the
definition is given to show how ब्रह्मि् cannot be objectified.
And therefore if you look for ब्रह्मि् you are looking for
objectification. The more you ask for ब्रह्म अनुभव the more your
tendency for objectification gets reinforced. The more you tend
do that the more will be your failure because ब्रह्मि् happens to
be अश्दम् अस्पशा म् अरूपम् अरिम् अित वत् which means
ब्रह्मि् is free from five properties of sound, touch, form, taste
and smell which means ब्रह्मि् is not available for sensory
perception. ब्रह्म दशु नम् is not possible. अिानद अिततम् and
अव्ययम् – without birth, without death and without
intermediary modifications like growth, metamorphosis and
decay, व ा ते, नवपररणमते and अपक्षीयते all these are not there.
In short if you join these three words it means षड्नवकार रनहतम्
or free of six-fold modifications. And therefore only ध्रुवम् –
absolute, देशकाल अतीतम्. नित्यम् – eternal because it is free
from timewise limitation. And such a ब्रह्मि् you have to know.
Ans whatever you see outside has got श्द-स्पशा -रूप-रि-ित
because the outside objects are experienced through the five
sense organs and the five sense organs reveal only these five-
fold properties. If all these five properties are not there the sense
organs cannot objectify which means the entire external world
is not ब्रह्मि.् Then can we take any internal experience as
ब्रह्मि्? People talk about varieties of experiences in meditation
like देवs coming, varieties of lights coming, varieties of rings
coming, etc. All types of mystic experiences can anyone of
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
them be ब्रह्मि?् Cannot be because they are all arriving and
departing. Whereas ब्रह्मि् is defined as something which does
not rise and end. Therefore whatever you see outside or inside
you is not ब्रह्मि्. And if I have negated everything inside and
outside then what will your mind tend to conclude? That there
is no ब्रह्मि्. Then the teacher says it is there but it is neither
outside you nor inside you. It is you. You are ब्रह्मि्. I, the
experiencer of everything am ब्रह्मि्. It is never the experienced,
it is ever the experiencer. दृग् एव न तु दृश्यते. It is ever the seer,
never the seen. Ever the hearer, never the heard. In short, I am
ब्रह्मि्. So it is available only for owning up, never for
objectification. निचाय्य – having ‘known’ in this manner that I
am ब्रह्मि्, आत्मभावेन अपरोितया ज्ञात्वा, अपरोक्षि कृत्य.
मत्ृ युमुखात् प्रमुच्यते – you will be free from the grip of
कालतत्वम्. You will be free from the grip of यम मा राज. So
यम मा राज says if you gain Self-knowledge I will release you.
I will not be able to do anything to you. Then will I become
immortal? If you have understood that your nature is immortal
where is the question of ‘become immortal’. He will be free
from the notion that I am mortal. Freedom is not from mortality,
freedom is from the notion that I am mortal. This freedom from
the notion is called जीवतमुनक्त. महतः परम्. महत् standing for
क्षहरण्यगभु , the समक्षट intellect. This word we have already seen
in the मतर eleven. Continuing;
मतर 1-3-16
िानचकेतमुपाख्यािं मत्ृ युप्रोक्तँ ििातिम् ।
उक्त्वा श्रुत्वा च मे ावी ब्रह्मलोके महीयते ॥ १६ ॥

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
Now the first chapter is going to be concluded.
Therefore the उपनिषत् now comes. So you have to imagine that
यम मा राज and िनचकेति् have gone for a break. Now the
उपनिषत् comes and tells what will be the benefit of listening to
the first chapter of कठोपनिषत्. It says िानचकेतम् उपाख्यािम्
– so this is a story or a dialogue undertaken by िनचकेति्, the
disciple and मत्ृ युप्रोक्तम् – given out by यम मा राज. What is the
glory of this teaching? ििातिम् – is eternal. उपनिषत् is
quoting the story which is older than the उपनिषत्. Therefore
even though the story is very ancient it is alive and kicking even
now in the twenty-first century. उक्त्वा श्रुत्वा च – the benefit is
for the student also, and also the teacher. By teaching or by
imparting this teaching the िुरु will get the benefit and by
listening to this teaching the student will get the benefit. Thus
by both imparting and receiving मे ावी – that intelligent person,
wise person, discriminative person as he chose to listen.
ब्रह्मलोके महीयते. ब्रह्मलोके महीयते has two meanings. If the
dialogue is a successful interaction then the benefit is ज्ञािम्
and मोक्ष. Therefore ब्रह्मलोके is equal to ब्रह्मक्षण, in परं ब्रह्म.
महीयते – he gets established and glorified in परं ब्रह्म. Grasping
the teaching is the success of the dialogue. Suppose the
dialogue is not successful, the student could not grasp the
teaching, then also doesn’t matter the student will get क्रममुनक्त.
He will straightaway go to ब्रह्मलोक, continue the classes under
ब्रह्मानज. And therefore ब्रह्मलोके महीयते means he goes to
ब्रह्मलोक, gets glorified, gains knowledge and later he will get
मोक्ष. That means मोक्ष is definite. The same idea is further
repeated in the last मतर.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
मतर 1-3-17
य इमं परमं िुह्यं श्रावयेद् ब्रह्मिंिनद ।
प्रयतः श्राद्धकाले वा तदाितत्याय कल्पते ।
तदाितत्याय कल्पत इनत ॥ १७ ॥
The फलश्रुक्षत continues. The उपनिषत् is giving this
फलम्. Here the उपनिषत् says even the simple पारायणम् of this
chapter is highly beneficial. Even if a person does not know the
meaning, even if a person does not study the meaning of this, it
does not matter, simple पारायणम् of this will give benefit. That
is said here. यः इमं परमं िुह्यं श्रावयेत् – suppose a साधक, a
spiritual seeker reads out this first chapter. श्रावयेत् means
reading out aloud for somebody else to hear. Suppose a person
reads out this कठोपनिषत् which is परमं िुह्यम् – the supreme
secret because it is dealing with the supreme secret ब्रह्मि्,
ब्रह्मिंिनद – for those आनस्तक people, for the वैनदक people
who have the value for the Vedic words. That is why वेदघोष
was kept in our tradition and ब्राह्मण वणा had only one duty of
वेद पारायणम्. And वेद has to be always loudly chanted because
according to tradition the very Vedic words and the vibrations
will benefit everyone. And this required faith. And therefore
chanting in front of anybody will not give benefit, ब्रह्मिंिनद –
in an assembly of ब्राह्मणs, here ब्राह्मणs means वैनदकs, those
people who have faith in the efficacy of वेद मतरs, in a cultured
assembly. And not only the people should be cultured, how
should one do the पारायणम्, प्रयतः – with purity, that means
with physical purity having taken bath properly and also with
mental purity suppose a person reads this कठोपनिषत्, तत्

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
आितत्याय कल्पते – that very पारायणम् will give him
अिततफलम्, infinite फलम्, मोक्ष फलम्. So what will be your
next question? So by merely reading this उपनिषत् if we will
get मोक्ष, why should I attend the class. It will not give मोक्ष
directly, this very पारायणम् will purify the mind, and develop
an interest in knowing the meaning. Once you get interest you
will try study the उपनिषत.् Thus पारायणम् परम्परया in due
course it will lead into अिततफलम्. Or the उपनिषत् gives an
alternative. श्राद्धकाले वा – this उपनिषत् पारायणम् can be done
during the श्राद्ध ceremony also. In the presence of श्राद्ध ब्राह्मणs
if कठोपनिषत् is read then that पारायणम् will have extra
प्रयोर्नम्. Other days also it will have प्रयोर्नम् but श्राद्धकाले
more. Like during ग्रहणम् र्प is supposed to give extraordinary
benefit. That फलम् is repeated here. आितत्याय कल्पते
आितत्याय कल्पत इनत – the repetition to indicate the end of
the first chapter. Thus with फलश्रुक्षत the first chapter of
कठोपनिषत् ends.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
Summary of the first chapter
As I had mentioned in the last class I will give you the
summary of the first chapter of कठोपनिषत्. The first chapter
consists of three sections, each section is known as a वल्ली.
First we will see the gist of the first वल्ली. In this वल्ली in the
first nine मतरs the उपनिषत् presents a story. A ब्राह्मण by name
वाजश्रवि् performs a याि known as नवश्वनजत् याि. At the end
of the याि he has to give all his possessions as दनक्षणा. He was
getting ready with his old cows to be given as दनक्षणा to the
priests. At that time his son िनचकेति् interferes and asks, “O
father, I am better than these miserable cows. And since you
have to give all your possessions as दनक्षणा before you
distribute those cows, you have to give me as दनक्षणा to
someone.” He repeatedly says this to his father and his father in
a moment of irritation says I am going to send you to
यम मा राज as दनक्षणा. िनचकेति् takes these words seriously
and goes to यमलोक. This is the story part preparing us for the
teaching. So since यम मा राज had gone out िनचकेति् was
forced to stay outside because there were no male members
inside the house and therefore decently िनचकेति् chooses to
remain outside. यम मा राज comes after three days and feels
extremely bad that an honorable guest, a ब्रह्मचारर boy was
forced to remain outside even without food. And therefore
यम मा राज immediately calls िनचकेति् inside and does
पादपज ू ा etc. Because अक्षतक्षर् देवो भव is the Vedic injunction,

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
then he offers three boons for being outside for three days as a
compensation. This much story we find in the first nine मतरs.
Through this story the उपनिषत् conveys some important
values. The first value conveyed is श्रद्धा in the proper
performance of the rituals and giving proper दनक्षणा etc. So
िनचकेति् indirectly conveys if you are doing a ritual do it
properly and give proper दनक्षणा. The second thing is
िनचकेति् tells his father if you have promised me to send to
यम मा राज you have keep up the promise and allow me to go
to यमलोक. Once you give a word you should not eat your own
words. वाक्यपररपालनम् or सत्यम्. Then यम मा राज in spite of
his supreme position, a very important देवता, when it comes to
ू ा he respects िनचकेति् even though he is a small
अक्षतक्षर् पर्
boy only and worships him indicating the value of अक्षतक्षर् पर् ू ा
or अक्षतक्षर् देवो भव. So all these values are highlighted through
this story part. And then in the tenth and eleventh मतरs the first
boon of िनचकेति् is dealt with. िनचकेति् asks for his father’s
peace of mind. Because father must be wondering about the lot
of िनचकेति् because of all the people he has gone to
यम मा राज. And यम मा राज fulfilled his request. Through the
first boon the important value is indicated क्षपत ृ देवो भव.
िनचकेति् even after coming to यमलोक he was interested in
father’s well-being. Therefore क्षपतभ ृ नक्त, respect for the family,
parents that is also highlighted. Then from the मतरs twelve to
nineteen the उपनिषत् deals with the second boon through
िनचकेति् asked for a ritual for the benefit of the society.
Through this ritual a person can go to स्विा लोक. And not only
that by including उपािि or meditation the ritual can be made
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
more efficacious and it will help a person to reach even
ब्रह्मलोक. Thus स्विा लोक through ritual and ब्रह्मलोक through
ritual plus meditation. What type of meditation? नवराट् उपािि
or नवश्वरूप उपािि. यम मा राज teaches this ritual to िनचकेति्
which ritual is called नानचकेता ritual in the honor of his
brilliant student. िनचकेति् was brilliant student because he
heard the whole teaching and he repeated back to यम मा राज.
Thus through the second boon we get नानचकेता कमा plus नवराट्
उपािि. Through the second boon also an important value is
highlighted. After taking care of his family िनचकेति् was
interested in the well-being of the society. He was not a selfish
minded boy, he did not ask the boon connected to his own
personal needs, his personal desire is kept behind. He was
worried about the family, he was worried about the society, then
alone he thinks of himself. Thus from twelve to nineteen is the
second boon of उपाििकमा िमुच्चय. Then from मतरs twenty
to twenty-nine, i.e., upto the end of the first section we get the
third boon of Self-knowledge as well as the preparatory
qualifications. And यम मा राज wants to find out whether
िनचकेति् is prepared to receive Self-knowledge. That means
यम मा राज is prepared to give because यम मा राज happens to
be a ज्ञाक्षन. The only question is whether िनचकेति् is prepared.
Therefore यम मा राज gives a series of tests to िनचकेति् and
we find िनचकेति् successfully passes all those examinations
and he proves that he is qualified for this knowledge. The
qualifications highlighted are thus. िनचकेति् clearly
understands मोक्ष is a better goal than any other goal in life. This
is not blind assumption, but it is born of knowledge that अर्ा -
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
काम- मा , money-sense pleasures-पुण्यम् are perishable. And
therefore through मा अर्ा and काम a person may enjoy life for
some time but ultimately all of them will lead a human being
high and dry and more miserable than what was he before. And
िनचकेति् proves that this wisdom is very firm in him because
यम मा राज offers मा अर्ा and काम free of cost. He will tell I
will give you any amount of wealth, sense pleasures and पुण्यम्
all freely but only one condition you should not ask for मोक्ष.
What a temptation! The biggest temptation possible यम मा राज
and you find िनचकेति् without batting the eyelid then and
there he replies I don’t want to think a second time at all, I don’t
want any one of them, I am willing to reject all of them for the
sake of Self-knowledge. So thus िनचकेति् reveals he has got
discrimination, dispassion or detachment with regard to मा -
अर्ा -काम, and he is an intense मुमुक्षु, intense for liberation. So
thus आत्मनवद्या and आत्मनवद्या अन कारीत्वम् or preparatory
discipline are presented in these मतरs. Thus the story part and
the three boons are presented in the first वल्ली. In this वल्ली we
can identify some मतरs are as important मतरs worth
remembering. They are twentieth मतर where िनचकेति् asks
for Self-knowledge.
येयं प्रेते नवनचनकत्िा मिुष्ये अस्तीत्येके िायमस्तीनत चैके ।
एतनद्वद्यामिुनशिस्त्वयाहं वराणामेष वरस्ततृ ीयः ॥ २० ॥
So this is important because that is the question or request for
which the entire कठोपनिषत् has come. The next important
मतर is twenty-six wherein िनचकेति् reveals his maturity
pointing out
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
श्वोभावा मत्या स्य यदततकैतत्िवेनतियाणां जरयनतत तेजः ।
अनप िवं जीनवतमल्पमेव तवैव वाहास्तव ित्ृ यिीते ॥ २६ ॥
All अर्ा -काम and the pleasures gained through them are
seemingly good for us but ultimately their side-effects are
worse than their advantages. The consequences are worse than
their advantages. And the main consequence being they are all
capable for producing as much sorrow as much happiness they
can give. They are capable of causing addiction, they are
capable of weakening the will-power, they are capable of
causing sorrow. Then the twenty-seventh मतर also is a very
beautiful मतर
ि नविेि तपा णीयो मिुष्यो लप्स्यामहे नविमिाक्ष्म चेववा ।
जीनवष्यामो यावदीनशष्यनि त्वं वरस्तु मे वरणीयः ि एव ॥ २७ ॥
Especially the first line is a million dollar line in which
िनचकेति् clearly says that nobody will get contentment
through wealth. Any amount of wealth let a person acquire a
person will never be satisfied. Instead of looking at other people
with lesser wealth he will only look at some others who have
got more and will be planning for next crore of rupee. Money
cannot give तक्षृ प्त. This is a very important statement coming
from a nine-year old boy. So a mature head in a young
shoulders. So thus these three are important मतरs. And with
this the first वल्ली is over.
And now we will enter the second वल्ली. In this वल्ली
from मतर one to thirteen we get some general observations
from the उपनिषत् itself. The dialog is kept aside and the
teaching is kept aside, and some general observations are made
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
which are all important. The उपनिषत् talks about the glory of
the Vedantic student. Any Vedantic student has to be
congratulated because coming to वेदातत itself requires
tremendous maturity. अर्ा , काम and मा themselves will take
our entire lifetime. Therefore most of the people are busy
running after अर्ा , काम and मा . Therefore even finding time
for वेदातत is almost impossible. And generally the tendency
will be after completing all these we will come to वेदातत. And
we will generally find this will permanently continue and
therefore generally the procrastinated subject matter is वेदातत.
And if a person should keep aside all the मा -अर्ा -कामs and
chose to come to वेदातत उपनिषत् says यम मा राज himself says
all Vedantic students can pat themselves on behalf of the िुरु.
This is नशष्य स्तुनतः – glorification or the greatness of the
Vedantic student.
Next one is the greatness of the Vedantic teacher. The
greatness of the Vedantic teacher is his two-fold qualities –
श्रोनरयत्वम् and ब्रह्मनिष्ठत्वम्. श्रोनरयत्वम् is the skill and
capacity to communicate this teaching which cannot be
ordinarily communicated. आत्मा is a subject matter which is
not available for verbal description. Therefore it is the most
abstract and uncommunicable subject matter. And such an
uncommunicable subject matter if a िुरु communicates indeed
आिया ः वक्ता, great indeed is that आिया . The second glory is
the teacher can communicate this knowledge successfully only
under one condition. The teacher wants to point out to the
student that you are the infinite आत्मा. Don’t try to come across
that infinite आत्मा, don’t go in search of the infinite. What you
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
are searching for is you, yourself. Infinite आत्मा means पण ू ा त्वम्
you are, शानतत you are, security you are, contentment you are,
आितद you are, therefore never search outside for these things.
Never seek security outside. Never seek शानतत outside. This is
the teaching. And if the teacher has to say you are आनन्द
स्वरूप what is the precondition for that? If the teacher has to
say you are आनन्द the teacher must have discovered the fact
that I am आनन्द. Suppose crying I say you are आनन्द, which
student is going to buy that? When the teacher himself is
miserable how can he say you are आनन्द. Therefore one
condition in Vedantic teaching is the teacher must be one with
what he is teaching; unlike other sciences. When a teacher is
teaching microbiology, he is not a micro thank god. So in all
other sciences what he teaches and what he is they are different.
This is the most unique subject matter wherein what he teaches
and what he is have to be one and the same. I am teaching
शानतत, I must be the embodiment of शानतत. I am teaching
पणू ा त्वम्, I must be the embodiment of पण ू ा त्वम्. Such a िुरु is
called ब्रह्मनिष्ठ. In कठोपनिषत् language अितय िुरु.
अितयप्रोक्ते िनतरर िानस्त अणीयातह्यतक्या मणुप्रमाणात् ॥
कठोपनिषत् १-२-८ ॥
These are the two glories as well as qualifications of the teacher.
Then the next observation the उपनिषत् makes is
glorification of the teaching itself. The greatness of this
teaching. This is not available for any one of the regular means
of knowledge. This is a unique knowledge which can never be
derived through all the conventional methods of knowing like
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
observation, logic etc. So all the material sciences of the world
use certain conventional methods for deriving knowledge like
observation, and to improve the observation various types of
instruments and based on observed data varieties of reasoning,
calculation. The उपनिषत् says all those conventional methods
will not work for this knowledge because it is अपौरुषेय नवषयः,
not available for conventional methods of knowledge. So
प्रत्यक्ष्य, अिुमाि, अर्ाा पनि, उपमाि, अिुपलन् ः all these
प्रमाणम्s are useless. Then how can it be known? The only
method of knowing is through the िुरु-शास्त्र-उपदेश.
अितयप्रोक्ते िनतरर िानस्त. Very careful यम मा राज does not
say practice meditation, he doesn’t prescribe meditation as a
means of knowledge, he doesn’t prescribe intuition as a means
of knowledge. And what is the method of knowing? िुरु-शास्त्र-
उपदेश श्रवणम् or वेदातत-श्रवणम् alone will give rise to this
knowledge. This is the uniqueness of this teaching. And this is
नवद्या प्रशंसा. So नशष्य प्रशंसा, िुरु प्रशंसा and नवद्या प्रशंसा, these
are the three topics we find in मतरs one to thirteen.
Then in the fourteenth मतर the third boon of आत्मक्षवद्या
is presented once again in a very beautiful manner and therefore
this मतर is extremely important one.
अतयर माा दतयरा माा दतयरास्मात्कृताकृतात् ।
अतयर भत
ू ाच्च भव्याच्च यित्पश्यनि तद्वद ॥ कठोपनिषत् १-२-
१४ ॥
The very same third boon is represented here. Therefore the
fourteenth मतर is the third boon.

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
Then fifteen to seventeen the उपनिषत् talks about
ॐकार उपािि as a method of preparing the mind if the mind
is not prepared. This is an aside, topic, an incidental topic, a
प्रसङ्ग topic.
Then from the eighteenth मतर to twenty-fifth मतर, i.e.,
the end of the वल्ली यम मा राज gives the central teaching
which िनचकेति् has asked for. In fact from the eighteenth
मतर alone the real कठोपनिषत् begins. Just as the भिवद्गीता
begins from the second chapter eleventh verse similarly
कठोपनिषत् begins from the second वल्ली eighteenth मतर
onwards. In this important portion, pithy portion आत्मस्वरूपम्,
the nature of आत्मा, our real Self is brought out. And the
important six features of आत्मा mentioned here are as follows.
The first feature is आत्मा निनवा कार चैततयम्, my real nature is
changeless Consciousness. The physical body is not the real
me, it is the changing one. The mind is not the real me, because
it is constantly changing organ. Even intellect in not the real
me. The real me is the changeless Consciousness which is
inherent in the body-mind-complex. Then the next feature
talked about is आत्मा अकताा and thirdly अभोक्ता. आत्मा cannot
do any कमा , आत्मा an actionless principle and therefore there
are no कमा s for आत्मा – िनञ्चत, प्रार् , आिानम, all these
really कमा s do not belong to me at all. And since कमा s do not
belong to me कमा फलम् also do not belong to me. Since I am
not related to कमा I am called अकताा , since I am not related to
कमा फलम् I am called अभोक्ता आत्मा. Then the next feature
revealed is िवा -अन ष्ठािम् – this changeless Consciousness is
not only in my body, but it is inherent in the entire creation.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
Like the water which is inherent in all the waves, ocean,
bubbles etc., similarly the changeless Consciousness is all-
pervading and the inner core of everything.
अणोरणीयाि् महतो महीयाि् ॥ कठोपनिषत् १-२-२० ॥
It is behind the smallest atom also and it is behind the biggest
star also. Then the fifth feature is आत्मा दुनवा ज्ञेयत्वम् – not
easily comprehensible. Because Consciousness appears
differently in different context. Itself It does not have any
property but associated with body-mind it appears to have
property. Therefore It is of a confusing nature. So ििुण-
नििा ुण-स्वरूपम्. So even though Itself does not have a form,
when it pervades the body Consciousness also seems to have a
form like the body. We have seen the example of lighthouse
where the three lights are going round and round. The truth is
there are no three lights and going round is also not there but
there is only one motionless light and around that there is a
device which is rotating with three lids. So when that device is
rotating it appears as though there are three lights, एकम्
appears as अनेकम् and अचलम् appears as चलम् because of the
proximity of the device. Similarly चैततयम् has two features –
the proximity of the body is one nature, without the body it has
another nature. Therefore it is confusing as to which nature is
intrinsic and which is incidental. Therefore it is
incomprehensible, सोपाक्षधक क्षनरुपाक्षधक स्वरूपत्वात्. Finally
देशकाल-अतीतम् – this changeless Consciousness is unlimited
by or unconditioned by time and space. It is not located in time
and space because they themselves arise out of Consciousness

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
and resolve in Consciousness. These are the six features
highlighted. With this the second वल्ली is over. And in this we
have got some very important मतरs. The first one is the
fourteenth मतर wherein िनचकेति् defines आत्मा in a brilliant
manner. The student himself defines आत्मा. Then the
eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-fifth मतरs. All of
them are आत्मस्वरूप मतरs revealing the nature of आत्मा.
Now we will go to the third वल्ली मतर. In this वल्ली the
first two मतरs happen to be an introductory मतरs in which all
the जीवात्मा are presented as travelers in life. We have started
on a journey from the beginning time we are going on and on
looking for some home but we have not yet found our home. So
this traveler जीवात्मा is introduced in the first two मतरs. Then
from the third to the nineth मतरs the उपनिषत् gives the well-
known chariot imagery extending the journey example. It is one
of the most popular portions of कठोपनिषत.् Just as in
मुण्डकोपनिषत् the archery example is given. The body is
compared to a chariot, the sense organs are compared to the
horses, the mind is compared to the reins, the intellect is
compared to the charioteer and the जीवात्मा is compared to the
traveler. The sense objects or the world is compared to the
routes through which we travel. Through the chariot example
the उपनिषत् gives some very important preparatory disciplines.
The first one is the chariot or the body must be healthy. Without
the fit vehicle travel cannot be successful. Therefore do not
neglect your health, आरोग्यम्. The sense organs which are
comparable to the horses must be well directed which is sense
control or दमः. And if the sense organs are to be controlled the
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
mind must be handled properly because the mind is compared
to the reins. Therefore through the mind alone the sense organs
can be disciplined. Therefore mind control, शमः becomes
important. The driver must know both the destination and the
route very clearly. Similarly the intellect must know what the
goal of life and the path leading to the goal. This is the fourth
discipline नववेकः. And the fifth and the final is all of them
should function in coordination. Integration and teamwork are
required. So individual health is not enough teamwork is
important. This integration is called आर्ु वम्. Once the intellect
decides mind, body, sense organs must cooperate. And if all
these conditions are fulfilled such a जीवात्मा will very
comfortably reach the destination called मोक्ष. So this is the
well-known chariot example. Then from the tenth to the
fifteenth मतर the उपनिषत् talks about ज्ञाियोि, the spiritual
journey. It is not an external physical journey but it is in the
form of knowledge, in the form of an enquiry. It is नवचार यात्रा.
In this portion यम मा राज beautifully presents the पञ्चकोश
नववेक, which is one of the methods of Self-enquiry. In this
method I gradually withdraw my attention from अतिमय to
प्राणमय to मिोमय to नवज्ञािमय to आितदमय and finally I
come my own nature, the witness Consciousness of everything
in the creation. So thus ज्ञाियोि is pointed out along with the
type intellect required for this enquiry. That intellect is अग्र्या
सक्ष्ू मा बुनद्धः, an intellect which is very sharp and subtle.
Because the object to be known happens to be the subject.
Therefore we should not tend to objectify. Our learning should
make us fall back unto ourselves. Then मतरs sixteen and
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ३
seventeen the first stage of teaching is completed with a
फलश्रुक्षत, talking about the benefit of attending the कठोपनिषत्
class. Two-fold benefits are given. If you gain the knowledge
by attending these classes immediate liberation will be gained.
If you do not gain the knowledge then the very श्रवणम् will
produce sufficient पुण्यम् to take you to ब्रह्मलोक. Not only for
listening but for पारायणम् even without knowing the meaning
also benefit is there. With this फलश्रुक्षत the third वल्ली and the
first chapter is completed. In this third वल्ली also there are
several important मतरs but I will refer to four मतरs. The tenth
and the eleventh to be read together are important because they
present the पञ्चकोश नववेक. This alone is elaborated in
तैनिरीयोपनिषत्. Then the next important मतरs are the
fourteenth and fifteenth. The fourteenth मतर is important
because it presents the entire spiritual िा िs, the whole range
of िा िs beautifully brought out. Starting from कमा योि, you
recognize the problem of ignorance and then you go to a िुरु,
remove the problem of ignorance and you get freedom. Then
the fifteenth मतर also very significant one where the definition
of आत्मा is given which शङ्कराचाया quotes very often. With
this the first chapter of the कठोपनिषत् is over.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
नद्वतीयाध्याये प्रर्मा वल्ली
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
We have completed the first three sections of the first
chapter of कठोपनिषत् and now we are entering the second
chapter which also has three sections each section known as a
वल्ली. So we are entering the first वल्ली of the second chapter.
And in these वल्लीs यम मा राज is entering into more serious
discussion of the आत्मस्वरूपम् which िनचकेति् wanted to
know. In the first chapter यम मा राज did discuss the
आत्मस्वरूपम् but it was a brief discussion. In the first chapter
second वल्ली between the eighteenth and twenty-fifth मन्त्र a
few मन्त्रs were dedicated to this topic. Then in the third वल्ली
also only a few मन्त्रs were on this topic. Elaborate discussion
was on रर्कल्पिा or chariot imagery which is dealing with
िा ि or preparation. So the serious discussion of
आत्मस्वरूपम् we are getting in the second chapter only. And
especially in the first two वल्लीs we get the main teaching of
the कठोपनिषत.् जीवात्मास्वरूपम् is more clearly presented
and जीवात्म-परमात्म-ऐक्यम् also very clearly presented in the
first two वल्लीs. And the first वल्ली begins with a discussion
on an important िा ि. The first two मन्त्रs are dealing with
spiritual preparation for gaining this knowledge. The िा ि
prescribed here is nonextrovertedness of the mind, मनसः
अन्तमु खत्वम्. An extrovert mind can only seek the अिात्मा
which is ििुण, it can be absorbed only in the finite world of
श्द-स्पशा -रूप-रि-ित . So when I look outside I only

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
experience these five – श्द-स्पशा -रूप-रि-ित . Whereas the
उपनिषत् is revealing आत्मा as अश्द-अस्पशा -अरूप-अरि-
अित . So how can I discover this क्षनगु ण आत्मा by getting lost
in ििुण अिात्मा. Therefore discovering क्षनगु ण आत्मा requires
turning the mind away from the ििुण अिात्मा. यम मा राज
says this is the toughest job because the mind is naturally
extrovert. Extrovertedness is the instinctive nature of the mind.
Therefore the mind wants to see things, the mind wants to hear
things, the mind wants to smell and taste, the mind runs outward
like a two year old baby. And if you forcibly drag the baby and
keep it on your lap it will be there for a moment and again it
will run. And therefore यम मा राज says this very natural
extrovertedness itself is a very big obstacle to a spiritual seeker
which makes the spiritual journey into an uphill task. When you
are climbing up a mountain the natural gravitation becomes an
obstacle. Climbing down you have to only put the break, you
need not push down because in the very weight of the body it
will come down. So coming downwards is easier but going up
I have to work against the natural pull of the gravity. Similarly
in Vedantic pursuit we have to find the natural extrovertedness
of the mind. How can you do that? The only method is
discriminative power. Even though भिवाि् has created
instincts in us the very same भिवाि् has given discriminative
power also to manage the instincts, to manage the
extrovertedness. How should I use that discriminative power?
By knowing that whatever is outside is perishable. I should not
spend my entire life hooking myself onto the perishable श्द-
स्पशा -रूप-रि-ित , the insecure external अिात्मा, no doubt I
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
have to live amidst the अिात्मा but my security is not in the
external object, my fulfillment is not in the external object, my
तक्षृ प्त contentment is not in the external object I should get
convinced. If the conviction doesn’t come go out seeking for
yourself, get enough kicks also, परीक्ष्य लोकाि् कमा नचताि्, get
maturity. Thereafter turn your attention from finite to infinite,
ििुण to क्षनगु ण, पररक्षच्छन्न to अपररक्षच्छन्न, प्रेयस् to श्रेयि.् If
you do not listen to my warning, यम मा राज says, that anything
outside is perishable and if you hold on to them, not only they
will perish holding on to them you will also perish. This is the
statutory warning. Who is going to make them perishable? Who
is the department in charge? यम मा राज. I will destroy anything
and everything other than आत्मा. Therefore if you hold on to
any अिात्मा you will be in trouble. And if you don’t want to be
in trouble hold on to आत्मा; आत्मा is beyond my access. Come
to आत्मा you are safe. This qualification is called नववेक-जतय-
वैराग्यम्, dispassion or detachment from अिात्मा born out of
maturity, conviction, discrimination, wisdom. This नववेक-
जतय-वैराग्यम् alone is called अन्तमु खत्वम्. So thus two मन्त्रs
talk about अन्तमु खत्वम् as the िा ि and बक्षहमु खत्वम् as
शोधन. With this background we will enter into the first मन्त्र.
मतर 2-1-01
परानञ्च खानि व्यतण ृ त् स्वयम्भस्ू तस्मात्पराङ्पश्यनत िाततरात्मि् ।
कनिद्धीरः प्रत्यिात्मािमैक्षदावि ृ चक्षुरमत ृ त्वनमच्छि् ॥ १ ॥
So यम मा राज here talks about a universal, natural,
instinctive problem which is the extrovertedness of the mind
and sense organs. Therefore he says खानि व्यतण ृ त् स्वयम्भःू .
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
स्वयम्भःू means the creator. What did he do? व्यतण ृ त् –
destroyed, afflicted. खानि – sense organs. So the creator
destroyed, damaged all the sense organs of every human being,
परानञ्च – by making them extrovert. So स्वयम्भःू ईश्वरः खानि
व्यतण ृ त् – the Lord destroyed the sense organs of every human
being परानञ्च – by making them extrovert, seeing only the
external perishable अिात्मा. Therefore the sense organs and the
mind are eternally busy. One is never allowed to come to
वेदातत. That is the glory of माया. I am kept always busy with
one external duty or the other.
बालस्तावत् क्रीडािक्तः तरुणस्तावत् तरुणीिक्तः । वद्ध
ृ स्तावत्
नचततािक्तः परमे ब्रह्मनण कोऽनप ि िक्तः ॥ भजिोनवतदम् ७ ॥
बालस्तावत् क्रीडािक्तः busy. तरुणस्तावत् तरुणीिक्तः, तरुणी
means wife. Busy with pacifying or pleasing the spouse. Spouse
pleasing project in which nobody generally becomes
successful. And somehow got married and वद्ध ृ स्तावत्
नचततािक्तः, what all I tried to achieve and successfully failed.
So therefore each one comes in front of the brains screen
नकमहँ िा ु िाकरवम् । नकमहं पापमकरवनमनत ॥
तैनिरीयोपनिषत् २-९-१ ॥
I wanted to do this but I couldn’t do. I did not want to do this
but exactly I did that. So thus all the time the external world
keeps us busy with the world not allowing me to come to आत्मा.
And I recognize this problem so late that even if I want to turn
my attention I am not capable. And therefore यम मा राज says
तस्मात् – because of this worldly preoccupation, because of this
worldly engagements, endless engagements, expanding
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
engagements, पराङ् पश्यनत – this person is permanently busy
seeing the पराङ् – बाह्यप्रपञ्चः. Generally he thinks after
retirement he will get time but generally one becomes more
busy. Some people manage luckily. Therefore यम मा राज
wants तस्मात,् तस्मात् means इक्षन्द्रयाणाम् बक्षहमु खत्वात्,
because of the extrovertedness of the senses पराङ् पश्यनत – a
person is preoccupied with the world. Therefore ि अततरात्मि्
– one never turns the attention to आत्मा.
कस्त्वं कोऽहं कुत आयातः का मे जििी को मे तातः ॥
भजिोनवतदम् २३ ॥
Who am I? Why am I here? From where did I come? Where am
I going? Is there a purpose at all for this life? What is that
purpose? Am I working to fulfill that purpose? No time to ask
such questions. And therefore अततरात्मि् means the inner
Self. ि, you have to supply the verb ि पश्यनत. अततरात्मि्
means अततरात्मािम्. This is the general rule with regard to the
humanity. And every general rule has got an exception. And
therefore यम मा राज says there are some rare people like the
Upanishadic students who considers it worthwhile spending the
time, energy, the heart in the pursuit of आत्मा. And therefore
कनित् ीरः – some rare discriminative person. ीरः means
क्षनत्य-अक्षनत्य-वस्तु-क्षववेकी. Because he has seen the world
enough, he has seen the दोष of the world. दुःखनमनश्रतत्वम् –
everything in the world however pleasurable it is mixed with
pain. अतनृ िकरत्वम् – whatever one gets one will not be
satisfied. And finally बत कत्वम् – when I learn to depend on
the world for my joy dependence becomes my problem. Like

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
dependence causing drugs the very world is a dependence
causing drug only. दुःखनमनश्रतत्वम्, अतनृ िकरत्वम् and
बत कत्वम् these three intrinsic defects are there in अिात्मा.
The one who has discerned this defect is called ीरः. ीरः does
not mean courageous person. We are not talking about the
physical muscle but we are talking about the intellectual muscle
which is called क्षववेक. So some rare क्षववेकीs प्रत्यिात्मािम्
ऐक्षत्. He woke up, उनिष्ठत जाग्रत. What did they do? however
tempting the अिात्मा may be as we saw in the case of
िनचकेति् who was offered so many things by यम मा राज and
he said everything is wonderful, keep with yourself. That is
called ीरत्वम्. Those people ऐक्षत् – they discovered the Self
which is the witness of the अिात्मा प्रपञ्च which is ever the
experiencer and never the object of experience. So प्रत्यिात्मािं
कनित् ीरः ऐक्षत्. ऐक्षत् means got आत्मज्ञािम्. How did he
accomplice that? अमत ृ त्वम् इच्छि् – desiring immortality.
Because he knew immortality is present in आत्मा alone. In the
previous chapter it was said आत्मा is the only one which is
beyond the parameters of time and space. Consciousness alone
is beyond time and space because in sleep even when the time
and space have resolved Consciousness continues to survive.
Everything else exists within the carpet of time and space.
Similarly the whole world is situated, located on the carpet of
time and space. How do you know? In सुषुक्षप्त when the time-
space carpet is pulled the whole world disappears. But even
after the carpet is pulled time-space folded and even after the
folding of the entire creation there is one thing which is not
folded which continues and that is Consciousness which is the
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witness of the sleep state, which is the witness of the absence
of time and space. Therefore the only one thing which is beyond
time and space is Consciousness. Therefore is you want
immortality then hold on to चैततय आत्मा. And anything else
you hold on to like a drowning man catching a straw will drown
along with the straw. And therefore अमत ृ त्वम् इच्छि् – desiring
immortality this intelligence person comes to the timeless
आत्मा. How to do that? आवि ृ चक्षुः – turning the mind and the
sense organs away from the world, turning the attention away
from the objects and turned towards the very subject. So object
turned mind should be directed towards the subject. How do
you do that? By using the mirror. If I want to look at my own
face I look at the mirror. When I look at the mirror even though
it appears as though I am looking outside really speaking when
I am looking at the mirror I am looking at myself only.
Similarly by शास्त्र नवचार by taking to िुरु-उपदेश mirror some
rare people learn to look at the subject. वेदातत is the unique
mirror which shows you yourself, the observer. आवि ृ चक्षुः
literally means turning the eyes inwards. Turning the eyes is not
the physical turning it means I am no more an extrovert person,
I am not enamored by, I am not lost in, I am not tempted by the
finite externals of the world. Continuing;
मतर 2-1-02
पराचः कामाििुयनतत बालास्ते मत्ृ योया नतत नवततस्य पाशम् ।
अर् ीरा अमतृ त्वं नवनदत्वा ध्रुवमध्रुवेनष्वह ि प्रार्ा यतते ॥ २ ॥
The same idea is further reinforced in this मतर.
यम मा राज says majority of people never grow in maturity,
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
never learn from the kicks of life. An experience does not teach
a person unless a person knows how to use the experiences to
learn from. That is why experiences remaining the same some
people learn but many others continue to be retarded spiritually.
Physically the weight has increased, and intellectually the
degrees have been added and the hair has even turned grey but
in spite of these experiences many people are बालाः – still
childish. In spite of their age many people are immature
internally, childish internally. They never learn lessons from
kicks in life. What do they do? पराचः कामाि् अिुयनतत – they
continue to run after one object to another sense object. First
they held on to one sense object and they got the kick and they
suffered, they were deserted or the sense objects perish. At least
why can't they think that it is my dependence on the object that
caused the problem and therefore I should learn to become
independent, why can't they learn? Instead of learning this
lesson what do they do? When one sense object perishes, they
go to another perishable sense object. Like a person who gives
up one addiction to replace it with another. Why can't I learn
from one addiction? यम मा राज says very few learn. Therefore
कामाि् अिुयनतत – they chase mirage, they have a wild goose
chase in spite of repeated failures. Here काम means not desire,
but sense objects, अनात्मानः. So कामाि् अिुयनतत means they
run after sense objects. When we say sense objects it includes
three things either an inert object or a live person or a situation.
When we are attached to a living being are we attached to
आत्मा of a person or अिात्मा? अिात्मा alone. If we are
attached to the आत्मा, no problem because there is no question
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
of losing the person, there is no question of coming away from
the person. Therefore our attachment to a living being is not in
terms of the आत्मा but अिात्मा. That is why कृष्ण had to give
a big sermon, if अजा ुि’s attachment was to भीष्म’s आत्मा why
should he worry about killing them. Because अजा ुि is never
going to kill भीष्म’s आत्मा or िोण’s आत्मा. Therefore अजा ुि’s
attachment was not to आत्मा but perishable अिात्मा only.
Therefore they are attached to people, things and situation and
they chase them. अिुयनतत literally means chasing them. What
is the their lot? Since they are living within the field of अिात्मा
they are living within range of time and space. Holding on to
अिात्मा means functioning within time and space. And
functioning within time and space means यम मा राज’s threat is
permanently there. We don’t know when he will catch, whom
he will catch. Therefore these people are, ते, ते means ते बालाः
– those childish people, indiscriminate ones, they enter into
पाशम् – they enter into the wide net like a hunter using the net
to capture the animal, यम मा राज has also spread the vast net of
कालः, time principle to capture everyone. So the काल net is
there.
मा कुरु ि जि यौवि िवा म् हरनत निमे षात्कालः िवा म् ॥
भजिोनवतदम् ११ ॥
कालो जिद्भक्षकः ॥ नशवापरा क्षमापण स्तोरम् १५ ॥
आयुिाश्यनत पश्यतां प्रनतनदिं यानत क्षयं यौविम् ॥ नशवापरा
क्षमापण स्तोरम् १५ ॥
All our spiritual books repeatedly warn काल is spread all over
except in one place. In religious language we call it भिवाि,् in
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
philosophical language we call it आत्मा. So except भिवाि,्
आत्मा every other place the net of काल is spread. That is why
through माकुण्डे य story what is pointed out is he embraced
नशवनलङ्ि he got आत्मज्ञािम्. Because he and नशवनलङ्ि
become one in embracing. Similarly जीवात्म embraces परमात्म
is ऐक्यज्ञािम्. माकुण्डे य story is जीवात्म-परमात्म-ऐक्यज्ञािम्.
The moment नशव is embraced यम मा राज cannot get anywhere
near. So पाशम् – the net of, the snare of मत्ृ योः – यम मा राज is
spread all over. They enter into the net of यम मा राज. Where is
that यम मा राज? नवततस्य – who is in all the fourteen लोकs.
You cannot escape, go anywhere. Even in ब्रह्मलोक time
principle is there.
आब्रह्मभुविाल्लोकाः पुिरावनता िोऽजा ुि ।
मामुपेत्य तु कौततेय पुिजा तम ि नवद्यते ॥ िीता ८-१६ ॥
कृष्ण tells अजा ुि you go to any of the fourteen लोकs time will
chase you but मामुपेत्य come to Me, the आत्मा time cannot
touch you. Therefore the others get into the net of यम मा राज.
अर् – on the other hand, ीराः – the discriminative ones, who
are very rare, who are very discerning, who are िा ि चतुिय
िम्पतिाः, ध्रुवम् अमत ृ त्वं नवनदत्वा – so they come to the absolute
immortality of आत्मा. It means they come to आत्मा which is an
embodiment of absolute immortality. Why does यम मा राज say
absolute immortality? Because in the scriptures there is a
relative immortality which means long life. In िंस्कृत it is
called आपेक्षिक अमत ृ त्वम्. स्विा लोक is relatively permanent
compared to भल ू ोक. Whereas आत्मा is ध्रुवम् अमत ृ त्वम् –
आत्यक्षन्तक अमत ृ त्वम् these discerning people attain. नवनदत्वा

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
means they know, they attain. What is the advantage? इह
अध्रुवेषु ि ि प्रार्ा यतते – having discovered the पण
ू ु त्वम् they do
not seek anything in the perishable world. Having got the
imperishable आत्मा they do not seek anything perishable in this
world.
यावािर्ा उदपािे िवा तः िम्प्लुतोदके ।
तावातिवेषु वेदेषु ब्राह्मणस्य नवजाितः ॥ िीता २-४६ ॥
When I have got a huge lake of pure water will I go after the
miserable borewells. So in life everything else becomes a
bonus. The whole life becomes a bonus. Imagine that state of
mind. whether you achieve or not it matters not. The relative
worldly achievements and non-achievements do not disturb my
inner पण ू ु त्वम्. Therefore अध्रुवेषु – among the perishable objects
ि प्रार्ा यतते – they do not seek anything at all. Continuing;
मतर 2-1-03
येि रूपं रिं ित ं श्दाि् स्पशाा ँि मैर्ुिाि् ।
एतेिवै नवजािानत नकमर पररनशष्यते । एतद्वै तत् ॥ ३ ॥
In the first two मतरs introduction was given by
presenting an important qualification – अततमा ुखत्वम् or
removing the obstacle of बनहमा ुखत्वम्. But remember do not
take literally अततमा ुखत्वम्, and don’t think that you have to
close the eyes and the ears all the time and walk on the road.
For व्यवहार the eyes have to be open, but the idea is don’t get
lost in that. They are required, but they are not the primary
things in life. This is called अततमा ुखत्वम्. Now यम मा राज
enters into आत्मस्वरूपम्. So all the following मन्त्रs are

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
important मन्त्रs, one of the central sections of कठोपनिषत्.
Here यम मा राज defines आत्मा as that because of which
everything is experienced. So आत्मा is the Conscious principle
because of which everything is objectified. It is the experiencer
of all, It is distinct from everything that is experienced.
Therefore what am I supposed to do? you take everything that
you experience and negate it. The entire अिात्मा can be divided
into three levels.
1) The external world, बाह्य प्रपञ्च. Since I am experiencing
the external world, it comes under अिात्मा. Therefore I am not
any one of these external objects. In fact this everybody knows,
no confusion.
2) Then come closer to the body and ask the question is the
body an object of experience. If you go by your experience the
body is also an object of experience available in waking state,
but not in dream and sleep. It is available for others, but for me
the experiencer the body is not available. Therefore body also
comes under an experienced object.
3) And coming closer ask the question whether the mind is
the object of experience. And you will know that I am the
witness of experiencer of my mind also which is available only
during waking and dream and which is resolved in sleep.
Therefore even the mind is a temporary object available for my
transaction. Thus world is object, body is object and mind is
also object, the only difference is body and mind are object only
but I use them as my instrument therefore it is very close to me
like the spectacle. What is the difference between spectacles
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
and book? Both are objects but since I am wearing the
spectacles intimately it appears as though it is an integral part
of the subject.
All these three are awared by, experienced by the
experiencer Consciousness is the subject. That experiencer is
आत्मा. Therefore यम मा राज says एतद्वै तत् – you are that
Consciousness and not the body, not the mind, not the world.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 2-1-01, 02 & 03 Continuing;
परानञ्च खानि व्यतण ृ त् स्वयम्भस्ू तस्मात्पराङ्पश्यनत िाततरात्मि् ।
कनिद्धीरः प्रत्यिात्मािमैक्षदावि ृ चक्षरु मतृ त्वनमच्छि् ॥ १ ॥
पराचः कामाििुयनतत बालास्ते मत्ृ योया नतत नवततस्य पाशम् ।
अर् ीरा अमतृ त्वं नवनदत्वा ध्रुवमध्रुवेनष्वह ि प्रार्ा यतते ॥ २ ॥
येि रूपं रिं ित ं श्दाि् स्पशाा ँि मैर्ुिाि् ।
एतेिवै नवजािानत नकमर पररनशष्यते । एतद्वै तत् ॥ ३ ॥
In the first two मतरs the teacher यम मा राज emphasized
one important साधन viz., detachment or nonextrovert mind.
An extrovert mind cannot get benefit from वेदातत because it
will be lost in the world of अनात्मा, it will be lost in the object,
and in the process miss the very subject which is the observer
of the object. So वेदातत is a process in which the attention is
shifted from the observed object to the observer subject. And
unfortunately the mind cannot be absorbed in both of them
simultaneously. And that is why if you try to give public talk
for the first time when you give the talk you are so self-
conscious, how you are going to fare, how you will be seen by
other people. Thus you are so much absorbed in the talker, i.e.,
yourself, that your mind can never pay attention to either the
subject matter or the audience. Why because the mind cannot
be absorbed in both the subject and the object simultaneously.
So getting absorbed in the object is losing sight of the subject.
In वेदातत we want to highlight and focus on the subject and

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
therefore an extrovert mind is an obstacle. And therefore
यम मा राज said one has to get out of the extrovertedness
obstacle which value alone is presented as शमानद षट्क
िम्पनि. And having emphasized this value in the first two
मतरs now यम मा राज has entered into the subject matter from
the third मतर onwards. All these मतरs are dealing with
आत्मस्वरूपम् the nature of the आत्मा, i.e., myself. This is the
question asked by िनचकेति्. Through his third boon he
wanted to know what is the true nature of oneself. And therefore
begins आत्मस्वरूप teaching. Therefore all these मतरs
beginning from the third मतर are important. In this third मतर
which was introduced in the last class यम मा राज presents
आत्मा as चैततयस्वरूप, it is of the nature of Consciousness. So
the next question is what exactly is Consciousness. According
to the scriptures what is the nature of Consciousness?
1) Consciousness is not a part or property or product of the
body,
2) It is an independent entity separate from the body, which
pervades and enlivens the body,
3) It is not limited by the dimensions of the body,
4) It continues to survive even after the fall of the body,
5) That continuing Consciousness cannot transact not
because it is absent but because the transacting medium is not
there. Therefore this body only serves as a medium for
manifestation of Consciousness.

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
Just as the bulb serves only as a medium for the
manifestation of electricity. If the bulb is broken and the light
goes away the end of the light is not the end of electricity. The
end of the light is only the end of the manifestation of
electricity. But even after the bulb is broken the electricity will
continue. Therefore you should remember when the medium
goes away the manifest becomes unmanifest, it does not end.
Similarly the body-mind is like a bulb, it is a medium for the
manifestation of Consciousness. In fact the manifest
Consciousness is called the life principle or sentiency principle.
When the body-mind-complex dissolves or perishes the
manifest Consciousness is not available which is called death.
Death is not the end of not Consciousness, but death is the end
of the manifestation of Consciousness. And therefore after
death also Consciousness continues in unmanifest form. So thus
अव्यतरूपेण सवु त्र व्यतरूपेण शरीरे च चैततयम् वतु ते. In
unmanifest form Consciousness is everywhere and in manifest
form Consciousness is in the media called the living being. And
the scriptures point out this Consciousness is your true nature,
which means this Consciousness is You, तत् त्वम् अनि. To
assimilate that only I have given the example of light. Just as
the light is not a part or property or product of the hand; light is
an independent entity which pervades the hand; light is not
limited by the dimensions of the hand; and the light which is
hall pervading will continue to be there even my hand is
removed, the only difference being when the hand is there the
light is manifest because of the reflecting medium when the
hand is removed the light continues but is not manifest because
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
the reflecting medium is absent. So thus Consciousness is like
आकाश and प्रकाश. That is why scriptures give these two
examples. चैततय आकाश, चैततय प्रकाश.
Now the next question is how to own up this
Consciousness. How am I to own up this nature of
Consciousness? The उपनिषत् gives a method called
दृग्दृश्यनववेक, observer-observed-analysis. What am I
supposed to do? Whatever I am experiencing is an object
different from me and therefore keep on negating the observed
ones. In the first stage of negation I dismiss the whole creation
as an observed entity in the form of श्द-स्पशा -रूप-रि-ित .
The entire creation consisting of श्दानद is an observed thing
and therefore I am not the observed universe. Having crossed
the first stage come to the second stage, i.e., observation of your
own body. And learn to dismiss my body also as an object of
experience. The only difference being the body is an intimate
object of experience like the spectacles. The spectacles is so
intimate to my body that I generally forget the fact that it is an
object. In the same way the वेदातत says the physical body is
also like your contact lens which is an intimate object which is
serving as a medium for experiencing the world. Therefore the
second stage is negate the body also as an object of experience.
Then we have to come to the toughest stage wherein you
observe your own mind which is still more intimate than the
physical body. How do you know the mind is more intimate
than the body? When you go to the स्वप्न अवस्र्ा, the dream
state you have discarded your physical body but even after
discarding the physical body in dream you continue to be
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
associated with your mind. In dream you have removed the
external body, you are not functioning through the body but you
continue to function through your mind indicating that mind is
an inner dress. Therefore whatever you discard first is like an
external कोश and whatever you discard later is an internal
instrument. So when you go to dream the physical body is
discarded or it is not used, still your mind is utilized. Therefore
mind is more intimate and inner medium. So focus your
attention on the mind and learn to see the mind also as an object
of my experience. I am aware of the mind, I am aware of the
thoughts in the mind. Why even when all the thoughts are gone
I am aware of the thoughtlessness of the mind. So not only am
I aware of the mind but also the properties of the mind, the
property being either thoughtful mind or thoughtless mind.
Since I am the experiencer of the mind the mind is also an object
of experience and therefore I am not that mind. Therefore the
world is dismissed or disowned, the body is disowned and the
mind is disowned. When all the objects are disowned what will
be left out? So when all the experienced objects are disowned
what is left out is the experiencer subject. You should not ask
the question how to experience the subject. That is the basic
question we ask. You just only tell me that I will go away now
itself. Never ask the how to experience the subject. If you are
going to experience the subject, the subject will becomes an
object. Therefore the experiencer is ever the experiencer, दृि्
एव ि तु दृश्यते. Eyes are ever the seer, you can never look at
your own eyes. The experiencer is never experienced. And
suppose somebody asks if the experiencer is never experienced
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
then what is the proof it is existent. If the experiencer is never
experienced how do I know the experiencer is there? उपनिषत्
says, you don’t require a separate experience of the experiencer
because the experience of every object reveals the presence of
the experiencer. I need not separately see my eyes, the eyes are
revealed when I am seeing every object. But am I going to see
the eyes at any time? No, I am never going to see the eyes and
I am never going to attempt to see the eyes because I know
every perception reveals the perceiver. Ever experience reveals
the experiencer. What is experienced varies but the experiencer
does not vary. What is seen varies but the seer eyes are the
same. The seen varies but the seer is invariable. That
experiencer I which is revealed in every experience. This was
beautifully conveyed in केिोपनिषत् in a very important मन्त्र
प्रनतबो नवनदतम् मतम् ॥ केिोपनिषत् २-४ ॥
And therefore how do you own up the Consciousness? You own
up the Consciousness as I, the experiencer of the world, the
body and the mind. And I am different from the world, the body
and the mind and I am inherent in my body and mind. In sleep
both the body and mind are resolved, but I, the Consciousness
will continue. What is the difference? When the body and mind
are available the world is experienced because the medium is
there, and in sleep the medium is not there and therefore there
is no experience but whether I experience or not I am ever
existent space like Consciousness. This is called वेदातत.
यम मा राज tries to communicate this idea in this brilliant मन्त्र,
he says येि – so by the observer Consciousness, एतेि – which

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
is intimately available in every part of the body as the very
subject I it is available. नवजािानत – a person knows or
experiences everything. What do you mean by everything? रूपं
रिं ित ं श्दाि् स्पशाा न्. That is the intelligent method of
classifying the world. If you are going to take every object in
the world how many you have to enumerate? It will become
endless. Therefore the उपनिषत् classifies the world into five
principles. श्द-स्पशा -रूप-रि-ित . श्द means sound which
is known through the ears, स्पशा means touch which is known
through the skin, रूप means colors and forms which are known
through the eyes, रि means taste which is known through the
tongue, ित means smell which is known through the nose.
And मैर्ुिाि् means here all transactions, all interactions,
especially human interactions. Literally क्षमर्ुि means a pair.
मैर्ुि means the interactions that is happening between pair like
husband-wife interaction, parent-child interaction, िुरु-नशष्य
interaction etc. All these are known, नवजािानत, through this
independent Consciousness. Then he says नकम् अर पररनशष्यते
– what is there in the world which is outside this
Consciousness? That means everything falls within the
Consciousness only. What type of Consciousness? Space like
Consciousness. How do you know everything falls within
Consciousness? If anything is outside Consciousness, you will
never be conscious of that. If you are never conscious of that
how can you talk about its existence? If you talk about the
existence of anything it means you know that. Like a particular
star which is twelve billion light years away and if you talk
about its existence then you know it. How? Because if you don’t
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
know it you cannot enumerate that. The very enumeration
proves you know it. And you know it means it is within the
scope of Consciousness. And therefore everything that is
existent is known and everything that is known is within
Consciousness. Then suppose you ask that there is a thing
which we don’t know now. If you don’t know now, you are not
going to talk about that. But I will know it later. Ok, if you are
going to know it later then you will talk about its existence and
when you talk about its existence you know it and if you know
it then it falls within Consciousness. In short, everything has to
fall within Consciousness. And therefore यम मा राज asks नकम्
अर पररनशष्यते – what is left out in the world which is outside
Consciousness? In short, Consciousness is all-pervading. And
then यम मा राज says एतद्वै तत् – this Consciousness is the
आत्मा which you wanted to know through the third boon. What
is the third boon?
येयं प्रेते नवनचनकत्िा मिुष्ये अस्तीत्येके िायमस्तीनत चैके ॥
कठोपनिषत् १-१-२० ॥
And later the very same third boon was refined in
अतयर माा दतयरा माा दतयरास्मात्कृताकृतात् ॥ कठोपनिषत्
१-२-१४ ॥
Thus two times you asked about that आत्मा. This
Consciousness is that आत्मा. In fact आत्मा is ever the subject.
Therefore अहम् आत्मा अक्षस्म. Continuing;
मतर 2-1-04
स्वप्िाततं जािररताततं चोभौ येिािुपश्यनत ।
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
महाततं नवभुमात्मािं मत्वा ीरो ि शोचनत ॥ ४ ॥
In the previous मतर यम मा राज used the method of
दृग्दृश्यनववेक – subject-object-discrimination. And by this
method he revealed आत्मा as the eternal subject. Now the very
same आत्मा is going to be revealed as the अवस्र्ारय िानक्ष –
that which is the witness of all the three states of experience,
viz., जाग्रत्, स्वप्ि and िुषुनि अवस्र्ाs. What is the uniqueness
of जाग्रत् अवस्र्ा? The waking state is that state in which I
experience the external world through the mind. whereas स्वप्ि
अवस्र्ा is that state in which I experience the internal world
projected by the mind. In both I experience the world, one is the
objective world outside and the other is the subjective world
inside. The mind watches the world outside during waking state
and in the dream state I watch the internal world which is
recorded and activated during dream. All this we saw in
तत्त्वबोध.
जाग्रदवस्र्ायां यद्दि
ृ ं यद् श्रुतम् तज्जनितवाििया नििािमये यः
प्रपञ्चः प्रतीयते िा स्वप्िावस्र्ा ।
And the beauty is in both the states of experience we have got
distinct time, space and objects.
1) क्षवषय भेदः. In जाग्रत् अवस्र्ा the objects are distinct.
They are made up of five elements, it is भौनतक क्षवषयाः.
Whereas in स्वप्ि अवस्र्ा the objects are not made out of the
five elements, but they are made of your own thoughts, it is
वाििामय क्षसंहः, वाििामय वि ृ ः. So the tree in the dream is not
made out of the five elements, it is made out of your own
thoughts. Therefore the objects are different.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
2) काल भेदः. And then the times is also different. In जाग्रत्
अवस्र्ा you have got one scale of time. In स्वप्ि अवस्र्ा you
have got a different scale. In five minutes dream you get
children and grandchildren also. Because स्वप्ि काल is
different from जाग्रत् काल. Therefore क्षवषय भेदः, काल भेदः
3) देश भेदः. The space is also different. You see the whole
dream in your head only. How much space is there in the head?
I don’t think it is too much empty, but within that empty space
you watch the sky, stars, the sun, moon, mountains and rivers
etc. That means you have got a different space scale.
What is common to both? देश, काल and वस्तु are
different, the only common factor is the observing
Consciousness. Who is that observing Consciousness? Don’t
search! I am the observing Consciousness. The time scale
varies, the space scale varies, the objects vary but I, the
observing Consciousness does not vary. Therefore time comes
and goes, space comes and goes, but I do not come and go,
therefore I am beyond the arriving and departing time-space
paradigm or parameter. So देश-अतीत चैततयम्, काल-अतीत
चैततयम्. In short, अवस्र्ारय-िानक्ष चैततयम्. How do you
know that time and space come and go? Because when you go
to deep sleep state जाग्रत् काल is also gone, स्वप्ि काल is also
gone, in िुषुनि there is no काल at all. That is why in deep sleep
you don’t know how much you have slept. When you know you
have over slept? After waking up. You know you have over
slept only after waking up. In sleep there is no देश or काल. And
this देशकाल रक्षहत अवस्र्ा called the िुषुनि also is observed by

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
whom? I, the Consciousness am the experiencer of िुषुनि also.
And that I is the आत्मा. Therefore यम मा राज says येि – by this
observer Consciousness alone, by this witness Consciousness
alone, by this िानक्ष चैततयम् alone, अिुपश्यनत – a person
experiences, awares, स्वप्िाततम् – स्वप्ि पदार्ाु न्, all the
objects of dream, स्वप्ि क्षवषयान् which consists of three things
स्वप्ि देश, स्वप्ि काल and स्वप्ि वस्तु. And not only that the
same Consciousness alone witnesses जािररताततं च – जािररत
पदार्ाु न् which consists of जाग्रत् देश, जाग्रत् काल and जाग्रत्
वस्तु. उभौ – both of them. And you have to add the absence of
both of them in sleep. So the same Consciousness witnesses the
presence of both of them as well as the absence of both of them.
It is like emptying the hall. When you empty the hall you say
there is nothing in the hall. The hall is empty. If anybody says
the hall is empty it means his head is empty. The वेदातत asks
the question how do you know the hall is empty. To illumine
the emptiness of the hall you require light. If there were no light
you can never say the hall is empty. Similarly in sleep if you
are saying everything is emptied remember emptiness means
pure Consciousness. Whenever there is a thoughtless state it is
nothing but pure Consciousness. It is not an empty mind. Mind
can never be empty. Mind is always pervaded by Consciousness
just as the hall is pervaded by the light. We have got only two
possibilities. Either light plus object or light minus object,
whether the objects are there or not, light is always there. How
do you know light is always there? Because of the light alone
you are able to talk about the presence of object as well as the
absence of object. Similarly in sleep also Consciousness is
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
there. What is the size of that Consciousness? महाततम्. Don’t
think Consciousness is located in your brain. If Consciousness
is located in brain it will be as big as brain. Therefore it is not
located in brain, therefore महाततम् – it is big. How much big?
Is it mountain big? Is it planet big? Is it Sun big? The उपनिषत्
says नवभुं महाततम् – infinitely big, all-pervadingly big. So नवभुं
महाततम् – न तु आपेक्षिक महत्त्वम् परन्तु आत्यक्षन्तक महत्त्वम्,
it is not relatively big but it is absolutely big. Because the word
big is a relative word. So नवभुं महाततम् means it is infinite. And
such an आत्मा, आत्मािम् – such an infinitely big आत्मा, मत्वा
– you have to know. In what form? Not as an object but you
have to know it as I, the very subject. So मत्वा means अहम् इक्षत
ज्ञात्वा. So neither look inside or outside. आत्मा is neither inside
you nor outside you but it is you. Our problem is for some time
we look for आत्मा outside thereafter we start looking for आत्मा
inside. It is neither within you nor outside you, but it is you.
Therefore how do you know the आत्मा? I am the आत्मा. इक्षत
मत्वा ीरः – that discriminative person. Because it requires a
very sensitive mind as it requires to drop the objectification
tendency. Because always we want to experience the आत्मा.
Will it come one day? We always wait for आत्मा to come. That
waiting tendency should be dropped and for that you require a
very subtle mind. If that subtle mind is not there he will say I
have studied all the उपनिषतs् and now I am practicing intense
meditation and hope that one day that आत्मा will come and I
will have a direct दशु नम् of आत्मा. In fact that person is in an
eternal trip, no गुरु can help him, only भिवाि् has to take him
off. Because I am waiting for myself. You can wait for anyone
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
except one. Never wait for yourself. Therefore if at all you
practice meditation it should be I don’t look for आत्मा
experience because I am the आत्मा. I don’t look for आत्मा
experience but I, the experiencer am आत्मा. Repeating this is
Vedantic meditation. Therefore ीरः means a very
discriminative, discerning person, मत्वा means he gains the
knowledge. Then what is the benefit? The benefit is ि शोचनत
– thereafter you will never have sorrow in life. All sorrows are
because you don’t know who you are. And once you know there
is no scope for sorrow. So where knowledge is there cannot be
sorrow.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 2-1-03 & 04 Continuing;
येि रूपं रिं ित ं श्दाि् स्पशाा ँि मैर्ुिाि् ।
एतेिवै नवजािानत नकमर पररनशष्यते । एतद्वै तत् ॥ ३ ॥
स्वप्िाततं जािररताततं चोभौ येिािुपश्यनत ।
महाततं नवभुमात्मािं मत्वा ीरो ि शोचनत ॥ ४ ॥
From the third मतर यम मा राज begins his teaching of
आत्मा, the real nature of everyone which आत्मा िनचकेति्
wanted to know through the third boon. This आत्मस्वरूपम् was
present as चैततयम्, the pure Consciousness in these two मतरs
number three and four. To reveal this चैततयस्वरूपम्
यम मा राज used दृग्दृश्यनववेक in the third मतर. And
अवस्र्ारयनववेक in the fourth मतर. By दृग्दृश्यनववेक we mean
that आत्मा is revealed as the eternal subject which is different
from every experienced object. And by this method the world
is negated as an object, body is negated as an object, even mind
is negated as an object and that witness principle which is aware
of all these three that witness I which is the Conscious principle
is आत्मा. And from this we know that आत्मा is ever the
experiencer I, and never an experienced object internally or
externally. This method is called दृग्दृश्यनववेक – subject-
object-analysis. And the method used in the fourth मतर is
called अवस्र्ारयनववेक which is only an extension of
दृग्दृश्यनववेक and in this method the teacher says that आत्मा is
the experiencer of all the three states of experience. And since
आत्मा is the witness of all the three आत्मा is different from all
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
these three. And therefore आत्मा is not an object falling within
जाग्रत् देश and जाग्रत् काल and आत्मा is not falling within
स्वप्ि देश and स्वप्ि काल, in fact आत्मा is different from देश,
काल limitation. In fact time and space arise in आत्मन्, and
during deep sleep state time and space resolve in आत्मा. And
therefore आत्मा is the substratum of time and space and that
आत्मा I am. So thus अहम् अवस्र्ारय-िानक्ष चैततय रूपेण देश-
काल-अतीत चैततय रूपेण सवु दा भवाक्षम. This is the knowledge
of आत्मा. Having said this much in these two मतरs यम मा राज
gives further details regarding the nature of this आत्मा which
we will see now.
मतर 2-1-05
य इमं मध्वदं वेद आत्मािं जीवमनततकात् ।
ईशािं भतू भव्यस्य ि ततो नवजुिुप्िते । एतद्वै तत् ॥ ५ ॥
The following मतरs from मतर five onwards the ideas
conveyed are highly technical ideas some of which we have
seen in the introduction of तववबो . If you remember the topics
of तववबो it will be easier to understand these मतरs and if you
don’t remember you can try to go back and refresh your
memory. I will try to present these technical मतरs in as simple
manner as possible. So there in तववबो we have seen certain
technical aspects which I will summarize first then it will be
easier to understand. There we had seen that even though आत्मा
is pure Consciousness which is all-pervading, this all-pervading
Consciousness expresses through matter. Consciousness is one
all-pervading principle but this all-pervading Consciousness is
capable of expressing through matter or manifesting through
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
matter. This manifestation or expression of Consciousness
through matter medium is called by the name reflected
Consciousness, प्रनतनबम्ब चैततयम् or आभाि चैततयम् or
नचदाभाि. The original Consciousness is called नबम्ब चैततयम्.
In तववबो we used the words OC and RC with a big chart. OC
means original Consciousness, नबम्ब चैततयम्. RC means
reflected Consciousness or manifest Consciousness or
expressed Consciousness, प्रनतनबम्ब चैततयम्. There in तववबो
it was pointed out that OC is only one, but RC will be as many
as the reflecting media (RM). And if there are more RM there
will be more reflection like your face getting reflected in many
mirrors. If I have three mirrors I won’t have three original faces,
the original face will be only one, otherwise I will become
रावण. Thank god my original face will be only one but reflected
faces will be as many as the reflecting media. So OC expressed
in RM is equal to RC. Therefore if there is RM1 there will be
RC1, RM2 RC2, as many RMs are there so many RCs will be
there. The quality of RC will depend upon the RM. If the mirror
is a dull mirror the reflection will be dull. If the mirror is a bright
mirror the reflection will be bright. If the mirror is a convex
mirror you face will be flat. If the mirror is a concave mirror it
will be elongated even though the original one will remains
निनवा कार कूटस्र्म्. There we divide the entire material
universe into three pairs. Three belonging to the individual, i.e.,
microcosmic three, व्यनिरयम् and three belonging to the
macrocosm िमनिरयम्. All are matter principle. Therefore
three in the व्यनि, three in the िमनि, we have got three pairs
and in all these three pairs Consciousness can manifest or
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
express and therefore we can have three pairs of reflected
Consciousnesses. Thus we have got six reflected
Consciousnesses. Six RCs, OC only one.
OC RC
Original Consciousness, Reflected Consciousness or
नबम्ब चैततयम् manifest Consciousness or
expressed Consciousness,
प्रनतनबम्ब चैततयम्

शरीरम् व्यनि प्रपञ्च िमनि Pair

(RM) (RC) (RM) (RC)

स्र्ल
ू नवश्व स्र्ल
ू नवराट् the grossest
(RM1) (RC1) (RM4) (RC4) pair

िक्ष्ू म तैजि नहरण्यिभा the

िक्ष्ू म
(RM2) (RC2) (RM5) (RC5) intermediary
pair
कारण प्राज्ञ कारण ईश्वर the subtlest
(RM3) (RC3) (RM6) (RC6) pair

What are they? At the individual level the three layers

are called स्र्ल
ू शरीरम्, िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् and कारण शरीरम्,
physical, subtle and causal body respectively. The physical
body is that which can be experienced by me as well as the
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
others. My physical body I am able to experience and you are
able to experience. So स्र्ल ू is available for both. When it
comes to the subtle body consisting of mind, thoughts,
emotions, knowledge, ignorance, feelings, in short, my subtle
body is known and experienceable to me but you cannot see my
subtle body. You cannot see my subtle body but I can intimately
experience my subtle body. In fact that is the problem for the
teacher. I don’t know whether you are understanding or not, that
you only know. I have to be all the time optimistic to continue
as a teacher assuming that you are able to follow. Therefore
subtle body is a subtle matter which is available only for
oneself. the third layer of body is the causal body which is the
dormant personality of the mind which is neither knowable to
me nor to the others. I do not know how my mind will turn
tomorrow. So what is causal body? It is the subtlest layer of
material personality which is dormant now, therefore no one
can know, but it can be known only when it comes to
manifestation. So thus स्र्ल ू -िक्ष्ू म-कारण शरीररयम् and
Consciousness manifests through all these three. We have got a
particular name for each one. When Consciousness is fully
expressing through the physical body it is called the waker-
Consciousness, नवश्व. The OC manifesting through स्र्ल ू
शरीरम् (RM1) is called नवश्व (RC1). When the very same
Consciousness is fully operating through िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् which
happens during our dream. Because during dream we are only
operating through our mind, thoughts and emotions, and the
very same Consciousness expressing through िक्ष्ू म शरीरम्,
RM2, is called RC2, तैजि. Similarly the very same
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
Consciousness when it is expressing through the dormant
causal body, when we are in sleep state which is illumining the
total blankness of the sleep state that blankness illuminating
Consciousness functioning through कारण शरीरम्, the causal
body is called प्राज्ञः. Therefore RM1, RM2, RM3, RC1 RC2,
RC3. All these three are one OC alone expresses in these three
levels. Correspondingly we have got the total matter medium
also. स्र्लू प्रपञ्च is the total gross universe which is parallel to
the स्र्ल
ू शरीरम्. Similarly िक्ष्ू म प्रपञ्च corresponding to िक्ष्ू म
शरीरम् and कारण प्रपञ्च corresponding to कारण शरीरम्. This
we can name RM4, RM5, RM6, and the very same
Consciousness principle manifests through these three also.
When it is manifesting or reflecting in the total gross universe
it is called नवराट् चैततयम्, the cosmic person otherwise called
वैश्वािर. And when the very same Consciousness is expressing
through the total subtle universe िमनि िक्ष्ू म प्रपञ्च it is called
नहरण्यिभा , RC5. And when the very same Consciousness is
manifesting through िमनि कारण प्रपञ्च at the time of प्रलयम्
when the whole universe is resolved like the individual sleep,
when there is a cosmic sleep called प्रलयम् the whole universe
goes to the dormant कारण अवस्र्ा and the Consciousness
manifesting in that कारण प्रपञ्च is called ईश्वर or अततयाा नम. So
नवश्व तैजि प्राज्ञ at micro level, नवराट् नहरण्यिभा ईश्वर at macro
level, all these six are reflected Consciousness. यम मा राज in
these following मतरs wants to point out that one OC alone is
expressing in the form of all the six RCs. So आत्मचैततयम् एव
नवश्व रूपेण नवराट् रूपेण, आत्मचैततयम् एव तैजि रूपेण
नहरण्यिभा रूपेण, आत्मचैततयम् एव प्राज्ञ रूपेण ईश्वर रूपेण. In
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
short, चैततयम् एव िवा म्. This vision is called िवाा त्म भावः.
This vision of one Consciousness alone is in the form of all the
जीवs as well as ईश्वर and is called िवाा त्म भावः and this िवाा त्म
भाव is the essence of the मतरs from five to ten. In this the fifth
मतर points out that आत्मा alone is in the form of प्राज्ञ and
ईश्वर. प्राज्ञ and ईश्वर pair is none other than this आत्मा. Then in
मतरs six, seven and nine यम मा राज says one चैततयम् alone
is in the form of the middle pair – तैजि and नहरण्यिभा . In the
eighth मतर says the same आत्मा alone is the form of the
grossest pair – नवश्व and नवराट्. The tenth मतर is the winding
up of the िवाा त्म भाव by which यम मा राज points out that one
Consciousness alone is in the micro as well as macro, in the
individual as well as the total. Exactly like saying one water
alone is there behind a small as well as the vast ocean also. The
truth of the wave as well as the ocean is water. Similarly, the
truth of the micro and macro is Consciousness. Who is that
Consciousness? I am that Consciousness. Once you understand
this you can say I am everything – अहम् एव इदँ िवा म्.
मिो िातयत् नकनञ्चदरानस्त नवश्वं ित्यं बाह्यं वस्तुमायोपनक्लिं ।
आदशाा ततभाा िमािस्यतुल्यं मय्यद्वैते भानत तस्मानच्छवोऽहम् ॥
आत्मपञ्चकम् ४ ॥
I alone am in the form of all the जीवs as well as the ईश्वर also.
This is the essence of the following six मतरs. Now we will go
to मतर five where the essence is आत्मा alone is both ईश्वर as
well as प्राज्ञ. So the उपनिषत् says यः आत्मािम् अनततकात् वेद
– this seeker, मुमुक्षु, क्षर्ज्ञासु, the qualified student comes to
know, recognizes, realizes, discerns, understands the आत्मा, the

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original Consciousness intimately as himself. अनततकात् means
अभेदेन, that आत्मा is myself, it is not an object, but it is the
very subject itself. Not only does he know the आत्मा but he also
knows that one आत्मा alone is in the form of ईश्वर also as well
as प्राज्ञ. When I say ईश्वर it is a technical word which means
the original Consciousness reflected in total कारण प्रपञ्च.
कारण प्रपञ्च प्रक्षतक्षबक्षम्बत चैततयम्. कारण प्रपञ्च has got another
technical name called माया. Therefore माया प्रक्षतक्षबक्षम्बत
चैततयम्. Therefore in तववबो it was defined
मायोपान ः िि् ईश्वर इत्युच्यते ॥ तववबो १०-३ ॥
Therefore ईशािम् वेद – he knows RC6, to be none other than
ईश्वर; remember ईश्वर is always reflected Consciousness. What
is the glory of ईश्वर? He is not reflected in a tiny individual
medium, it is reflected in the िमनि. Not only in the िमनि ,
in the subtlest form of िमनि because it is कारण प्रपञ्च. Since
ईश्वर’s medium is the vastest and subtlest the reflection will be
the brightest. And therefore ईश्वर happens to be the brightest
reflection. Whereas we are the smallest and the grossest full of
inferiorities. And therefore we are like the electricity expressing
through a nightlamp. Even though the electricity is one when
the lamp is a nightlamp the light is only that much. But when
the very same electricity is manifesting through the powerful
spotlight is brightest. So the difference in not in the electricity
but it is in the medium of manifestation. Therefore ईश्वर. What
type of ईश्वर? भत ू भव्यस्य ईशािम् – that आत्मा alone is the
Lord of भत ू and भव्य – the past and the future; you supply the
present also. The Lord of the past, present and the future. Not

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only is it RC6 at the macro level and the very same
Consciousness is at the micro level also जीवम् – in the form of
जीव also. Here जीव represents प्राज्ञ, कारण शरीर प्रक्षतक्षबक्षम्बत
चैततयम्. Both ईश्वर, कारण प्रपञ्च प्रक्षतक्षबक्षम्बत चैततयम् and
प्राज्ञ, कारण शरीर प्रक्षतक्षबक्षम्बत चैततयम् are one आत्मा only.
And when the very same आत्मा appears as a small जीव because
of the limitation of the reflecting medium the जीव becomes a
limited entity and because of it becomes a कताा भोक्ता िंिारर
and sufferer. Why he becomes a sufferer? Because of the
limitation of the reflecting medium. Just as when you go to
dream and take a miserable dream body along with the
miserable dream body you also suffer. Even though you are
comfortably lying down on the bed without any problem, when
you take a smaller medium you become a sufferer. And
similarly प्राज्ञ जीव becomes मध्वदम् – कमा फल भोक्ता, िंिारर.
मधु means कमा फलम्. अदः means consumer or experiencer.
Therefore मधु अदः means कमा फल भोक्ता. And कमा फल भोक्ता
is िंिारर, प्राज्ञ जीव. And this wise man understands that both
the प्राज्ञ िंिारर as well as ईश्वर are the unreal manifestation,
reflections of one आत्मा alone. Thus the one who knows ततः
ि नवजुिुप्िते – after gaining this knowledge the seeker does
not feel insecure. जुिुप्सा means desire for security. All the time
working for security. And however much you get your sense of
insecurity never goes away. What is the benefit of this
knowledge? Your sense of insecurity goes away, even though
you possess nothing. So once knowledge is there you possess
nothing you will have security. If this knowledge is not there
whatever you possess you will feel insecure. Therefore मोक्ष is
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freedom from this sense of insecurity because insecurity is a
sense in your mind. Therefore ि नवजुिुप्िते ि
िोपानयतुनमच्छनत. Then यम मा राज says एतद्वै तत् – this pair of
प्राज्ञ and ईश्वर is none other than the आत्मा which you asked
for. So one आत्मा alone appears in the form of the creator ईश्वर
and the created जीव also. One आत्मा alone is playing the
drama.
नवश्वं पश्यनत काया कारणतया स्वस्वानमिंबत तः नशष्याचाया तया
तर्ैव नपतपृ ुराद्यात्मिा भेदतः । स्वप्िे जाग्रनत वा एष पुरुषो
मायापररभ्रानमतः ॥ श्रीदनक्षणामनू ता स्तोरम् ८ ॥
So one आत्मा alone has the drama of the protector-protected,
the creator-created, and that one behind both is I myself. एतद्वै
तत् – this is the आत्मा. Continuing;
मतर 2-1-06
यः पवू ं तपिो जातमद्भ्यः पवू ा मजायत ।
ू ेनभव्या पश्यत । एतद्वै तत् ॥ ६ ॥
िुहां प्रनवश्य नतष्ठततं यो भत
So another very technical मतर. You will have to
remember a lot of तववबो here. In this मतर यम मा राज points
out that one आत्मा alone expresses in the form of both
नहरण्यिभा , the Consciousness expressing in the total subtle,
िक्ष्ू म प्रपञ्च and तैजि, the Consciousness expressing in the
िक्ष्ू म शरीरम्. Now the उपनिषत् describes the नहरण्यिभा in this
मतर first. Who is नहरण्यिभा ? नहरण्यिभा consists of two parts.
The RM and RC. RM is the total subtle creation. now
यम मा राज points out how नहरण्यिभा was born. The birth of
नहरण्यिभा . नहरण्यिभा consists of two portions – subtle universe

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
and the reflection in that. So how was the subtle universe born?
The subtle universe was born out of the causal universe. How
was the causal universe born? The causal universe is never
born. It was there even at the time of प्रलयम् also. कारण प्रपञ्च
was there even at the time of प्रलयम्, the stage before creation
also. And if the causal universe was there what about the
reflection? Wherever the RM is there the RC also must be there.
Therefore when causal universe was there the reflection also
must be there. What is the name of that reflection?
Consciousness reflected in causal universe is ईश्वर. Therefore
during प्रलयम् causal universe was there, the reflection was
there and the reflection is called ईश्वर, that ईश्वर was existing
during प्रलयम्. Then what happened? At the appropriate time
the causal universe after slightly grossified, evolved into the
subtle universe. कारण प्रपञ्च got converted into िक्ष्ू म प्रपञ्च
which is partially grossified form. िक्ष्ू म प्रपञ्च is grosser than
कारण प्रपञ्च and िक्ष्ू म प्रपञ्च is subtler than स्र्ल ू प्रपञ्च. So
thus िक्ष्ू म प्रपञ्च is in between कारण and स्र्ल ू . And this िक्ष्ू म
प्रपञ्च was born out of कारण प्रपञ्च or ईश्वर. The moment िक्ष्ू म
प्रपञ्च is born then automatically the reflection gets formed in
it. That reflection is called नहरण्यिभा . Therefore technically
नहरण्यिभा was born out of ईश्वर, िक्ष्ू म प्रपञ्च was born out of
कारण प्रपञ्च. How did that ईश्वर create this नहरण्यिभा ? The
उपनिषत् says that ईश्वर created नहरण्यिभा by तपि्. In
मुण्डकोपनिषत् it was said
यः िवा ज्ञः िवा नवद्यस्य ज्ञािमयं तपः । तस्मादेतद्ब्रह्म िाम
रूपमतिं च जायते ॥ मुण्डकोपनिषत् १-१-९ ॥

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
तपिा चीयते ब्रह्म ततोऽतिमनभजायते ॥ मुण्डकोपनिषत् १-२-८
॥
The word तपि् was used in मुण्डकोपनिषत् that word तपि्
should be brought in here. ईश्वर created नहरण्यिभा through
तपि्. What is the तपि् of ईश्वर? In मुण्डकोपनिषत् we saw
तपि् is nothing but mere सङ्कल्प मात्रेण, by mere wish ईश्वर
created नहरण्यिभा . Just as we create our dream without any
effort, सङ्कल्प मात्रेण because all the raw material for dream
is very much there in the mind in the form of वासना रूपेण, just
like that I can create. Similarly
मायावीव नवजम्ृ भयत्यनप महायोिीव यः स्वेच्छया तस्मै
ू ा ये िम इदं श्रीदनक्षणामत
श्रीिुरुमत ू ा ये ॥ श्रीदनक्षणामनू ता स्तोरम् २
॥
Therefore the मतर says यः तपिः जातम् – नहरण्यिभा is born
out of the तपि् or सङ्कल्प of ईश्वर. ईश्वरस्य तपिः र्ातः
नहरण्यिभा ः. अद्भ्यः पवू ा म् अजायत. There are two पवू ा म्s. The
first पवू ा म् must be understood as the eldest form of creation or
the eldest son. ईश्वर’s eldest son is नहरण्यिभा . He is the first
born, प्रर्मर्ः. Therefore पवू ा म् means प्रर्मम्. And then अद्भ्यः
पवू ा म् अजायत. The word अद्भ्यः represents the five gross
elements, पञ्च स्र्ल ू भतू ानि. Literally अद्भ्यः means water
which represents all the five gross elements. And the five gross
elements represent the total gross universe, स्र्ल ू प्रपञ्च. From
water you should go to five gross elements, from five gross
elements you should go to the total gross universe. And from
the total gross universe you have to go to the नवराट् principle.
Because नवराट् is none other than Consciousness expressed
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
through स्र्ल ू प्रपञ्च. Therefore water is equal to five gross
elements is equal to the total gross universe is equal to नवराट्.
And the उपनिषत् says अद्भ्यः पवू ा म् – नहरण्यिभा is born before
the birth of नवराट्. Because नवराट् represents the gross universe,
नवराट् represents the subtle universe. Gross universe comes
later, subtle universe comes before. Therefore now who is
नहरण्यिभा ? We have got two descriptions. नहरण्यिभा is born
out of ईश्वर by mere wish. And secondly नहरण्यिभा is born
before the birth of नवराट्. िुहां प्रनवश्य नतष्ठततम्. िुहा means
here the individual िक्ष्ू म शरीरम्, which indicates the very same
नहरण्यिभा , the reflected Consciousness which is in the total
subtle universe is present in the individual subtle body also.
Because if it is there in the total subtle universe it must be there
in the subtle body also. Whatever is in macro must be in micro.
Therefore िुहां िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् प्रनवश्य नतष्ठततम् – the very same
Consciousness is present in the subtle body also but with a
different name – तैजि रूपेण नतष्ठततम्. At the macro level it
is नहरण्यिभा , at the micro level it is तैजि. Thus there is
नहरण्यिभा and तैजि at the macro and micro level. And this
नहरण्यिभा alone भत ू ेनभः – surrounded by the gross bodies,
elements. यः व्यपश्यत – a wise man understands both the
नहरण्यिभा and तैजि, एतद्वै तत् – and these नहरण्यिभा and
तैजि are none other than the original Consciousness, which is
you. More in the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 2-1-06 Continuing;
यः पवू ं तपिो जातमद्भ्यः पवू ा मजायत ।
ू ेनभव्या पश्यत । एतद्वै तत् ॥ ६ ॥
िुहां प्रनवश्य नतष्ठततं यो भत
In these technical मतरs beginning from the fifth मतर
upto the tenth यम मा राज is presenting िवाा त्म भाव ब्रह्मि्
which means one ब्रह्मि्, चैततयम् alone is expressing through
the microcosm or the individual as well as through the
macrocosm, the total. िमनि उपाक्षध द्वारा व्यनि उपाक्षध द्वारा
अक्षप एकम् चैततयम् एव भाक्षत. This microcosm is divided into
three levels – स्र्लू , िक्ष्ू म कारण शरीरम्s. Macrocosm is
equally divided into three – स्र्लू , िक्ष्ू म कारण प्रपञ्चs. And
one चैततयम् itself manifests through all these six media or
instruments. This we can reduce into three pairs.
स्र्ल
ू शरीरम् - स्र्ल
ू प्रपञ्च – the grossest pair.
िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् - िक्ष्ू म प्रपञ्च – the intermediary pair.
कारण शरीरम् - कारण प्रपञ्च – the subtlest pair.
When the चैततयम् manifests through each pair the चैततयम् is
given a special name also. When it is expressing through the
subtlest pair the चैततयम् is called प्राज्ञ and ईश्वर. Thus
यम मा राज wanted to point out that प्राज्ञ and ईश्वर are none
other than the ब्रह्मचैततयम्. This was talked about in मतर five.
Now in मतर six, seven and nine the intermediary pair is taken,
i.e., िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् and िक्ष्ू म प्रपञ्च and यम मा राज wants to
establish that the very same Consciousness alone manifests
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
through the िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् and िक्ष्ू म प्रपञ्च. And this
intermediary pair is given another name – तैजि and नहरण्यिभा .
So both तैजि and नहरण्यिभा are none other than the
ब्रह्मचैततयम्. This was pointed out in the sixth मतर which we
saw in the last class. Now we are going to enter the seventh
मतर which also reveals the same idea – तैजि रूपेण नहरण्यिभा
रूपेण च एकम् चैततयम् एव भाक्षत.
मतर 2-1-07
या प्राणेि िंभवत्यनदनतदेवतामयी ।
ू ेनभव्या जायत । एतद्वै तत् ॥ ७ ॥
िुहां प्रनवश्य नतष्ठततीं या भत
देवतामयी – that deity which consists of all the देवताs,
presiding deities, िमनि देवताs, प्राणेि िम्भवनत – is born in
the form of नहरण्यिभा . So the total deity alone is born in the
form of नहरण्यिभा . Now here we have to remember lot of
तववबो portion. What is the definition of नहरण्यिभा ?
नहरण्यिभा is the Consciousness which is expressing through the
total subtle body or the total subtle universe. We know that the
subtle body consists of seventeen organs.
पञ्च ज्ञािेनतियानण – five sense organs of knowledge,
पञ्च कमेनतियानण – five sense organs of action,
पञ्च प्राणाः – the five-fold physiological system, प्राण, अपान,
व्यान, उदान and समान्,
मनः – the emotional faculty,
बुक्षद्धः – the rational or intellectual faculty.

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
If these seventeen faculties are there in every individual िक्ष्ू म
शरीरम् in the macrocosm, i.e., the total, all these seventeen
faculties must be there in total measure. Because the िमनि
should have not the faculty of one individual but all the faculties
of all the individuals put together. And therefore total sensory
power must be there, total कमेनतिय power must be there. In
fact each faculty must have the corresponding totality in
नहरण्यिभा , the िमनि. Now if you take one organ, i.e., the
organ of eye alone. This is called इनतियम् (the organ) in the
individual. In the macrocosm the very same perceptive power
must be in total measure and the corresponding totality is called
देवता. So इनतियम् is at the micro level and देवता is at the macro
level. We have seventeen organs and therefore at the total level
seventeen देवताs must be there. And for each देवता a name is
given which we saw in तववबो .
श्रोरस्य नदग्देवता । त्वचो वायुः । चक्षुषः िय ू ा ः । रििाया वरुणः ।
घ्राणस्य अनश्विौ । इनत ज्ञािेनतियदेवताः । Similarly for
कमेनतियs also देवताs. So if िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् has got seventeen
organs िक्ष्ू म प्रपञ्च will have seventeen देवताs. And therefore
नहरण्यिभा is defined as a lord consisting of all the देवताs put
together. Just as िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् all the organs put together, the
िक्ष्ू म प्रपञ्च is all the देवताs put together. This िमनि देवता is
called नहरण्यिभा . Therefore नहरण्यिभा gets the title देवतामयी.
And this देवतामयी नहरण्यिभा consisting of all the देवताs,
presiding deities is born in the form of प्राण. In the first line the
word प्राण means नहरण्यिभा . Why नहरण्यिभा is known as प्राण?
Even though नहरण्यिभा is all the देवताs put together, among all
the देवताs प्राण देवता is considered to the most important देवता.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
Why so? Because if any organ is not functioning we can
manage. In बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् a story is said that every organ
wanted to find out who is more important. And therefore each
organ went out of the individual one by one for some time
thinking that without that organ the person cannot survive and
after the leave when the organ comes and finds out that this
person though devoid of that organ he happily could managed.
Then finally प्राण decided to go out, it did not go out.
अर् ह प्राण उत्क्रनमष्यतयर्ा महािहु यः िैत वः
पड्वीशशङ्कूतिंवहृ े देवं हैवेमातप्राणातिंववहा ते ॥
बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् ६-१-१३ ॥
When प्राण was about to go then the individual was about to die.
We can survive without the other organs but without प्राण we
cannot survive. That is why in deep sleep even all the other
organs resolved, ज्ञािेनतियs, कमेनतियs, emotional faculty,
rational or intellectual faculty none of them function, even ego
is not there when we are asleep, but even when everything is
resolved प्राण functions. What is the proof? We are not disposed
off. That is the proof. From that it is very clear that प्राण is the
most important देवता and therefore नहरण्यिभा is known by the
name प्राण देवता. So this िमनि देवता is born in the form of
प्राण, the नहरण्यिभा दे वता. This नहरण्यिभा देवता which is
nothing but the Consciousness at the िमनि िक्ष्ू म प्रपञ्च level
is very much there at the individual िक्ष्ू म शरीर level also.
Therefore the उपनिषत् says िुहां प्रनवश्य नतष्ठततीम्. Here िुहा
means the individual. स्र्लू शरीर िुहा or हृदय िुहा we can take.
So this macrocosm नहरण्यिभा is present in the व्यनि, the

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
individual, िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् also. When it is present in the
individual it is called तैजि रूपेण िुहां प्रनवश्य नतष्ठततीम्. This
तैजि is given another special name अनदनतः – experiencer of
the world. तैजि alone through the mind and the sense
experiences the external world and therefore तैजि is called
अनदनतः, भोक्तृ र्ीवः. It is derived from the √अद् भिणे, अदनात्
अनदनतः. The one who consumes through all the sense organs.
Five types of food are consumed श्द – varieties of sound
through the ears, रूप – forms and colors though the eyes,
similarly those nose, tongue, skin. Through the five holes of
ज्ञािेनतियs the तैजि consumes, therefore it is called अनदनतः.
And this तैजि भत ू ेनभः व्यजायत – this तैजि-नहरण्यिभा micro-
macro pair is born along with the five subtle elements. It is
नवराट् we refer to the gross element but when it is नहरण्यिभा we
refer to the subtle element. And this तैजि-नहरण्यिभा pair is
also एतद्वै तत् – none other than the pure Consciousness. Now
we shall see the nineth मतर first and then we shall take up the
eighth मतर because six, seven and nine are all talking about
नहरण्यिभा , therefore all नहरण्यिभा मतरs we will see together.
मतर 2-1-09
यतिोदेनत िय ू ोऽस्तं यर च िच्छनत ।
तं देवाः िवेऽनपा तास्तदु िात्येनत किि । एतद्वै तत् ॥ ९ ॥
This मतर also is describing नहरण्यिभा only. In the
seventh मतर we saw नहरण्यिभा consists of many देवताs.
Therefore the उपनिषत् points out that every देवता depends
upon नहरण्यिभा for its survival. Because every देवता is a part
of नहरण्यिभा , नहरण्यिभा is total, every देवता is a part, a part has
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
to depend upon the whole for its survival. Just as the wave
depend upon the ocean for its survival. And the wave rises, rests
and dissolves into the ocean. In the same way every देवता is
born out of, rests in and resolves into नहरण्यिभा . That is why
नहरण्यिभा has got another name िर ू -आत्मा, that which is
inherent in everyone. The total is inherent in every individual.
That is why in शीिावल्ली of तैनिरीयोपनिषत् we will be
getting a beautiful description
वाक्पक्षतश्चिुष्पक्षतः । श्रोत्रपक्षतक्षवुज्ञानपक्षतः । एतत्ततो भवक्षत ।
आकाशशरीरं ब्रह्म । ित्यात्म प्राणारामं मि आितदम् ।
शानततिमद्ध ृ ममत ृ म् । इनत प्राचीि योग्योपास्व ॥ तैत्तरीयोपक्षनषत्
१-६-२ ॥
नहरण्यिभा is all the देवताs put together. And therefore he says
यतः िय ू ा ः उदेनत – िय ू ा दे वता rises from that नहरण्यिभा only. यतः
here refers to नहरण्यिभा . िय ू ा देवता presides over the organ of
eyes, चक्षुषः िय ू ा ः. It presides over only one organ. That is why
if anybody has got eye problem they say do िय ू ा नमस्कार. We
worship िय ू ा देवता because he presides over the चक्षु. He is a
limited देवता because he presides over only the चक्षु and not
over any other organ. Whereas नहरण्यिभा presides over all the
organs. Therefore out of that नहरण्यिभा िय ू ा देवता is born. And
यर च अस्तं िच्छनत – into that नहरण्यिभा alone िय ू ा देवता
merges. At the time of सक्षृ ट and प्रलयम्, that is understood. At
the time of सक्षृ ट िय ू ा देवता arises out of नहरण्यिभा , at the time
of प्रलयम् िय ू ा देवता merges into नहरण्यिभा . Then the उपनिषत्
says this is not only true with regard to िय ू ा देवता but this is true
with regard to all the other देवताs also. Therefore the उपनिषत्

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
says िवे देवाः – all the seventeen देवताs. And if you expand it
will come to three-thirty crore देवताs. All those देवताs तम्
अनपा ताः – on that नहरण्यिभा alone they are based, they are
located. Just as all waves are located in one ocean, similarly all
देवताs in one नहरण्यिभा . And किि तत् ि अत्येनत – no one
can exist beyond that नहरण्यिभा . Just as no wave can exist
beyond the ocean, no micro can exist beyond the macro. In
short, नहरण्यिभा is infinite. Ok, so what? एतद्वै तत् – this
नहरण्यिभा is none other than that pure Consciousness. So one
Consciousness alone expresses through varieties of media like
one electricity manifesting through light, manifesting through
fan, manifesting through television. How it will manifest will
depend upon the type of instrument. If you remove all the
instruments the electricity exists in its own pure form. Similarly
Consciousness from the smallest ant to the most evolved
ब्रह्माक्षर् is one and the same. Instrument differs, Consciousness
is the same. एतद्वै तत्. So these three मतरs six, seven and nine
are नहरण्यिभा मतरs. Now we shall see the eighth मतर which
is going to talk about the last pair – नवराट् and नवश्व.
मतर 2-1-08
अरण्योनिा नहतो जातवेदा िभा इव िभ ु तृ ो िनभा णीनभः ।
नदवे नदवे ईड्यो जािवृ नद्भहा नवष्मनद्भमा िुष्येनभरनग्िः । एतद्वै तत् ॥ ८ ॥
In this मतर यम मा राज wants to point out that that one
Consciousness alone is in the form of नवराट् and नवश्व. What is
the definition of नवराट्? Consciousness expressing through
स्र्ल
ू प्रपञ्च, the gross, tangible and visible universe. In this
मतर as well as in several other places नवराट् or स्र्ल
ू प्रपञ्च is
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
represented by अनग्ि तत्वम्, the fire principle. In fact this idea
we saw in the first chapter, first section, thirteenth मन्त्र of
कठोपनिषत् itself. When the second boon was given a ritual
was taught by name नाक्षचकेताक्षग्न. While discussing that ritual
it was pointed out that the word अनग्ि is used in three meanings.
And one of the three meanings is नवराट्. Now why do we take
अनग्ि as a symbol representing नवराट् or स्र्ल ू प्रपञ्च? If you
take the five elements, i.e., the space, air, fire, water and earth,
अनग्ि or fire has got a unique nature – it is the first element with
form. Though आकाश is the first element it is formless, वायु is
the second element but it is formless. So both आकाश and वायु
are invisible, the first visible element is अनग्ि. What about the
gross universe? It is the visible universe, it is called the gross
universe and अनग्ि is the first visible element. And therefore
शास्त्र decided that the visible अनग्ि can symbolize the visible
universe. And therefore अनग्ि represents नवराट्, स्र्ल ू प्रपञ्च
सक्षहत चैततयम्. Then the शास्त्रs says this अनग्ि तत्वम् is both
outside as well as inside the body. अध्यात्म अनग्ि or आततर
अनग्ि as well as बाह्य अनग्ि. How do you say so? The fire that
we experience outside is called बाह्य अनग्ि which represents the
नवराट्, the macro. The very same अनग्ि तत्वम् is within our
body also and in the शास्त्र it is called वैश्वािर अनग्ि, the
digestive fire. The internal fire which cooks the food for the
second time. Before the body absorbs the food has to be cooked
twice. The first cooking is done outside so that the mouth can
absorb. But the body cannot absorb the cooked food directly
and therefore भिवाि् has kept the second cooking here through
the digestive juices
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
अहं वैश्वािरो भत्ू वा प्रानणिां देहमानश्रतः ।
प्राणापाििमायुक्तः पचाम्यतिं चतुनवा म् ॥ िीता १५-१४ ॥
I do the second cooking through which the various types of
foods are converted into carbohydrates, proteins, fats, salt,
minerals, vitamins, etc. so that the body can absorb. For this
cooking to take place within the stomach we require another
internal fire which is called समान प्राण otherwise called
र्ाठराक्षग्न otherwise called वैश्वािर अनग्ि. And this वैश्वािर
अनग्ि represents नवश्व. The बाह्य अनग्ि represents the िमनि,
नवराट् and र्ाठराक्षग्न represents the व्यनि, नवश्व. So नवश्व रूपेण,
i.e., र्ाठराक्षग्न रूपेण, नवराट् रूपेण, बाह्य अनग्ि रूपेण च एकम्
चैततयम् वतु ते. This also the उपनिषत् puts in a different form.
Now any form of external fire can represent नवराट्. After all
अनग्ि तत्वम् is नवराट्. But the उपनिषत् does not want to take
any form of external fire. For example cigarette fire is also fire
only, the उपनिषत् does not want associate that with the नवराट्.
Then the उपनिषत् want to take यज्ञ अनग्ि as नवराट्. The sacred
fire, the holy fire used for rituals, that ritualistic fire represents
नवराट् तत्वम्. What about other fires? Even the fires used for
burning the body? Even that is also नवराट्. But the उपनिषत्
doesn’t want to take all those local fires but the sacred fire. Now
the question is where is this ritualistic fire is located.
शङ्कराचाया uses the word अन यज्ञ. अन यज्ञ means the यज्ञ
अनग्ि, the holy fire used for rituals, where is it located? For that
you should know some ritualistic practices, then only you can
understand. When a ritualist wants to perform a ritual first he
has to kindle the fire. How to kindle the fire? He cannot use gas
lighter, match stick, but he has use a special method. He has to
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
take two logs of wood known as अरक्षण. Of which one log of
wood is kept stationary which is called अधो अरक्षण. And that dry
log of wood has got a hole within. And then there is another log
of wood used as a churning rod which is called उिर अरक्षण. And
that उिर अरक्षण rod has to be placed within that hole and they
have to churn the उिर अरक्षण. And because of the friction
between the logs of wood sparks come. From the spark they
have to light up anything very dry like grass or cotton. And
therefore शास्त्र says the अनग्ि तत्वम् is hidden in the अरक्षण
pair. That fire is called यज्ञ अनग्ि. यज्ञ अनग्ि represents नवराट्,
the िमनि, the macro. And there is another digestive fire within
and that is called नवश्व, the micro. Then the उपनिषत् says these
two fire are worshipped by two types of people. बाह्य अनग्ि,
यज्ञ अनग्ि, नवराट् अनग्ि is worshipped by one set of people. The
ritualistic people worship that बाह्य अनग्ि. And therefore they
consider the अरक्षण wood as sacred because it contains the यज्ञ
अनग्ि. And therefore they carefully take the अनग्ि and worship
by offering oblations. And there is another set of people who
do not worship the बाह्य अनग्ि but they worship वैश्वािर अनग्ि
inside by practicing meditation upon the वैश्वािर अनग्ि. So
वैश्वािर अनग्ि उपािि. In बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् this उपािि is
talked about
अयमनग्िवय श्वािरो योऽयमततः पुरुषे येिेदमतिं पच्यते
यनददमद्यते ॥ बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् ५-९-१ ॥
अयम् अनग्िः वैश्वािरः यः अततः पुरुषे which resides within the
person. What is its job? येि इदमतिं अद्यते तत् पच्यते by that
वैश्वािर अनग्ि the food inside is digested. How do you know

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
that it is active? The उपनिषत् says you don’t give food for some
time then it begins to make sound. The उपनिषत् says तस्यैष
घोषो भवनत यमेतत्कणाा वनप ाय शण ृ ोनत. So there is वैश्वािर
अनग्ि sound inside. If you close your ears you can hear clearly.
And ि यदोत्क्रनमष्यतभवनत िैिं घोषं शण ृ ोनत if a person has
become weak and he is about to die then the digestive system
has withdrawn. So this is called वैश्वािर अनग्ि उपािि. Thus
उपािकs worship आन्तर अक्षग्न, ritualistic people worship बाह्य
अक्षग्न. This बाह्य आन्तर अक्षग्न is none other than नवराट् वैश्वािर
देवता. And this नवराट् वैश्वािर is none other than that
Consciousness which you wanted to know. Now look at this
मतर. जातवेदा means the बाह्य अनग्ि देवता which represents
the macrocosmic नवराट् principle. Where is this अनग्ि देवता
located? अरण्योनिा नहतः – this अनग्ि तत्वम् is hidden in the two
अरक्षणs. It is manifested by churning. Since अनग्ि देवता is there
in the अरक्षण the ritualistic people protect the अरक्षण very
carefully because the sacred अनग्ि is inside. How carefully do
they maintain? An example is given. िनभा णीनभः िभा ः इव िभ ु त
ृ ः
– just as the pregnant women very carefully protect their fetus
in their wombs. Not only that नदवे नदवे ईड्यः अनग्िः – this अनग्ि
तत्वम्, i.e., यज्ञ अनग्ि, नवराट् अनग्ि is worshipped every day.
Because नित्य कमा s are there like अक्षग्नहोत्र, daily fire has to
be worshipped. In fact the first मतर of ऋग्वेद is अनग्िम् ईडे
पुरोक्षहतम्. So अनग्ि is considered very sacred. अनग्िः ईड्यः –
this external fire is worshipped by हनवष्मनद्भः मिुष्येनभः – the
ritualistic people. Then यम मा राज says not only the external
fire is worshipped the internal वैश्वािर अनग्ि is also worshipped
by जािवृ नद्भः – the उपािकs. Thus the उपािकs worship नवश्व,
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
the ritualistic people worship नवराट्. This नवश्व and नवराट् are
represented by अनग्ि. Then एतद्वै तत् – this नवश्व नवराट् pair
manifesting through the grossest media is none other than
आत्मा, the Consciousness which you wanted to know. So
combining all these five मतरs five, six, seven, eight and nine
say one Consciousness alone expresses through the three pairs
in the form of प्राज्ञ-ईश्वर, तैजि-नहरण्यिभा , नवश्व-नवराट्.
Therefore िवा म् ब्रह्ममयम् र्गत्. This idea will be summed up
in the tenth मतर which we will see in the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 2-1-09 Continuing;
यतिोदेनत िय ू ोऽस्तं यर च िच्छनत ।
तं देवाः िवेऽनपा तास्तदु िात्येनत किि । एतद्वै तत् ॥ ९ ॥
We are seeing the portion of िवाा त्म भाव in which
यम मा राज is revealing the fact that one आत्मा, the
Consciousness alone is appearing in all forms. One आत्मा alone
is reflected in different material media. This portion started
from the fifth मतर which goes upto the tenth मतर. We have
seen upto the nineth. In this particular portion the essence that
यम मा राज wants to convey is that even though Consciousness
is one since the material media are many the Consciousness
reflecting in the material media will appear to be many in
number. These reflections will certainly have gradations in
keeping with the gradations of the reflecting media. Just as I
have got three mirrors in front of me – a convex mirror, a
concave mirror and an ordinary mirror in the middle. Even
though my original face is the same in these mirrors the
reflections will vary. Even in the ordinary mirror itself if it is a
small mirror the reflection will be small, if it is a bigger one it
will be big, if it is a dusty mirror the reflection will be dull and
if it is a clear mirror the reflection will be bright. Thus the
quality as well as the quantity of the reflection will depend upon
the reflecting media. And यम मा राज wants to say that all these
reflections are manifestations of one original only. This is the
essence of the teaching. But to present it technically यम मा राज
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
presented six media – three reflection media at the individual
level and three at the macro, total level. At the individual levels
स्र्लू , िक्ष्ू म कारण शरीरम्s and at the िमनि level स्र्ल ू , िक्ष्ू म
कारण प्रपञ्च. And since six media are there, there can be six
reflections. And for each one we have a Shastric name also
नवश्व, तैजि, प्राज्ञ, नवराट्, नहरण्यिभा and ईश्वर. And
यम मा राज’s teaching is all the six reflections are
manifestations of one original Consciousness. The beauty is if
the reflecting media are removed there is neither र्ीव nor ईश्वर.
Therefore according to the highest Vedantic teaching even ईश्वर
is relative emphirical fact only, from the standpoint of original
ब्रह्मि् there is neither the creator ईश्वर not the created र्ीव. So
व्यावहाररक plane र्ीव-ईश्वर भेदः, in पारमानर्ा क plane there is
only one ब्रह्मचैततयम्. This teaching यम मा राज wants to wind
up or conclude in the tenth मतर which we will see now.
मतर 2-1-10
यदेवेह तदमुर यदमुर तदनतवह ।
मत्ृ योः ि मत्ृ युमाप्िोनत य इह िािेव पश्यनत ॥ १० ॥
This is the summary of all these मतरs from five to nine.
इह – in this individual reflecting medium, व्यनि उपाधौ, the
micro medium, यद् एव वतु ते – what Consciousness is obtaining,
so the Consciousness which is manifest in the व्यनि उपाक्षध,
micro reflecting medium, तद् अमुर, अमुर means िमनि उपाक्षध,
macro reflecting medium, whether you take स्र्ल ू , िक्ष्ू म or
कारण प्रपञ्च, तदेव – the same Consciousness alone is there.
Even though superficially in one place Consciousness seems to
be dull and in some place Consciousness seems to be bright, the
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
dullness or brightness do not really belong to the
Consciousness, but it belongs to the reflecting medium like
spotlight and nightlamp. The difference that we experience
does not belong to the electricity which is behind but it only
belongs to the manifesting medium. Similarly the चैततयम्
which is obtaining in an ant and that which obtains in an
elephant is the same. शङ्कराचाया tells in his मिीषा पञ्चकम्
या ब्रह्मानदनपपीनलकातततिुषु प्रोता जित्िानक्षणी ॥
मिीषापञ्चकम् १॥
ब्रह्मानदनपपीनलकातत. ब्रह्मा means the िमनि, the नवराट् and
नहरण्यिभा and नपपीनलका means the ant, the Consciousness
obtaining in both are one and same. That is why it is said there
is no question of higher Consciousness or lower Consciousness.
We think ज्ञानि have got higher Consciousness and अज्ञानिs
have got lower Consciousness. It is very clear from this portion
that Consciousness is only one, there is no higher or lower.
When you say a ज्ञानि has got higher Consciousness how do
you understand that? Not that ज्ञानि’s Consciousness is higher,
but his mind because of िा ि चतुिय िम्पनि etc., is superior.
सत्त्व प्रधान अन्तःकरण, िा ि चतुिय िम्पति अन्तःकरण
and therefore the Consciousness seems to be exalted
Consciousness. And in a criminal the Consciousness seems to
be low. Therefore remember there is no higher or lower
Consciousness. Where is it said? यद् एव इह तदेव अमुर. And
यम मा राज thinks this is a very important lesson and therefore
he is worried the student amy sleep off during that lesson. And
therefore he repeats it यदमुर तद् अिु इह – the Consciousness

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
obtaining there in िमनि उपाक्षध, total matter is the same
Consciousness obtaining in the individual matter also.
Therefore understand there is no essential difference at all
among all the क्षर्वs. Therefore all of us are one and the same
Consciousness. In the िीता we saw
नवद्यानवियिम्पतिे ब्राह्मणे िनव हनस्तनि ।
शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पनण्डताः िमदनशा िः ॥ िीता ५-१८ ॥
Wise people do not see the body-mind medium, the wise people
recognize that every one is आत्मा behind the body-mind
medium. And when I see the body-mind media I will see
differences, I will see gradation, I will do comparision and I will
develop complex. Therefore the one who is absorbed in the
medium of body-mind-complex will see only plurality, will do
only comparisons, will only develop complexes. And
यम मा राज says not only we will see plurality if you are
absorbed in the medium you will see mortality also. Whoever
is absorbed in, identified with the medium of body-mind-
complex not only there will all kinds of emotional problems like
राग-द्वेष-काम-क्रो -लोभ-मोह, all Samsaric problems will
come but also I will see mortality because the reflecting
medium is subject to mortality. So if I take myself to the body
I will have insecurity. And once insecurity comes the struggles
is endless because whatever you have the insecurity will not go
away because the mortal body cannot be made immortal.
Whereas if I know I am not the mortal body but I am the
immortal Consciousness functioning through, transacting
through the mortal body I do not have the feeling of insecurity.

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
The bodies will get changed like वािांनि जीणाा नि यर्ा नवहाय
॥ िीता २-२२ ॥ like changing the spectacles. When I take
myself to be the Consciousness I will look at everyone of you
also as Consciousness. Because as I take myself so I will look
upon you also. One आचायु beautifully says as I look at myself
so I look at the world. If I am going to look at myself only as
the physical body, I am a physical person Consciousness of my
height, weight, figure, complexion, hairstyle, dress then
naturally whenever I look at anyone I will only see their height,
weight, figure, complexion, hairstyle, dress. If I am a thinker I
will only look at your thoughts. Therefore as I am so I look at
others. If I take myself as the Consciousness behind the body I
am going to look at everyone of you as the same Consciousness
which is called अद्वैत दशा िम्, अभेद दशा िम्, एकत्व दशा िम्. It
is not that plurality is absent, because plurality there but I am
not absorbed in that plurality but I am absorbed in the one-ness
behind the plurality. Therefore यम मा राज says the one who
sees plurality will have insecurity. And the one who sees non-
duality will always be secure. Therefore whether I am secure or
insecure depends upon भेद दशा िम् or अभेद दशा िम्. A very big
revelation. Normally what do we think? Whether we are secure
or not depends upon our bank balance, properties, children. We
generally think security depends upon our posssesions, वेदातत
is making a shocking revelation your security and insecurity has
nothing to do with what you have but your security and
insecurity depends upon your very perspective. And if you can
change the perspective you go from insecurity to security. And
if you want a simple example if a wave is going to look upon
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
itself as a wave it is going to feel insecurity. Because wave is
mortal. Whereas if the wave can change the perspective and
instead of claiming I am a wave it can start practicing I am not
a wave, waveness is only an incidental attribute but I am
nothing but water. By the sheer change of perspective based on
understanding the wave can say I am the immortal water.
Therefore यम मा राज makes a beautiful statement यः इह नाना
इव पश्यनत – suppose a person sees plurality in this world
identified with the perishable mortal body, मत्ृ योः ि मत्ृ युम्
आप्िोनत – his life is a tragedy because he goes from death to
death. This can be interpreted in two ways. In one life itself he
will go from death to death because even though death happens
only once in this life, the imaginary death happens several
times. A courageous man dies once but a man of fear dies
several times. So the fear of death is constantly present and
therefore मत्ृ योः मत्ृ युम् आप्िोनत. There is another interpretation
also he goes from death to death because according to our शास्त्र
death is not once since we take repeated र्न्मs the death is also
going to be repeated. पुिरनप जििम् पुिरनप मरणम्. So we
have died several times and we will be dying several times also
and therefore every time we are born we have to go through this
fear. As the age advances life becomes miserable. And
therefore मत्ृ योः मत्ृ युम् आप्िोनत. In short, िंिारम् अनुभवक्षत.
So what is the remedy? The remedy is given in this itself. The
one who sees plurality goes from mortality to mortality.
Therefore don’t see plurality. Then you will wonder when you
open your eyes you are seeing plurality everywhere. Does it
mean that I have to close my eyes? Don’t see plurality means
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
don’t see plurality as the ultimate truth, see plurality as only
superficial difference, see oneness as the essence. Don’t see
plurality as the truth, see it only as a superficial difference but
see oneness alone as the truth. It is not a tough job at all, we are
doing it regularly. When we handle different ornaments we see
the differences among the ornaments but why do we very
carefully protect the ornaments. Even though we see the
superficial differences we protect because behind all the
ornaments there is only one gold. So therefore do see the
differences but in the back of your mind the awareness of the
gold is never forgotten. In the same way wiseman handles
plurality but never forgets the oneness behind it. Continuing;
मतर 2-1-11
मििैवेदमािव्यं िेह िािाऽनस्त नकञ्चि ।
मत्ृ योः ि मत्ृ युं िच्छनत य इह िािेव पश्यनत ॥ ११ ॥
Another important मतर which शङ्कराचाया quotes it
very often. The second line of this मतर is almost the repetition
of the second line of the previous मतर. The only difference is
in the previous मतर आप्िोनत is given, in this मतर it is िच्छनत.
Both mean the same only. and therefore the second line has got
the same idea. If a person sees plurality as real then he will
travel from death to death, he will become संसारर. Then what
is fact? If plurality is not the fact then what is fact? इह िािा
नकञ्चि िानस्त. This is also very often quoted. िेह िािानस्त
नकञ्चि. It is considered to be the essence of उपनिषत्. िेह
िािानस्त नकञ्चि means there is no

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
plurality at all, there is no division at all. Division belongs to
नामरूप. Substance is only one. Like all bangles, all chains, all
rings are different but these differences belong to superficial
नामरूप behind that the stuff of all the ornaments is gold.
Similarly the stuff of all the entire material creation is one non-
dual Consciousness alone. Here we have to very carefully note.
The उपनिषत् says there is no plurality even in the present. The
verb is अनस्त. Grammatically the verb अनस्त is present tense.
That means according to the उपनिषत् even now there is no
plurality, there is only अद्वैतम्. This is very important because
generally we think during िा ि there is द्वैतम्. And by
constantly practicing िा ि all the द्वैतम्s will one day merge
and I will reach a time when the whole world of plurality will
merge and I will have अद्वैतम्. And that will happen in
क्षनक्षवुकल्पक समाक्षध. The उपनिषत् says we are not going from
द्वैतम् to अद्वैतम्. If you are going from द्वैतम् to अद्वैतम् the
उपनिषत् will have to say there will be अद्वैतम्, the future tense.
अद्वैतम् exists eternally – in the past, present and the future tense
has to be used. But the very fact the उपनिषत् does not use
future tense it means in the past there was अद्वैतम्, in the present
there is अद्वैतम्, in the future also there will be अद्वैतम्.
Therefore we are never going to reach अद्वैतम्, it is an eternally
obtaining fact. If at all you are going to reach अद्वैतम्, reaching
अद्वैतम् happens only in this manner. Dropping your notion that
there is द्वैतम्. Dropping the notion which is an intellectual
problem born out of ignorance. That dropping the notion is
figuratively called reaching अद्वैतम्. You should not ask if I
drop the notion will I reach अद्वैतम्. By dropping the notion you
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
won’t reach अद्वैतम् because you need not, it was, it is and it
will be. And therefore reaching अद्वैतम् is in the form of
understanding. It is wisdom, it is removing your misconception.
Just as the wave changed from mortality to immortality by
what? Wave did not do anything, there was no transformation
in the form of the wave, wave remaining the same. Imagine
wave has got life it has to do only a small job changing the
vision or perspective. Instead of taking itself to be wave it
should know I am water. And therefore the उपनिषत् says इह
िािा इदािीम् अक्षप िानस्त. If ज्ञािम् is the only method of going
from द्वैतम् to अद्वैतम्, mortality to immortality then how to get
that ज्ञािम्? The उपनिषत् says मिसा एव इदम् आिव्यम् –
ज्ञािम् has to be attained with the help of the mind alone.
Therefore kindly don’t dismiss the mind, don’t drop the mind,
don’t make the mind non-functional. That is why any form of
meditation in which the mind is made stunned or inoperative
we don’t recommend because by stopping the mind how can
you get any knowledge. If you don’t get the knowledge with
mind how are you going to get knowledge without mind? so
with my eyes I could not see therefore I removed my eyes! If
with eyes you could not see you do not remove the eyes, you
try to improve the eyes. Therefore don’t stop the mind, don’t
stun the mind, don’t destroy the mind, the idea of मनोनाश etc.,
don’t entertain. The word मनोनाश has some other technical
meaning, don’t take the word मनोनाश used in some books and
you try to destroy the mind. The उपनिषत् says mind is the most
important instrument in gaining the knowledge, therefore it
says मिसा इदम् आिव्यम् – this knowledge that अद्वैतम् alone
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
is the reality which has to be attained through मिसा एव – mind
alone. Mind is not an optional but it is compulsorily required.
If the mind is not required why should we very carefully
purifying it? That is the funniest thing. Suppose a person wants
to eat food with the hand. And what is he doing? He takes the
plate and goes on washing it. And having washed the plate for
two hours he keeps the plate aside and then receive the food in
hand. Isn’t it ridiculous? If I am not going to use the plate why
should I clean the plate? Why should the शास्त्रs talk about the
क्षववेक, वैराग्यम्, शम, दम, all the values, devotion, compassion?
All these are for the purification of mind. If you don’t require
mid for the ज्ञािम् why should we waste our time? Therefore
remember mind is a must for आत्मज्ञािम्. Then naturally a
doubt may come if you remember the previous उपनिषत्s. In
केिोपनिषत् it is said
यतमििा ि मिुते ॥ केिोपनिषत् १-६ ॥
आत्मा cannot be known through the mind. Only after reading
that people started destroying the mind! But the problem is the
very same उपनिषत् says here मिसा एव. In मुण्डकोपनिषत् it
was said
एषोऽणुरात्मा चेतिा वेनदतव्यः ॥ मुण्डकोपनिषत् ३-१-९ ॥
The आत्मा has to be known through the mind only. Now tell
me which one is correct? You can gain the knowledge through
the mind or you cannot gain the knowledge through the mind.
Our आचायु s have discussed these seemingly contradictions and
have given the answers. Here we shall see two simple answers.
The first one is when the उपनिषत् says that you cannot know
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
the आत्मा through the mind it means you cannot know through
the ordinary mind, an unprepared mind because it is not a
prepared instrument. When the उपनिषत् says that you have to
know the आत्मा through the mind it means it has to be known
through the qualified and prepared mind. How do you know
this? Because in the कठोपनिषत् itself it has been said
दृश्यते त्वग्र्यया बुद्ध्या िक्ष्ू मया िक्ष्ू मदनशा नभः ॥ कठोपनिषत् १-
३-१२ ॥
अग्र्यया िक्ष्ू मया बुद्ध्या. With a specially prepared mind. What
is the preparation? कमा योि prepares the mind, अिाङ्ियोि
prepares the mind, all the values prepare the mind, your entire
religious life prepares the mind. Therefore we have to prepare
the mind, there is no contradiction. You cannot know through
unprepared mind, you can cannot know through the prepared
mind. This is the first answer. Then the second answer is this. -
The mind, the अततकरणम् has got two roles in gaining
knowledge. One is the mind serves as the locus of knowledge –
a place where knowledge takes place in the form of mental
thought modification. And for gaining knowledge we use
different instruments. For example eye is the instrument of
knowledge for knowing colors and forms. Ear is the instrument
of knowledge for knowing sound. Nose is the instrument of
knowledge. Thus we have got different instruments of
knowledge but whatever be the instrument of knowledge mind
continues to be the locus. When I gain the knowledge through
the eyes the locus of knowledge is mind only. The sound comes
through the ears, but the knowledge of the sound takes place in

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
the mind. That is why in the class also you are using the ears as
the instrument but the locus of knowledge is mind. If ear is the
locus of knowledge then the advantage is mentally you can go
all over. But here you require the mind also you require the ears
also because ears serves as the instrument and the mind is the
locus. And among the several instruments mind also serves as
one of the instruments also when you are using reasoning, logic.
So when you are using logic mind is serving in two ways – one
is the mind is the instrument because you are reasoning and the
locus of knowledge is mind because at the end of reasoning the
conclusion takes place in the mind which is the locus of
knowledge. Now when it comes to the आत्मज्ञािम्, we have to
ask the question what is the instrument and what is the locus.
Because for every knowledge we talk about instrument and
locus. For the form the instrument is eyes and locus is mind.
For the sound the instrument is ears and locus is mind. For
reasoning the instrument is mind and locus is mind. For
आत्मज्ञािम् what is the instrument and locus? Now here alone
the शास्त्र says for आत्मज्ञािम् वेदातत श्रवणम्, िुरु उपदेश is
the instrument of knowledge. The sense organs cannot be the
instrument of knowledge, even the reasoning intellect cannot be
the instrument of knowledge.
िैषा तकेण मनतरापिेया ॥ कठोपनिषत् १-२-९ ॥
Logic will not help. Therefore the उपनिषत् is negating the
reasoning intellect as an instrument of knowledge, you cannot
use the intellect. The instrument is neither the sense organs nor
reasoning intellect but िुरु उपदेश श्रवणम्, we call it शबद

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
प्रमाणम्, वेदातत प्रमाणम्. Therefore mind is negated as an
instrument. But even though the mind, the reasoning intellect
cannot serve you through िुरु उपदेश when the knowledge has
to take place you require the locus of the knowledge. What is
that locus of the knowledge? शास्त्र says you require the mind
not as an instrument but as the locus of the knowledge.
Therefore mind is required as the locus of the knowledge. It is
not required as the reasoning instrument. Therefore मिसा एव
– with the help of the mind alone you have to gain the
knowledge because the mind is the locus of every knowledge
including आत्मज्ञािम्. So मिसा एव इदम् आिव्यम्. If you gain
this knowledge you will have a change of perspective from
भेदम् to अभेदम् दशु नम्. And when this perspective change
happens you have ‘traveled’ from mortality to immortality,
संसार to मोि. More in the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 2-1-11 Continuing;
मििैवेदमािव्यं िेह िािाऽनस्त नकञ्चि ।
मत्ृ योः ि मत्ृ युं िच्छनत य इह िािेव पश्यनत ॥ ११ ॥
From मतर five to ten यम मा राज gave out the central
teaching of कठोपनिषत् which we called िवाा त्म भाव. And
िवाा त्म भाव means सवु म् आत्मा इक्षत ज्ञािम्, सवु म् आत्मा इक्षत
भावना, सवु म् आत्मा इक्षत दृक्षटः. So it is the vision or perspective
which is nothing but आत्मा alone is everything. And what about
अिात्मा? There is no substance called अिात्मा; the substance
is only आत्मा. And if at all we see अिात्मा it is nothing but नाम
and रूप only. And this नामरूप अिात्मा doesn’t have a
substantiality of its own. A value of its own. Just as the
ornaments do not have a value of their own but it is nothing but
the gold which has the value. And for transactional purposes we
can use the word bangle, chain, ring etc., because if you use the
word gold alone for all ornaments transaction is not possible.
Therefore nothing wrong in using different words but even
though we use different words we know that words are many
but the substance is one gold. Similarly for the purpose of
व्यावहार we can say this is space, this is air, this is fire, water,
earth and we can name all these things also for the sake of
transaction but in the back of the mind you should have this
remembrance. Whatever be the ornament you handle in the
back of your mind you have the awareness that this is gold.
How do you know? Because you very carefully protect the
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
ornament. We don’t use the word gold but we are aware of the
fact that it is gold. In the same way you can use different नामs
but remember it is nothing but one आत्मा. This was the central
theme सवु म् आत्मा. Having said this much in the मतरs
beginning from five to ten in the eleventh मतर यम मा राज said
this knowledge is not an optional knowledge this a compulsory
knowledge. Don’t think philosophy is an optional subject which
some people can take in the university for PhD etc., that is a
different thing. But the knowledge contained in the वेदातत is
compulsory knowledge. Why is it compulsory knowledge?
Because without this knowledge a human cannot get which he
wants to get. This is commonly sought after by all human
beings, viz., peace, security, fulfillment. All these fundamentals
all the entire humanity is seeking. It is a choiceless destination.
Peace is a choiceless destination of every human being. When
a person buys something he is seeking peace and when is selling
the same thing which he bought yesterday there also he wants
by both प्रवक्षृ त्त and क्षनवक्षृ त्त everyone seeks peace, security and
fulfillment which is called मोिः or पण ू ु त्वम्. This पण
ू ु त्वम् one
cannot without िवाा त्म भाव. The opposite दशु नम् is called द्वैत
दशु नम्, नानात्व दशु नम्. And यम मा राज strongly warns
whoever has got the नानात्व दशु नम्, the vision of plurality, the
vision of division they all will be chased by me (यम मा राज). I
will kill them, I will destroy them. And if it is a permanent
destruction it is good, but I will destroy them, give birth again,
and cause attachment to everyone and then again destroy and
again the cycle continues. When you have full attachment I will
pluck. Thus I will torture you if you don’t obey or listen to my
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
teaching. And therefore मत्ृ योः ि मत्ृ युमाप्िोनत य इह िािेव
पश्यनत. So िवाा त्म भावे फलम् was said, िवाा त्म अभावे, in the
absence of िवाा त्म भाव the consequence was also pointed out.
Continuing;
मतर 2-1-12
अङ्िुष्ठमारः पुरुषो मध्य आत्मनि नतष्ठनत ।
ईशािो भत ू भव्यस्य ि ततो नवजुिुप्िते । एतद्वै तत् ॥ १२ ॥
In these two मतरs twelve and thirteen यम मा राज re-
emphasizes जीवात्म-परमात्म-ऐक्यम्, so the essential identity
of the individual self, the microcosm, the व्यनि and the
universal self, the macrocosm, the िमनि is revealed once
again. So first the nature of जीवात्मा is pointed out in the first
line. पुरुषः – जीवात्मा. Where is this जीवात्मा located? मध्ये
आत्मनि नतष्ठनत – this जीवात्मा is located as though in the
center of the individual body. आत्मनि means शरीरे . Normally
the word आत्मा does not mean body but in this context आत्मनि
means शरीरे . So जीवात्मा is located the body. Where in the
body? In the heart of the body. Because heart is the center. That
is why when any office or anything is in the center of the city
we say it is in the heart of the city. Therefore आत्मनि मध्ये हृदय
देशे नतष्ठनत. Why do we say जीवात्मा is in the हृदयम्? Really
speaking जीवात्मा is the Consciousness, Consciousness is not
located in one place but still it is presented as though located to
indicate that जीवात्मा is the witness of your thoughts. So
जीवात्मा is to be understood as the Consciousness principle
which is aware of, which is the illuminator of the conditions of
the mind. So मनक्षस साक्षिभत ू ेन वतु ते. It is the witness of the
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
thoughtful condition of the mind during जाग्रत् and स्वप्ि, then
thoughtless condition of the mind during िुषुनि. Both of them
are known by the Consciousness principle which is the साक्षि of
the mind and is called पुरुषः. According to the शास्त्र the mind
is located within the heart. It is not supposed to be in the brain.
Many people think mind is located in the brain. According to
the शास्त्र mind is not located in the brain because if it is in the
brain it will be in the top of the body. Therefore mind is located
in the heart. There also people talk about two hearts – left side
heart and right side heart. शङ्कराचाया says there is only one
heart which is the physical heart. The heart belongs to स्र्ल ू
शरीरम्, the mind belongs to िक्ष्ू म शरीरम्. So now take the
body as the temple, this we have seen before also in
मिोमयः प्राणशरीरिेता प्रनतनष्ठतोऽतिे र्हदयं िनति ाय ।
तनद्वज्ञािेि पररपश्यनतत ीरा आितदरूपममत ृ ं यनद्वभानत ॥
मुण्डकोपनिषत् २-२-७ ॥
So there the beautiful description was given. So body is like the
temple, हृदयम् is the गभु गहृ म्, in the inner heart there is the
subtle mind and in the subtle mind the Consciousness is there.
What is the function of Consciousness? Illumining whatever is
happening in the mind. Like the light is here which is illumining
whatever is happening on the stage, my body moves but the
light does not move. Now since the mind is supposed to be
within the heart what will be the size of the mind? Even though
the mind does not have a size at all but if you want to give an
imaginary size what can be the size? Whatever be the size of
the space obtaining within your heart. Now the question is what

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
is the size of the space within the heart. The size of the heart is
supposed to be the size of your fist. So if the fist is the size of
the heart how much space will be within? You can see that the
space within is that much to accommodate your thumb.
Therefore the size of the space is the size of the thumb. And
within the space mind is there and inside the mind is the
Consciousness and therefore the उपनिषत् says Consciousness
is as though the size of the thumb. Therefore अङ्िुष्ठमारः.
मारः means of the size of अङ्िुष्ठ – the thumb is the जीवात्मा
which is located in the body. What is the nature of this
जीवात्मा? ईशािः भत ू भव्यस्य. So the thumb size is as though
the size of the जीवात्मा, if the thumb size is as though then the
question comes what is the real size of the जीवात्मा. The
उपनिषत् says ईशािः भत ू भव्यस्य – the जीवात्मा which is as
though the size of the thumb is really speaking the all-pervading
परमात्मा. ईशािः means the परमात्मा who is the controller of,
the सक्षृ टक्षस्र्क्षतलय कताु of भत ू भव्यस्य – the entire creation
belonging to the past, as well as the future, which included
present also. In short जीवात्मा seems to be limited but really
speaking it is limitless परमात्मा. When you talk about the space
within the pot we use the expression there is only limited space.
But if you make an enquiry you will find the expression limited
space is a delusion. Because you see the space as limited
because you are talking about the space within the pot. But on
enquiry you know that the space is not within the pot, really
speaking space is outside the pot also, in fact if you make
further enquiry it is neither within the pot nor outside the pot
but all the pots are within the space. In the same way initially
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
we talk about limited Consciousness within the heart and
limitless Consciousness outside, ultimately we say there is no
question of Consciousness within and without, there is only one
Consciousness in which all the withins and all the withouts are
there. Therefore where is जीवात्मा and परमात्मा? There is only
one आत्मा. Therefore ईशािः भत ू भव्यस्य – जीवात्मा is
परमात्मा. And since जीवात्म-परमात्म-ऐक्यम् is revealed this
मतर is a महावाक्य मतर. Then the उपनिषत् says ततः. So once
I know I am not a limited जीवात्मा but I am identical with
limitless परमात्मा then the benefit I get is ि नवजुिुप्िते – I will
never feel insecurity. नवजुिुप्सा means seeking security. As
long as I take myself to be the body I will seek security and the
fact is body is never secure, body is ever insecure. So we are
trying to get security for the ever insecure body which we will
never succeed. The only security is recognizing the fact I am
not the body but I am the Consciousness obtaining in the body.
And एतद्वै तत् – It is this Consciousness which is your real
nature which you wanted to know through your third boon.
Continuing;
मतर 2-1-13
अङ्िुष्ठमारः पुरुषो ज्योनतररवा मू कः ।
ईशािो भत ू भव्यस्य ि एवाद्य ि उ श्वः । एतद्वै तत् ॥ १३ ॥
This is another महावाक्य मतर re-emphasizing the same
जीवात्म-परमात्म-ऐक्यम् topic. So पुरुषः अङ्िुष्ठमारः – the
जीवात्मा is seemingly confined to the body. This is a natural
misconception because we experience Consciousness only
within the periphery of the body. All the over the body I feel
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
Consciousness, upto the tip of nail body I feel Consciousness.
बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् says आ िखाग्रेभ्यः ॥ १-४-७ ॥ And if
somebody asks is the Consciousness beyond the finger what
will be our answer based on experience? Consciousness stops
with the periphery of the body. And therefore seemingly the
जीवात्मा is finite, a limited one. अङ्िुष्ठमारः – located, seated
in the हृदयम्. What is the nature of that जीवात्मा, the
Consciousness? It is ज्योनतः इव – the Consciousness is
comparable to a flame. What type of flame? अ म ू कः – a
smokeless flame which means a bright flame capable of
illumining everything. Similarly Consciousness is capable of
illumining everything. In the शास्त्र light is used in a technical
sense. Light is defined as that in whose presence things are
known. Going by that definition शास्त्र says every sense organ
is comparable to a light because in the presence of the eyes the
forms and colors are known, in the presence of the ears the
sounds are known, in the presence of the skin touches are
known. Therefore every sense organ is comparable to a light.
Extending that further only if the mind is there you can know
things. Only in the presence of the mind things are known and
in the absence of the mind things cannot be known therefore
even the mind can be compared another light. If you extend like
that the ultimate light has to be the Consciousness principle
only because in the absence of Consciousness even sense
organs cannot see, perceive, even the mind cannot know
anything. Therefore Consciousness is called ज्योनतषाम् ज्योनतः
॥ मुण्डकोपनिषत् २-२-९ ॥ And therefore it is compared to a
flame. So this flame expression is only a figurative expression,
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
you should not take it literally and sit in meditation and look for
some kind of flame to come. And smokeless flame indicates its
brightness. And this जीवात्मा, the Consciousness which
illumines everything in all the three अवस्र्ाs is none other than
ईशािः – परमात्मा. This जीवात्मा is none other than the
परमात्मा, which is the controller of भत ू भव्यस्य – the past and
the future. This means plurality is only apparent and not real. If
you remember the example of the light where there is one
central light and around that there is a rotating device with three
holes. When you see from outside you see three lights. But there
is only one light and seeming plurality. And only plurality is
apparent even the light does not move round, it is only the
device around that is moving. There is no question of motion in
the light. Therefore बहु त्वम् as well as चलनम् both do not
belong to the light, it belongs to something else. Similarly, the
Consciousness does not move at all, it is like space all-
pervading. What moves is the devices called the body-mind
complex and there is a plurality in the body-mind complex,
there is motion in the body-mind complex, that is falsely
transferred to the Consciousness. Consciousness is only one all-
pervading principle. How long will that Consciousness be
there? We think that when the brain is destroyed Consciousness
is gone. When the body is dead, Consciousness is dead.
यम मा राज says when the brain is destroyed Consciousness
continues to exist, when the body is gone Consciousness
continues to exist. If you say that you don’t experience it is
because the medium for experience which is in the form of
body-mind complex is gone like the fused bulb the bulb is gone
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
but the electricity continues. Therefore ि एव अद्य – the very
same Consciousness is now ि उ श्वः – in the future also the
Consciousness will continue. So it was in the past, it is in the
present, it will be in the future also. While saying this
यम मा राज remembers the question of िनचकेति्.
येयं प्रेते नवनचनकत्िा मिुष्ये अस्तीत्येके िायमस्तीनत चैके ॥
कठोपनिषत् १-१-२० ॥
There is a very big doubt after my death do I continue to exist
or not? This question is legitimate because I don’t see anything
surviving. Some people say there is someone surviving, some
people say there is no one surviving. यम मा राज says ि उ श्वः
– the जीवात्मा survives. When the िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् itself is going
to survive what to talk of the आत्मचैततयम्? Therefore it is
eternal. एतद्वै तत् – this Consciousness is the one which you
wanted to know through the third boon. Continuing;
मतर 2-1-14
यर्ोदकं दुिे विृ ं पवा तेषु नव ावनत ।
एवं माा ि् पर्
ृ क् पश्यंस्तािेवािुनव ावनत ॥ १४ ॥
In these concluding two मतरs यम मा राज wants
emphasizes that द्वैत-दशा िम् leads to mortality and अद्वैत
दशा िम् leads to immortality. In this मतर he says that द्वैत-
दशा िम्, seeing division, seeing differences, seeing plurality
leads to mortality. माा ि् पर् ृ क् पश्यि्. Here मा means
जीवात्मा and not मा of मा -अर्ा -काम-मोक्ष पुरुषार्ा , or पुण्यम्
or वैनदक duty. माा ि् पर् ृ क् पश्यि् means जीवात्मा बहु त्व
दशु नम्, seeing every जीवात्मा to be different from other

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
जीवात्मा. I am one जीवात्मा, you are another जीवात्मा, one
जीवात्मा has got more पुण्यम्/पापम् than the other, etc., this
दशा िम् one who sees, तान् एव अिुनव ावनत – he will be reborn
again and again in the world of plurality. तान् एव means the
very same world of जीवात्मा, the very same world of plurality.
अिुनव ावनत – he will be reborn again and again, पुिरनप
जििम् पुिरनप मरणम् he will continue to have because of that
द्वैत-दशा िम्. To convey this यम मा राज gives an example. यर्ा
दुिे विृ ं उदकम् – it is like raining on the slope of a mountain.
This water gets divided into several small streams and then
gradually the water gets absorbed in the mud. It gets divided, it
gets dissipated and it gets destroyed. So water divided is water
destroyed. Whereas imagine the very same streams get united
together, it becomes bigger and bigger and then it becomes such
a huge river that it never gets destroyed. Therefore unity is
strength and division is destruction. Just as the dividing waters
dissipates and disappear similarly the जीवात्मा who sees
division will get destroyed. Thus द्वैत-दशा िम् leads to mortality.
Another well-known example is when the wave looks upon
itself as a wave, it is going to see plurality, naturally the wave
has to be frightened of destruction. Because even the biggest
wave will have each the shore and disappear. Imagine the very
same wave understands that there are no many waves, but there
is only one water then there is no question of fear of mortality.
The wave can say I will eternally be there, different िामरूपs
come and go I, the water am eternal. Wave दशा िम् is द्वैत
दशा िम् which means mortality, water दशा िम् is अद्वैत दशा िम्

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
which means immortality. Whether you want to look at yourself
as wave or water is your choice. Continuing;
मतर 2-1-15
यर्ोदकं शुद्धे शुद्धमानिक्तं तादृिेव भवनत ।
एवं मुिेनवा जाित आत्मा भवनत िौतम ॥ १५ ॥
In this मतर यम मा राज says that अद्वैत दशा िम् leads to
immortality. The जीवात्म-परमात्म-ऐक्यम् is revealed through
an example. So जीवात्मा is compared to a glass of water. शुद्धम्
उदकम्. And परमात्मा is also compared to water, perhaps you
can take it as ocean and जीवात्मा as a river. But the common
factor to both of them is pure water. So when शुद्धम् उदकं शुद्धे
उदके आनिक्तम् – when pure water in one container is poured
into the pure water of another container, तादृक् एव भवनत – you
will not be able differentiate one water from the other. So one
is in a glass tumbler, another is in a silver tumbler. Both are
poured together, after pouring can you differentiate? They
become inseparably, indistinguishably one. In the same way
through Vedantic िा ि we are as though pouring जीवात्मा
water into परमात्मा water. And by this pouring िा ि the
जीवात्मा and परमात्मा become indistinguishably one.
Therefore he says आनिक्तं तादृिेव भवनत – both become
identical, inseparable, indistinguishable. एवम् – in the same
way आत्मा भवनत िौतम – हे िौतम, हे िनचकेति् आत्मा
becomes one for a wise person. That means the adjective जीव
behind the आत्मा and the adjective परम behind the आत्मा both
the adjectives are removed and there is only one आत्मा. मुिेः
नवजाितः – for a wise person. मुनि means the one who has done
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
श्रवण-मिि-निनदध्याििम्. By becoming a मुनि, मििशील he
has become wise. So for a wise person who has done वेदातत
क्षवचार आत्मा एकः भवक्षत.
And in this example we get some nice hints also.
यम मा राज said शुद्धं र्लम् poured in शुद्धं र्लम् becomes
indistinguishably one. That means both must be शुद्धम्. If one
is अशुद्धम् and when you pour the impurity will be there.
Similarly if जीवात्मा and परमात्मा should merge to become one
both should be शुद्धम्. But of these two परमात्मा need not be
purified because it is already pure. Only the जीवात्मा requires
the purificatory process and hence the िा िs are mentioned.
This is the first thing we get. And in this example we have to
note another point also. Any example if not used properly can
create confusion. In this example we have talked about two
waters taken from two containers and mix both of them.
Therefore merger of the waters is a physical event which
happens in time. Now reading this example you should not
think that जीवात्मा is sitting here and परमात्मा is there, and I,
the जीवात्मा have to purify myself, and then go and merge. So
this idea may come from the example. You should remember in
the case of जीवात्मा and परमात्मा merger is not a physical event
that happens in time. Why physical merger is not possible.
Physical merger is possible only when two things are physically
away from each other at a distance. But we have seen that
परमात्मा is all-pervading and therefore it is very much in the
individual also. And therefore there is no question of जीवात्मा
travelling and merging. Therefore in the case of जीवात्मा and
परमात्मा merger is the knowledge that there is no division
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ४
between them. Dropping the notion of difference, dropping the
misconception of difference is figuratively called merger. Any
notion belongs to the intellect and therefore merger is not a
physical event, it is an intellectual event in the form of dropping
the notion. How do you drop any false notion? Any false notion
is dropped by the right understanding. Understanding is an
event happening in the intellect. Therefore the intellectual
understanding should take place and because of that intellectual
false notion should go away and when the notion goes away, I
no more want to merge into the परमात्मा because I now know
that I am परमात्मा. Suppose somebody says I know I am
परमात्मा but I want to merge. Very clearly I have understood,
but I want to merge into परमात्मा. That means you have not
grasped the teaching. The moment you grasp the teaching
properly you know that परमात्मा is never away from me I was,
I am and I ever will be परमात्मा, there is no question of merging
itself. And therefore merger is what? ज्ञािम्. ज्ञानेि भेद क्षनवक्षृ त्तः
एव ऐक्यम् इत्युच्यते. And it is this ऐक्यम् that is going to
happen for मुिेः नवजाितः – a wise person. In the case of an
ignorant person the ऐक्यम् is there or not? In the case of an
ignorant person also the ऐक्यम् is a fact but because of his
ignorance he disowns the एकत्वम् and therefore there is a
notional distance caused by ignorance. Therefore you have to
become wise. More in the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
नद्वतीयाध्याये नद्वतीया वल्ली
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
We have completed the first वल्ली of the second chapter
and now we are entering the second वल्ली. In the previous
वल्ली यम मा राज predominantly dealt with आत्मस्वरूपम् in
reply to िनचकेति्’s question through the third boon. Since
आत्मस्वरूपम् is extremely subtle यम मा राज chooses to teach
the same subject from different angles. अक्षतसक्ष्ू मत्वात्,
अक्षतदुनवा ज्ञेयत्वात्, since the topic is extremely subtle and since
one cannot grasp that easily generally in the उपनिषत् the
आत्मस्वरूपम् is repeated again and again. And now in the
following वल्ली also यम मा राज is going to deal with
आत्मस्वरूपम् topic only, concentrated discussion of
आत्मस्वरूपम्. And because of this reason these वल्लीs are the
central and main portion of कठोपनिषत्. So previous वल्ली is
important and the following वल्ली is also important. In fact
आत्मस्वरूपम् is more elaborately dealt with in the second
chapter rather than the first chapter. In the first chapter lot of
मन्त्रs were used for stories and thereafter यम मा राज testing
the student and then lot of मन्त्रs were given for रर्कल्पना to
emphasize the साधनs. Thus the first chapter dealt with so many
other things whereas in the second chapter यम मा राज enjoys
focused discussion hoping that िनचकेति् will enjoy focused
listening. It is not enough that गुरु enjoys, the क्षशष्य also should
enjoy. So we are entering the second वल्ली where we are getting

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
the concentrated dose of आत्मस्वरूप वणु नम्. With this
background we will enter.
मतर 2-2-01
पुरमेकादशद्वारमजस्यावक्रचेतिः ।
अिुष्ठाय ि शोचनत नवमुक्ति नवमुच्यते । एतद्वै तत् ॥ १ ॥
In this first मन्त्र यम मा राज is talking about जीवात्म
स्वरूपम्, the nature of the individual self. And he presents the
individual self or जीवात्मा as the master, ruler, controller, king
of the body. For this purpose the body is compared to a small
kingdom, पुरम्. Why the body is a पुरम्? Because it is a
residence for the पुरस्वाक्षम the master, the king. The capital is
र्हदयम् where the king resides. There are so many citizens, all
the organs are like citizens.
आत्मा त्वं निररजा मनतः िहचराः प्राणाः शरीरं िहृ म् ॥ नशवमािि
पज
ू ा४॥
O Lord the very is your kingdom, all the ज्ञािेनतियs,
कमेनतियs, पञ्चप्राणs, अततःकरणs all of them are citizens. And
all of them are working for the master जीवात्मा. शङ्कराचाया
goes on and on. once there is a comparison you can explain that.
So many industries are there within the body like heart, liver,
kidney. And some of the industries are essential ones which
have run all the time. And various manufactured goods are
transported to various places and there are roads – primary,
secondary, by lanes, highways – all blood vessels, and they
have got a city wall called our skin. Then there are so many
gateways or doors of which some are meant for getting things

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
inside – entrance gates and some are meant for exist, and some
of them two ways. Similarly we have got ज्ञािेनतियs – entrance
gates, कमेनतियS – exist gates, and the mouth is two-way. So
this is the city called physical body. The city will thrive and be
alive as long as the ruler is there. Once the country is not
properly governed and administered, the king goes away there
will be civil war. Similarly now this body is functioning very
well and we are alive and people also respect things have not
yet started disintegrating, the body does not stink too much all
because of the master being there. The moment the master quits
then the body cannot be kept even for a few hours. So for this
city अिात्मा आत्मा is the master. Why are you not knowing
this master? पुरम् एकादश द्वारम् – the physical body is
comparable to a city with एकादश द्वारम् – eleven gateways or
openings. What are the eleven openings? Seven openings are in
the head – two eyes, two ears, two nostrils and one mouth. Then
there are three openings down below of which two are meant
for evacuation of waste and one navel which is a unique
opening which was operational when we were in our mother’s
womb for food intake. Later this door is permanently sealed
after birth. There is one more opening at the top of the head, on
the crown in the middle known as last opening called ब्रह्मरतिम्
which is not regularly opened which is opened only during
extraordinary circumstances. This is supposed to open only
when an उपािक dies. This is the special hole which is a
passage to go to ब्रह्मलोक. Thus एकादश द्वारम्. Whereas in the
भिवद्गीता fifth chapter कृष्ण talks about नवद्वारम् only, He
leaves नाक्षभ and ब्रह्मरतिम् as they are rarely used. This
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
physical body belongs to master जीवात्मा, the पुरस्वाक्षम. Who
is this जीवात्मा? अवक्रचेतिः – the जीवात्मा which is of the
nature of the changeless Consciousness. Why does यम मा राज
uses this special adjective? Because the physical body city is
constantly changing. Body becomes वक्रम्, therefore पुरम् is
वक्रपुरम् whereas जीवात्मा is अवक्रजीवात्मा. It does not
undergo any change at all. अनस्त, जायते, व ा ते, नवपररणमते,
अपक्षीयते and नविश्यनत these six-fold changes are not there in
that Consciousness जीवात्मा. Therefore अजस्य – birthless,
unlike पुरम्, the body which has got a date of birth. So the body
which has got a birth belongs to जीवात्मा which does not have
birth at all.
ि जायते नम्रयते वा नवपनितिायं कुतनिति बभवू कनित् । अजो
नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो ि हतयते हतयमािे शरीरे ॥
कठोपनिषत् १-२-१८ ॥
What is the nature of this Consciousness?
1) Consciousness is not a part or property or product of the
body,
2) It is an independent entity separate from the body, which
pervades and enlivens the body,
3) It is not limited by the boundaries of the body,
4) It continues to survive even after the fall of the body,
5) That continuing Consciousness cannot transact not
because it is absent but because the transacting medium is not
there.

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
Such a जीवात्मा Consciousness is the पुरस्वाक्षम. What is the aim
of our life? The aim of our life is instead of claiming the body
as myself, I should learn to claim the पुरस्वाक्षम as myself. So I
am not the पुरम्, I am the स्वाक्षम of the पुरम्; I am not the देह
but I am देही, I am not the शरीरम् but I am शरीरी. This is our
primary goal of life. All the other things you do or you don’t do
doesn’t matter, if there is a one point program it is this program
learn to first differentiate these two body and Consciousness,
that is first part of साधन and after differentiating body and
Consciousness train your mind which is called निनदध्याििम्
or अभ्यास, and the training is I am not the body, I am the स्वाक्षम
of the body. Body will go but I won’t go. Therefore he says
अिुष्ठाय – this is the primary अिुष्ठानम्. अिुष्ठानम् means
your primary exercise in life which is categorized into श्रवण-
मिि-निनदध्याििम्. Of these three exercises also श्रवणम् and
मििम् are primarily meant for separating these two like
separating the light from the hand because intellectually I
should be convinced that Consciousness a different entity. And
this conviction doesn’t easily come. Therefore take any number
years required to separate body and Consciousness. Then what
is the next part? Once I am convinced I have to train my mind
मिोबुद्ध्यहङ्कार नचिानि िाहम् । ि च श्रोरनजह्वे ि च घ्राणिेरे
। ि च व्योम भनू मिा तेजो ि वायुः । नचदाितदरूपः नशवोऽहम्
नशवोऽहम् ॥ निवाा ण षट्कम् ॥
So all these three things put together this training is called
निनदध्याििम्. Segregation is श्रवणम् and मििम्, this new
orientation is called निनदध्याििम्. This you should do,

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
यम मा राज advices out of concern and compassion. अिुष्ठाय,
वेदातत क्षवचारम् कुरु, श्रवण-मिि-निनदध्याििम् कुरु, आत्म-
अनात्म-क्षववेकम् कुरु. Then what will I get? Because I don’t
have time. Time is the biggest problem. Almost everything we
can get, even money people are ready to give but time has
become the most difficult commodity. So if I have to give time
for something I should value that much. Without value I cannot
give time to that. And to value I should know what will I get
out of it. Because value is directly proportional to the returns.
यम मा राज says the benefit is ि शोचनत – the greatest benefit is
you will not have sorrows in life, you will not grieve in life, you
will not go through depressions in life. Different people give
different reasons for depression but the problem is human mind
goes through this agony called anxiety; वेदातत is the solution.
And वेदातत is not one of the solution, it is the only solution.
ितािि
ू ितािंि
ू िािुशोचनतत पनण्डताः ॥ िीता २-११ ॥
तरनत शोकमात्मनवत् ॥ छातदोग्योपनिषत् ७-१-३ ॥
And suppose you feel there are other methods वेदातत says try
and come. You can never get out of sorrow by any other method
and therefore यम मा राज says ि शोचनत – you won’t cry.
नवमुक्ति नवमुच्यते – you will enjoy liberation even while living.
र्ीवन्मुक्षतम् अनुभवक्षत. This is uniqueness of our teaching.
Many other religions don’t promise freedom here. They say you
follow our religion you will get a ticket to heaven. So all
enjoyments are by going to some other लोक, and I cannot
verify also, what a tragic! It is only question of believing.
Therefore वेदातत promises freedom here and now, it is a
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
challenge. You try and see for yourself. Therefore नवमुक्त
means र्ीवन्मुत भवक्षत, he will enjoy र्ीवन्मुक्षत here and now.
नवमुच्यते – not only is there freedom while living after death
also he enjoys freedom, liberation. And what do you mean by
liberation after death? Whenever you say liberation after death
it means freedom from पुनर्ु न्म which is otherwise called
क्षवदेहमुक्षत. Therefore it is worth knowing जीवात्मा. And then
यम मा राज says एतद्वै तत् – it is this पुरस्वानम जीवात्मा which
you wanted to know through the third boon. Continuing;
मतर 2-2-02
हँिः शुनचषद्विुराततररक्षिद् होता वेनदषदनतनर्दाु रोणित् ।
िषृ द्वरिदृतिद्व्योमिद् अ्जा िोजा ऋतजा अनिजा ऋतं बहृ त् ॥ २ ॥
In this मतर यम मा राज says the जीवात्मा which is
residing in my body as the master of my body the very same
जीवात्मा is residing in every body. That is the next stage. The
जीवात्मा, the Consciousness which is pervading this individual
body is the same Consciousness which pervades every body.
That means when you look at the heart, heart is also within this
body but the heart in my body in not the same heart in your
body. So I have got one heart and you have another. Similarly
one may think I have got an आत्मा, you have got an आत्मा. So
don’t extend the heart logic to आत्मा. आत्मा is not heart or liver
or kidney. But आत्मा is one all-pervading Consciousness which
dwells in everyone. Exactly like the space is not only within
this hall the very space is there in all the other halls also. In fact
wherever there is a hallow there is space. So आत्मनः एकत्वम्
is the second lesson. The first lesson is आत्मनः देह

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
व्यक्षतररतत्वम्. And it is this method Lord कृष्ण is following in
the thirteenth chapter. He first says,
इदं शरीरं कौततेय क्षेरनमत्यनभ ीयते ।
एतद्यो वेनि तं प्राहु ः क्षेरज्ञ इनत तनद्वदः ॥ िीता १३-१ ॥
He calls the body as क्षेरम् and Consciousness as क्षेरज्ञः. Then
He says
क्षेरज्ञं चानप मां नवनद्ध िवा क्षेरेषु भारत ॥ िीता १३-२ ॥
हे अर्ु न! The same Consciousness in every body which means
bodies are plural, Consciousness is singular. That is indicated
here आत्मनः एकत्वम्. Why do we emphasize this fact?
Because there are other philosophers who claim that आत्मा also
is many. साङ््य philosophy says my body has got an आत्मा
within, your body has got another आत्मा. so as many bodies are
there so many आत्माs are there. Those philosophical systems
are called आत्मबहु त्ववादः, plurality of आत्मा. This मतर
negates साङ््य, योग, न्याय, वैशेक्षषक, all those concepts are
negated and the उपनिषत् says आत्मा एकः. Now look at this
मतर with this background. हँिः शुनचषत् – so this very आत्मा
is residing in the sky also, शुनच means आकाश, in the form of
हंिः – सय ू ु रूपेण, as the very essence in the Sun. The word हंिः
normally refers to a swan but in this context हंिः means सय ू ु . It
is derived from the √हन् – to destroy. What does it destroy?
अन्धकारम् हनतत नाशयक्षत इक्षत हंिः. It is the destroyer of
darkness. A ज्ञानि is also called हंिः because he also a destroyer
of the internal darkness, अज्ञािम् हनतत इक्षत हंिः. परमहंि etc.,
refers to the destroyer of the internal darkness, ignorance. So in
the form of सय ू ु आत्मा is there in the sky. विुः अततररक्षित् –
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
वायु, wind in the inter-space. आत्मा is in the inter-space in the
form of वायु. विुः वाियनत िवाा निनत. That which gives
fragrance everywhere. होता वेनदषत् – आत्मा is on the earth in
the form of अनग्ि. Normally होता means one who offers
oblation. Here in this context होता means अनग्ि, because in the
वेद it is said अनग्िवय होता. Then अनतनर्ः दुरोणित् – आत्मा is in
the house as a guest. Here यम मा राज is taking all sacred things
so that we will have reverence. िषृ त् – आत्मा is in every human
being as sentiency, चेतनत्वम्. िषृ ु मिुष्येषु िीदतीनत िषृ त्. The
word ित् is repeated everywhere, it is derived from the √सद्
िीदनत, वतु ते. Then वरित्. वरे षु देवेषु िीदतीनत वरित्. वरः
means देवः, the superior ones. All the देवs are called वरः
because they are all superior ones compared to the human
beings. आत्मा resides in all the देवs in the form of चैतन्यम्.
ऋतित्. ऋतं ित्यं यज्ञो वा, तनस्मि् िीदतीनत ऋतित्. ऋतम् in
this context means यागः, a Vedic ritual. आत्मा is very much
there as the Vedic rituals also. व्योमित.् व्योनम्ि आकाशे
िीदतीनत व्योमित्. आत्मा dwells in the व्योम, in the all-
pervading space in the form of very existence, सद्रूपेण. अ्जाः
– those which are dwelling in the ocean, the aquatic things and
beings. अप्िु शङ्खशुनक्तमकरानदरुपेण जायत इनत अ्जाः.
आत्मा is there in the form of aquatic things and beings in waters
also. िोजाः. िनव पनृ र्व्यां व्रीनहयवानदरूपेण जायत इनत िोजाः.
आत्मा is upon the earth in the form of earthly things. ऋतजाः.
यज्ञाङ्िरूपेण जायत इनत ऋतजाः. आत्मा is in the form of
sacrificial accessories. अनिजाः. पवा तेभ्यो िद्यानदरूपेण जायत
इनत अनिजाः. आत्मा is there in the form of mountains and rivers.
What is that आत्मा? ऋतम् – the absolute reality. आत्मा is
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
सत्यम्. Since this आत्मा is everywhere it is called बहृ त् – ब्रह्मि्
or परमात्मा. बहृ त् महाि्, िवा कारणत्वात्. So therefore joining
this मतरs, in the previous मतर जीवात्मा was introduced, now
the उपनिषत् says this जीवात्मा is the परमात्मा which is all-
pervades. So जीवात्म-परमात्म-ऐक्यम् is pointed out.
Continuing;
मतर 2-2-03
ऊध्वं प्राणमुतियत्यपािं प्रत्यिस्यनत ।
मध्ये वामिमािीिं नवश्वे देवा उपािते ॥ ३ ॥
So more description of जीवात्मा is given in the following
मतरs. The उपनिषत् points out that our body-mind complex or
स्र्ल
ू -िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् is essentially inert in nature because both of
them are made up of पञ्चभत ू s, matter only. Since both of them
are made up of matter they don’t have life of their own. They
are inert materials, they cannot respond to the external world,
they are insentient. Then what does आत्मा do? आत्मा blesses
the िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् by lending the reflection or नचदाभाि. Just like
the Sun bless the mirror by forming the reflection. Once the
mirror receives the reflection the mirror gets a new status. Even
though the mirror is non-luminous by itself because of the
reflection it becomes luminous and bright mirror and begins to
illumine the dark room. आत्मा is like the Sun, the िक्ष्ू म शरीरम्
is like the mirror. The आत्मा Sun lends the reflection called
नचदाभाि, sentiency to िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् and now िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् has
become alive. What does this िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् do? From its
borrowed sentiency it lends to स्र्ल ू शरीरम्. Thus आत्मा
directly blesses िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् and then through the िक्ष्ू म शरीरम्
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
it blesses the स्र्ल
ू शरीरम्. Therefore the physical body enjoys
the secondary नचदाभाि. िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् enjoys the primary
नचदाभाि. Therefore who blesses िक्ष्ू म शरीरम्? आत्मा. Who
blesses स्र्लू शरीरम्? Again आत्मा only. Both are blesses by
आत्मा only. The only difference is आत्मा blesses the िक्ष्ू म
शरीरम् directly and स्र्ल
ू शरीरम् indirectly. Now at the time of
death what happens? Imagine I removed the mirror. The Sun
continues to be there up above. Even though Sun is there, the
Sun cannot illumine the dark room not because the Sun is
absent but because the intermediary medium called mirror
through which the Sun illumined the dark room that medium
has gone away and therefore the Sun has ‘stopped’ blessing the
dark room. Similarly when the िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् quits the body it is
as though आत्मा has quit the body because आत्मा in the form
of नचदाभाि is no more available in the body. आत्मा is not
available in the form of नचदाभाि because the first नचदाभाि is
formed in the िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् and at the time of death primary
नचदाभाि goes away therefore the secondary नचदाभाि formed
and therefore आत्मा alone blesses the body. What is the proof?
Your very breathing is the proof for the very presence of the
आत्मा’s blessing. In तैनिरीयोपनिषत् it is beautifully said,
को ह्येवातयात् कः प्राण्याद् यदेष आकाश आितदो ि स्यात् ॥
तैनिरीयोपनिषत् २-७-३ ॥
So the same idea is brought in here also. Look at the मतर. ऊध्वं
प्राणम् उतियनत. You have to supply the subject आत्मा. So
आत्मा alone draws प्राण, the exhalation air out of your lungs
and throws it outside. Then अपािं प्रत्यक् अस्यनत – आत्मा

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
alone draws अपाि, the inhalation air. अपाि in this context
means अधोगमनवान् वायु. The वायु which is inhaled and goes
downwards into the lungs. Therefore आत्मा is responsible for
drawing वायु outwards also and inwards also. In short, आत्मा is
responsible for your breathing, आत्मा alone gives your life, the
very life means आत्मा’s blessing. And where is that आत्मा
located? मध्ये आिीिम् – that आत्मा, the king, पुरस्वाक्षम is there
in his chambers, in his palace which is the heart.
र्हदयपुण्डरीकाकाशे मध्ये आिीिम्, the आत्मा is located
blessing that one. How can you forget that आत्मा? That is the
idea. The details of which we will see in next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 2-2-01, 02 & 03 Continuing;
पुरमेकादशद्वारमजस्यावक्रचेतिः ।
अिुष्ठाय ि शोचनत नवमुक्ति नवमुच्यते । एतद्वै तत् ॥ १ ॥
हँिः शुनचषद्विुराततररक्षिद् होता वेनदषदनतनर्दाु रोणित् ।
िषृ द्वरिदृतिद्व्योमिद् अ्जा िोजा ऋतजा अनिजा ऋतं बहृ त् ॥ २ ॥
ऊध्वं प्राणमुतियत्यपािं प्रत्यिस्यनत ।
मध्ये वामिमािीिं नवश्वे देवा उपािते ॥ ३ ॥
The entire Vedantic disciplines we can present in four
stages for our convenience.
1) The first stage is dividing the individual into two parts –
the matter principle called the body and the Consciousness
principle called the आत्मा. This first stage is called आत्म-
अिात्म-नववेक. And at this stage only you should remember
those points about Consciousness like Consciousness is not a
part or property or product of the body, etc. Through this first
stage you differentiate the body and Consciousness as two
independent entities. Remember the example just as the hand
and light are intimately together but they are two independent
entities. So this segregation of आत्मा and अनात्मा, चेति शरीरी
and अचेति शरीरम् is the first stage. And each stage we have to
struggle because it is not that easy to accept. Science in spite of
so much development and research is not yet very sure whether
Consciousness is an independent entity or not. That means first

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stage itself to get convinced may take years, decades or even
र्न्मs.
2) Once I have successfully gone through the first stage, the
second stage of िा ि is learning to shift my identity or ‘I’ from
the body-mind part to the Consciousness part which is a
difficult training. Instead of saying I am the body with
Consciousness, I should learn to say I am the formless
Consciousness which has got an incidental body. वािांनि
जीणाा नि यर्ा नवहाय. We have to use the word incidental
regularly so that we are prepared to lose the body at any time.
So I am the Consciousness with an incidental body which I use
for temporary transactions and which body I have to lose at any
time. And when I should lose the body is not determined by me.
No permission is asked. So therefore I am the Consciousness
incidentally operating transacting through the temporal mortal
body. This is the second stage.
3) Then the third stage is I, the Consciousness who am
incidentally operating through this matter vesture is not
confined to this body only but I am the Consciousness behind
all the bodies. Therefore I am non-dual, indivisible and
formless space-like Consciousness who am functioning
through innumerable bodies. When I claim I am the
Consciousness functioning behind all the bodies we use the
technical word अहम् ब्रह्म अनस्म. The word ब्रह्म means infinite.
When can I say I am infinite? If I am operating behind only this
body I am finite but once I know I am behind all the bodies I
can happily claim that I am सवु गतम् ब्रह्म.

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जाग्रत्स्वप्ििुषुनिषु स्फुटतरा या िंनवदुज्जम्ृ भते या
ब्रह्मानदनपपीनलकातततिुषु प्रोता जित्िानक्षणी । िैवाहं ि च
दृश्यवनस्त्वनत दृढप्रज्ञानप यस्यानस्त चेत् चाण्डालोऽस्तु ि तु
नद्वजोऽस्तु िुरुररत्येषा मिीषा मम ॥ मिीषा पञ्चकम् १ ॥
So the third stage is I am the Consciousness behind all the
matter.
4) One more stage is there, the toughest stage in which I
should know my relationship with matter. No doubt I am the
Consciousness functioning behind the matter, but what is my
relationship with matter. Can you say there are two entities –
one Consciousness and another matter. If Consciousness and
matter are two distinct entities there will be द्वैतम्. Therefore
even in the third stage we are in द्वैतम् only. In the fourth stage
alone I am coming to the pinnacle of अद्वैतम्. In that what
should I say, what should I recognize? Not only I am operating
through all the bodies in fact all the bodies are My own lower
manifestation. So ब्रह्म जित्कारणम्, I am ब्रह्मि्, therefore I am
जित्कारणम्. Therefore the fourth stage is I, the ब्रह्मि,् the
Consciousness am the cause of this material universe.
Therefore I myself am manifesting in the form of the very body
also. What am I doing? I create a body and I transact through
this body. Just like I build a house and do गहृ प्रवेश for
transacting. So I create a body and I chose to transact through
all these bodies. Therefore the fourth stage is I am the
Consciousness who ama manifesting as the body also.
Then the question will come that I find it very difficult
to swallow all these ideas. Do you mean to say that I have
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
created all these bodies and I myself am transacting through my
body? If you say it is unbelievable, वेदातत says I will give you
an example to make it believable. You create a स्वप्न प्रपञ्च,
you have got the शक्षत to create the dream time, dream space
and dream body. It is not this body but it is a special body
designed for dream operation. And having created the dream
body who is going to operate through that body? You don’t
have a separate जीव created you yourself having created the
dream body enter as it were and become dream individual.
तत्िि
ृ ् वा तदेवािुप्रानवशत् ॥ तैनिरीयोपनिषत् २-६-६ ॥
And once you enter the dream body you no more use this body
you use the dream eyes to see dream forms, dream ears to hear
dream sound, dream food !to remove the hunger of dream
stomach. But will you believe all these things when you are in
dream? You will never believe this when you are dreaming. In
dream you are going to think that there is a world outside, there
is a tiger, there is a thief, there are people and you are going to
accept them as independent reality. On waking up alone you
will accept that I create the dream world and I transact. Extend
this to this world also. And once I come to this fourth stage I
can say I am the Consciousness in my higher nature, I am the
matter in my lower nature. This is what कृष्ण was telling in the
seventh chapter of the भिवद्गीता, I am the Consciousness,
पराप्रकृनत in my higher nature and I am the inert अपराप्रकृनत in
my lower nature. And these four stages were taught in the first
two मतरs. In the first मतर the first two stages were taught –
body and Consciousness are two different entities, and I am not

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the body but I am Consciousness. And in the second मतर the
third and fourth stages were taught. ऋतं बहृ त् means I am ब्रह्मि्.
बहृ त् means ब्रह्मि्. So I am the Consciousness which is ब्रह्मि्.
And the fourth stage is I, the Consciousness ब्रह्मि् is existing
or manifesting as हँिः शुनचषद्विुराततररक्षिद्, सय ू ु रूपेण
वायुरूपेण अनग्िरूपेण अनतनर्रूपेण मिुष्यरूपेण, in fact in the
form of all these things I myself am there. This is called िवाा त्म
भावः. Thus the first two मतरs gave the essence of Vedantic
teaching, i.e., nothing other than me.
Now in the third मतर यम मा राज wants to point out that
the आत्मा, I alone am giving life to the physical body. The
physical body is alive, it is sentient, it is tolerable now because
of life, the moment life is not there in the physical body you
have to dispose off at the earliest. That is why the body is called
शरीरम् – that which is decaying. Now itself it is decaying when
the blessing of life is not there it decays faster. Who is lending
life to this physical body? आत्मा is lending life to this physical
body. But how? Not directly. आत्मा cannot give life to the
physical body directly but It enlivens the body indirectly. How
does it do that? आत्मा which is the original Consciousness first
forms the reflection in the mind. Therefore आत्मा exists in two-
fold forms. It exists in the form of original Consciousness (OC)
and the very same आत्मा is available in the mind in the form of
reflected Consciousness (RC) also. Therefore in the scriptures
the word आत्मा is used very loosely. Therefore a student must
be very alert. Two meanings are possible for आत्मा either it
refers to the original Consciousness which is all-pervading or
the word आत्मा can refer to the reflected Consciousness
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
obtaining in the mind. So आत्मा is equal to क्षचत् or आत्मा is
equal to नचदाभाि. Of these two which one lends life to the
body? Not the क्षचत् आत्मा the original, but the नचदाभाि रूप
आत्मा located in the mind that lends life to the physical body.
Therefore now the body is happily alive blessed by the
नचदाभाि रूप आत्मा. How long will it be there? As long as the
reflecting medium is there the reflection will be there. How
long will the original be there? The original will be always
there. And what happens at the time of death? At the time of
death the reflecting medium does not die but the reflecting
medium quits this physical body.
मिःषष्ठािीनतियानण प्रकृनतस्र्ानि कषा नत ॥ िीता १५-७ ॥
शरीरं यदवाप्िोनत यच्चाप्युत्क्रामतीश्वरः ।
िहृ ीत्वैतानि िंयानत वायुिात ानिवाशयात् ॥ िीता १५-८ ॥
In the fifteenth chapter of the िीता कृष्ण beautifully said this.
So at the time of death the mind does not die, but the mind
chooses to leave this physical body. So when the reflecting
medium leaves the reflection also will have to leave and when
the reflection leaves the नचदाभाि which was blessing the
physical body that blessing entity is gone. This is what we say
आत्मा quitting the body. So when we say आत्मा quitting the
body you understand properly – which आत्मा? OC आत्मा or
RC आत्मा? The RC आत्मा leaves the body. That is why
sometimes to differentiate we use the word जीव आत्मा to avoid
confusion. The nontraveling Consciousness is परम आत्मा. To
avoid confusion RC is sometimes called जीवात्मा, OC is called
परमात्मा. Whenever you talk of traveling you should not take
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
OC आत्मा, you have to take the RC आत्मा. And once that RC
आत्मा goes away what happens the body dies. Therefore what
is the definition of death? The mind plus RC separating from
the physical body. स्र्लू -िक्ष्ू म-शरीर क्षवयोगः मरणम्. And once
RC goes away the body is no more live body it is a dead body.
And is OC there in the dead body? There is no place where OC
is absent. In the dead body also OC is there, but unfortunately
It cannot directly bless the physical body. Therefore dead body
continues to be dead body in spite of the presence of both. What
is absent in the dead body? RC is absent. Therefore the body
decays. Therefore I am alive because the आत्मा in the form of
RC. What is the proof that I am alive? The उपनिषत् says ऊध्वं
प्राणमुतियनत – because of this RC आत्मा alone we breathe out.
And after that exhaling अपािं प्रत्यिस्यनत – we inhale also.
Where is that आत्मा located? मध्ये आिीिम् – it is very much
present in your heart. Why is it said to be in the heart? Because
according to the scriptures
अङ्िुष्ठमारः पुरुषो मध्य आत्मनि नतष्ठनत ॥ कठोपनिषत् २-१-
१२ ॥
So within the heart the mind is there and within the mind the
आत्मा is recognizable. Very careful, आत्मा is not located in the
mind. आत्मा is recognizable in the mind. In what form? in the
form of awareness, Consciousness, experiencer etc. Therefore
we say आत्मा is located in the heart. It is like telling the lord is
in the temple though god is all-pervading. It means the all-
pervading god is available for worship in the temple. Like when
I want to know whether there is electricity in the wire, I go to

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the plug point and using the tester I check it. Once I recognize
the power in the plug point then I understand that it is there
throughout. Similarly we are all plug points. Every mind is a
plug point in which Consciousness is recognizable. Therefore
मध्ये र्हदयपुण्डरीकाकाशे साक्षिचैतन्यरूपेण आिीिम् – the
आत्मा is very much present. That is why we worship, we look
upon the very body as the temple and our heart as the sanctum
and the आत्मा as the very ईश्वर. Therefore मध्ये वामिमािीिम्
– that Lord is there in this temple called body. And if आत्मा is
there in the temple of body what नैवेद्यम् is being offered? He
says regular offering is going on. नवश्वे देवाः उपािते. Here देवाः
means इक्षन्द्रयाक्षण. नवश्वे देवाः means सवाु क्षण इक्षन्द्रयाक्षण. Each
sense organ is a priest or a devotee giving different offering like
श्द, स्पशा , रूप, रि and ित . They are offered to
Consciousness. How do you know they are offered to
Consciousness? Because I am conscious of sound, that means
the Consciousness has absorbed the sound. When I am
conscious of forms and colors, forms and colors are the offering
to the Consciousness. In fact, constantly the offerings are
coming to me. I say I know the sound, I know the form, and
some नैवेद्यम्s are very nice also and some of them are too hot
also. That is why
आत्मा त्वं निररजा मनतः िहचराः प्राणाः शरीरं िहृ ं पज
ू ा ते
नवषयोपभोिरचिा ॥ नशवमािि पज ू ा४॥
नवषय means like श्द, स्पशा , रूप, रि and ित , उपभोग means
absorbing that is the offering done by the sense organ. So नवश्वे

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
देवाः उपािते. And that आत्मा is blessing the body with life.
Continuing;
मतर 2-2-04
अस्य नवस्रंिमािस्य शरीरस्र्स्य देनहिः ।
देहानद्वमुच्यमािस्य नकमर पररनशष्यते । एतद्वै तत् ॥ ४ ॥
So that आत्मा alone is blessing the body with life was
mentioned in the previous मतर. That is further corroborated
with the help of अतवय व्यनतरे क logic. अतवय व्यनतरे क logic
means to find out a particular thing is a cause of some event we
use this method. Generally for allergy they suggest this.
Suppose you have got an allergy problem. We don’t know to
which you are allergic. Now how to know what I am allergic
to? You consume that particular dish and see whether the
allergic reaction comes. This part of experimentation is called
अतवय part. Take that material and see whether the reaction is
there. This is not enough. The second part is you stop
consuming that for some days and see whether the reaction is
absent. And if on consumption reaction comes and on
avoidance reaction goes away then you have confirmed that
particular thing is the allergent. In संकृत it is presented as यत्
सत्त्वे यत् सत्त्वम् यत् अभावे यत् अभावः तत् तस्य कारणम्. Potato
सत्त्वे allergic reaction सत्त्वम् (co-present) potato अभावे allergic
reaction अभावः (co- absent) तस्मात् potato एव reactionस्य
कारणम्. Now the उपनिषत् wants to prove that when आत्मा is
present the body is alive and when आत्मा is absent the body is
dead, therefore आत्मा एव is the कारणम् for the very life of the
body. In the previous मतर अतवय part was mentioned, when
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
आत्मा is present all these things will happen, and now the
व्यनतरे क part is being shown. शरीरस्र्स्य देनहिः – so this देनह,
the आत्मा is available in the body. Which type of आत्मा is
being talked about? नचदाभाि रूप आत्मा is talked about in this
context. Where is this नचदाभाि रूप आत्मा? शरीरस्र् – in the
body. And particularly in the mind that is the reflecting
medium. Suppose this आत्मा, the RC आत्मा, नवस्रंिमािस्य –
the RC आत्मा leaves this physical body, departs from the body.
The moment I talk about departure your mind should receive it
properly. OC cannot depart from the body, therefore departure
means you should take the RC part. Therefore RC आत्मा
नवस्रंिमािस्य – leaves the body. When does it leaves the body?
When the mind, RC or िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् leaves. Therefore along
with RM suppose the RC leaves. In fact we use the word ‘he is
gone’. By ‘he is gone’ who do we refer to? You cannot refer to
the physical body because the physical body has not gone, it is
very much there. Can it refer to आत्मा? ‘He’ cannot refer to OC
also because it cannot travel anywhere. Therefore whenever
you say ‘he has left, he has gone’, it refers to the RC
Consciousness alone. It goes from लोक to लोक. Whenever I
say RC you should include RM also because they are
inseparable. Therefore नवस्रंिमािस्य – when he leaves the
body, देहात् क्षवमुच्यमािस्य – when it gets separated from the
body. देहात् क्षवमुच्यमािस्य is the explanation of नवस्रंिमािस्य.
नकम् अर पररनशष्यते – what remains in the body. This is not a
question! Don’t try to answer. what remains in the body means
nothing remains. Life is gone, intelligence is gone, perceptual
faculty is gone, hearing faculty is gone. Therefore they knock
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
the body there is no one to answer from inside. Who has gone?
The one inside who responded that responder is gone. एतद्वै तत्
– this Consciousness that blesses the body indirectly is ब्रह्मि्
which you wanted to know. Continuing;
मतर 2-2-05
ि प्राणेि िापािेि मत्यो जीवनत किि ।
इतरे ण तु जीवनतत यनस्मतिेतावुपानश्रतौ ॥ ५ ॥
So here is a problem. What is that? At the time of
death the RC, the नचदाभाि goes away and the RM, the िक्ष्ू म
शरीरम् also goes away. Even though in the subtle body
seventeen organs are there the most important part is प्राण. So
when the subtle body goes away, we use the expression प्राण
went away. You can say mind has gone, that is also correct.
sense organs have gone is also correct. But we generally use the
word प्राण went away Therefore the RM, viz., the प्राण also goes
away. So at the time of death two things go away. RC goes away
and the RM goes away. The most important part of RM which
is प्राण also goes away. So previously both were there therefore
body was alive, now both have gone away the body has become
dead. Now the question is how do we know whether RM or RC
is blessing the body. A person can say प्राण alone gives life. He
gives importance to प्राण rather than giving importance to RC.
So who is the real one which blesses with life? Even though
both of them quit at the time of death, even though both of them
are there while living, we have to give importance to the
Consciousness alone, प्राण cannot bless the physical body. In
fact प्राण’s utility is it is able to receive the reflection and bless
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
the body, transfer the reflection to the body. Suppose there is a
dark room and there is the Sun. And outside I have kept a mirror
at a particular angle. Now the Sun up above is forming a
reflection in the mirror. So here there are two things – reflected
Sun (RS) and the reflecting medium (RM), the mirror. Now if
the dark room has to be illumined you require both the mirror
and the reflected Sun – only that mixture will be able to illumine
the dark room. If you remove the mirror certainly the darkroom
cannot be illumined. Suppose a person uses अतवय-व्यनतरे क
method. He argues when the mirror is there the dark room is
illumined, when the mirror is removed the room becomes dark.
So why can't I say that the mirror alone is illumining the room.
Our answer is even though अतवय-व्यनतरे क is fitting in but still
you cannot say mirror is the illuminator because the mirror does
not have a light of its own. The credit can never go to the mirror.
Even though mirror plays a very important role the credit can
never go to the mirror because the mirror does not have a light
of its own. Then what is the mirror doing? With the borrowed
light it is illumining the room. Therefore the ultimate credit
goes to not the mirror but the Sun. Similarly प्राण can never
enliven the body. प्राण serves as a mirror only. Therefore प्राण
can never give life to the body because प्राण by itself is an inert
matter like the mirror. The role of प्राण is to borrow the
Consciousness from आत्मा and lend life to the physical body.
Therefore the उपनिषत् says ि प्राणेि ि अपािेि किि मत्या ः
जीवनत – a person is alive not because of प्राण because it doesn’t
have life of its own, अपाि doesn’t have life of its own; िक्ष्ू म
शरीर doesn’t have life of its own. If प्राण makes the body alive
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
it is not because of its own light but it has borrowed from the
original Sun. Therefore इतरे ण तु जीवनतत – it is because of
someone else, i.e., आत्मा. यनस्मि् – upon this आत्मा alone एतौ
उपानश्रतौ – प्राणापाि are dependent on आत्मा for
Consciousness. And having borrowed sentiency the प्राण
generously lends sentiency to the physical body. Therefore the
ultimate light belongs to the आत्मा alone.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 2-2-05 Continuing;
ि प्राणेि िापािेि मत्यो जीवनत किि ।
इतरे ण तु जीवनतत यनस्मतिेतावुपानश्रतौ ॥ ५ ॥
The teacher wants to show that आत्मा alone lends life to
the physical body because आत्मा alone is the ultimate and only
source of Consciousness. And therefore आत्मा alone blesses
the physical body with life. With regard to this teaching there
can be a doubt and therefore the doubt is being clarified in this
मन्त्र. The doubt is as follows. We find that the physical body
is alive as long as the िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् is inside the body. And in
the िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् प्राण is the most important vital factor.
Therefore we can say as long as प्राण is in the body the body is
alive and when प्राण leaves the body the body becomes dead.
Therefore if you apply the अतवय-व्यनतरे क logic it appears as
though प्राण is giving life to this body. When प्राण is body is
alive, when the प्राण is gone body is dead, therefore प्राण alone
gives life to the body. And superficially studying it is very true
also. But here यम मा राज wants to point out that even though it
appears true but ultimately speaking प्राण is not lending life to
the body. Why do we say so? Because प्राण itself is र्डम् by
nature, िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् itself is र्डम् by nature, it being the
product of the five elements. If you remember तववबो ः प्राण is
born out of
एतेषां पञ्चतववािां िमनिराजिांशात् पञ्चप्राणाः िम्भत
ू ाः ।

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
So since प्राण itself is र्डम् how can an inert प्राण lend life to
the physical body. Therefore प्राण is not the giver of life. Then
who is the giver of life? इतरे ण तु जीवनतत – there is something
other than प्राण which is called आत्मा. So प्राण is र्डम्, body is
also र्डम् and आत्मा is the only चेतनम्. Then what is the
mechanism that is happening? Even though the body is also
र्डम्, प्राण is also र्डम्, there is a difference. The र्ड प्राण has
the capacity to borrow life directly from आत्मा. It has got that
VIP status. Having borrowed life from आत्मा that live प्राण, the
sentient प्राण blesses the body with Consciousness. Once प्राण
goes away even though the body is very much in contact with
आत्मा body has a peculiar problem, unfortunately body cannot
directly borrow life from the आत्मा. Therefore the प्राण medium
is gone and therefore the body becomes dead. To understand
this you have to remember the example of the mirror with the
reflected light. When the mirror with the reflected light is
shown towards a dark room the room becomes bright. And
when the mirror is removed the room becomes dark. Because
of this अतवय-व्यनतरे क can you say the mirror is illuming the
room. You cannot say so because the light in the mirror itself is
not its own original light. It has borrowed from the Sun up
above and unfortunately the Sun cannot illumine the dark room
directly. Therefore you have to use an angled mirror, through
the mirror medium dark room gets the light. And therefore प्राण
is only a medium to bless the body with life. At the time of
death the medium is gone and not the आत्मा. And therefore
इतरे ण तु जीवनतत यनस्मि् – upon the आत्मा alone एतौ

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
प्राणापािौ उपानश्रतौ – even प्राणापाि are dependent on आत्मा
for life. Upto this we saw in the last class. Continuing;
मतर 2-2-06
हतत त इदं प्रवक्ष्यानम िुह्यं ब्रह्म ििातिम् ।
यर्ा च मरणं प्राप्य आत्मा भवनत िौतम ॥ ६ ॥
In this मतर यम मा राज promises to talk more on ब्रह्मि्.
So हतत is a short break. Then यम मा राज says I will talk more
about ब्रह्मि् even though I have talked about it in the previous
section as well as in this section, since it is an extremely subtle
topic I will talk more about that. So िुह्यं ििातिं ब्रह्म प्रवक्ष्यानम
– I want to talk more about because it is िुह्यम् – a secret,
extremely subtle to understand. That means even after teaching
it remains secret. ििातिम् – eternal. So more about this subtle,
eternal ब्रह्मि् I want to talk. This is the first promise. Also I
want to talk about another topic मरणं प्राप्य यर्ा आत्मा भवनत –
I will also talk about the future of an ignorant जीवात्मा after
death. So what will happen to an ignorant जीवात्मा. What
happens to a wise person after death? Nothing happens!
Because in the case of a wise person स्र्ल ू शरीरम् is also gone,
िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् is also dissolved, कारण शरीरम् is also dissolved.
Therefore all the three bodies dissolve into the corresponding
total. This we saw in मुण्डकोपनिषत्
िताः कलाः पञ्चदश प्रनतष्ठा देवाि िवे प्रनतदेवतािु ।
कमाा नण नवज्ञािमयि आत्मा परे ऽव्यये िवा एकीभवनतत ॥
मुण्डकोपनिषत् ३-२-७ ॥

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
In the case of a wise person all the three bodies merge into the
corresponding total otherwise known as ईश्वर. Like an iceberg
dissolving into the ocean. Then what happens to the आत्मा of a
ज्ञानि? Poor चैततयम् cannot do anything because it is already
all-pervading. Therefore nothing happens to the Consciousness
also. This is a lot of a ज्ञानि which is called नवदेहमुनक्त. But here
शङ्कराचाया wants to talk about the lot of an अज्ञानि. Therefore
he says आत्मा – अज्ञानि जीवात्मा, यर्ा भवनत – how does it fair?
What comes for him? मरणं प्राप्य – after death. We are seeing
what happens before death. So शास्त्र need not talk about it as
we know clearly. But we do not know what happens after death
because it is invisible. And यम मा राज being the head of the
department of death, he knows what happens and he will tell
about it, हे िौतम – O िनचकेति्! I will talk about the अज्ञानि
जीवात्मा also. These are the two topics he has promised. Now
he is going to deal with both of them.
मतर 2-2-07
योनिमतये प्रपद्यतते शरीरत्वाय देनहिः ।
स्र्ाणुमतयेऽिुिंयनतत यर्ाक मा यर्ाश्रुतम् ॥ ७ ॥
Of these two questions यम मा राज answers the second
question first. Because he wants to answer very briefly
therefore he treats the second question. What is the second
question or promise? What will happen to the अज्ञानि जीवात्मा
after death? He deals with that first because majority comes
under that category. This is a very important मतर because this
is an important प्रमाण for पुिजा तम. The शास्त्रम् is the primary
proof for rebirth. Whatever reasoning we give they are all not
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
clinching reasoning, they are not proving argument, they are all
supporting arguments. If we have got proving arguments for
rebirth then all the scientists would have uniformly accepted
rebirth and in the academic studies a chapter on rebirth would
have been there. The very fact that the science has not
scientifically accepted rebirth we should know that we don’t
have proving evidence for rebirth. Then what evidence have we
got? We have got supporting evidence only. And what is the
primary proof for rebirth? शास्त्रम् एव प्रमाणम्. Rebirth comes
under अपौरुषेय नवषय. It is अपौरुषेय, it is never available for
scientific study. Science will accept only under one condition.
If a scientist has to accept then at the time of death he should be
able to prove that something leaves this body. But
experimentally there is no proving evidence, once शास्त्र talks
about we can try to give some supporting evidence. Every
genius in every field can give you a supporting evidence,
सम्भावना युक्षतः. There are two types of logic – supporting
evidence, सम्भावना युक्षतः and proving evidence, क्षनश्चायक
युक्षतः. For rebirth we have got only supporting evidence and no
proving evidence. Then how do you know rebirth is there? This
मतर is one of the प्रमाणम्. शास्त्रम् एव पुिजा तम नवषये प्रमाणम्.
What does शास्त्र say? It says when an ignorant person dies,
what happens to these four factors – स्र्ल ू शरीरम्, िक्ष्ू म
शरीरम्, कारण शरीरम् and आत्मा? In the case of wise person
three शरीरम्s dissolves, आत्मा remains. It cannot travel
because it is all-pervading. What happens in the case of an
ignorant person? स्र्ल ू शरीरम् dies and dissolves in the
पञ्चभत ू s. Whether you cremate or bury the body mingles with
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
the पञ्चभत ू ाक्षन. The proof is प्रत्यक्ष प्रमाणम्. So स्र्लू शरीरम्
goes away as it cannot travel anywhere. Then what about the
आत्मा of an अज्ञानि? Whether अज्ञानि or ज्ञानि आत्मा happens
to be all-pervading and therefore आत्मा also cannot travel.
Then what happens to िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् and कारण शरीरम्? These
you can never see with your eyes. I don’t see your िक्ष्ू म शरीरम्.
Do you see my िक्ष्ू म शरीरम्? Both िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् and कारण
शरीरम् are invisible. They are not available for any instrument
of knowledge. Therefore what happens to िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् and
कारण शरीरम् we can know only through the शास्त्रs. From
शास्त्रम् we come to know that िक्ष्ू म कारण शरीरम्s of an
अज्ञानि survives the death. They are not destroyed at the time
of death. Only in the case of a ज्ञानि the िक्ष्ू म कारण शरीरम्s
also gets destroyed. But generally we don’t say two शरीरम्s,
we say िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् and कारण शरीरम् is understood. And
therefore the िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् travels. This िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् is always
with reflected Consciousness and therefore what travels is
नचदाभाि सक्षहत िक्ष्ू म शरीरम्, प्रक्षतक्षबम्ब सक्षहत िक्ष्ू म शरीरम्
otherwise called अहङ्कारः, the ego. So the अहङ्कार part of
an अज्ञानि travels whereas the अहङ्कार part of a ज्ञानि is
dissolved. Where does it travel? It travels towards another
physical body which can be either superior like देवs, inferior
like असुरs and animals and plants or medium like मनुष्य
शरीरम्. उत्तम शरीरम् देव शरीरम्, मध्यम शरीरम् मनुष्य शरीरम्
and अधम शरीरम् पशुपक्षि आक्षद शरीरम्. What determines the
type of शरीरम्? Does God determines? If God is going to
determine God will be certainly partial. Therefore certainly
God does not determine पुिजा तम. Therefore never blame God
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
for your body. Then if God does not determine who
determines? यम मा राज says our पुण्यपापकमा फलाक्षन which we
have done not only in the present र्न्म but done in the past
र्न्म also. So depending upon the type of कमा ,
पुण्येि पुण्यं लोकं ियनत पापेि पापमुभाभ्यामे व मिुष्यलोकम् ॥
प्रश्नोपनिषत् ३-७ ॥
ऊध्वं िच्छनतत िववस्र्ा मध्ये नतष्ठनतत राजिाः ।
जघतयिुणवनृ िस्र्ा अ ो िच्छनतत तामिाः ॥ िीता १४-१८ ॥
All these are based on this मतर alone. Look at this मतर. He
says अतये देनहिः – some अज्ञानि जीवात्माs, we have to add the
word अज्ञानि, योनिं प्रपद्यतते – enter the womb of various
parents of different living beings, so योनि refers to the womb
which determines the very body itself. Why does it enter the
womb of a mother? शरीरत्वाय – for acquiring an appropriate
body. Why should it acquire an appropriate body? Because the
कमा फलम् can only be exhausted only through experience. िख ु
दुःख अिुभव द्वारा एव कमा फलम् िीयते. And अिुभव is possible
only through the स्र्लू शरीरम्. If स्र्ल
ू शरीरम् medium is not
there we cannot experience anything. And therefore the जीव
which leaves one physical body cannot experience anything
until it acquires another appropriate physical body. If in
स्विा लोक the सुख is to be experienced it requires a body
appropriate to स्विा लोक. Even to experience िुख दुःख in
dream you require a dream physical body. Isn’t it? If you are
eating good food in dream you have got a dream physical body
which is created in dream through which alone you travel in
dream and do transaction. The only difference is the dream
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
physical body is not perceptible for others. Therefore there are
two types of physical bodies. One types of physical body is
perceptible physical body and the other one is imperceptible
physical body. So स्विा लोक स्र्ल ू शरीरम् is not visible to us.
स्वप्िलोक स्र्ल ू शरीरम् is not visible to us. And therefore
either visible or invisible स्र्लू शरीरम् has to be acquired
because only through the physical body you can contact the
world and only when the world is contacted िुख दुःख will
come. And therefore यम मा राज says this जीव goes in search
of the body. शरीरत्वाय – for acquiring an appropriate visible or
invisible स्र्ल
ू शरीरम्. Physical body is a must for any अिुभव.
All these are very elaborately discussed in ब्रह्मसत्रू . स्र्ाणुम्
अतये अिुिंयनतत – some other अज्ञानि जीवात्माs take plant
bodies. So previously योनिम् indicates the
पशुपक्षिमग ृ मनुष्याक्षद शरीरम् which are all र्ङ्गम शरीरम्,
moving the physical body. Some other जीवात्माs take non-
moving the physical bodies which is called the plant शरीरम्.
Non-moving is called स्र्ावरम्. स्र्ावरम् does not mean stone.
Stone is not considered as a जीव at all because stone cannot
experience िुखदुःखम्. So अतये अज्ञानि जीवात्मािः स्र्ाणुम्
अिुिंयनतत – they acquire that physical body. Some people ask
how much time will it take? In fact we are bothered more about
what happens after death rather than what happens before. We
say we do not know how much time will it take. We do not
know when the next कमा fructifies. Then the most important
thing is once this physical body is dropped then the time
concept itself will change. You can never measure the time of
another र्न्म in terms of the time of this physical body. That is
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
why during dream itself the time is totally different. You dream
for one and half minutes or so of waker’s time and during that
time this dream individual will get children, grandchildren etc.
From that it is very clear that the time varies from लोक to लोक.
Therefore we can never talk about or understand the time
principle after the death. Therefore we don’t discuss those
topics. So स्र्ाणुमतयेऽिुिंयनतत. Are all these accidental or
governed by laws if you ask here यम मा राज says that every
event is governed by law. Birth is not an accident. If you are
born in a family in a particular place with a particular body with
certain genetic advantages or disadvantages it is not accidental,
everything connected with your birth is governed by law. What
is the law? यर्ाकमा – depended on the पवू ु कमा . Which
particular पवू ु कमा I cannot say because I don’t know the details
of my पवू ु र्न्म. Don’t ask why we don’t remember our पवू ु र्न्म,
when we don’t remember the last class there is no need to
complain about forgetting about पवू ु र्न्म. Such questions are
not entertainable. And more importantly it is good that we don’t
remember. Already the past of this life itself is enough for them,
the regrets and worries and insults, if you are going to
remember we will commit suicide therefore भिवाि् has
intelligently covered our past from our mind. That is why in the
भिवद्गीता भिवाि् says
मिः स्मनृ तज्ञाा िमपोहिञ्च ॥ िीता १५-१५ ॥
I have blessed you not only with memory I have blessed you
with forgetfulness also. In fact forgetfulness is a very important
blessing especially with regard to our past suffering. That is

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
why we say time is a healer. Otherwise if they are going to be
green in our memory we will continue to shed tears. How we
cried that day the same intensity of crying will continue now.
Who can stand this crying? What is our problem? Forgetfulness
is also important, memory is also important, what we should
forget and what we should remember that should be
appropriate. We remember all the insults and as per as the िीता
उपनिषत् is concerned conveniently we forget. It will be nice if
that could be interchanged. Remember what is to be
remembered, forget what is to be forgotten. Therefore पवू ु र्न्म
should be not known to us. But even though we don’t know
भिवाि् knows. For us our कमा s are unknown, भिवाि् knows
every कमा of everyone. That is why He is called सवु ज्ञः.
वेदाहं िमतीतानि वता मािानि चाजा ुि ।
भनवष्यानण च भतू ानि मां तु वेद ि किि ॥ िीता ७-२६ ॥
So we need not know, भिवाि् knows and appropriately he
gives the next र्न्म. Therefore यर्ाकमा – depending upon our
good and bad action, and यर्ाश्रुतम् – depending upon our
उपािि. Here उपािि need not be taken as purely deity उपािि.
उपािि means whatever you dwell upon constantly. As a
person thinks so he becomes. So on what all things mind is
dwelling upon all the time will determine our next र्न्म. As
seen before ‘watch your thoughts they become your words,
watch your words they become your actions, watch your actions
they become your habits, watch your habits they become your
character, watch your character it becomes your destiny.’

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
Therefore ultimately your destiny begins with your thought life.
That is why in the eighth chapter of the भिवद्गीता कृष्ण said
यं यं वानप स्मरतभावं त्यजत्यतते कलेवरम् ।
तं तमेवनै त कौततेय िदा तद्भावभानवतः ॥ िीता ८-६ ॥
Whatever is your preoccupation that will determine your future.
Therefore अजा ुि remember God to become one with God. ईश्वर
क्षचन्तया ईश्वर ऐक्यम्. So with this यम मा राज answered or
fulfilled the first promise – what happens to an ignorant person
after death.
Now he is going to enter into the second प्रक्षतज्ञा – I will
talk more about ब्रह्मि्. That he is going to deal with the
following मतरs more elaborately, we will see.
मतर 2-2-08
य एष िुिेषु जािनता कामं कामं पुरुषो निनमा माणः ।
तदेव शुक्रं तद्ब्रह्म तदेवामतृ मुच्यते ।
तनस्मँल्लोकाः नश्रताः िवे तदु िात्येनत किि । एतद्वै तत् ॥ ८ ॥
So what is ब्रह्मि्? Here यम मा राज first points out ब्रह्मि्
is the चैततयम्, the Consciousness principle which resides in
every individual and therefore it is called पुरुषः. पुरे शेते इनत
पुरुषः. In the first मतर of this section it was said
पुरमेकादशद्वारमजस्यावक्रचेतिः ॥ कठोपनिषत् २-२-१ ॥
the body was compared to a called पुरम्. And षः means
indweller, resident. Therefore पुरुषः means the indweller of the
body, and i.e., the चैततयम्, the Consciousness. What does the
Consciousness do? जािनता – Consciousness is one principle

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
which is awake all the time, which never goes to sleep at any
time and which always illumines anything that is in front unlike
all the other organs. The other organs are awake at times and
they are asleep at times. Awake means illumining the objects.
Asleep means not illumining the objects. So the sense organs
illumine the world when they are awake and in deep sleep state
the sense organs have folded. That is why even though the ears
are open we do not hear any sound. Even the mind has folded
not perceiving the object. Therefore mind and sense organs are
temporary wakers or temporary illuminators. Then what about
Consciousness? It is an illuminator permanently. What is meant
by that? When the mind is active the Consciousness illumines
the active mind and when the mind has gone to sleep the
Consciousness illumines the sleeping mind also. By sleeping
mind is meant that blank experience. Therefore ever effulgent
Consciousness is inside the body. Therefore यम मा राज says
जािनता – ever awake. When? िुिेषु – even when all the organs
have gone to sleep. That is why when the mind does not know
anything in sleep I say “I did not know anything in sleep”. Then
I ask you the question “Do you know that you did not know
anything in sleep?” “Yes I know I did not know anything in
sleep.” In the waking state I know that my mind is knowing the
world. Therefore knowledge is also known, ignorance is also
known, therefore I am the eternal illuminator of the knowing
mind as well as the non-knowing mind. बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत्
beautifully says
यद्वै तति पश्यनत पश्यतवै तति पश्यनत ॥ बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत्
४-३-२३ ॥
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
I know that I know and I also know that I don’t know. When I
say ‘I know that I know’ it means I know that the mind knows
and when I say ‘I know that I don’t know’ it means I know when
the mind does not know. In short, I am the ever-effulgent
evident Consciousness. What else I do? निनमा माणः – at the time
of dream not only I am evident Consciousness but I create an
inner world also through the mind. I am creator of the inner
universe through my वाििाs and िंस्कारs. कामं कामम् – as I
like, without any restraint. So thus I am the creator of the inner
world at the time of dream. And I myself create the external
world at the time of waking by activating the mind again. Thus
I, the Consciousness am the creator of both internal world and
external world. So कामं कामं पुरुषो निनमा माणः. तदेव शुक्रम् –
that I, the Consciousness am ever pure. Even though the mind,
the body and the world may be impure but I, the illumining
Consciousness am ever pure. तद्ब्रह्म (महावाक्यम्) – this
Consciousness is ब्रह्मि्, the limitless. Why is it said? Because
when I say Consciousness is in the body one may think that it
is only in the body. Therefore here यम मा राज says it is in the
body as well as outside the body. If somebody asks where is
space, first I say it is within the hall and once it has been
reasonably understood that I say space is outside the hall also.
And it has been reasonably understood also I say space is
neither inside the hall nor outside the hall but everything is
inside the space. Similarly here also Consciousness is inside the
body as well as outside also. It is all-pervading. तदेव अमत ृ म्
उच्यते – that Consciousness is said to be immortal. Just as the
space does not disappear when the walls are pulled down. Space
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is there when the hall is, space continues when the hall is pulled
down.
ि हतयते हतयमािे शरीरे ॥ कठोपनिषत् १-२-१८ ॥
When body goes Consciousness does not go. Therefore it is
called immortal ब्रह्मि्. Not only that िवे लोकाः तनस्मि् नश्रताः
– all the bodies and the entire universe is in that Consciousness.
How did we begin? Consciousness is in the body, पुरुषः, now
we conclude Consciousness is not in the body but body is in the
Consciousness. Not only this body िवे लोकाः तनस्मि् नश्रताः –
नवश्वा ारम् ििि िदृशम्. So िवे लोकाः तनस्मि् चैततयरूपे
आत्मनि नश्रताः and किि तदु ि अत्येनत – nothing in the
creation exists beyond that Consciousness. Just as no object is
beyond space similarly nothing is beyond Consciousness. And
Consciousness is ब्रह्मि् and that is the आत्मा inside you, in fact
that is the आत्मा which is you. Don’t say inside, don’t say
outside that आत्मा is you. Therefore the conclusion is I am the
Consciousness in which the whole world is resting.
मनय एव िकलम् जातम् मनय िवा म् प्रनतनष्ठतम् । मनय िवा म् लयम्
यानत तद् ब्रह्म अद्वयमस्म्यहम् ॥ कैवल्योपनिषत् १९ ॥
See the declaration of a ज्ञानि! The whole world rises in me, the
whole world rests in me and the whole world dissolves in me.
Exactly as a waker from dream can say the whole dream world
is born out of me, rests in me and dissolves into me. Now we
are thinking that I am a miserable individual in the world which
is संसार and the world is in me is called मोि. A small change
needs to be done. I am in the world is संसार, the world is in me

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
is मोि. एतद्वै तत् – this is the one which you wanted to know
through the third boon.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 2-2-08 Continuing;
य एष िुिेषु जािनता कामं कामं पुरुषो निनमा माणः ।
तदेव शुक्रं तद्ब्रह्म तदेवामत
ृ मुच्यते ।
तनस्मँल्लोकाः नश्रताः िवे तदु िात्येनत किि । एतद्वै तत् ॥ ८ ॥
In the sixth मतर यम मा राज promised to deal with two
topics. One is what happens to an ignorant person after death.
अज्ञानि संसारर र्ीवस्य मरण अनन्तर गक्षतः. The second topic
that यम मा राज promised is more about ब्रह्म स्वरूपम्. ब्रह्मणः
दुनवा ज्ञेयत्वात्, ब्रह्मि् being an extremely subtle topic यम मा राज
promised to deal with ब्रह्म स्वरूपम् a little bit more. Having
promised these two topics, the first topic of र्ीव गक्षतः was dealt
with in मतर number seven. What is the र्ीव गक्षतः? पुिरनप
जििम्. What do you mean by पुिरनप जििम्? पुिरनप स्र्ल ू
शरीर ग्रहणम्. Dropping the present body and acquiring a new
body and continuing the eternal shopping. And again drop the
body, go home and get another body and start shopping. So this
endless shopping or interaction is called संसारः. In fact the
word संसार means continuous traveling. It is derived from the
√स ृ to move. So सारः means to moving and संसारः means
violently constantly moving. And it is not a linear moving,
sometimes going up and sometimes going down, zigzag
moving. So this is the helpless lot of a संसारर र्ीव. Having dealt
with that topic in one मतर briefly यम मा राज enters into the
second topic which is ब्रह्मस्वरूप वणु नम्, more description
which यम मा राज wants to do elaborately beginning from the
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eighth मतर upto the end of this section. Of this we saw the
eighth मतर in the last class wherein यम मा राज revealed that
ब्रह्मि् is not a new entity that I want to reveal but ब्रह्मि् is
another name of the Consciousness which is intimately
available in your own body-mind-complex. ब्रह्मि् is not a new
entity, It is nothing but the name of the चैततयम्. What type of
चैततयम्? अवस्र्ात्रय साक्षि चैततयम्, the Consciousness which
illumines the external world in the waking state, which
illumines the internal world during the dream state and which
illumines the absence of both the external and internal world
during sleep state that Consciousness alone is called ब्रह्मि्.
How is this Consciousness known to me? This Consciousness
is already known to us in the form of अहम्, the very I itself. So
even Consciousness is not a new entity, Consciousness is
intimately known to me as I, the Conscious principle who am
aware of the जाग्रत् स्वप्ि िुषुनि अवस्र्ाs, that I the experiencer
that I the witness am ब्रह्मि्. So ब्रह्मि् is not a new entity but it
is a new status which belongs to me. And यम मा राज concluded
that by saying तदु िात्येनत किि – nothing exists beyond this
ब्रह्मि्. It is this ब्रह्मि् which you wanted to know through the
third boon. Upto this we saw in the last class. Continuing;
मतर 2-2-09
ै ो भुविं प्रनविो रूपं रूपं प्रनतरूपो बभवू ।
अनग्िया र्क
एकस्तर्ा िवा भत ू ाततरात्मा रूपं रूपं प्रनतरूपो बनहि ॥ ९ ॥
All these मतरs right from the eighth upto the end of this
section are all important मतरs of कठोपनिषत् because all these
reveal ब्रह्मस्वरूपम् or आत्मस्वरूपम् which is the central theme
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
of all the उपनिषत्s. Therefore everyone of this मतर is
important. What does he say in this मतर? In the previous मतर
it was pointed out that ब्रह्मि् is nothing but the Consciousness
which illumines or which is aware of everything in the creation.
What is the form of this Consciousness? Consciousness is in the
formed body but Consciousness itself is formless.
Consciousness obtains in the formed body but Consciousness
itself is formless. This idea is conveyed through an example.
The light which illumines this hall which we call as प्रकाश
तत्वम्, the principle of light is pervading this entire hall because
of which alone the hall is bright now, we are able to take the
class. You know what happens if the light goes away. So this
light alone pervades every inch of the hall. What is the shape or
form of the light? The light itself does not have any आकारः, it
is क्षनराकारः, it is formless. Because it is formless only it is not
located in a particular place, it is non-localized light. Your body
is located in a place but the light itself is not located in a place,
it is unlocalized, it is pervading. Whereas the physical body has
got a form and it is located. And the formless, unlocated light
is now pervading the formed and located body. How do you
know the light pervades this body? What is the proof? If the
light is not on my body you will not be able to see me. The very
fact that the body is perceptible, the perceptibility of the body,
the knowability of the body, the experiencibility of the body is
because of the pervasion of the light. So now here are two
things – unlocated, formless light and located, formed body.
And here takes place a confusion. We successfully gets
confused. That is our glory. What is the confusion? When the
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
formless and unlocated light pervades the formed and located
body then the light also appears to be formed and located. What
is the form of the light now? The light also seems to have the
shape of the body. And not only that the light seems to have a
shape, the light seems to be located in the body also because
outside the body you don’t experience the light. And since the
light is unexperienceable beyond the body we commit the
mistake that there is light located in the body. Therefore light
gets seeming limitation. And once the light gets limited we
begin to divide the light also that there is one light pervading
this body and in between there is no light because I don’t
experience the light. And there is another person sitting
therefore another light. Thus one light seemingly becomes
plural. अद्वैतम् द्वैतम् इव भवनत; अपररनच्छतिम् पररनच्छतिम् इव
भवनत. Unlocated seems to become located, unlimited seems to
become limited, formless seems to become formed all because
of association with the body. Now यम मा राज says the same
thing has happened with regard to the Consciousness also. What
is the original nature of Consciousness? It is unlocated, it
pervades everywhere. And not only is it unlocated, it is
क्षनराकारम्, formless also. And therefore only it is indivisible
अखण्ड चैततयम्, अद्वैत चैततयम्. But what is the problem?
When the very Consciousness pervades this body the
Consciousness also seems to become located in the body.
Therefore I have got one body and I have got one
Consciousness. So one अिात्मा and one आत्मा. For one body
one Consciousness. And in between I don’t experience
Consciousness therefore I conclude that the Consciousness is
527
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
only here in the body and not outside. And then I see a second
body which is pervaded by the Consciousness and I conclude
that there is a second body and a second Consciousness. So for
you one अिात्मा and one आत्मा. So many देहs are there, so
many देक्षहs also seems to be there. And not only the आत्मा
seems to be many but each आत्मा seems to be limited also.
Plurality is mistake number one, limitation is mistake number
two. What is the third mistake I commit? I say after the death
the आत्मा leaves the body and travels. Not only do I attribute
the limitation to Consciousness I also talk about the travel of
आत्मा – that आत्मा is going to स्विा लोक, नरकलोक, क्षपतल ृ ोक
and I also do prayer for आत्मशानतत. All these are successful
mistakes we have committed. And यम मा राज says there is no
question of आत्मा being limited by the body, there is no
question of आत्मा being divided, there is no question of आत्मा
traveling from one place to another. They are all errors caused
by illusion because of the association with the body. Here
यम मा राज gives three examples – अनग्ि दृिाततः, वायु
दृिाततः and िय ू ा प्रकाश दृिाततः, fire, air and sunlight
respectively. In this मतर fire example is given. And what
यम मा राज points out is the fire principle, अनग्ितत्वम्, the heat
energy pervades formlessly everywhere. It is not located in a
place, it is all over. How do you know? You know the weather
is so humid and hot that you feel so sweaty because of the heat
in the atmosphere. Do you see the humidity in the atmosphere?
You do not see the heat, from that it is very clear heat does not
have a form. Then where is अनग्ितत्वम्? िवा व्यापकम्
अनग्ितत्वम्. And this all-pervading formless unlocated fire
528
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
becomes manifest in a log of wood. When you are burning a log
of wood the all-pervading fire begins to manifest in the log of
wood. And now the wood gets associated with अनग्ि. And
when the all-pervading अनग्ि is manifest in the log of wood,
what mistake I commit? I think just because the wood is located
in a place I conclude that fire is also located in the wood.
Therefore when somebody asks where is the fire what do we
say ‘there is fire’. In fact the truth is the fire is not ‘there’, the
fire is not only in the log of wood but the fire is beyond the log
of wood also. And that is why even ten feet away from the log
of wood you are not able to stand because heat is there. What
do you mean by heat? Fire principle. Therefore fire is not
located but it seems to be located because of the manifesting
medium. The manifesting medium is called उपाक्षध. So the log
of wood is उपाक्षध, it creates a seeming location to the fire, it
creates an error in the mind. Therefore ignorant people say fire
is in the log, wise people say fire is all-pervading but it is
manifest in the log. Similarly ignorant people say आत्मा is in
the body, the wise people say आत्मा is all-pervading and it is
manifest in the body. So even when the log of wood is totally
destroyed अनग्ि is not destroyed. So when you remove the wick
from the lamp don’t think that the flame is destroyed, flame is
अनग्ितत्वम्, अनग्ि has lost its shape which was given by the
wick. When the wick is removed the shaped अनग्ि becomes
shapeless अनग्ि. So wick becomes the उपाक्षध for the
manifestation of the अनग्ितत्वम्. Now look at the मतर, he says
यर्ा एकः अनग्िः – as there is only one fire principle which is
formless, unlocated, and therefore all-pervading, and भुविं
529
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
प्रनविः – it pervades the entire creation. So the formless fire
pervades the entire creation and it pervades a wick in the lamp
also or a log of wood also. And when it pervades a log of wood
which means when you strike a match stick and when the log
of wood catches fire, प्रनतरूपः बभवू – the formless, unlocated
fire assumes the form of the fuel or the log of wood. That is
why if you see the iron pieces which are forged in the forging
company you see that in keeping with the shape of the iron the
fire also seems to have a shape. The glowing iron which comes
out of the manufacturing company until it cools down the shape
of अनग्ि is the shape of iron piece. Therefore the fire has got
प्रनतरूपः बभवू – it has a seeming form and location. Who is
responsible for this form? रूपं रूपं प्रनत – which form is
determined by the manifesting medium. What is the
manifesting medium? Any fuel, any log of wood is the
manifesting medium. So रूपं रूपं प्रनत इत िम् इत िम् प्रनत
रूपो बभवू – assumes. And because of seeming location we
begin to count the number of fires also. तर्ा – in the same way.
So अनेकत्व, पररनच्छतित्व, बहु त्ववत्. एक अग्नेः अनेकत्वम्
अपररनच्छति अग्नेः पररनच्छतित्वम्, सवु गत अग्नेः आधारवत्वम्
or आश्रयवत्वम्. All these are superimposed, in the same way
एक आत्मा – there is only one आत्मा. We are counting many
जीवात्माs and we also talk about पुण्यात्मा, पापात्मा. So we
count many आत्माs, the very counting is born out of ignorance.
And people ask the question also how come the number of
आत्मा increases, population explosion they ask. It is like talking
about more number of fires; fire has not increased but the
manifesting medium, the logs of wood can increase. Similarly
530
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
the number of आत्मा never increases but we successfully
commit the mistake and ask serious questions also thinking that
the teacher or the शास्त्रम् is cornered now. Therefore every
question reveals the ignorance of the person. यम मा राज says
एक आत्मा. Where is this आत्मा? िवा भत ू -अततरात्मा – which
pervades every being. What does the word being represent?
स्र्ल
ू िक्ष्ू मशरीरम् is here भत
ू म्. Every body represents a log of
wood, each one is a fuel and in each body the आत्मा, the
चैततयम् is there which is experienced in the form of life
principle. When I say it is a live body the very life which
represents sentiency, the चेतनत्वम् is the manifestation of one
life principle. So िवा शरीर-अततरात्मा एक एव. But now that
formless आत्मा seems to have प्रनतरूपः – a shape. Because
Consciousness is right from top of my body upto the toe of my
body. Therefore if you want to give the outline of my
Consciousness it is the outline of my body. And outside my
body there is no Consciousness experienced by me. Therefore
I conclude Consciousness is of मनुष्य आकर. And the shape of
the Consciousness will be determined by रूपं रूपम् – the body
it pervades. If you take an elephant शरीरम् what is the outline
of elephant Consciousness? Whatever be the outline of an
elephant body that is the outline of Consciousness. And
therefore Consciousness is located, Consciousness is limited
and Consciousness is plural in number. All these are
appearances caused by the body. बनहः च. This is the most
important word. The fire is not only in the log of wood, the fire
is beyond the log of wood also. So the fire pervades beyond the
log of wood also. But what is the problem? The fire beyond the
531
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
log is invisible, the fire in the log is visible. Similarly, the
Consciousness in the body is experienceable, the
Consciousness beyond the body is non-experienceable. And
where do we commit the mistake? We conclude non-visibility
is non-existent. If it is invisible it only means it is invisible, non-
visibility does not prove non-existence. But we have assumed
Consciousness is not experienced beyond the body, therefore it
is non-existence. यम मा राज says बनहः च – it is beyond the
body, शरीरात् बनहः अक्षप चैततयम् वतु ते. Continuing;
मतर 2-2-10
वायुयार्क
ै ो भुविं प्रनविो रूपं रूपं प्रनतरूपो बभवू ।
एकस्तर्ा िवा भत ू ाततरात्मा रूपं रूपं प्रनतरूपो बनहि ॥ १० ॥
This मतर is almost similar to the previous मतर. The
only difference is the word अनग्ि is replaced by the word वायु.
So whatever has been said with regard to अनग्ि you extend it to
वायु. So वायु is एकः, वायु is unlocated and वायु is unlimited. It
is one, unlocated and unlimited. And that one वायु is manifest
in different bodies. The manifested वायु is called प्राणः. So प्राण
रूपेण, प्राणमय कोश रूपेण वायु is manifest in every living
being. And in between also वायु is there but in unmanifest form.
And since it is not manifest in between we commit a blunder
that वायु is located in the body, वायु has got limitation and वायु
is plural in number. Just as we commit the mistake in the case
of वायु, we commit the mistake in the case of Consciousness
also. वायु is inside the body as well as outside also and so with
Consciousness. This is the second example. Now we shall see
the third example.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
मतर 2-2-11
ू ो यर्ा िवा लोकस्य चक्षुः ि नलप्यते चाक्षुषबै ाा ह्यदोषैः ।
िय
एकस्तर्ा िवा भतू ाततरात्मा ि नलप्यते लोकदुःखेि बाह्यः ॥ ११ ॥
With the help of two examples in the previous two मतरs
यम मा राज established आत्मा एकः िवा ितः च, आत्मा is one
and all-pervading. Now through this example यम मा राज wants
to show that not only आत्मा is one and all-pervading, the all-
pervading आत्मा cannot be polluted by anything in the creation.
Pervasion cannot cause pollution. Because normally when वायु
pervades this hall which hall has got some fragrance, then the
वायु carries the fragrance, the वायु becomes fragrant because of
the association. And this fragrant वायु travels that is why you
are able to feel that smell. So generally we know association
leads to pollution. Similarly we may get a doubt आत्मा gets
associated with the body-mind and therefore आत्मा may get
polluted. That is why we talk about महात्मा दुरात्मा दुटामा, so
we may get that doubt, यम मा राज says that is also an erroneous
conclusion आत्मा is अिङ्िः, आत्मा is in association with all
but does not take either the positive or negative attributes of an
object. To convey this अिङ्ित्व nature of the आत्मा
यम मा राज takes the िय ू ा प्रकाश दृिाततः, the sunlight. In the
early morning we see the sunlight rising and spreading all over
the earth.
दृशा िाघीयस्या दरदनलतिीलोत्पलरुचा दवीयांिं दीिं स्िपय
कृपया मामनप नशवे । अिेिायं तयो भवनत ि च ते हानिररयता
विे वा हम्ये वा िमकरनिपातो नहमकरः ॥ िौतदया लहरी ५७ ॥

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
Some of you might be familiar, this is one of the verses of
िौतदया लहरी where the moonlight example is given. So the
sunlight spreads over the entire earth. And it spreads over
गङ्गार्लम् also कूवम् र्लम् also but the sunlight does not get
either the good property or the evil property of the object it
spreads over. This light itself when it spreads over the book
there may be dust over the book the light does not become
dusty. So the light does not get श्द-स्पशा -रूप-रि-ित none
of the properties of the illumined object will taint the
illuminator. प्रकाश्य गुणाः प्रकाशकम् न क्षलम्पक्षत. The attributes
of the illumined object does not affect the illuminator light. If
the light falls over water the light does not get wet. If the light
falls over fire it does not get burnt.
अच्छे द्यः अयम् अदाह्यः अयम् अक्लेद्यः अशोष्यः ॥ िीता २-२४ ॥
Is it because the light is far away? No. Light is intimately
pervading the water, but it does not get wet. Similarly the
चैततयम् spreads over the body which is full of impurities, the
चैततयम् spreads over the mind which is full of big impurities –
राग-द्वेष-काम-क्रो -लोभ-मोह, but the आत्मचैततयम् has no
राग.
ि मे द्वेषरािौ ि मे लोभमोहौ मदो िैव मे िैव मात्िया भावः । ि
मो ि चार्ो ि कामो ि मोक्षः नचदाितदरूपः नशवोऽहम्
नशवोऽहम् ॥ निवाा ण षट्कम् ३ ॥
This is the essence. Look at the मतर. िय ू ा ः – the sunlight,
ियू ा प्रकाश. Here the solar disc is not talked about, that is far
away. Solar disc is located, we are not talking about that. we
are talking about the solar light which pervades the entire earth
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
during the daytime. Solar disc has got a form but the solar light
does not have a form. That formless, pervading light is here
ू ा ः. And what does it do? िवा लोकस्य चक्षुः. It is
referred to as िय
a very important example. In वेदातत शास्त्र िय ू ा प्रकाश is
repeatedly quoted. कृष्ण Himself borrows this in the भिवद्गीता,
यर्ा प्रकाशयत्येकः कृत्स्िं लोकनममं रनवः ।
क्षेरं क्षेरी तर्ा कृत्स्िं प्रकाशयनत भारत ॥ िीता १३-३३ ॥
Light illumines every object, Consciousness also illumines
every object. Illumines means makes an object knowable.
Similarly every object is knowable because of Consciousness
only. how many such lights are there? एकः – only one Sun, one
Sun is enough to illumine everything in the creation. यर्ा
प्रकाशयनत एकः कृत्स्िम् लोकम्. Therefore the Sun is called
लोकचक्षुः. It is like the eye of the world. Comparison, not
exactly eye.
तच्चक्षुदेवनहतं पुरस्ताच्छुक्रमुच्चरत् । पश्येम शरदः शतं जीवेम
शरदः शतम् ।
तत् चक्षुः it is the eye. ि नलप्यते दोषैः – that sunlight spreads
over the world but it is not tainted by the impurities. Impurities
are divided into two – चाक्षुषःै दोषैः बाह्यदोषैः. चाक्षुष दोष
indicates the inner impurity which is invisible. And बाह्यदोष is
outer impurity which are dust, foul smell etc. What is inner
impurity? शङ्कराचाया tells in his commentary शास्त्र tells that
there are certain things which you should not see. So there are
things which you can see and there are things which you should
not see. And when you see the things which are banned, you are
not supposed to see because of seeing that you are supposed to
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
get पापम्. And that पापम् born out of seeing those things which
are not to be seen. Similarly hearing which are not to be heard
– juicy gossip, similarly smelling what should not be smelt.
They all represent आन्तरदोषः. Therefore चाक्षुषःै means
शङ्कराचाया says अशुच्यानददशा िनिनमिैराध्यानत्मकैः पापदोषैः,
inner पापम् born out of abuse of sense organs. It is called
sensory abuse. And with those the light is not polluted. The
sunlight does not get पापम् also, the sunlight does not get
impurity also. More in the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 2-2-11 Continuing;
ू ो यर्ा िवा लोकस्य चक्षुः ि नलप्यते चाक्षुषबै ाा ह्यदोषैः ।
िय
एकस्तर्ा िवा भतू ाततरात्मा ि नलप्यते लोकदुःखेि बाह्यः ॥ ११ ॥
यम मा राज is dealing with the nature of ब्रह्मि् from मतर
eight onwards. In these three मतरs nine, ten and eleven he gave
three examples to understand ब्रह्मि्. The first is अनग्ि दृिाततः,
then वायु दृिाततः and the third one which we are seeing in this
मतर is िय ू ा प्रकाश दृिाततः, because there are several features
common to िय ू ा प्रकाश and चैततयम्. िय ू ा प्रकाश is one and
चैततयम् is one, िय ू ा प्रकाश is all-pervading and चैततयम् is all-
pervading, िय ू ा प्रकाश is formless and चैततयम् is formless,
िय ू ा प्रकाश is indivisible and चैततयम् is also indivisible,
िय ू ा प्रकाश is not tainted by any impurities it comes in contact
with and चैततयम् is also not tainted by anything, िय ू ा प्रकाश
illumines everything that means everything is known in the
presence of िय ू ा प्रकाश similarly चैततयम् illumines everything
that means everything is known in the presence of
Consciousness. We saw in the last class that the चैततयम् is
असङ्गः, unpolluted is revealed through the example the
sunlight is not affected by either the external impurities or the
internal impurities. External impurity is known like dust etc.,
and by internal impurities what we mean is शङ्कराचाया
comments the पापम् or पुण्यम् which comes to a person by
seeing an appropriate thing and by seeing an inappropriate
thing. Because शास्त्र allows us to see, hear certain things and
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
शास्त्र says certain things you avoid. Because they are capable
of producing either काम-क्रो -लोभ-मोह-मद-मात्िया etc. So by
seeing such things you are nourishing पाप or negative thinking.
And this is called internal impurity. And the उपनिषत् says the
sunlight is not affected by either the external impurities or the
internal impurities. Upto this we saw. Now the teacher says
एकः तर्ा िवा भत ू ाततरात्मा – similarly, untainted is the
आत्मचैततयम् which is in and through every living being. So
here भत ू means living being and not पञ्चभत ू ; and here the living
being means the शरीरम्. So िवा भत ू -अततरात्मा means
िवा शरीर-अततरात्मा. And it is intimately associated with the
bodies but the physical impurities of the body does not taint the
Consciousness and the inner impurities राग-द्वेष-पापम्-पुण्यम्
which belong to िक्ष्ू म शरीरम्, िक्ष्ू म शरीर अशुक्षद्ध also does not
taint the आत्मा, ि नलप्यते लोकदुःखेि. Why is it not affected?
बाह्यः – it is अिङ्िः, it is above that. Here by the word ‘above’
it does not mean physically above, it is in and through the
impurities but it transcends them in the sense it is not tainted by
them. Just as the screen in the movie is in and through every
character in the movie, but the screen is above the characters, it
is not polluted by whatever happens in the movie. If there is a
fire in the movie then the screen need not be changed after every
movie or every show. Similarly water does not wet. Therefore
बाह्यः is equal to अिङ्िः. Continuing;
मतर 2-2-12
एको वशी िवा भत ू ाततरात्मा एकं रूपं बहु ा यः करोनत ।
तमात्मस्र्ं येऽिपु श्यनतत ीराः तेषां िख
ु ं शाश्वतं िेतरे षाम् ॥ १२ ॥

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
Another important and a complete मतर. The first two
quarters line talks about परमात्मा, the third quarter talks about
the जीवात्म-परमात्म-ऐक्यम्, and the fourth quarter gives the
benefit of knowing this fact. So परमात्मस्वरूपम्, जीवात्म-
ऐक्यम् and जीवात्म-ऐक्य ज्ञािफलम्. Thus it is a complete
मतर. What is the nature of परमात्मा or ब्रह्मि्? It is defined
एकः – it is one all-pervading space like Consciousness, without
the second. And वशी – स्वततरः. Literally वश means control.
वशी means having controlled, that means स्वततरः which
means Consciousness is an independent entity and it does not
depend upon matter for its existence. We think that
Consciousness requires a brain for its existence, we don’t
accept that Consciousness requires brain for its manifestation.
Without brain Consciousness cannot manifest. But without
brain Consciousness can exist. Consciousness exists without
brain but it manifests through the brain. Just as the electricity
can exist without the bulb but it expresses as light through the
bulb. So thus Consciousness does not depend upon matter
whereas matter depends upon Consciousness. Therefore वशी
means स्वततरः. Where is this Consciousness?
िवा भतू ाततरात्मा – it is the very inner essence, the ultimate
content of every living being. This word we have seen in all the
three previous मतरs. It is like the invisible thread behind all the
beads of a necklace. So all our bodies are the visible beads
(some of them are emeralds, pearls and some are fake also) and
flowers but they are all strung together with the help of an
invisible thread called the चैततयम्. What does this
Consciousness do? एकं रूपं सत् – remaining in its own
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
changeless, non-dual and indivisible nature, बहु ा यः करोनत –
it seemingly becomes many. नववता -उपादाि कारणम्. So
remaining one it seemingly becomes many. Just as the waker
remaining the waker he seemingly divides into many for dream
transactions. Even during the dream transactions the waker
continues to be safe on the bed and even when the whole dream
is resolved the non-dual waker continues. स्वस्वरू अपररत्यािेि
रूपाततरापनिः नववता ः. So remaining in Advaitic form it appears
as pluralistic. And where can we find this wonderful
Consciousness, स्वततर चैततयम्? The teacher says आत्मस्र्म्
– that very all-pervading Consciousness resides in your own
body. Here the word आत्मा means शरीरम्. स्र्म् means
residing. आत्मस्र्म् means residing in your own body.
स्वशरीरर्हदयाकाशे बुद्धौ चैततय आकारे ण अनभव्यक्तम् इक्षत
एतत्. What is residing? The all-pervading, indivisible,
seemingly pluralistic Consciousness is in your own body. In
what form is it in your own body? In the form of witness
Consciousness as I, the experiencer of the body. When we say
in the body don’t search for it, you will find everything other
than Consciousness. Within the mind you won’t see it, you will
see only राग-द्वेष-काम-क्रो . In your own mind it is available
as you, the experiencer and not as an object of experience. That
means आत्मरूपेण in the form of the very subject I, as the very
experiencer I and not as an experienced object. In this form the
परमात्मा is there. And when the परमात्मा obtains in the body
we give it a new name जीवात्मा. िवा ितः परमात्मा
जीवात्मरूपेण अन्तःकरण वक्षृ त भाव-अभाव साक्षिरूपेण सवु दा
क्षतष्ठक्षत. Then the teacher says ीराः अिुपश्यनतत – only some
540
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
rare seekers recognize this fact. ीराः means नववेनकिः,
िा िचतुियिम्पतिाः, अक्षधकाररणः, prepared students alone
will recognize that ब्रह्मि् I am. The unprepared people will
commit the biggest blunder of looking for that परमात्मा. and
for some days they will look outside thinking that परमात्मा is
outside, and for some days they will look within thinking that
परमात्मा is inside me. यम मा राज says परमात्मा is neither
inside you nor outside you, but परमात्मा is you. Therefore don’t
look within or without, own up the fact that I, the looker within
and the looker without, I, the onlooker and the inlooker am
परमात्मा. This only those people who have broken the
objectification orientation, that बुक्षद्ध is called सक्ष्ू मबुक्षद्ध, those
who have subtle intellect they alone will recognize. And that
too how? अिु. That अिु is very important. अिु means with the
help of िुरु-शास्त्र-उपदेश. A prepared intellect is not sufficient,
it should be assisted by िुरु-शास्त्र-उपदेश. And that is indicated
by the prefix अिु. What benefit will they get by gaining this
knowledge? तेषां शाश्वतं िख ु म् – the greatest benefit is they
know that I am not the mortal body, limited body, but I am the
immortal, limitless Consciousness. Therefore the fear of
mortality is gone, the sense of limitation is gone. That is called
पणू ा त्व दशा िम् or owning up. And since this पण ू ा त्वम् or fulness
is born out of wisdom it continues to remain all the time.
Experiential happiness is subject to arrival and departure but the
discovery of पण ू ा त्वम् which is born out of wisdom will remain
all the time. Therefore शाश्वतं िुखम् means जीवतमुनक्त,
permanent fulfillment. Things arrive in life I am full, things go
away from my life I am full. Remember the भिवद्गीता example
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
आपय ू ा माणम् अचल-प्रनतष्ठम्॥ िीता २-७० ॥ the ocean is ever
full whether the rivers pour waters into the ocean or the rivers
dry up fullness of the ocean is unaffected. I am full like ocean.
This is called जीवतमुनक्त. Therefore the फलम् is मोक्ष. Is this
knowledge one of the means to मोक्ष? यम मा राज says that this
is the only means of getting permanent शाक्षन्त, permanent
fulfillment. There are no alternative methods, we don’t accept
multipath theories, that is not Upanishadic teaching. we should
know what is the teaching of the उपनिषत्s, it clearly says ि
इतरे षाम्. इतरे षाम् means all the other people who are pursuing
different other means do not get पण ू ा त्वम्. Does that mean you
have to renounce all the other िा िs? No, we do not criticize
the other िा िs, let the other person continue the other िा िs
but what we say is one should not stop with other िा िs, they
should follow, prepare the mind, and all of them will have to
come to this Upanishadic knowledge. Therefore through the
door of ज्ञािम् alone पणू ा त्वम् is possible. Continuing;
मतर 2-2-13
नित्योऽनित्यािां चेतििेतिािाम् एको बहू िां यो नवद ानत कामाि् ।
तमात्मस्र्ं येऽिुपश्यनतत ीराः तेषां शानततः शाश्वती िेतरे षाम् ॥ १३ ॥
This मतर gives a parallel idea that is almost the same as
the previous मतर. The first two quarters talk about
परमात्मस्वरूपम्, the third quarter reveals the ऐक्यम् and the
last quarter gives the ज्ञािफलम्. So what is the nature of
परमात्मा or ब्रह्मि्? नित्यः – it is the only permanent thing.
Where is it located? अनित्यािाम् – it is amidst every
impermanent thing. Otherwise you will think that the whole

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
world is impermanent, ब्रह्मि् is said to be permanent, therefore
it must be far beyond somewhere and therefore I renounce the
world and go in search of ब्रह्मि् elsewhere. यम मा राज says
wherever अनित्य-वस्तु is there, in the same place नित्य-वस्तु is
present. Where you mortal body is there, in and through the
very mortal body is the immortal परमात्मा as the very
Consciousness. To remind you of the example the light that is
in and through your moving hand that very light is permanent.
The hand may be removed from this place and the hand may
come back but the light remains there. Similarly in this body
every centimeter I touch I feel the very Consciousness. I am
conscious of everything. That very conscious is नित्यः. And
चेतिः चेतिािाम् – it is the very Consciousness present in every
living being. So in every sentient being परमात्मा is there in the
form of the very sentiency. In every conscious being परमात्मा
is there in the form of the very Consciousness itself. So चेतिः
means चैततयस्वरूपः. How many such Consciousnesses are
there? एकः – that Consciousness is one non-dual principle. This
परमात्मा alone with the power of माया is called ईश्वर. So माया
सक्षहत चैततयम् is called ईश्वर. So there is no difference between
परमात्मा and ईश्वर. परमात्मा along with all the powers, the
शनक्त is called ईश्वर. And in the form of ईश्वर what does that
परमात्मा do? बहू िां कामाि् नवद ानत. From ज्ञािकाण्ड
suddenly यम मा राज goes to कमा काण्ड. The very same
परमात्मा in the कमा काण्ड fulfills the desires of all the people.
When the सकाम भत worship the same परमात्मा for various
goals of life the very same परमात्मा fulfills.
मयैव नवनहतानतह ताि् ॥ िीता ७-२२ ॥
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
And therefore बहू िां कामाि्. भतािां कामाि्. प्रपति पाररजात
is that परमात्मा. नवद ानत – fulfills. How does he fulfill? In
keeping with their effort. शङ्कराचाया writes कमाा िुरूपं
कामाि् कमा फलानि नवद ानत. So that is the nature of परमात्मा.
Where is that परमात्मा located? That परमात्मा is very much in
your own body-mind-complex not as an object but as you
yourself, the experiencer of your thought, experiencer of your
knowledge, experiencer of your ignorance, experiencer of your
blankness, as the very िानक्ष चैततयरूपेण that परमात्मा is there.
But ीराः अिुपश्यनतत – only true seekers recognize this fact.
Majority think परमात्मा is seated somewhere and they have to
travel ad infinitum and ultimately merge into परमात्मा at a
particular time and place. They are gross minded ones. The
subtle minded ones recognize अहम् ब्रह्म अक्षस्म. What is the
result of that recognition? तेषां शानततः – peace of mind, the life
is fulfilled, the journey is over. Whatever I do hereafter is
bonus. That is called शानततः, fulfillment, contentment. I feel I
have made my life. That too what type of शानततः? शाश्वती
शानततः – not a temporary peace but permanent peace,
everlasting peace. ि इतरे षाम् – if you try to find same peace of
mind elsewhere you will not get, even if you get it will be a
piece of peace which will go to pieces after a few seconds.
Permanent peace is only in आत्मज्ञािम्. Therefore come to
आत्मज्ञािम्. Peace is your choice.
Thus these two beautiful मतरs are complete मतरs, they
are महावाक्य मतरs. Continuing;

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
मतर 2-2-14
तदेतनदनत मतयततेऽनिदेश्यं परमं िुखम् ।
कर्ं िु तनद्वजािीयां नकमु भानत नवभानत वा ॥ १४ ॥
This मतर is in the form of a question. We can assume
that it is a question from िनचकेति्. Or we can assume
यम मा राज himself is raising this question and answering it. Let
us assume िनचकेति् is making this. तत् अनिदेश्यं परमं िख ु म्
– ब्रह्माितद or आत्माितद is considered to be the highest
आितद possible. परमं िुखम् – it is a highest आितद. What
type of िुखम्? अनिदेश्यम् – which is said to be inexplicable or
indescribable. So ब्रह्माितद or आत्माितद is considered to be
the superlative आितद, the highest आितद which is not
describable or explicable. But the wise people refer to this
आितद intimately as this आितद. एतत् इक्षत मतयतते – not as
an object but as something intimately available आितद.
Available for whom? Available for themselves. So therefore
तत् अनिदेश्यं परमं िुखम् – that superlative inexplicable
आितद some wise people refer to as एतत् इक्षत मतयतते – not
some remote concept, but as something intimately available to
them. This is how wise people refer to ब्रह्माितद. Now
िनचकेति् wants how can I accomplish that ब्रह्माितद. कर्ं िु
तत् नवजािीयाम् – how can I make that आितद accessible,
available, experienceable, cognizable to me? How can I make
परोक्ष ज्ञािम् into अपरोक्ष ज्ञािम्? नकम् उ भानत – is it available,
is it experienceable, visible, perceptible? Because the wise
people refer to it as this आितद. They don’t say that आितद,
they refer to it as this आितद. The word this can be used only

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for something which is closely available. Because they refer to
as this intimately, is it evident? नकम् उ भानत – is it available.
नवभानत वा – is it distinctly available or perceptible? नवशेषेण
भानत वा or not? Or is it not distinctly available? So how to gain
ब्रह्माितद? Is it easily available or is it available with difficulty?
This is the crucial question िनचकेति् asks. Now यम मा राज is
cornered, he has to give the answer. He gives it in the next मतर.
मतर 2-2-15
ि तर ियू ो भानत ि चतितारकं िेमा नवद्युतो भानतत कुतोऽयमनग्िः ।
तमेव भाततमिुभानत िवं तस्य भािा िवा नमदं नवभानत ॥ १५ ॥
This मतर occurs in मुण्डकोपनिषत् (मतर 2-2-10) also.
It is a very important मतर and a very relevant answer to the
question. The question of िनचकेति् was how to experience
ब्रह्माितद, accomplish ब्रह्माितद. The answer यम मा राज wants
to give is ब्रह्माितद is never an object of experience. ब्रह्माितद
can never be attained in the form of a particular experience.
Because the moment you reduce ब्रह्माितद into a specific form
of experience – ordinary or extraordinary, you are limiting
ब्रह्माितद to time, space and condition. The moment you reduce
ब्रह्माितद into a form of experience either ordinary or
extraordinary it becomes limited by time, space and condition.
Because every experience is an event in time. Therefore we say
all experiential pleasures come under क्षवषय आितद only,
objective आितद. Then the next question is if ब्रह्माितद cannot
be confined to a form of experience then what is ब्रह्माितद. For
that यम मा राज gives the answer ब्रह्माितद is not a time bound
experience, ब्रह्माितद is of the nature of the very चैततयम् itself,

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
ब्रह्माितद is of the nature of the very the Consciousness itself.
And when I say ब्रह्म आितद and Consciousness, the word
आितद should be translated as अनन्तः. ब्रह्म आितद is equal to
ब्रह्मि्, the अनन्तः – the limitless principle. And limitless ब्रह्मि्
which is called ब्रह्म आितद, आितद is equal to अनन्त,
अनन्तम् ब्रह्म is not an experience in time but it is the very
Consciousness itself which never comes and goes. Therefore
how should you accomplish ब्रह्माितद? You accomplish
ब्रह्माितद only in the form of wisdom. ब्रह्माितद has to be
accomplished in the form of wisdom. What type of wisdom?
The wisdom that ब्रह्माितद is the very चैततयम्, अहम्.
चैततयरूप अहम् एव ब्रह्म आितद. It is not an experience that is
going to come and disappear in time. But ब्रह्माितद is the very
I which exists before of experiences, it is there during the
presence of all the experiences and it continues to be there even
after the experiences go away. ब्रह्माितद is not a specific
experience, but it is the Consciousness which is the substratum
of all the experiences. That is why in केिोपनिषत् it was said
to be
प्रनतबो नवनदतम् मतम् ॥ केिोपनिषत् २-४ ॥
When is ब्रह्माितद available if it understood as Consciousness?
You should not answer, you should ask a counter question:
when is it not available? Therefore ब्रह्माितद is ever
experienced by everyone as I, the Conscious principle.
ब्रह्माितद in the form of Consciousness is ever experienced by
all in the form of I, the Conscious principle. And therefore to
define ब्रह्माितद यम मा राज defines the Consciousness itself.

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What is the definition of Consciousness? He says तर िय ू ाः ि
भानत – the sunlight does not illumine the Consciousness. In fact
it is the other way round, Consciousness illumines, makes the
sunlight known to you. In वेदातत illumines means make
known. Consciousness illumines the sunlight, Consciousness
makes the sunlight known to you. It is not the other way round.
The light illumines the book and the book does not illumine the
light. Similarly, ि चतितारकम् – the moonlight does not
illumine the Consciousness, it is vice versa. The stars do not
illumine the Consciousness. नवद्युतः – the flashes of lightening,
however powerful they may be, they may illumine the entire
earth multifold but lightening does not illumine the
Consciousness. On the other hand lightening is known because
of Consciousness. Then what about the light or fire or flame?
When the powerful sunlight and lightening could not illumine
what to talk of a feeble flame of fire. Therefore कुतः अयम्
अस्मद्दनृ ििोचरः अनग्िः – how can an ordinary flame illumine
the Consciousness, परमात्मा? That is the reason they chant this
during दीपाराधन मन्त्र because दीपाराधन is shown with a
small camphor. Therefore he says how can this miserable
camphor flame illumine the Consciousness principle. Then
what is the fact? The Consciousness is ever the illuminator and
never the illumined; ever the experiencer and never the
experienced; ever I, the subject and never the object. In
technical language we say it is अप्रमेय – not an object of any
instrument of knowledge. सवु प्रमाण अगोचरम्. Then the
question comes if it is never known how do we know that
Consciousness exists? If it is never experienced how do we
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
know it exists? For that यम मा राज answers it is never
experienced, alright, but all the experiences are possible
because of Consciousness alone. You don’t feel the
Consciousness on the stage, you don’t hear the Consciousness
on the stage but if you are able to hear the sound, see the form
it is because of you being the very Consciousness principle.
Therefore it proves everything, but it does not require any
proof. It is ever the prover, never requires to be proved. For
example, in every photo camera is never seen, but nobody
doubts the existence of the camera because the very possibility
of every picture is because of the camera. Similarly everything
that I experience is because I am Conscious entity. Therefore
यम मा राज says िवा म् तमेव परमेश्वरं भाततं दीप्यमािम्
अिुभानत अिुदीप्यते – everything in the creation is known only
because of the self-evident, self-revealing, self-proven
Consciousness. What is the proof of Consciousness?
Consciousness is the proof of Consciousness. I am the proof for
myself. You require proof for everything but you never ask
proof for yourself. Consciousness never requires a proof.
Therefore everything is known because of the Consciousness
which is भाततम् – self-proved, the self-evident, self-conscious.
In िंस्कृत we use the word स्वयम्प्रकाशः, स्वयञ््योक्षतः,
स्वतःक्षसद्धः is that Consciousness. And तस्य भािा – because of
the light of that Consciousness alone (here the word light is a
figurative expression and in a real sense) इदं िवं नवभानत – every
object is known because of that subject alone. That you are
आितद. You need not accomplish आितद. When I say ‘you are
आितद’ I mean you are अनन्त. When I say ‘you are अनन्त’ I
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ५
mean you are not limited by your body, thoughts. Therefore the
whole creation is resting in you and everything belongs to you.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
नद्वतीयाध्याये ततृ ीया वल्ली
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
We will enter into the third and the final section of
कठोपनिषत् and in this final section यम मा राज is going to deal
with the central theme of कठोपनिषत्, viz., आत्मनवद्या or
ब्रह्मनवद्या, which was sought after by िनचकेति् through the
third boon. Then he will talk about ब्रह्मनवद्या िा नाक्षन, the
preparatory disciplines required for ब्रह्मनवद्या and then finally
यम मा राज deals with the topic of ब्रह्मनवद्या फलम् also. So
ब्रह्मनवद्या, ब्रह्मनवद्या िा नाक्षन and ब्रह्मनवद्या फलम्. These are
the three topics. Even though यम मा राज has dealt with all these
three topics before, he is repeating them again by way of
conclusion. उपसंहार रूपेण he is repeating these three topics.
With this background we will go to the text proper.
मतर 2-3-01
ऊध्वा मल
ू ोऽवाक्शाख एषोऽश्वत्र्ः ििातिः ।
तदेव शुक्रं तद्ब्रह्म तदेवामत
ृ मुच्यते ।
तनस्मँल्लोकाः नश्रताः िवे तदु िात्येनत किि । एतद्वै तत् ॥ १ ॥
In the initial three मतरs यम मा राज talks about the
nature of ब्रह्मि,् ब्रह्मस्वरूपम्. This is an important मतर and
based on this मतर alone we have got the well-known verse
occurring in the भिवद्गीता
ऊध्वा मल
ू म ःशाखमश्वत्र्ं प्राहु रव्ययम् ॥ िीता १५-१ ॥
कृष्ण has borrowed many verses from कठोपनिषत्. We come
to know the secret when we read the कठोपनिषत्. The verses
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
ि जायते नम्रयते वा कदानचत् ॥ िीता २-२० ॥
उभौ तौ ि नवजािीतो िायं हनतत ि हतयते ॥ िीता २-१९ ॥
आियो वक्ता कुशलोऽस्य ल् ा आियो ज्ञाता कुशलािुनशिः ॥
कठोपनिषत् १-२-७ ॥
आिया वत् पश्यनत कनित् एिम् ॥ िीता २-२९ ॥
And even this मतर कृष्ण borrows in the भिवद्गीता. In this मतर
first यम मा राज is comparing the whole creation to a अश्वत्र्ः
वक्ष
ृ ः, a peepal tree. Then ब्रह्मि् is going to be presented as the
root of this tree, as the very support of this tree, र्गत् आधारः,
र्गत्कारणम् ब्रह्म. शङ्कराचाया writes a very elaborate
commentary showing how अश्वत्र् वक्ष ृ and the universe have
got several common features. An example is considered to be
an ideal example when there are so many common features
between the example and the original. And शङ्कराचाया wants
to show that the वक्षृ दृिातत is an ideal example for the िंिार
because there are several common features. What are the
common features? शङ्कराचाया mentions many. Some of them
we will see, very interesting.
1) The first common feature is महत्वम् – both of them are
very vast in their size. अश्वत्र् वक्ष
ृ is a very huge tree with a
vast spread, similarly the universe also is महान् प्रपञ्चः whose
limits we cannot even imagine.
2) Then the next common feature is आक्षद-अन्त-रक्षहतत्वम्
– you cannot talk about the beginning of this universe and you
cannot talk about the beginning of tree also. If you look at the
tree you can say that the tree has come out of the seed. So it
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
appears as though the seed is the beginning of the tree. But on
enquiry you know that the seed itself is a product of the
previous tree. Then can you say the previous tree is the
beginning? No, because the previous tree is caused by its
previous seed. And which one came first – seed or tree? You
can never talk about the beginning. And in the same way you
cannot talk about the end also. Because the present tree will
produce innumerable seeds leading to further trees and so on
and on. Therefore आक्षद I cannot talk about, अन्त I cannot talk
about. Similarly if I talk about the creation I will get into the
same problem. How did this universe come into being? Because
of our कमा . We have all done पुण्यपापम्s, because of our
पुण्यपापम् the creation has come into being. In fact the very
purpose of the creation is to exhaust our पुण्यपापम्. How did
this पुण्यपापम् come? Because of the previous creation in which
we have done a lot of good and bad action. Therefore this
creation is because of our पुण्यपापम् or कमा and our कमा came
because of the previous creation. And how did the previous
creation come? Of course because of कमा . How did that कमा
come? Because of its previous creation. How did that previous
creation come? Because of the कमा . So tell me कमा came from
र्न्म or र्न्म came from कमा ? You cannot trace which is the
cause and which is the effect. And therefore it is अनाक्षदः. ि
कमाा नवभािानदनत चेतिािानदत्वात् ॥ ब्रह्मिर ू २-१-३५ ॥ How do
you say it is अनाक्षद? उपपद्यते चाप्युपलभ्यते च ॥ ब्रह्मिरू २-१-
३७ ॥ And similarly will this creation be the end? No, in this
creation we are not keeping quiet, we are upto something. So
keep doing lot of कमा producing पुण्यपापम् which will lead to
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
next र्न्म, next सक्षृ ट, in the next सक्षृ ट we don’t keep quiet,
therefore ि रूपमस्येह तर्ोपलभ्यते िाततो ि चानदिा च
िम्प्रनतष्ठा ॥ िीता १५-३ ॥ कृष्ण said in the fifteenth chapter.
You cannot talk about the beginning and the end of a tree also,
you cannot talk about the beginning and the end of the world
also. Therefore आक्षद-अन्त-रक्षहतत्वम् is the second common
feature.
3) The third common feature is अनिवा चिीयत्वम् –
inexplicable which is the corollary of the previous one.
Inexplicable means you cannot say whether a thing is a cause
or an effect. Just as a tree is it a cause or an effect if I ask what
will be your answer? It is a cause from the standpoint of the
next seed or next tree and at the same time it is an effect with
regard to the previous seed. That is why we are not able to
clearly understand fate and freewill also because they are
mutually cause and effect. Therefore nothing is clearly
definable. In िंस्कृत it is called अनिवा चिीयम्. कृष्ण says ि
रूपम् अस्य इह उपलभ्यते which means it is inexplicable. And
scientifically seeing also they are trying to understand the
universe more and more, it is getting more deeper and it
becomes more and more vague and loose and inexplicable.
Therefore अनिवा चिीयत्वम् is common to the tree also and it is
common to the universe also. This is the third common feature.
4) Then the fourth common feature शङ्कराचाया points out
is there is an invisible root underneath the visible tree. The tree
is visible and we know the visible tree and there is a root which
is nourishing the tree because of which alone the tree exists. I

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
know the root, I know there is a root, but I cannot see the root.
It is inferred. And just as every tree has got an invisible root
underneath similarly, for this vast universe also there is an
invisible आधारः, invisible आश्रयः, नवश्वा ारम् ििििदृशम्.
And this ईश्वर is never visible to our sense organs, He is इनतिय
अिोचरः. The tree is इनतिय िोचरः, the root is इनतिय अिोचरः,
similarly the world is इनतिय िोचरः, the root of the world, i.e.,
ब्रह्मि् or ईश्वर is इनतिय अिोचरः. So the fourth common feature
is both have got invisible मल ू म्, आधारः, आश्रयः, support.
मल ू वत्वम्.
5) Then the fifth one शङ्कराचाया points out is both have
got branches. Spreading widely there are branches. For the
अश्वत्र् वक्ष
ृ spreading branches are there. Some of them are
upper branches, some of them are middle ones and some of
them are lower ones. In the same way the universe also has got
several layers and each branch is a लोक. We have got ऊध्वा
लोक comparable to upper branches of the िंिार वक्ष ृ like
भुवलोक, िुवलोक, महलोक, जिलोक etc. We have got a
middle branch – भलू ोक. Then there are lower branches – अतल,
नवतल, ित ु ल, तलातल, महातल, रिातल, पाताल. Total fourteen
branches are there. Therefore the fifth common feature is
शाखावत्वम् – both the tree as well as the world have got several
branches.
6) Then the next common feature शङ्कराचाया points out is
फलवत्वम्. Any tree will produce फलम् or fruit. That is the
ultimate end of the tree contribution of फलम्. फलम् also three
types – very sweet one, very bitter one and neutral. In the same

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
way the universal tree also gives three types of फलम् – िुखम्
(very sweet one), दुःखम् (very bitter one) and also the
क्षमश्रफलम् which is neither totally sweet nor totally bitter. Thus
both the tree and world have got फलवत्वम्. िुख-दुःख-
क्षमश्रफलाक्षन.
7) Then the seventh common feature pointed out here is
because of the availability of the fruits many birds come, build
nests and reside on the branches of the tree. Therefore the tree
becomes पनक्ष आश्रयः, because it produces fruits and it lends
itself as support, there are many पनक्षs dwelling because of
which it is very noisy tree. शङ्कराचाया ’s is a very poetic
भाष्यम्. If you go under the tree in the evening you can hear
noise. Remember their noise has got some message. Some of
them indicating good thing and some of them indicating bad
thing also, different variety. Similarly this universal tree also
provides the support for all the पनक्षs who are none other than
the जीवात्माs birds. We are all birds who have built our nests,
i.e., the physical body on the fourteen branches. So thus पनक्ष
आश्रयत्वम् is there for the tree. Similarly the िंिार वक्ष ृ also is
the आश्रय for the countless birds called जीवात्माs and we are
making a noisy world. In some house there is festival function,
therefore music concert and another house there is a news that
someone has died accidentally and there is wailing. भता हृ रर tells
I don’t know whether the world is happy or unhappy world
because one side it is all noisy with music and another side it is
noisy with wailing. And in one house itself one day it is full of
laughter and another it is full of wailing. This is the noisy िंिार
वक्ष
ृ because of पनक्ष आश्रयत्वम्.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
8) Then the eighth common feature is even though the
अश्वत्र् वक्ष
ृ is very big with a big trunk and big branches and
so tall, even such a powerful tree is moved by powerful winds.
चलनवत्वम्. In the same way the huge िंिार वक्ष ृ also is moved
or swayed by the wind of प्रार् कमा . So swayed by the कमा
every individual is moving. All the movement is caused by the
कमा – not only my कमा but also the कमा of the surroundings.
Thus if you take the world as a whole by the िमनि कमा the
whole world is swayed here and there. This is another common
feature – चलनवत्वम्.
9) And the nineth and final for our purpose, because
शङ्कराचाया goes on and on, is even though the अश्वत्र् वक्ष ृ
seems to be अिानद, अनन्त and so vast the अश्वत्र् वक्ष ृ can be
uprooted. It is possible to destroy this tree though it is not easy
but it is possible. What you have to do is first cut off the
branches, then the trunk and then ultimately remove the very
root itself so that it is permanently destroyed. In the same way
even though the िंिार is अिानद and अनन्त still this िंिार can
be destroyed, uprooted by the sword of ज्ञािम्. अिङ्िशस्त्रेण
दृढे ि नछववा ॥ िीता १५-३ ॥ ततः पदं तत्पररमानिा तव्यं
यनस्मतिता ि निवता नतत भय ू ः ॥ िीता १५-४ ॥ It can be cut, it
can be uprooted, it can be eliminated, it can be destroyed. In
िंस्कृत it is छे द्यत्वम्. And for this vast अश्वत्र् वक्ष
ृ like universe
ब्रह्मि् is the आधार. And that ब्रह्मि् is the one which is
your nature, आत्मा.
That is how the teaching is going to be presented. With
this background look at the मतर. ऊध्वा मल ू ः अश्वत्र्ः – this

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
world is like an अश्वत्र् tree. एषः – this universe, अयं प्रपञ्चः,
इदं र्गत् is अश्वत्र्ः, you have to add इव, it is like an अश्वत्र्
वक्ष
ृ , a peepal tree. And what type of peepal tree? ििातिः –
अिानदत्वात् क्षचरप्रवि ृ ः, which is आद्यन्तरक्षहतम्, eternal, which
will not be naturally destroyed. It will go on and on. Even the
death is not the end because again rebirth is there. Even प्रलयम्
is not the end because reसक्षृ ट, recreation is there. Therefore it
is ििातिः. And for this िंिार वक्ष ृ ऊध्वा मलू ः – the मल
ू म्, the
root, the आधार, the support is ऊध्वा म् – ब्रह्मि्. So the word
ऊध्वा म् has got a secondary meaning here. We should not take
the primary meaning here. The primary meaning of the word
ऊध्वा म् is above or up. And why we cannot take the meaning?
Because ब्रह्मि् cannot be up or down as ब्रह्मि् is all-pervading.
Therefore you cannot take the primary meaning of the word
ऊध्वा म् because ब्रह्मि् is neither up or down. Therefore you have
to take the secondary meaning of the word ऊध्वा म् which is
ब्रह्मि्. Therefore ऊध्वा मल ू ः means ब्रह्ममल
ू ः. Then the question
comes how can you say the secondary meaning is ब्रह्मि.् Why
not take it as coffee? On what basis do you take the secondary
meaning as ब्रह्मि्? some reason must be there. We say the word
ऊध्वा म् means high, up or above. The word high, above etc., are
used to indicate superiority. Anything superior is said to be of
higher quality. He is in higher cadre, this person is of lower
cadre. It is qualitative gradation. Similarly ऊध्वा म् means
whatever is qualitatively superior is called above. ब्रह्मि् is the
superior most thing in the creation. And therefore ऊध्वा म् means
ब्रह्मि्. Higher in terms of its greatness. And again the word high
or above is used to convey something which is very subtle for
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
understanding. When you say today’s class was very high, it
went above my head means it is दुनवा ज्ञेयत्वम्,
incomprehensibility or subtlety. What is the subtlest thing in the
creation? ब्रह्मि.् Therefore ऊध्वा म् means ब्रह्मि् because it is the
highest and the subtlest. So उत्कृितमत्वात् दुनवा ज्ञेयतमत्वात्
ऊध्वा म् ब्रह्म इक्षत उच्यते. Therefore ऊध्वा मलू ः means ब्रह्ममल
ू ः this
universal tree has ब्रह्मि् as the nourishing root and therefore
only it is not visible also. Then अवाक्शाखः – this िंिार वक्ष ृ
has got many branches which are inferior. Here also the word
अवाक् means lower. Here also the word lower should not be
taken literally, it is not spatial, but it is qualitatively of a lower
grade, it is inferior. Why is the creation inferior and ब्रह्मि्
superior? Because ब्रह्मि् is eternal and the creation is subject to
arrival and departure. ब्रह्मि् being ित्यम् it is superior, creation
being नमथ्या it is inferior. ब्रह्मि् being कारणम् it is superior,
the world being काया म् it is inferior. Therefore अवाक्शाखः
means endowed with inferior perishable branches, i.e., the
creation. तद्ब्रह्म – that ऊध्वा म् ब्रह्म. very careful. The word तत्
does not refer to the िंिार वक्ष ृ but the word तत् refers to the
root of the िंिार वक्ष ृ and तत् मल ू म् which is invisible, which
is the support, तद्ब्रह्म – that root of the creation is called ब्रह्मि्.
The invisible support of the creation is ब्रह्मि्. What is the nature
of that ब्रह्मि?् why do you say ब्रह्मि् is superior? तदेव शुक्रम् –
शुभ्रं शुद्धं ज्योनतष्मत् चैततयात्मज्योनतःस्वभावम्. While the
creation is full of अशुक्षद्ध, पुण्य कमा is there, पाप कमा is there,
क्षमश्र कमा is there, there are so many impurities in the creation
but the आधार ब्रह्मि् is not affected by any impurities.
ि नह अध्यस्तस्य िुणेि दोषेण वा अणुमारेणानप ि िम्बध्यते.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
Just as the dream world does not afflict the आधार, the waker.
The dream water do not wet the waker, the dream impurities do
not sully the waker, and therefore ब्रह्मि् is शुद्धम्, spotless. तदेव
अमत ृ म् अनविाशस्वभावम् उच्यते – that ब्रह्मि् is said to be
अमत ृ म् – immortal. By saying तदेव अमत ृ म् – that alone
immortal यम मा राज indicates everything else is mortal.
Therefore don’t hold on to the universe, you will be in trouble.
Hold on to the root, you are safe. Therefore hold on to the Lord.
Then what about others? You entertain them, relate with them,
love them, help them, do everything except holding on. Handle
them but hold on to भिवाि्. That is the teaching. If you want
to take a dip in a sacred river, many sacred rivers have got a
chain because the river flow is so intense, so fast, therefore in
your enthusiasm you get into the river it will just suck.
Therefore you have to hold on to the chain and enjoy the river
bath. Similarly hold on to ब्रह्मि् and enjoy your life. Instead of
ब्रह्मि् anything else you hold on it will be swept off in the
current. Therefore don’t hold on to anything else. तनस्मि्
परमार्ा ित्ये ब्रह्मनण िवे लोकाः
ित वा ििरमरीच्युदकमायािमाः परमार्ा दशा िाभावाविमिाः
नश्रताः आनश्रताः – all the fourteen लोकs are based on that ब्रह्मि्.
They are supported by that ब्रह्मि्. So since ब्रह्मि् supports the
whole universe it is not very difficult to support you who are a
few kilograms only. So त्यािराज sang ब्रोव भारमा रघुराम – O
Lord! Since you are supporting the whole cosmos what is the
great difficulty in giving me a supporting hand. So therefore
help me out. So that is what is said here. तनस्मि् िवे लोकाः
नश्रताः. नश्रताः – आनश्रताः. So ब्रह्मि् is क्षवश्व आधारम्. तत् उ
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
तद्ब्रह्म ि अत्येनत किि – there is nothing in the creation which
is outside ब्रह्मि्. ि अत्येनत – nothing can exist outside ब्रह्मि्.
Just as no part of the dream world can exist outside the waker.
Even the farthest dream star is also within your small head only.
Because the very existence of the dream object is given by the
waker alone. Similarly, the existence in any object is borrowed
from that ब्रह्मि् only. Therefore सत्ता स्फूक्षतु प्रदत्त्वात् सवं ब्रह्मक्षण
एव अध्यस्तं क्षतष्ठक्षत. Then िनचकेति् may wonder I am asking
about आत्मस्वरूपम् and you are talking about ब्रह्मि्. Why are
you dealing with some other subject matter? It is like ‘I am
asking how much rice is there, and you are saying fire is so
much.’ You are giving unconnected answer. यम मा राज says
my dear िनचकेति् एतद्वै तत् – this ब्रह्मि् is not very far away,
this ब्रह्मि् is your very स्वरूपम्, your very being. The very सत्
in you is ब्रह्मि,् the very क्षचत् in you is ब्रह्मि्, अयम् आत्मा ब्रह्म.
Continuing;
मतर 2-3-02
यनददं नकं च जित् िवं प्राण एजनत निःितृ म् ।
महद्भयं वज्रमुद्यतं य एतनद्वदुरमत
ृ ास्ते भवनतत ॥ २ ॥
The same idea is further clarified. Not only ब्रह्मि् is the
very उपादाि कारणम् of this universe, ब्रह्मि् is the very
material cause of this universe, ब्रह्मि् is the intelligent cause of
this universe also, क्षनक्षमत्त कारणम् of this universe also is
pointed out here. So here यम मा राज says इदं सवं र्गत् – this
whole universe or cosmos, यनददं नकञ्च – whatever it consists
of – चेतनम्, अचेतनम्, चरम्, अचरम्, micro, macro, everything
without exception, प्राणे िनत एजनत निःितृ म् – it emerges only
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
in the presence of ब्रह्मि्. निःित ृ म् means it emerges out only
in the presence of ब्रह्मि्. Just as the dream world emerges only
from the waker. So you are the basis from which the entire
dream world arises. Here we have to carefully note. The word
प्राण means ब्रह्मि्. It is a rare meaning. Normally the word प्राण
means the पञ्चप्राणs, our energies. But in this context it is
प्राणस्य प्राणः, प्राण means ब्रह्मि.् If you split the two words प्राण
and एजनत according to सक्षन्ध rules it will become प्राणे plus
एजनत, प्राणे िनत एजनत. So प्राणे िनत means in the presence of
ब्रह्मि्, निःित ृ म् – it emerges out, not only does it emerges out,
एजनत – it also functions, moves about, it revolves only blessed
by ब्रह्मि्. So the creator is also ब्रह्मि्, the maintainer is also
ब्रह्मि् only. So न केवलम् सक्षृ ट कारणम् परन्तु क्षस्र्क्षत कारणम्
च ब्रह्म एव. How do you know that ब्रह्मि् is there as the
protector? So the उपनिषत् gives a symbolic expression. ब्रह्मि्
is there like a policeman with a weapon in hand. So महद्भयम् –
like a policeman ब्रह्मि् is a great source of fear with a weapon
in hand. What is the weapon? वज्रम् उद्यतम् इव – so ब्रह्मि् is like
one with a वज्रायुध, उद्यतम् – ready in hand. So He is a great
source of fear with a weapon ready in hand. How do you know
that ब्रह्मि् or ईश्वर is policing the universe? Because I don’t see
भिवाि् standing with वज्रायुधम्. How do you know भिवाि् is
policing the universe? He says because of that alone the whole
universe is functioning in order. The very orderliness of the
universe – planets are moving, the earth is moving round the
Sun and the earth is also moving round itself. Who is
maintaining all these things? And if any one of these
movements is stopped our very survival is in trouble. Not only
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
the movement is steadily maintained, but the distance from the
Sun also. A little bit it goes near the Sun summer starts, we will
be scorched and a little bit away we will be frozen. That same
intermediary distance who is maintaining? So the law is
wherever the order is maintained there must be the intelligence
behind it. How do you prove that? Look at the traffic corner. As
long as there is a police you will find that people will follow.
So you find anywhere the traffic is moving in order you find
there is a policeman. Let him go away for a little time
everything goes haywire. Any law that is created by the
government, promulgated by the government immediately you
have a law enforcing authority. Because no law enforces itself.
कता ुराज्ञया प्राप्यते फलम् । कमा नकं परं कमा तज्जडम् ॥
उपदेशिारम् १॥
The moment you have a new law, you have got a group to
enforce the law. If you require an enforcing intelligence for the
miserable human created law what to talk of the powerful
universal law which are very strictly maintained. It is only
because of the universal intelligence and that is called ईश्वर.
Then यम मा राज says ये एतत् नवदुः – suppose they know this
निनमि उपादाि कारणम् ब्रह्म, िनृ ि-नस्र्नत-लय-कारणम् ब्रह्म,
otherwise popularly known as ईश्वर, those who gain ईश्वर
ज्ञािम् or ब्रह्मज्ञािम्, the benefit is ते अमत
ृ ाः भवनतत – they will
attain immortality. Then you have to supply एतद्वै तत् – it is this
ब्रह्मि् that you wanted to know through the third boon. This
ब्रह्मि् is not far away above the clouds standing, the very law
that we violate and when it gives you punishment in fact every

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
suffering that we undergo is the punishment given by the Lord
for the violation of one law or the other. Just as the moment you
violate the health law what is the consequence? Sickness is the
punishment for the violation of the health law. Similarly
भिवाि्’s punishment for the violation of universal laws known
as धमु is our sorrows in life. Every mental pain is the
hammering. Not because भिवाि् likes to hammer but because
we have violated the universal laws. More in the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 2-3-01 & 02 Continuing;
ऊध्वा मल
ू ोऽवाक्शाख एषोऽश्वत्र्ः ििातिः ।
तदेव शुक्रं तद्ब्रह्म तदेवामत
ृ मुच्यते ।
तनस्मँल्लोकाः नश्रताः िवे तदु िात्येनत किि । एतद्वै तत् ॥ १ ॥
यनददं नकं च जित् िवं प्राण एजनत निःितृ म् ।
महद्भयं वज्रमुद्यतं य एतनद्वदुरमत
ृ ास्ते भवनतत ॥ २ ॥
In this final section of कठोपनिषत् यम मा राज briefly
talks about ब्रह्मक्षवद्या. He talks about the preparatory disciplines
for gaining this knowledge and also he deals with the benefits,
ब्रह्मक्षवद्या फलम्. ब्रह्मक्षवद्या, ब्रह्मक्षवद्या साधनाक्षन, ब्रह्मक्षवद्या फलम्.
These are the three main topics of this section. In the first two
verses यम मा राज talks about the nature of ब्रह्मि् as अनभति
निनमि उपादाि कारणम्. निनमि कारणम् means ब्रह्मि् is the
very creator and maintainer of the universe. And उपादाि
कारणम् means ब्रह्मि् is the very material out of which the
universe is made. In the first मतर the उपादाि कारणम् aspect
was mentioned and in the second मतर which was introduced in
the last class the निनमि कारणम्, as the intelligent creator was
mentioned. Not only does ब्रह्मि् creates this universe ब्रह्मि्
alone maintains the law and order of the creation. And in the
context of the creation whenever the word ब्रह्मि् is used you
should understand it as ईश्वर. Mere ब्रह्मि् does not do anything.
ब्रह्मि् becomes the creator only assisted by Mrs. ब्रह्मि्,
remember behind the success of every male there is a female.
ब्रह्मि्’s success also is because of Mrs. ब्रह्मि् otherwise called
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
माया. And when ब्रह्मि् is seen along with माया it is called ईश्वर.
So I am using the word ब्रह्मि् and ईश्वर interchangeably in this
context. And this माया सक्षहतम् ब्रह्म or ईश्वर is the creator and
maintainer. How do we know that ब्रह्मि् is there as the law
maintainer? The उपनिषत् says ब्रह्मि् you have to accept as the
law maintainer because otherwise every law would have been
violated. Once you introduce a law, along with the law you
require a law enforcement agency. Because no law will
maintain by itself it being inert in nature. No law itself
maintaining you require a law enforcement intelligent principle
and that principle is ईश्वर. And the उपनिषत् gives an example.
वज्रम् उद्यतम् इव – the Lord is behind everyone with an uplifted
वज्रायुधम्. Because people want fear to follow discipline. Very
rarely people follow discipline by themselves. Self-discipline
practically doesn’t exist because it requires tremendous
maturity. And generally people are immature and therefore
causing fear is required. That is why whoever follows the law
we use the expression he is a God-fearing person. Have you
ever heard God-loving person? Often we follow out of fear
only. And therefore God is as though terror because of whom
the creation functions. And whoever knows this God अनभति
निनमि उपादाि कारणम् ब्रह्म ये नवदुः ते अमत ृ ाः भवनतत – they
attain liberation. Upto this we saw, Continuing;
मतर 2-3-03
भयादस्यानग्िस्तपनत भयािपनत िय ू ाः ।
भयानदतिि वायुि मत्ृ यु ाा वनत पञ्चमः ॥ ३ ॥

566
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
In this मतर यम मा राज is explaining the clause महद्भयं
वज्रमुद्यतम् of the previous मतर. Why do we say ब्रह्मि् is the
source of fear? यम मा राज says it is because all the देवताs are
functioning perfectly without violating the law. All the देवताs
representing the natural forces. So the force which or governs
or controls the earth is called पनृ र्वी देवता because of which the
earth follows all the laws associated with the earth like going
around the Sun, going around its own axis, gravitational force
etc. Similarly Sun rises and Sun sets सय ू ु देवता. Every natural
force is seen as देवता. And all these देवताs are functioning
without protests. देवताs or natural forces never strike work
because they are frightened. It is like dictate emergency.
Though it is a declared emergency, there is a tremendous power
behind – ईश्वर. Therefore यम मा राज says अस्य भयात् –
because of the fear of ईश्वर alone, here अस्य means ब्रह्मणः or
परमेश्वरस्य, अनग्िः तपनत – the fire burns. The fire represents
अनग्ि देवता who is doing his job of burning, again follows the
law which is combustion. भयािपनत िय ू ा ः – the Sun shines, the
Sun does his duty again out of fear of this God only. िय ू ा ः here
is ियू ा देवता. And similarly भयानदतिि वायुि – इति देवता who
represents the rains, and you know what will if इति देवता does
not bless. So we require the seasons to regularly revolve. So this
rain principle is इति देवता. And वायुः, इति is assisted by वायु
देवता who moves the wind to bring rains. These things are not
done by the meteorologists. They are trying to understand;
neither they create nor they maintain, they are only trying to
understand these forces. So our question is who has created and
who is maintaining? Can you say all these are accidentally
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
happening? We can never accept the theory of accident because
it is not statistically true. The scientists themselves say that
accidentally everything happening perfectly is almost zero.
There is no chance at all. Statistics does not allow that. Then
who is maintaining? The invisible intelligence. So भयानदतिि
वायुि. Four देवताs have been enumerated. अनग्िः, िय ू ा ः, इतिः
and वायुः. Here the verb is not there. अनग्िः तपनत verb is there.
िय ू ा ः तपनत verb is there. इतिः वायुः verb is missing. Therefore
we have to supply the verb स्वस्वकायं करोक्षत – each one does
his function, performs his duty. Then above all there is another
very important देवता who is called मत्ृ युः. And who is talking
about this? Remember मत्ृ यु himself is telling. And यम मा राज
says I am also doing my duty extremely busy; at least those
people only walk, I run. मत्ृ युः धावनत पञ्चमः. The fifth देवता.
धावनत, naturally you know यम मा राज is the busiest person, so
he runs observing the rule. And if कालदेवता is not functioning
you know what will be the situation? So from this it is very clear
that everybody is afraid of यम but यम himself is afraid of ईश्वर.
Therefore if you want protection from यम, don’t search here
and there, you will never get immortality by going after this and
that, you can escape from यम only by one method and that is
through ईश्वर-ऐक्यम्, which is symbolized revealed through
माकुण्डे य उपा्यानम्.
मत्ृ युभीतमकृ ण्डुिि
ू ुकृतस्तवं नशविनति ौ यर कुर च यः
पठे ति नह तस्य मत्ृ युभयं भवेत् ।
ू ा मायुररोितामनखलार्ा िंपदमादरात् चतिशेखर एव तस्य
पण
ददानत मुनक्तमयत्ितः ॥ श्री चतिशेखरािकम् १० ॥

568
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
माकुण्डे य saved himself from मरण only by one method. He
embraced नशवनलङ्ि which is nothing but जीव-ईश्वर-ऐक्यम्.
Physical embracing is not the idea. but it is in the form of अहम्
ब्रह्म अक्षस्म.
नशव एव िदा जीवो जीव एव िदा नशवः। वेवयैक्यमियोया स्तु ि
आत्मज्ञो ि चेतरः॥ अद्वैतािुभनू त ७४ ॥
So यम is afraid of ईश्वर. And that ईश्वर is र्गत् निनमि
कारणम्. Continuing;
मतर 2-3-04
इह चेदशकद्बोद्धुं प्राक्षरीरस्य नवस्रिः ।
ततः ििेषु लोकेषु शरीरत्वाय कल्पते ॥ ४ ॥
So ब्रह्मस्वरूपम् has been talked about in the first three
मतरs. Hereafter यम मा राज is talking about the conditions
required for ब्रह्मज्ञािम्, the favorable factors required for
ब्रह्मज्ञािम्. What is the first and the foremost favorable factor?
I should be a human being.
दुलाभम् रयमेवतै त् देवािुग्रहहे तुकम् । मिुष्यत्वम् मुमुक्षुत्वम्
महापुरूषिश्रयः ॥
We always take human birth for granted. According to शास्त्रs
eighty four lakhs species of living beings are supposed to be
there. So what is the chance of human birth? One in eighty four
lakhs. இப்பிறவி தப்பினால் எப்பிறவி வாய் க்கும ா? ॥
தாயு ானவர் ॥ (इनप्पऱनव तनप्पिाल् एनप्पऱनव वाय्क्कुमो? ॥
तायुमािवर् ॥) I don’t know in the next birth what will I be?
Therefore the first important thing is understand the importance
of human birth and utilize it properly.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
महता पुण्यपण्येि क्रीतेयं कायिौस्त्वया । पारं दुःखोद ेिाततुं तर
यावति नभद्यते ॥
For crossing the ocean of िंिार we require a special boat, and
that special boat is the human body and it is a very costly boat
and the cost is great पुण्यम्. महता पुण्यपण्येि – by paying lot of
पुण्यम् money we have purchased this boat for पारं
दुःखोद ेिाततुम् – to cross across the ocean of िंिार. This boat
cannot permanently remain, anytime this will disappear. And
therefore before it is lost better cross. So therefore यम मा राज
warns. इह चेत् अशकत् बोद्धुम् – a person has to know this truth
इह – in this र्न्म itself. इह means मनुष्य र्न्मक्षन. When?
शरीरस्य नवस्रिः प्राक् – before the body is dropped. Even before
the body goes, that is while one is alive one has to know this
आत्मा. And if a person knows, we have to complete the
sentence by adding िंिारबत िानद्वमुच्यते. If a person knows
in this र्न्म itself he is released from िंिार. And if a person
wastes this मनुष्य र्न्म, this we have to supply in the second
line, यक्षद बोद्धुम् न शक्नोक्षत, if one squanders this opportunity
நந்தவனத்தில் ஓர் ஆண்டி - அவன் நாலாறு ாத ாய் க்
குயவனன மவண்டி ககாண்டு வந்தான் ஒரு மதாண்டி -
க த்தக் கூத்தாடிக் கூத்தாடிப் மபாட்டுனடத்தாண்டி.
{ितदविनिल् ओर् आनण्ड - अवि् िालाऱु मादमाय्क् कुयविै
वेनण्ड कोण्डु वतदाि् ओरु तोनण्ड - मेिक् कूिानडक् कूिानडप्
ै ानण्ड । In the earth (ितदविम्) there is a beggar (र्ीव)
पोट्टुडि
begging the pot maker (ईश्वर). After ten months (of human
gestation) he is gifted a Pot (human body endowed with क्षववेक).
The beggar (र्ीव) dancing around breaks the Pot (squanders the
endowment)}
570
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
then what is the lot? शरीरत्वाय कल्पते – he will be fit only for
another जतम, for the acquisition of another physical body.
यम मा राज only says शरीरत्वाय, he does not say मनुष्य शरीर,
that means it not be मनुष्य शरीर, it can be any शरीरम्. So he
will be born in ििेषु लोकेषु – any one of the fourteen लोकs
created by the Lord. ििा means created; adjective to लोक. So
he can appear anywhere and again another human birth may
happen millions of सक्षृ टs even. So out of compassion
यम मा राज frightens us so that we may recognize the value.
Whether we are tired of repeated birth or not यम मा राज is tired.
Catching the same person again and again has bored him.
Therefore he says I am bored. Why can't you get liberated?
Continuing;
मतर 2-3-05
ृ ोके ।
यर्ाऽऽदशे तर्ाऽऽत्मनि यर्ा स्वप्िे तर्ा नपतल
यर्ाऽप्िु परीव ददृशे तर्ा ित वा लोके छायातपयोररव ब्रह्मलोके ॥ ५ ॥
Here यम मा राज is discussing whether this knowledge
can be acquired in any other लोकs. And he accepts that this
knowledge can be acquired in some other लोकs also. And he
wants to say even though the knowledge can be acquired in
other लोकs or other र्न्मs but the best is मिुष्य लोक and
मिुष्य र्न्म. Thus to talk about the superiority of मिुष्य लोक
he compares the other possibilities. So first he talks about
मिुष्य लोक. यर्ा आदशे तर्ा इह आत्मनि. Here आत्मा means
मिुष्य बुक्षद्ध. One can gain the knowledge in the human intellect
and that knowledge will be crystal clear like आदशे – seeing the
face in a clear mirror. So just as a person can see the face very

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
clearly in a clear mirror so clearly one can get knowledge in
मिुष्य लोक. This is the first possibility. Then the second is तर्ा
नपतल ृ ोके – in नपतलृ ोक also knowledge is possible. But the
problem is it will not be that clear. It will be only vague like
यर्ा स्वप्िे – just as in dream things are very fleeting and
quickly changing. Dream is based on our thought process which
are highly changing and therefore in स्वप्ि everything is
अस्फुटम् or vague. That is why often we are not able to even
remember the dream. Therefore in नपतल ृ ोक knowledge is
possible but it is vague as in dream. Then there is another लोक
where the knowledge is possible. What is that? तर्ा ित वा लोके
– another higher लोक, a world of arts, music, dance, given to
December season (Chennai music season). In ित वा लोक it is
permanently December season. It is a लोक of enjoyment. In
that world also knowledge can be gained but that is also vague
like यर्ा अप्िु इव पररददृशे – he will gain the knowledge exactly
like seeing the face in water. If you look at your face in water
you can only get outline, it cannot be as clear as in the mirror.
If the water is disturbed by the wind, it will be still disturbed.
Therefore in ित वा लोक also the knowledge is vague. Then
what about ब्रह्मलोक? यम मा राज says certainly knowledge is
possible in ब्रह्मलोक which we call as क्रममुनक्त which is
discussed in the eighth chapter of the भिवद्गीता, and he says in
ब्रह्मलोक also knowledge is very clear as in मिुष्यलोक. It is
like छायातपयोररव – छाया means darkness or shadow and
आतप means light or Sun. Just as darkness and light are very
distinct similarly distinctly knowledge can be gained in
ब्रह्मलोक. Thus they are four possibilities – मिुष्यलोक,
572
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
नपतल ृ ोक, ित वा लोक and ब्रह्मलोक. Now we have to find out
which one we should choose. Of these four लोकs नपतल ृ ोक and
ित वा लोक we can rule out because the knowledge is vague.
That means we have got only two – मिुष्यलोक and ब्रह्मलोक.
We rule out ब्रह्मलोक also because of one problem. Once you
go to ब्रह्मलोक you can gain the knowledge very easily but the
problem is going to ब्रह्मलोक is very difficult. Once you
manage to go you have got best condition – best classroom, best
teacher, best teaching etc. But to go there you have to lot of कमा
and उपािि throughout the life, not only that at the time of
death also you have to withdraw all the sense organs, withdraw
the mind, concentrate the mind, which are very difficult to do
now, imagine doing at the time of death. Therefore ब्रह्मलोक
also is rules out. Then what about getting मिुष्य जतम? Is it
difficult like ब्रह्मलोक? Simpleton! What is the question of
getting मिुष्य जतम, you are supposed to be a human being
right now. Therefore मिुष्य जतम is very difficult to get but you
need not work for that because of some पुण्य we are already
born as human beings. Therefore never postpone. Make
maximum full use of this available मिुष्य जतम. This is the
significance of this मतर. Whether a person will get knowledge
in नपतल ृ ोक, ित वा लोक is not the question, मिुष्य जतम we
have to make full use of. Continuing;
मतर 2-3-06
इनतियाणां पर् ृ ग्भावमुदयास्तमयौ च यत् ।
पर्
ृ िुत्पद्यमािािां मत्वा ीरो ि शोचनत ॥ ६ ॥

573
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
The first साधन highlighted is valuing मिुष्य जतम and
utilizing मिुष्य जतम appropriately. Now the second value
highlighted is one should do the आत्म-अिात्म-नववेक, one
should discriminate the individual nature only then अहम्
ब्रह्मानस्म will be possible. Because when I use the word अहम्
or I, I can refer to any aspect of personality. We have seen that
I have got स्र्ल ू शरीरम्-I, physical personality; the िक्ष्ू म
शरीरम्-I, कारण शरीरम्-I and the most important one चैततयम्
or Consciousness which is inherent in my body-mind-complex.
Thus four factors are there in every individual. And we use the
word अहम् referring to any one of them. When I say ‘I am very
old’ I am referring to the physical body. As far as the िक्ष्ू म
शरीरम् is concerned it is not old or young because it has been
existing for years even in the past many जतमs and it will
continue in the future जतमs also. So the concept of old or
young is from the standpoint of the body. Similarly sometimes
we use the word अहम् referring to the िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् aspect. And
when we are listening to वेदातत and then the teacher says ‘तत्
त्वम् अक्षस – you are ब्रह्मन्’, the student has to say ‘I am ब्रह्मन्’.
He should convert the second person to the first person. And
when he receives this wisdom and puts in his mind अहम्
ब्रह्मानस्म if there is no jerk in the mind, no hesitation in the mind
it is possible only under one condition, when he uses the word
‘I am ब्रह्मन्’ the ‘I’ should immediately refer to the चैततयम्
aspect. If he is remaining at the physical or emotional level full
of worries, if he is going to be an emotional personality
listening to वेदातत the teacher says you are आनन्द स्वरूपः and
the student wonders poor teacher doesn’t know our family
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
stories. He is talking from his standpoint. So if I should own up
I am आनन्द स्वरूपः I have to withdraw myself from the
physical, the emotional, the sensory, the intellectual, all these
personalities I should set aside. This is called त्वम् पद शोधनम्,
i.e., withdrawing from अिात्मा and identifying with आत्मा.
And from आत्मा standpoint I can comfortably say अहम्
ब्रह्मानस्म. And therefore the important साधन is disidentifying
from all the instruments of interactions. Disidentifying or
disowning all the instruments of interactions. How do you do
that? यम मा राज says इनतियाणाम् उदय-अस्तमयौ मत्वा – by
studying the अवस्र्ारयम्, the three states of experience he can
easily conclude that the sense organs are not my nature, but they
are temporary instruments which I use for transactions. It is like
the glasses or spectacles. I use them and I am able to see you.
And if I remove them I am not able to see you. But even when
I don’t see you I continue to exist. So the transactions can end,
but the transactor does not end. Transactions are incidental but
the transactor is not incidental. But the problem is as I have
often told when the spectacles are worn so closely they are
taken as the very subject itself. I forget that the spectacles are
the objects outside me. That is why when asked what all things
are in front of you, except the spectacles you will enumerate all
other things. Because the principle is an intimate object appears
as the subject. And every instrument is an intimate object.
Therefore it appears as the subject. How do you they are
different? In जाग्रत् अवस्र्ा I use them, and in िुषुनि अवस्र्ा I
disown them. Therefore उदय-अस्तमयौ. उदय means arise, the
organs including the mind arise in जाग्रत् अवस्र्ा and अस्तमय
575
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
means during िुषुनि all the sense organs are resolved and even
the mind is resolved.
चक्षुि ििव्यं च श्रोरं च श्रोतव्यं च ग्राणं च घ्रातव्यं च रिि
रिनयतव्यं च त्वक्च स्पशा नयतव्यं च वाक्च वक्तव्यं च हस्तौ
चादातव्यं चोपस्र्िाितदनयतव्यं च पायुि नविजा नयतव्यं च यादौ
च िततव्यं च मिि मततव्यं च बुनद्धि बोनद्धव्यं
चाहङ्कारिाहङ्कता व्यं च नचिं च चेतनयतव्यं च तेजि
नवद्योतनयतव्यं च प्राणि नवद्यारनयतव्यं च ॥ प्रश्नोपनिषत् ४-८ ॥
All these organs arise and resolve. But what about me? I
continue as the witness. So उदय-अस्तमयौ इनतियाणाम् we have
to know. Then the next step of learning is whatever is incidental
is not intrinsic to me. Therefore I am different from them.
Therefore he says इनतियाणां पर् ृ ग्भावम्. So first lesson is I
understand them to be incidental subject to arrival and
departure and the second lesson is whatever is incidental is not
my intrinsic nature. This is called पर् ृ ग्भावम् – their distinction,
their separateness from me. And why are they separate from
me? पर् ृ िुत्पद्यमािािाम् – because they are separately born and
gone. That is why even when a person becomes blind the sense
organ is but that person is there. That means perception is only
an incidental nature because of the eye, when the eyes are gone
I continue to exist without perception but I exist as awareness,
Consciousness. मत्वा – ज्ञात्वा, having understood this fact that
I am different from all the organs of interaction which we saw
in तववबो ः as स्र्ल ू िक्ष्ू म कारण शरीरात् व्यनतररक्तः. And once
this is understood the next step is very easy – अहम् ब्रह्मानस्म.
ब्रह्म means limitless I am. Initially there is resistance when I

576
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
look at myself as body I can never say I am limitless because I
know I am of certain dimension. Therefore from body angle I
can never say I am limitless, from mind angle I can never say I
am limitless I can comfortably say I am limitless I should abide
in the Consciousness. Ok, what is the benefit I will get? ीरः ि
शोचनत – such a discriminative person of sharp, fine intellect
never grieves in life. Because separating Consciousness and
mind is very difficult. Separating Consciousness and body is
very difficult. And therefore he is called ीरः. ीरः means
ीमाि्, क्षववेक्षक, discriminative person. Such a ज्ञाक्षन ि शोचनत
– thereafter he never grieve in life. Grief is because I identify
with my body. The moment I identify with my body body’s
mortality becomes my mortality. So I will always conclude I
am mortal. The thought that I am mortal will never be
comfortable for me. I can never accept the idea I am mortal
because my nature is immortality. Anything against my nature
I cannot accept. There is a natural rejection. Like the moment a
dust particle enters my eyes, it is unnatural, tears are coming.
Something external enters my nose I sneeze. It has to be
removed. Something unnatural enters my stomach either I
vomit or purge. It has to come out because whatever is
unnatural is naturally rejected. The thought that I am mortal I
can never accept because it is unnatural. Therefore what is my
nature? I am अमत ृ ः. Therefore the struggle will continue. The
struggle will go away only when that thought is removed and
that thought can be removed only by one method – I have to
drop identifying with the mortal body. As long as I identifying
with the mortal body the thought that I am mortal will continue.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
The moment I disidentifying from the body I will say body is
mortal but I am immortal. And mortality of the body will create
no problem for me because that is the nature of the body. So the
problem is not with the mortality of the body, the problem is
the thought that I am mortal. Therefore the greatest advantage
of this wisdom is I am objective with regard to my body, my
family members body, that means I am not going to reject the
fact that the body is mortal, therefore old age is accepted,
separations are accepted, death is also accepted.
जातस्य नह ध्रुवो मत्ृ युध्रा ुवं जतम मत
ृ स्य च ।
तस्मादपररहायेऽर्े ि त्वं शोनचतुमहा नि ॥ िीता २-२७ ॥
How can you complain that these people are dying? You should
complain if they are not dying. This is the प्रयोर्नम् of this
wisdom. More in the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

578
कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 2-3-06 Continuing;
इनतियाणां पर् ृ ग्भावमुदयास्तमयौ च यत् ।
पर्
ृ िुत्पद्यमािािां मत्वा ीरो ि शोचनत ॥ ६ ॥
In the first three मतरs of this section यम मा राज
summarized the ब्रह्मक्षवद्या, the teaching which he had given in
the previous section in which he presented ब्रह्मि् as र्गत्
निनमि उपादाि कारणम् and knowing that ब्रह्मि् is called
ब्रह्मक्षवद्या. And of course that ब्रह्मि् has to be known as तत् ब्रह्म
अहम् अक्षस्म. Having summarized in these three मतरs from the
fourth मतर onwards यम मा राज is talking about the ideal
condition in which ब्रह्मज्ञािम् can be comprehended totally.
The first condition he mentioned is the very human life itself.
Only if we are human beings there is a possibility of पुरुषार्ा .
The animals have got only भोगशरीरम्, they cannot acquire
ज्ञािम् also. Animals have got only अर्ा and काम which are also
pursued instinctively and not deliberately. Human beings alone
have the पुरुषार्ा possibility. And then यम मा राज pointed out
even though this knowledge can be gained in other लोकs also,
the knowledge will be only vague in क्षपतल ृ ोक, vague in
गन्धवु लोक, clear in ब्रह्मलोक but visa for ब्रह्मलोक is not that
easy. So all the other लोकs are rules out, मनुष्यलोक alone is
the best and fortunately we already have this मनुष्य र्न्म,
therefore make best use of it. Having glorified मनुष्य र्न्म as
an ideal condition यम मा राज is now talking about the
importance of आत्म-अिात्म-नववेक, शरीर-शरीरर-नववेक which
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
is the prerequisite for अहम् ब्रह्मानस्म इक्षत ज्ञािम्. Because when
I use the word अहम्, I, it can either refer to the body-mind-
complex which is called अिात्मा or the word I can refer to the
Consciousness, िानक्ष the आत्मा. When वेदातत is revealing the
fact that you are ब्रह्मि्, the student has to say that I am ब्रह्मि्.
That is possible only when the word I is used in the meaning of
िानक्ष चैततयम्. If I own up myself as the िानक्ष चैततयम् I can
very comfortably say I am the all-pervading one, the moment I
am hearing वेदातत from the body-mind-complex standpoint I
can never claim I am all-pervading, I am not even hall-
pervading. Because from the body’s standpoint I am finite,
from the mind’s standpoint I am finite, only as the
Consciousness I am all-pervading. Therefore तत् त्वम् अक्षस will
work only for that person who has identified with चैततयम् at
the time of listening. And therefore disidentifying from the
body-mind-complex is a prerequisite for अहम् ब्रह्मानस्म
function. And therefore in these three मतरs – six , seven and
eight यम मा राज is emphasizing त्वम् पद नववेक, आत्म-
अिात्म-नववेक. Only if त्वम् पद नववेक is done तत् पद ऐक्यम्
is possible. So in the sixth मतर we saw the इनतियs are
differentiated from the चैततयम्, similarly the body is
differentiated, mind is differentiated, I am none of them but I
am the Consciousness illumining them. I use them in जाग्रत्
स्वप्ि अवस्र्ा and I drop them in िुषुनि अवस्र्ा, they are
subject to arrival and departure but I am the constant
Consciousness. Upto this we saw in the last class. The same
idea is repeated in another manner in the next two मतरs, we
will read.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
मतर 2-3-07
इनतियेभ्यः परं मिो मििः िववमुिमम् ।
िववादन महािात्मा महतोऽव्यक्तमुिमम् ॥ ७ ॥
So another method of आत्म-अिात्म-नववेक is presented
here. Because disidentification with अिात्मा is a criterion, is a
necessity for वेदान्त श्रवणम्. And the अिात्मा or the matter
vesture is divided into five layers known as पञ्चकोशाः. And I
have to gradually withdraw from each अिात्मा. First I
withdraw from अतिमय and identify with प्राणमय, then come
to मिोमय, then to नवज्ञािमय, this gradual disidentification
process is called पञ्चकोश नववेक. This पञ्चकोश नववेक has
been already talked about before in this कठोपनिषत् itself in
मतरs 1-3-10 and 1-3-11. Almost those two मतरs are repeated
in 2-3-7 and 2-3-8. And the steps are given here. इनतियेभ्यः परं
मिः – first we have to our mind from the external world. And
come to the physical body level. And then from the body we
withdraw and identify with our sense organs. And each one is
subtler than the previous one. अतिमय is the grossest one,
प्राणमय is subtler, मिोमय is still subtler. This gradually
method is used so that the mind gets sensitized. Acclimatization
process. When the mountaineers have to climb the mountain
suddenly they cannot go to the twenty-nine thousand feet height
Everest then the lungs will explode, they have to go to the first
camp, stay there, go to the second camp, gradually your system
has to get used to the rarified atmosphere. Exactly in the same
way from the grossest field the mind cannot suddenly
comprehend the subtlest आत्मा. Therefore अरुन्धक्षत दशा ि

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
न्यायेन we have to gradually sensitize. Therefore from the
sense organs one has to come to the mind which is subtler than
the sense organ. How do you know the mind is subtler? The law
is the controller is subtler than the controlled. The sense organ
are controlled by the mind therefore mind is subtler and
stronger and powerful. Then मििः िववमुिमम् – superior than
the mind, subtler than the mind is intellect, the rational faculty.
The mind represents िङ्कल्पनवकल्पात्मकम्, it represents the
doubting faculty and बुनद्धः represents निियात्मकम्, the
capacity to rationally analyze and remove the doubts. So since
the doubts are removed by the intellect, by the rational faculty
it is stronger than the mind which is given to emotions and
doubts. And therefore नवज्ञािमयकोश, the intellect is subtler
than मिोमयकोश. Therefore withdraw from मिोमय to
नवज्ञािमय. Of course the मतर does not say we have to
withdraw, from the context we have to supply. नवज्ञािमय is
subtler, therefore gradually come to the subtler नवज्ञािमय.
Then what is the next step? िववात् अन महान् आत्मा – from
the individual intellect, िववात् may you learn to identify with
the total intellect, महान् आत्मा. Here we have to carefully note
the word िववम् means intellect and not िवव गुण. िववम् is
equal to बुनद्धः is equal to नवज्ञािमय. So shift your attention
from the individual intellect to the total intellect. This process
is also important because to gain अहम् ब्रह्मानस्म ज्ञािम् not only
should the mind be subtle the mind should be expanded mind
also. Because ब्रह्मि् is both subtle and all-pervading. And
therefore the mind has to be intensive and extensive. It should
be subtle and it also should be expanded. It is like saying I am
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
a Tamilian. It is identifying with a limited personality. How do
you expand your mind? Don’t say I am Tamilian, say I am
Indian. You have expanded. Why because the I includes the
Indianness pervades more number of people. Then I say don’t
say I am an Indian, say I am an Asian. Then again you expand
further by saying I am a human being. So that humanness
expands to encompass the entire humanity. Then don’t stop
with that say I am a living being. It includes not only human
beings but also animals, plants etc. Then don’t stop with that
say I am a being. It includes not only living ones but all.
िदेव िोम्येदमग्र आिीदेकमेवानद्वतीयम् ॥ छातदोग्योपनिषत् ६-
२-१ ॥
Shift your identification to the very pure Existence. All the
adjectives belong to अिात्मा, adjectives belong to नामरूप.
Never identify with an adjective. Identify with the noun, the
conscious being which is indicated as I am. This ‘I am’ alone is
common to all. And only when you come to ‘I am’ it expands
to include the whole creation. Therefore as a preparatory
exercise यम मा राज says learn to identify with the िमनि बुनद्ध,
the नहरण्यिभा . How to identify? By understanding that the
individual does not exist separate from the total. Micro cannot
exist separate from macro. Once you understand that you can
say I am the total intellect which is manifesting through the
several individual bodies. Therefore िववादन महािात्मा – I
am नहरण्यिभा . Then from there you should go to महतः
अव्यक्तम् उिमम् – superior to नहरण्यिभा , otherwise technically
the total िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् is अव्यक्तम् – the total कारण शरीरम्,

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
which is the subtlest in the material field. That is why when we
teach तववबो most of the people say they do not understand
कारण शरीरम्. Because I define कारण शरीरम् as that which is
experienced in deep sleep state. And you look into your deep
sleep state you conclude there is blankness. And what वेदातत
says is blankness is not the absence of things, what you call
blankness is the whole creation in the potential form like the
zero. We think zero is not nothingness, it is not nothingness but
everything in the potential form. Because from nothingness
nothing can come out. From blankness nothing can come out.
Therefore कारण अवस्र्ा is zero, zero is blankness, blankness
is not nothingness, blankness is everything in undifferentiable
form. This the scientists call as singularity which is beyond all
comprehension, where informations are not attained. But it is
not nothing. And what I experience in my deep sleep state is my
world in the potential form. Extend this to the whole creation in
the potential form that is called अव्यक्तम्. Learn to identify with
that अव्यक्तम्. So अहम् क्षवश्वः – the grossest I, अहम् तैजिः –
the subtler I, अहम् प्राज्ञः – still more subtler I, and if I
understand प्राज्ञ then अहम् तुरीयः – I can come to the
Consciousness. And therefore learn to identify with अव्यक्तम्
which is equal to िमनि कारण शरीरम् which is उिमम् – the
highest in the relative world, the subtlest in the relative world,
the next jump is to the absolute which is given in the next मतर.
मतर 2-3-08
अव्यक्तािु परः पुरुषो व्यापकोऽनलङ्ि एव च ।
यं ज्ञात्वा मुच्यते जततुरमत
ृ त्वं च िच्छनत ॥ ८ ॥

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
The blankness that we experience when we suspend all
our operations – the sensory operations, emotional operations
and intellectual operations, we experience a blankness, वेदातत
says the blankness is not nothingness, but is the potentiality of
the whole creation. And the whole creation in potential form is
the subtlest state of matter called अव्यक्तम्, प्रकृक्षत, माया,
अक्षवद्या, etc. And then the teacher says subtler than this
blankness which is the subtlest form of matter is आत्मा, the
Consciousness. Subtler than the subtlest matter which is
nothing but the blankness that we experience when we suspend
the mind is the Consciousness. Then the question that we ask is
where to find that. You can reach up to blankness and you can
objectify blankness, but the आत्मा which is subtler than the
blankness is never objectifiable. Then what is that आत्मा,
subtler than the blankness? He says that which is aware of that
blankness, that awareness is subtler than the blankness. You say
I am experiencing blankness, I am experiencing nothingness.
When you say I am experiencing nothingness, you cannot say
it is nothingness because the nothingness is experienced by
something. Then how do you call it as nothingness. It is like
coming to the hall and saying nobody has come. How can you
say nobody has come? You are there to say nobody has come.
So somebody has come. Therefore when you say nobody has
come it means nobody other than you has come. In the same
way when you talk about the blankness it means there is nothing
other than myself. And that I who am aware of the blankness
whose existence can never be questioned because the very
experience of the blankness is possible because of I, the
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
experiencer. That I, the unobjectifiable I is the real I. And
therefore यम मा राज says अव्यक्तात् तु परः पुरुषः – superior to
or subtler than or interior to this अव्यक्त, the blankness called
कारण शरीरम्, कारण प्रपञ्च, otherwise called
आितदमयकोशः. So subtler than this आितदमयकोशः is पुरुषः
– the real I, the Consciousness principle. Why am I called
पुरुषः? We have seen two meanings for the word पुरुषः. I am
obtaining, residing in the body, therefore I am called पुरुषः. पुरु
means body, शः means indweller. So I am inside the body,
therefore I am called पुरुषः. And not only that I am outside the
body also, therefore I am called पुरुषः. So when you say I am
outside the body the word पुरुषः means परू यक्षत सवु म्. When
you say inside the body the word पुरुषः means पुरर शेते. So I am
अन्तः बक्षहः च.
अततर् बनहः च तत् िवा म् व्याप्य िारायणः नस्र्तः ।
That िारायण चैततयम् I am. So I am पुरुषः. And what type of
Consciousness is it? व्यापकः – it is all-pervading. अतिमय is
finite, प्राणमय is finite, मिोमय is finite, but once I come to
Consciousness I can say I am Consciousness. Just as the wave
when it identifies with the superficial form it has to say I am a
finite wave. But the wave learns to disidentify from the
superficial form and learns to identify with the water, then the
very wave can say I am the water who am all-pervading.
ि जायते नम्रयते वा कदानचत् िायं भत्ू वा भनवता वा ि भय
ू ः।
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणः ॥ िीता २-२० ॥
The wave can say I am birthless and deathless. So one wave
says I am perishable another wave says I am imperishable. How
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
this disparity? One wave has identified with its superficial
nature another wave has identified with its essential nature. To
which you have to identify with is your choice. Identify with
the superficial nature you are miserable. Identify with your real
nature you get peace. Peace is your choice. अनलङ्िः एव च. So
here the word नलङ्ि means an attribute. So अनलङ्िः means
attributeless. All the attributes that I talk about belong to the
पञ्चकोशs. Any description that you give for yourself is with
regard to the पञ्चकोशs. You talk about your date of birth stuck
with अतिमयम्, if you describe about your hunger, thirst, etc.,
– प्राणमयम्, if you talk about your emotions – मिोमयम्, if you
talk about your knowledge and confusion – नवज्ञािमयम्, if you
talk about your sleepy condition – आितदमयम्. So any
description that you give really doesn’t belong to you. You are
mistaking the attributes of the superficial vestures as your
attributes. Then what is my attribute? अनलङ्िः – I am नििा ुण
चैततयम्.
ि मे द्वेषरािौ ि मे लोभमोहौ मदो िैव मे िैव मात्िया भावः ॥
निवाा ण षट्कम् ३ ॥
I don’t have any of those problems. यं ज्ञात्वा – the seeker
recognizes this पुरुषः alone. जततुः – यम मा राज calls every
human being as a जततुः – the creature. Why he calls as जततुः?
जततु means subject to mortality. र्ायते इक्षत जततुः – the one
who is born. As long as I identify with my body, I claim a date
of birth for me, I celebrate it every year, I receive cards, give
chocolates, all these reveal I am a जततु. Every time I celebrate
my birthday I am declaring I am a जततु proudly. यम मा राज

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
says if you are जततु I will swallow you because wherever र्न्म
there is मरणम्. Therefore this जततुः the one who is mortal now
will have to come to know this immortal I. And once I know
this immortal I मुच्यते – I am released from the notion of
mortality. I am not released from mortality because I was
immortal, I am immortal and I ever will be immortal, I never
had mortality to get rid off. That I am mortal is a notion that I
nourish by falsely identifying with the mortal body. So
mortality is not a fact, it is a notion. Therefore I get released
from not mortality but the notion that I am mortal. So जततुः
मुच्यते.
अितो मा िद्गमय । तमिो मा ज्योनतिा मय । मत्ृ योमाा अमत
ृ ङ्िमय
॥ बहृ दारण्यकोपनिषत् १-३-२८ ॥
And once I am released from mortality I enjoy अमत ृ त्वं च
िच्छनत – so when the notion of mortality goes away I can own
up my natural immortality. I don’t get immortality. If I get
immortality it will be lost also. Once the notional mortality is
gone I own up my natural immortality. Like when you remove
the impurities from the gold it acquires a shine. The shine is not
an acquired property, it is natural to gold. The natural shining
was obstructed by the impurity. Similarly, my natural
immortality is obstructed by the notion of mortality. That is
why we say िंिार is the problem of a notion, that is why we
say it is an intellectual problem. It is not a spiritual problem,
because spirit does not have any problem. Spirit is आत्मा. Then
why you call it spiritual problem? It is an intellectual problem
regarding the spirit, my own higher nature. And an intellectual

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
problem should be solved intellectually only. That is why insist
upon scriptural study because what we require is knowledge
which alone removes any false notion. Continuing;
मतर 2-3-09
ि िंदृशे नतष्ठनत रूपमस्य ि चक्षुषा पश्यनत कििैिम् ।
र्हदा मिीषा मििाऽनभक्लिृ ो य एतनद्वदुरमतृ ास्ते भवनतत ॥ ९ ॥
So the next condition for gaining this knowledge is
talked about. So far the conditions we saw are
1) Human birth. Fortunately we have got it. Only we have
to use it. It is not enough we have brain, it has to be used. So
appropriately utilizing the human birth, the क्षववेक शक्षत is the
first condition.
2) The second condition we saw is that the आत्म-अिात्म-
नववेक should be done only then अहं ब्रह्म अनस्म will appear
meaningful. Otherwise the teacher will appear to be talking
nonsense or absurdity. Because the student remains in the body
and the teacher says you are ब्रह्मि्. I am sitting here and the
teacher says I am all-pervading. So it appears absolute
absurdity, it will be clear only when the student is very clear.
When the teacher says you the finger should penetrate through
all the five कोशs and it should rest in चैततयम्, then you are
all-pervading will fit perfectly. Therefore त्वम् पद क्षववेक is the
second condition for तत् पद ऐक्यम्.
3) The next condition said is concentrated listening. So
नचि एकाग्रता, a deep and complete mind should be available
for listening to the teaching. Then alone it can be
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
comprehended. A tremendous listening skill is involved
because the teacher is taking the student through a journey
अतिमय to प्राणमय to मिोमय. Suddenly imagine the student
stands in मिोमय. The teacher is going forward. Like in village
sometimes the vendors – husband and wife – will be carrying
the goods on their heads to sell in the market. On the way the
wife will be behind and husband will be in the front and he will
be talking to her. Suddenly she feels that it is too heavy and
therefore she will keep her basket on a road side stone. She
quietly keeps there and wait for a few minutes but she forgets
to inform her husband. He goes on talking. Listened by whom?
No one. Like that sometimes what happens in the class he goes
on taking for granted that student has come from अतिमय to
प्राणमय to मिोमय to नवज्ञािमय. Imagine one set of students
comfortably in अतिमय, another set in प्राणमय, another set in
मिोमय. Poor teacher says तत् त्वम् अनि. It won’t work.
Therefore the student should very carefully go along with the
teacher. When the teacher says तत् त्वम् अनि student should
use the word I and the I must refer only to the चैततयम् which
is inherent in the body. And therefore a special mind is required
which is deep and total. Because generally we do not listen
totally as we have a dissipated mind – one percent is there
somewhere else, another twenty percent somewhere else, and
then one fourth of the mind is available for hearing. That is why
often things are not registered. Therefore a total and deep mind
is required to listen to the teaching. And if this is done श्रवण
मात्रेण ज्ञािम् क्षसद्ध्यक्षत. The very महावाक्य श्रवणम् is capable
of penetrating the mind of the student and the student
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
registering the teaching. We do have such concentration in
important affairs. Some important game is in its last leg or a
biopsy report is going to come when a person is listening to that
what mind is there, imagine? Because the result is going to
determine my life and death. So a person totally and deeply
listens to the report. In fact even before the report comes – two
or three says – there is only तनच्चततिं तत्कर्िम्, that thought
only. Imagine the state of mind of such a person. Do we have
such a mind when we listen to the तत् त्वम् अनि which comes
to a developed teaching. If we can enjoy such a total and deep
mind the teacher says the teaching will instantaneously ready.
They give the example of परीक्षित् महारार्. He wanted
liberation and only seven days are left. It cannot be postponed
as it is the question of life and death. How intensely he wanted
to gain this knowledge, imagine that state of mind! And
यम मा राज calls such a mind र्हन् मिीट्. It is a technical word
used which was previously called िक्ष्ू म बुक्षद्ध deep and total
intellect. Why such an intellect is required? Because the subject
matter is the subtlest subject matter. िक्ष्ू मतर िक्ष्ू मतमम् is the
वस्तु here. It is not available for any sensory perception. And
therefore in the first two lines यम मा राज says ब्रह्मि् is the
subtlest thing in the creation, therefore the mind required is also
the subtlest mind.
So अस्य रूपम् ितदृशे ि नतष्ठनत – the nature of ब्रह्मि्
does not fall within the range of perception. रूपम् means
स्वरूपम्. So from this it is very clear that whatever falls within
perception is not ब्रह्मि्. Remember केिोपनिषत्

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
यच्चक्षुषा ि पश्यनत येि चक्षँनू ष पश्यनत ।
तदेव ब्रह्म त्वं नवनद्ध िेदं यनददमुपािते ॥ केिोपनिषत् १-७ ॥
So if any devotee claims I have seen, I have heard, I have talked
to intimately. They are not talking about absolute ब्रह्मि्, they
are talking about ििुण ईश्वर which is not the absolute reality.
ििुण ईश्वर is available for दशा िम्, ििुण ईश्वर is available for
स्पशा नम्, ििुण ईश्वर is available for talking. That is all very
good, but what the उपनिषत् says is that is only an intermediary
stage. Whatever you see is not the ultimate because it is not
available for perception. Therefore किि एिं चक्षुषा ि पश्यनत
– no seeker can see that ब्रह्मि् through the ordinary eye or
extraordinary eye because whatever is seen is अिात्मा, an
object. If it is not available for sensory perception, how can it
be known? It can be known only through िुरु-शास्त्र-उपदेश.
Just as the eyes can be seen, you can see your own eyes only by
one method – the mirror. There is no other method of seeing the
eyes. You have to use an extraneous thing. And that should help
you in seeing. And the extraneous thing also cannot be anything
you like. It is a special thing which has to be a mirror which is
capable of reflecting. Similarly if I have to know myself no
instrument will help me I have to use शास्त्र-दपा ण. The shastric
teaching alone will help me. So I should have the mirror. Not
only should I have a mirror, I should have proper eyes also. So
you require a good mirror and also a good pair of eyes. If the
eyes are very good and mirror is not there, it is of no use. Mirror
is very good and eyes are not there, no use. You require both of
them.

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यस्य िानस्त स्वयं प्रज्ञा शास्त्रं तस्य करोनत नकम् । लोचिाभ्यां
नवहीिस्य दपा णः नकं कररष्यनत ॥ चाणक्यिीनतः १०-९ ॥
What can a mirror do if the person doesn’t have the eyes?
Similarly here also shastric teaching is the mirror, a qualified
eye is the mind. Inner eye. िा ि चतुिय िम्पतिः
अततःकरणम् is required and शास्त्रम् is also required. When
these two conjoin ज्ञािम् takes place. Mirror has to join, eye
also has to join; in the same way a good intellect should be there
and also good teaching. Teaching without बुक्षद्ध is useless, बुक्षद्ध
without teaching is useless. And therefore teaching is required
and an appropriate बुक्षद्ध is required. What is the nature of बुक्षद्ध?
र्हदा मिीषा – by a prepared intellect, sensitized intellect, subtle
intellect or deep and total intellect a person knows this subtle
ब्रह्मि्. मिीट् means बुक्षद्ध, मिीषा is ततृ ीया नवभनक्त, with the
help of a subtle intellect. And where is that intellect located?
र्हदा – that intellect is located in the heart. मििा – with an
insight given by the teacher. Here मनः does not mean mind but
it means the insight or the cognition or the right understanding.
िम्यग्दशा िम् is called मनः here. So with the help of the proper
understanding which is gained with the help of a qualified mind
ब्रह्मि् is grasped. एतत् ये नवदुः. The details we will see in the
next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 2-3-09 Continuing;
ि िंदृशे नतष्ठनत रूपमस्य ि चक्षुषा पश्यनत कििैिम् ।
र्हदा मिीषा मििाऽनभक्लिृ ो य एतनद्वदुरमतृ ास्ते भवनतत ॥ ९ ॥
यम मा राज the teacher is dealing with the preparations
necessary for the Self-knowledge to take place in our mind.
Firstly he talked about the importance of human birth itself.
That is the first preparation required. And fortunately we have
already done that preparation. Only thing is to we have to utilize
the human birth. Then the second preparation that he talked
about is त्वम् पद लक्ष्यार्ा , i.e., the real meaning of the word ‘I’
as seen by the scriptures must be very clear because ultimately
the शास्त्र is going to reveal ब्रह्मि् as You are That. After
elaborately discussing the nature of ब्रह्मि् ultimately the शास्त्र
is going to point out that ब्रह्मि् you are. When उपनिषत् says
You are That, the word You has got a particular meaning. It
does not refer to the body part of you, it does not refer to even
the mind part of you, but it refers to the formless Consciousness
which inhere the inert body-mind. Therefore I or you in the
scriptures mean the Consciousness. Therefore while listening
to the scriptures the moment the उपनिषत् says you I must have
the mental facility to immediately convert the you into I and not
only that the word I should remind me not of my body, not of
my mind, but I, the Conscious awaring principle. If I am able
to remain in that I which is called लक्ष्यार्ा then the statement
you are ब्रह्मि् will smoothly enter my mind without any jerk
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
like traveling on a road without potholes. Similarly the teacher
says तत् त्वम् अनि, the student nicely converts and says अहं
ब्रह्माक्षस्म. So therefore त्वम् पद क्षवचार should have been
properly done then alone तत् पद ऐक्यम् will be assimilable.
Therefore that was highlighted secondly. Then the third one that
is highlighted in this मन्त्र number nine is the importance of an
intellect which is subtle, sharp, deep and total. So the student
should enjoy a sharp intellect, not a gross one, because ब्रह्मि्
happens to be formless. Therefore the intellect must be subtle
enough to grasp the formless ब्रह्मि्. Therefore it should be
sharp, focused, undistracted intellect and it should be total. So
such an intellect is a qualified intellect to receive the teaching.
That is being said which was introduced in the last class. र्हदा
मिीषा मििा अनभक्लिृ ः ये एतत् नवदुः – ब्रह्मि् has to be known
with the help of the intellect alone. So don’t try to set aside the
intellect. Don’t think of transcending the intellect. Intellect is
the instrument required for ब्रह्मज्ञािम्. And I have discussed
this point before. Elsewhere the उपनिषत् says mind cannot
know it and here the उपनिषत् says mind alone has to know.
This seeming contradiction has to be resolved. I gave you the
resolution of the seeming contradiction. Whenever we say mind
cannot know we mean unprepared mind cannot know. We do
not say mind is not required or destroyed. There are very big
misconceptions like by मनोनाश आत्मा will come out.
Therefore you should not destroy the mind, you cannot also.
Therefore use your mind, use your intellect which is polished,
prepared intellect which is referred here as र्हदा मिीषा. And
शङ्कराचाया comments upon the word मिीषा as
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
नवकल्पवनजा तया बुद्ध्या, a mind which is focused, which is
deep, which has the listening skill. Mind which has got that
absorbed attention span that mind can grasp the teaching at the
time of श्रवणम् itself. It should die to the external world and it
should be deep and focused for a length of time. That is called
र्हदा मिीषा. And not only the intellect is enough मििा
अनभक्लिृ ः – and the ब्रह्मि् which is lighted up by, illumined by
proper understanding. िम्यग्दशा िेि अनभप्रकानशतः. And here
िम्यग्दशा िम् means the torchlight that is shown by the गुरु.
िुरु-उपदेश becomes the lighting and the focused mind
becomes the observer. Intellect also is required and somebody
has to light up also. And the lighting up job is done by िुरु
because he has got the torchlight. क्षशष्य doesn’t have the
torchlight. So therefore the torchlight is called the methodology
of communication. The सम्प्रदाय is called the torch lit by that.
So मििा अनभक्लिृ ः अनभप्रकानशतः िि् एतत् ये नवदुः – the one
who knows. In the last class we saw the example of mirror is
required to see your own eyes. And if you have to see your own
eyes both conditions are important mirror must be there, and
mirror alone is not enough you should have a functioning eyes.
If the eyes are not functioning mirror is useless and eyes are
functioning but mirror is not there, then also useless. Eyes
should be there as well as the mirror. Both when conjoined you
can see your own eyes. Similarly िुरु-शास्त्र-उपदेश is the
mirror, qualified intellect is ज्ञािचक्षुः and when both of them
are there एतत् ये नवदुः. Then what will I get out of it? ते अमतृ ाः
भवनतत – they become immortal. They own the immortality
which is their nature. Continuing;
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
मतर 2-3-10
यदा पञ्चावनतष्ठतते ज्ञािानि मििा िह ।
बुनद्धि ि नवचेिते तामाहु ः परमां िनतम् ॥ १० ॥
In these two मतरs ten and eleven the उपनिषत् is talking
about योिाभ्यािः, a mental exercise called meditation or a
mental discipline called meditation by which one can develop
a deep and total mind and which has got hundred percent
attention for a length of time. So a deep and total mind which
has got hundred percent attention or focusing capacity without
any distraction. To develop such an intellect योिाभ्यािः is
talked about in वेद itself. And this Yogic discipline alone has
been developed into a well-designed system by पतञ्जनल ऋक्षष
in the form of अिाङ्ि योिः. And this अिाङ्ि योि is
accepted in our tradition for the purpose of preparing the mind.
And in this अिाङ्ि योि they talk about the culmination of the
meditation exercise as total absorption in a chosen field or an
object. Therefore in अिाङ्ि योि the योि is defined as a
meditational exercise culminating in िमान . They call it as
निनवा कल्पक िमान which can be translated as absorption in a
chosen field. And this योिाभ्याि is accepted as one of the
disciplines to sharpen the intellect. But in the case of अिाङ्ि
योि the object of meditation is generally in the form of various
चक्रs etc., in the body. And generally that part of योि we the
Advaitins don’t follow. Because we are not interested in
meditating on various चक्रs. We don’t criticize that, we are not
dismissing that, we are not against that, we say we don’t require
that. Then what do we do? We club this योिाभ्याि along with

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
उपािि. We practice the same meditation but instead of
choosing the चक्रs we choose any देवताs as an object of
meditation like राम, कृष्ण, देवी, क्षवनायक etc. Thus ििुण ईश्वर
ध्यािम् is mixed with the योिाभ्याि to develop the
qualification of नचििमा ािम्, the focusing faculty of the
mind. I don’t want to deal with this topic elaborately because
we have seen this in the sixth chapter of भिवद्गीता as बक्षहरङ्ग
िा ि, अन्तरङ्ग िा ि, धारण, ध्यान, समाक्षध, सक्षवकल्प,
निनवा कल्प. Therefore care of sixth chapter for those details. I
want to say this much that योिाभ्याि is joined with ििुण ईश्वर
ध्यािम् to develop नचििमा ािम्. And if you remember
तत्त्वबोध नचििमा ािम् is one of the qualifications included in
िा िचतुियिम्पनिः. (1) क्षववेक, (2) वैराग्यम्, (3) six in शमानद
षट्क िम्पनि – शम, दम, उपरम, क्षतक्षतिा, श्रद्धा and िमा ािम्
and (4) मुमुक्षुत्वम्. That िमा ािम्, focusing capacity which is
one of the िा िचतुियिम्पनिs that is developed through
योिाभ्यािः or called िमान अभ्यािः. Therefore in वेदातत
िमान अभ्याि is a practice for gaining िा िचतुियिम्पनिः,
generally associated with उपािि. So from this we must be very
clear that योिाभ्यािः or िमान अभ्यािः is never prescribed for
Self-knowledge. According to us Self-knowledge is only
through िुरु-शास्त्र-उपदेश or वेदातत श्रवणम्. Knowledge never
comes through or िमान अभ्याि or अिाङ्ि योि or उपािि.
Then what is the purpose? It is for िा िचतुियिम्पनिः.
Similarly we don’t accept िमान अभ्याि even for मोक्ष. मोक्ष
can be gained only through ज्ञािम् and ज्ञािम् can be gained
only through वेदातत श्रवणम्. So िमान अभ्याि is neither for
ज्ञािम् nor for मोक्ष but to polish the instrument. Similarly
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
िमान अभ्याि we do not prescribe even for mystic experiences
because according to us mystic experiences have nothing to do
with spiritual knowledge or liberation. We should be very
careful and clear about these things. We don’t dismiss mystic
experiences, we accept the possibilities of all forms of mystic
experiences but we say it has nothing to do with either spiritual
knowledge or liberation. A person can be happily liberated
without going through any of the mystic experiences. He
requires purity, he requires focusing capacity, he should be able
to follow the Shastric teaching and gain the wisdom. That
wisdom is more than enough for happily being liberated. And
if a person has gone through the mystic experiences we are not
against also, just like if some of you can sing very well, I am
not going to say you should have singing as the qualification
and I don’t also say singing is a disqualification also. It is has
no connection to understanding वेदातत and liberation.
Similarly mystic experiences have nothing to do with either
knowledge or liberation. Therefore िमान अभ्याि is not for
ज्ञािम्, िमान अभ्याि is not for मोक्ष, िमान अभ्याि is not
even for mystic experiences, िमान अभ्याि or उपािि fixed
with योग is meant for preparing the mind for developing
listening skills so that I can listen with a deep, total,
undistracted mind. And therefore यम मा राज talks about योग
in these two मतरs. So he talks about the culmination of
योिाभ्यािः or उपािि. The culmination is absorption in the
object of meditation. If you are visualizing राम or कृष्ण, you
can gradually get absorbed and you can get absorbed to such an
extent that you are dead to the surroundings. In fact you can
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
have this in any field need not be राम or कृष्ण, you watch the
chess players it seems the person who won, cramming, because
of the sixteen games tremendous concentration and strain he
has lost a few kilograms of weight. Without doing any physical
exertion if he is loosing five to six kilos of weight by sheering
focusing, therefore focusing is a capacity we have and we can
develop but instead of using a material context we want to use
God as object of focusing so that we get two-fold benefit – दृि
फलम् and अदृि फलम्. By playing Chess we will not get अदृि
फलम्. You get only the visible result. In this you get पुण्यम् also
and focusing faculty. This absorption is called िमान and that
िमान is described in this मतर. In fact we can say these two
मतरs are again the background मतरs for कृष्ण to teach the
sixth chapter. Do you remember what is the example given by
कृष्ण for absorption?
यर्ा दीपो निवातस्र्ो िेङ्िते िोपमा स्मत
ृ ा।
योनििो यतनचिस्य युञ्जतो योिमात्मिः ॥ िीता ६-१९ ॥
Like a flame which is kept in a windless place remains without
flickering similarly the mind of the meditator remains in the
object without flickering into the other external fields. That
िमान is described here. पञ्चज्ञािानि अवनतष्ठतते – as the
culmination of this meditation otherwise called उपािि,
ज्ञािानि – इनतियानण, the five sense organs. So here ज्ञािम् does
not mean knowledge but ज्ञािेनतियानण. करण व्युत्पनि. ज्ञायते
अनेन इक्षत ज्ञािम्. मििा िह – along with the mind,
अवनतष्ठतते – remain without distraction, without fluttering
without restlessness. So both the mind and sense organs remain,

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
अवनतष्ठतते. And not only the mind and sense organs are
absorbed बुनद्धि ि नवचेिते – the intellect also does not think
of anything other than the object of meditation. It remains
focused, converge, absorbed, still, not thoughtless, it has got
only one thought which is called िजातीय प्रत्यय प्रवाहः, the
same thought is repeated. This state of absorption is also
divided into two – िनवकल्प and निनवा कल्प. A deliberate
absorption is called िनवकल्प िमान and as result of deliberate
absorption when it becomes natural and spontaneous absorption
where you don’t require the will, so the will has receded
because the mind is naturally in that. That state is called
निनवा कल्पक िमान . And this निनवा कल्पक िमान is परमां
िनतम् – the highest goal of योिाभ्यािः. Very careful, not the
highest goal of life. And once you have this faculty the function
of योिाभ्यािः is over. Then what you have to do? With such a
well-equipped mind वेदातत श्रवण-मिि-निनदध्याििम् begins.
At the end of योिाभ्याि वेदातत begins because योिाभ्याि can
only chasten the equipment it is not equal to either ज्ञािम् or
मोक्ष. The same idea is repeated.
मतर 2-3-11
तां योिनमनत मतयतते नस्र्रानमनतिय ारणाम् ।
अप्रमिस्तदा भवनत योिो नह प्रभवाप्ययौ ॥ ११ ॥
So तां योिनमनत मतयतते – the state of absorption
mentioned in the previous मतर is also called योिः. So the
practice is also called योिः, the destination is also called योिः.
The means is also called योिः, the end is also called योिः. Here
the word refers to the end, which is the absorption of the mind,
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
िमान . So योिनमनत मतयतते is equal to निनवा कल्पक िमान म्
मतयतते, it is the state of absorption. Absorption of what?
नस्र्रानमनतिय ारणाम् – all the sense organs are नस्र्रा means
unwavering, unflickering, undistracted, restful. इनतिय ारणा –
so all the sense organs are kept silent. It is not enough that you
quieten but they should remain quiet for a length of time.
Therefore नस्र्रानमनतिय ारणाम् is called िमान . And when a
person is trying to focus the mind, initially he will not be able
to focus as it a difficult task, and for many people focusing takes
place but there are not able to retain. Any sound or anything
happens immediately they look. In the class also you can try.
Suppose once the class has started whatever happens around
you should not get disturbed. Somebody comes late and sits in
front of you. All your mind will be on that person and this side
class will be going on. In उत्तरकाक्षश स्वाक्षम क्षचन्मयानन्द was
teaching us and nearby there is a military camp. So some of the
army officers also used to come. And one class was going on
and those officers came from behind with shoes on, and some
of the students turned towards them. Then at once स्वाक्षमक्षर् said
stop it. That even if the whole sky comes down once the class
has started until पण ू ु मदः your mind should not go anywhere. If
you can do that you have got a mind which is your instrument.
But the problem is that so many distractions come. Even if
external ones do not come at least internal ones come. So
therefore अप्रमिः तदा भवनत – not only should I focus but until
श्रवणम् is over I should be able to retain the attention span. We
all have got the attention span. So since that is initially difficult

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अप्रमिः भवनत – one should be alert to avoid distraction as कृष्ण
said in the िीता
यतो यतो नििरनत मििञ्चलमनस्र्रम् ।
ततस्ततो नियम्यैतदात्मतयेव वशं ियेत् ॥ िीता ६-२६ ॥
And we all had this faculty as children. When children chase an
ant or a cockroach, you try to distract the child it will never
respond because it has got that ant or that cockroach. So we all
have that absorption in the name of growth and sophistication
we have lost that faculty and we are trying to get back that
faculty which we enjoyed before. It is only retrieving. So
अप्रमिः भवनत – one should be alert at the time of meditation.
And why should one be so? Because योिो नह प्रभव-अप्ययौ –
योगः or meditation is subject to arrival and departure.
Concentration is subject to arrival and departure. I have
concentration and again it is disturbed and again concentration;
this arrival and departure is called प्रभव-अप्यय. योगः means this
focusing or concentration. And since the mind is subject to
flickering one has to train the mind not to flicker. Remember it
has nothing to do वेदातत, it is an aside tutorial college exercise.
You practice with राम or कृष्ण or flame or ॐकार and once you
have succeeded in that the mind ready for वेदातत श्रवणम्.
Therefore the योिाभ्याि is prescribed as a part of उपािि. And
suppose a person has not done this योिाभ्याि what will
happen? Generally when such a person comes to वेदातत
listening generally doesn’t takes place or listening is superficial
or listening is with lot of breaks in between. So the listening
will not be powerful. And when it is such a loose listening then

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the knowledge will not have total impact. It will appear as
academic and powerless information. If that listening skill is
there श्रवण मात्रेण ज्ञानम् मोिस्य भवतः. It is enough.
शङ्कराचाया clearly says श्रवणम् is sufficient. But if I have not
developed that focusing capacity through उपािि and
योिाभ्याि what I will have to do is after श्रवणम् as a part of
निनदध्याििम् I have to practice this योिाभ्याि. What
योिाभ्याि I should have done before that I have to practice
later. But when you practice this योिाभ्याि later, there is only
a slight difference, instead of focusing on राम or कृष्ण or any
चक्रम् you focus is on the very teaching itself. Before वेदातत
श्रवणम् योिाभ्याि involves सगुण ईश्वर focusing but after
वेदातत श्रवणम् the same focusing you practice by reliving the
श्रवणम्. Bring back the teaching and take the relevant aspect of
the teaching and remain in that aspect for a length of time which
is called निनदध्याििम्. Thus उपािि before or निनदध्याििम्
later योिाभ्याि makes the mind deep and in a deep mind alone
teaching can give its fullest impact. And therefore यम मा राज
says you have to practice this योि. Continuing;
मतर 2-3-12
िैव वाचा ि मििा प्रािुं शक्यो ि चक्षुषा ।
अस्तीनत ब्रुवतोऽतयर कर्ं तदुपलभ्यते ॥ १२ ॥
Another important preparatory value is highlighted here.
In the previous two मतरs योिाभ्याि as a part of either उपािि
or as a part of निनदध्याििम् was highlighted. Now and another
important value which is श्रद्धा – faith in the existence of
नििा ुणम् ब्रह्म. This is highlighted because the more the
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scriptures describe नििा ुणम् ब्रह्म the more we begin to doubt its
existence. Because we say it is not seen by the eyes, not heard
by the ears, अश्दम् अस्पशा म् अरूपम् अरिम् अित म्, not
available for any sense organs, not available for any instrument
of knowledge like telescope, microscope. At least can I
conceive of it? They say it is not conceivable by the mind also,
अनचतत्यम्. Then at least can I prove it logically? They say it is
not available for logic also.
िैषा तकेण मनतरापिेया ॥ कठोपनिषत् १-२-९ ॥
So you cannot think of it, you cannot see, you cannot logically
prove. So by listening to all these descriptions what will be our
conclusion? That ब्रह्मि् empty, शन्ू यम्. That alone will be our
conclusion. So they give a श्लोक also, शङ्कराचाया says. Your
description of ब्रह्मि् is like the following श्लोक.
मि
ृ तष्ृ णाम्भनि स्िातः खपुष्पकृतशेखरः । एष वतध्यािुतो यानत
शशशङ ृ ् ि िु ा रः ॥
Here is a person going who is a son of a वतध्या, barren woman.
How is he going? मि ृ तष्ृ णाम्भनि स्िातः – after taking a dip in
the water of the mirage. And खपुष्पकृतशेखरः – he has
bedecked his head with flowers from the sky. He has got a bow
also made of a special material शशशङ ृ ् ि िु ा रः – the rabbit’s
horn. Such a person is going. I have talked for five minutes.
After all these descriptions what idea you will get? They say
this is नििा ुणम् ब्रह्म. After studying for fifteen years what idea
I get is it should be emptiness. This is a natural conclusion of
any thinking intellect and not only that even philosophers have
found नििा ुणम् ब्रह्म mind boggling and therefore even they do
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
not accept. नवनशिाद्वैतम् do not accept नििा ुणम् ब्रह्म, द्वैतम् do
not accept नििा ुणम् ब्रह्म, साङ््य योग they all do not accept
नििा ुणम् ब्रह्म because when I say it is free from all attributes
your conclusion will it is not there. And therefore it you should
get नििा ुणम् ब्रह्म ज्ञानम् the first thing required is having faith
in the existence of नििा ुणम् ब्रह्म. I am not able to conceive of it.
it looks empty, it looks शन्ू यम् but let me have faith in it until I
go through the systematic teaching for a length of time. Then
ultimately I will understand I am never able to objectify
नििा ुणम् ब्रह्म because it is not that it is not there, but because it
happens to be the very subject itself. to know this secret we
have to listen for a length of time. And therefore until you grasp
this have faith. Therefore he says िैव वाचा ि मििा प्रािुं शक्यः
– this ब्रह्मि् cannot be grasped by words, i.e., कमेनतियs, ि
चक्षुषा – that is ज्ञािेनतियs. Then ि मििा – it cannot be
grasped by the mind also. In fact it cannot be grasped by
anything because it is never grasped but it is ever the grasper.
अनस्त इक्षत ब्रुवतः – this can be understood only by the one who
has the faith in that in that नििा ुणम् ब्रह्म until he understands I
am that.
श्रद्धावाि् लभते ज्ञािम् ॥ िीता ४-३९ ॥
कृष्ण has heavily borrowed from कठोपनिषत्. So अनस्त इक्षत
ब्रुवतः एवं प्रािुं शक्यः – श्रद्धावाि् alone can gain, अतयर – for
others, अश्रद्धावाि्, who is so impatient and therefore he rejects
the teaching and the teacher. So therefore an impatient person
who doesn’t have that open-mindedness, कर्ं तत् उपलभ्यते –
how can he ever own up that ब्रह्मि्. It is not a question, it has

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an answer. How can he own up that ब्रह्मि्, he can never own
up. Therefore श्रद्धा is important.
मतर 2-3-13
अस्तीत्येवोपल् व्यस्तववभावेि चोभयोः ।
अस्तीत्येवोपल् स्य तववभावः प्रिीदनत ॥ १३ ॥
When a person has faith in the existence of नििा ुणम् ब्रह्म
he uses the expression ब्रह्म अनस्त. अनस्त means it is there. And
if starts वेदातत with this faith in a due course of teaching what
will happen is ‘ब्रह्मि् is’ will be converted to ‘ब्रह्मि् am’. He
begins with an idea that ब्रह्मि् is third person, it is an object
elsewhere, but as the teacher unfolds he understands that that
‘ब्रह्मि् I am’. So converting ‘is’ness to ‘am’ness is the journey.
And when you say ब्रह्म अनस्त it is called श्रद्धा or परोक्षज्ञािम्
and when you say ब्रह्म अनस्म it is called अपरोक्षज्ञािम् or
यम मा राज calls it तववभावः – means the real nature of ब्रह्मि्.
Being myself is the real nature of ब्रह्मि.् So that तववभावः or
अपरोक्षज्ञािम् or ऐक्यम् becomes evident. But ब्रह्म अनस्म is not
possible directly, you have to start with ब्रह्म अनस्त. So ब्रह्म
िानस्त to ब्रह्म अनस्म is not possible. ब्रह्म िानस्त to ब्रह्म अनस्त to
ब्रह्म अनस्म. अनस्त इक्षत एव उपल् व्यः – in the beginning stages
ब्रह्मि् has to be grasped as a third person only, even though it
is not, you assume as though it is a third person. इक्षत
उपल् व्यः. And thereafter तववभावेि च – don’t stop with that,
later you have to grasp it in its real nature. And what do you
mean by तववभावेि? ब्रह्म अनस्म इक्षत उपल् व्यः. So तववभावेि
should be translated as ब्रह्म अनस्म इक्षत उपल् व्यः. So ‘is’ to
‘am’ is the journey. उभयोः – between these two methods of
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
understanding, two ways of grasping ब्रह्मि् which one should
be in the beginning? अनस्त इक्षत एव उपल् स्य ब्रह्मणः – ब्रह्मि्
has to be first grasped as अनस्त, only that ब्रह्मि्, अनस्त ब्रह्मि्
alone later becomes तववभावः प्रिीदनत – only with regard to
that ब्रह्मि् तववभावः is possible. तववभावः means ब्रह्म अनस्म
इनत ऐक्यम् प्रिीदनत. So from परोक्षज्ञािम् to अपरोक्षज्ञािम्,
from श्रद्धा to अपरोक्षज्ञािम्, these are the two stages everyone
has to go through. Therefore the next preparatory discipline is
श्रद्धा. So योिाभ्याि has been talked about, श्रद्धा also has been
talked about. More in the next class.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
मतर 2-3-13 Continuing;
अस्तीत्येवोपल् व्यस्तववभावेि चोभयोः ।
अस्तीत्येवोपल् स्य तववभावः प्रिीदनत ॥ १३ ॥
In this final section यम मा राज is presenting three topics.
1) Summarization of teaching, ब्रह्मक्षवद्या सङ्िेपः
2) Enumeration of some important preparatory disciplines
or qualifications, ब्रह्मक्षवद्या साधनम् and
3) ब्रह्मक्षवद्याप् फलम्, the benefit of this knowledge.
Of these three topics we have completed two topics with
मन्त्र thirteen. Various qualification were mentioned and in the
thirteenth मन्त्र the highlighted qualification is श्रद्धा, faith in the
existence of नििा ुणम् ब्रह्म. This faith is required because the
very description of ब्रह्मि् will create doubt in the very existence
of such a ब्रह्मि.् Because how can you conceive a ब्रह्मि् which
is totally propertyless and also which is not available for
objectification either sensorily or mentally. So if it is not
available for senses, if it is not available for mind and intellect,
if it is not available even for words and if it is totally
attributeless we will only think such a ब्रह्मि् which is not
available for sense should be non-sense. So it is very difficult
to conceive as I said even some of the philosophers do not
accept नििा ुणम् ब्रह्म. And therefore it requires a very subtle
intellect to grasp ब्रह्मि् without grasping. So the teacher teaches
without teaching, the student understands without
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
understanding {(and he gets liberated without getting liberated)
this is our addition, it is not there in the original}. So it is a
subtle topic, if a person does not understand no wonder. If a
person understands
आियो वक्ता कुशलोस्य ल् ा ॥ कठोपनिषत् १-२-७ ॥
And therefore श्रद्धा is very important until a person
understands. Give the benefit of doubt to the poor teacher and
give the benefit of doubt to the scriptures also. This open-
mindedness is called श्रद्धा. श्रद्धावाि् लभते ज्ञािम्. So with the
emphasis on श्रद्धा यम मा राज concluded the qualification
discussion, now we are entering the final topic of ब्रह्मनवद्या
फलम्.
मतर 2-3-14
यदा िवे प्रमुच्यतते कामा येऽस्य र्हनद नश्रताः ।
अर् मत्योऽमत ृ ो भवत्यर ब्रह्म िमश्नुते ॥ १४ ॥
ब्रह्मनवद्या फलम् is mentioned in this मतर as well as in
the next मतर. ब्रह्मनवद्या फलम् is जीवतमुनक्त, freedom here and
now. Now the next question is freedom from what? Certainly
we are not referring to physical freedom, because physically we
have to depend upon the external world for food, clothing,
shelter, etc. So here the freedom that we are talking about is the
inner freedom from mental problems of िंिार which expresses
in the form of fear, insecurity, depression, anger. These are all
varieties of symptoms of िंिार. And of all the forms of िंिार
the main one often highlighted in the scriptures is काम. So काम
is the first offshoot of िंिार. Because of Self-ignorance I take

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myself to be the body-mind-complex and as body-mind-
complex I am going to be limited all the time. So as अहङ्कार
I can never be पण ू ा . As अहङ्कार I will ever be अपण ू ा . So अज्ञाि
expresses in the form of अपण ू ा ता, always something lacking in
my life, something missing in my life, something wanting.
What I want varies, that I want continues. This अपण ू ा ता
expresses in the form of काम; because since I cannot withstand
limitation as it is unnatural to me and fullness is my स्वरूपम्,
there is always a struggle to remove the limitation. And I don’t
know what will remove the limitation. Therefore comes the trial
and error method of experimentation. Get this, get that, get rid
of this, get rid of that. Thus life long struggle to acquire. This
struggle to acquire for the sake of पण ू ा त्वम् is called काम. And
freedom is defined as freedom from the struggle to be complete.
I don’t want to acquire anything for the sake of completion. I
don’t do anything for the sake of completion. And if at all I am
doing something in my life it is not for the sake of completion
but it is out of completion. When I acquire something for the
sake of completion it is called a binding desire but when I do
things out of completion it is called a non-binding desire. Non-
binding desires you can have any number but binding desire is
called िंिार. And it is this binding desire that goes away and
this is called जीवतमुनक्त. And that is why कृष्ण borrows this in
the second chapter
प्रजहानत यदा कामातिवाा तपार्ा मिोिताि् ॥ िीता २-५५ ॥
He gives up all binding desires because
आत्मतयेवात्मिा तुिः ॥ िीता २-५५ ॥
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This is कृष्ण’s addition, it is not given here. I give up not
because grapes are savor philosophy, it is not like that, I am full
and therefore I don’t require anything. That is said here. यदा
र्हनद नश्रताः कामाः अस्य िवे प्रमुच्यतते – when all the desires
located in the mind; here र्हनद means अन्तःकरणे, मनक्षस; िवे
means all the desires including the desire for मोक्ष. The last
desire is the desire for desirelessness. That is called मोक्ष इच्छा.
Desire for मोक्ष is also gone because the ज्ञानि has understood I
need not get मोक्ष because fortunately I am क्षनत्य-मुत-स्वरूपः.
Therefore he doesn’t have even मोक्ष इच्छा. And naturally अर्
मत्या ः अमत ृ ः भवनत – such a person becomes immortal, free
from the cycle of mortality. पुिरनप जििम् पुिरनप मरणम्
cycle he gets out. What is the logic behind it? We have seen in
the eighth chapter of the िीता that the next birth is decided
according to the काम the strong desire that a person entertains
at the time of death.
यं यं वानप स्मरतभावं त्यजत्यतते कलेवरम् ॥ िीता ८-६ ॥
In मुण्डकोपनिषत् also we saw with whatever काम a person
died with those कामs he is born. In the case of a ज्ञाक्षन काम
अभावात् काम क्षनक्षमत्त पुनर्ु न्म अक्षप नाक्षस्त. And if पुनर्ु न्म is
not there पुनमु रणम् is also not there. In short, he is beyond
birth-death cycle. And therefore मत्या ः अमत ृ ः भवनत. The mortal
becomes immortal. Here also we have to note it is not that I the
mortal became immortal because finite can never become
infinite. So mortal becomes immortal means the one who
thought himself to be mortal now knows he is immortal.
Therefore travel from mortality to immortality is the travel from

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ignorance to knowledge. It is not a physical travel, but it is an
intellectual travel from the notion that I am mortal to the
knowledge that I am immortal. When will he get that
immortality? अर ब्रह्म िमश्नुते – he attains ब्रह्मि् here and now.
He becomes one with ब्रह्मि् which means he drops the notion
that ब्रह्मि् is away from him. This is all about dropping the
notion. Becoming immortal means dropping the notion that I
am mortal. Becoming one with ब्रह्मि् is dropping the notion
that ब्रह्मि् is away from me. And by dropping that notion he
becomes one with ब्रह्मि् here and now. And this is very
important to be noted because यम मा राज says मोक्ष is even
while we are alive. So this we always emphasize because in
certain other systems of philosophy मोक्ष is not a benefit here,
मोक्ष is something to be acquired after death in some लोक or
heaven as दयाितद स्वानमक्षर् says all other religions are tourism
promoters. अद्वैत alone says for मोक्ष you need not go anywhere
after death, मोक्ष is here and now. This is called जीवतमुनक्त.
That is the benefit of this knowledge. This is ब्रह्मनवद्या फलम्
one. Then the same फलम् is presented in a different language
in the next मतर.
मतर 2-3-15
यदा िवे प्रनभद्यतते र्हदयस्येह ग्रतर्यः ।
अर् मत्योऽमत ृ ो भवत्येतावद्ध्यिुशाििम् ॥ १५ ॥
So here ब्रह्मनवद्या फलम् is presented in a another
language. र्हदयग्रनतर् नाशः. In the previous मतर it is र्हदयकाम
नाशः. र्हदय means here mind. ग्रनतर् means knot. We have seen
this before
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
नभद्यते र्हदयग्रनतर्ः नछद्यतते िवा िंशयाः क्षीयतते चास्य कमाा नण ॥
मुण्डकोपनिषत् २-२-८ ॥
िोऽनवद्याग्रनतर्ं नवनकरतीह िोम्य ॥ २-१-१० ॥
So ग्रनतर् means knot. What do you mean by knot? शङ्कराचाया
says ignorance is the knot in the heart. So र्हदयग्रनतर् means
अज्ञानम्, ignorance. And why is it called a knot? शङ्कराचाया
says like a knot it has become very firm which cannot be easily
removed. A knot which has been there for very long time we
will not be able to remove. It is a naughty knot. And therefore
दृढत्वात् ग्रनतर्ः इनत उच्यते. ग्रनतर्वद्दढ ृ बत िरूपा
अनवद्याप्रत्यया इत्यर्ा ः. This is शङ्कराचाया ’s explanation of
knot. We can take another meaning also. A knot is that which
joins anything together. Either two pieces of rope joined
together is knot. Or any two things are tied together and
knotted. And symbolically even wedding is the joining of the
husband and wife with three knots. In वेदातत knot is ignorance
because of which I, the आत्मा gets associated with the body-
mind complex through my अक्षभमान. Because of ignorance
आत्मा and अिात्मा are knotted together, it is called अन्योन्य
अध्यासः. Therefore whatever be the attributes of the body I take
it as my attributes. I am fat, I am lean, etc. So in short अहङ्कार-
ममकार ग्रनतर्ः एव अक्षवद्या ग्रनतर्ः इनत उच्यते. And all those
knots of the heart प्रनभद्यतते – they are broken for good because
देह अक्षभमान is dropped. So िवे ग्रतर्यः र्हदयस्य प्रनभद्यतते. And
as a result of that what happens? अर् मत्या ः अमत ृ ः भवनत – as a
result of this destruction of knot, this so called mortal जीव
becomes immortal. Again the principle is the same when I am

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identified with the body, I claim the mortality of the body as my
mortality. Once I as a ज्ञाक्षन disidentify from the body I look
upon the mortality of the body as body’s mortality. I will not
use the word I in the place of the body, I say body is mortal but
I am not mortal. Because mortality itself is not िंिार, but
अक्षभमान in that mortality alone is िंिार. That is why when we
read the obituary column in the newspaper what happens to us?
We are reading mortality. But it doesn’t affect us at all. So it is
not the mortality that affects in fact we can talk brilliantly
जातस्य नह ध्रुवो मत्ृ युः ॥ िीता २-२७ ॥ one day we all have to go.
So why are we not able to accept the same mortality when it
happens close by because there I have got अक्षभमान. Therefore
mortality per se is not the problem. अक्षभमान in that mortality
alone is the problem. ज्ञाक्षन does not have identification with the
mortality of anyone including his own body. And therefore
अमत ृ ः भवनत – he drops the idea that I am mortal. And then
यम मा राज concludes by saying एतावत् क्षह अिुशाििम् – that
this much alone is my teaching. So you have asked for
आत्मनवद्या through your third boon, I have very elaborately
taught beginning from first chapter second section eighteenth
मतर, ि जायते नम्रयते वा नवपनितिायं कुतनिति बभवू कनित् ।
And with this मतर I am concluding the teaching. एतावत् – this
much alone is अिुशाििम् – my teaching. Now the उपनिषत् is
going to be wound up in the following three मतरs.
मतर 2-3-16
शतं चैका च र्हदयस्य िाड्यस्तािां मू ाा िमनभनिःितृ कै ा।
तयोध्वा मायतिमत ृ त्वमेनत नवष्वङ्ङतया उत्क्रमणे भवनतत ॥ १६ ॥

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
In the previous two मतरs यम मा राज has presented
ब्रह्मनवद्या फलम् wherein ब्रह्मनवद्या is the teaching through the
third boon and now he wants to go back to the second boon. We
might have forgotten but यम मा राज remembers the second
boon. What was the second boon? It is about िानचकेत ritual
which is not just a mere ritual but it is a ritual combined with
the meditation, उपािि िनहत कमा or कमा िनहत उपािि or in
technical language, it is called कमा -उपािि िमुच्चय. The ritual
is called िानचकेत ritual and the उपािि is called नवराट् उपािि,
meditation upon the very अनग्ि, the fire in which the ritual is
done. The second boon appeared in the first chapter first section
मतर twelve to nineteen.
लोकानदमनग्िं तमुवाच तस्मै या इिका यावतीवाा यर्ा वा ॥
कठोपनिषत् १-१-१५ ॥
लोकानद means नवराट्, that नवराट् उपािि upon the िानचकेत
अनग्ि was prescribed. So यम मा राज wants to talk about the
फलम् of the कमा -उपािि-िमुच्चयः. So previously ब्रह्मनवद्या
फलम्, now it is उपािि िनहत कमा फलम् or कमा िनहत उपािि
फलम् or कमा -उपािि-िमुच्चयः. Because combination will
have a higher result. As I have said before also if you blindly
chant नवष्णुिहस्रिाम you will get some फलम्. You chant
ध्यानश्लोकम् also mechanically slurred chanting. You say अर्
ध्यानम् which means now meditation. So you say now
meditation and you just fire off the meditation श्लोकs, of course
you will get the फलम्. Suppose instead of chanting those
श्लोकs like नशवमाििपज ू ा mentally you chant and see the
meaning of the श्लोक which is the description of the deity. Then

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
ध्यानम् becomes उपािि, then नवष्णुिहस्रिाम पारायणम् will
become कमा -उपािि-िमुच्चयः. Otherwise it will become
केवल कमु . केवल कमु will have the result but it is lower result,
and when you combine उपािि higher result. What is the higher
result? यम मा राज wants to say क्रममुनक्त is the फलम् for कमा -
उपािि-िमुच्चयः. The उपािक will not gain knowledge here
but he will be an उपािक throughout the life and therefore he
will not get जीवतमुनक्त but at the time of death the िक्ष्ू म शरीरम्
of the उपािक will out through the सुषुम्ना नाक्षड. And then he
goes through a special route called शुक्ल गक्षतः and then to
ब्रह्मलोक and there he will get the teaching ब्रह्मानज. And there
he will get अहम् ब्रह्माक्षस्म इक्षत ज्ञानम्, through that knowledge
he will get जीवतमुनक्त in ब्रह्मलोक and नवदेहमुनक्त at the end of
his life. So उपािकs will get क्रममुनक्त. And suppose a person
does only कमा without उपािि, then he will not travel through
सुषुम्ना नाक्षड at the time of death, but some other नाक्षडs. And
through the other नाक्षडs the िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् will come out and that
कक्षमु क्षर्वः will be again born depending upon the type of कमा .
Thus अज्ञानिs are divided into two types – कनमा अज्ञाक्षनs and
उपािक अज्ञाक्षनs. उपािक अज्ञाक्षनs will get क्रममुनक्त, कनमा
अज्ञाक्षनs will get पुनर्ु न्म. This is the result. Now look at this
मन्त्र. शतं च एका च र्हदयस्य िाड्यः – from the र्हदयम्, the
heart, one hundred and one नाक्षडs emerge out spreading all over
the body. These are प्रधान नाक्षडs, there are smaller नाक्षडs also
seventy two they say. तािां एका – Of those one hundred and
one नाक्षडs – the very minute passages, one नाक्षड मू ाा िं
अनभनिःितृ ा – emerges out of the heart goes through the middle
of the neck, head and opens on the top of the head. मू ाा means
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
crown or the top of the head. अनभनिःितृ ा – it opens up on the
top. That opening is called ब्रह्मरतिम्. And what happens to this
क्षवराट् उपािक, who combines with िानचकेत ritual? तया
ऊध्वा म् आयि् – that उपािक emerges out at the time of death
through that special सष ु ुम्ना नाक्षड which comes upto the top of
head and beyond that the path is called शुक्ल िनत or देवयानम्.
अमत ृ त्वम् एक्षत – the उपािक attains immortality, he attains
मोि which is क्रममुनक्त. And if a person doesn’t practice
उपािन what will happen? अतया िाड्यः – the िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् of
the non-उपािक will emerge out through other नाक्षडs, what is
the peculiarity of the other नाक्षडs. This particular नाक्षड is
waiting out like a rocket. But other नाक्षडs are all turned
sideways as it were, they cannot take a person to ब्रह्मलोक. And
therefore नवष्वङ् – turned in other direction. It is adjective to
नाक्षडs. So all the other नाक्षडs which are turned in sideward or
other directions, they will lead उत्क्रमणे भवनतत – so they will
lead the non-उपािक who is a mere कक्षमु to उत्क्रमणे –
emerging out and going to other लोकs, पुनर्ु न्म कारणाक्षन
भवक्षन्त. In this context उत्क्रमण refers to पुनर्ु न्म. Then again
dying and rebirth continues. So ज्ञाक्षन gets जीवतमुनक्त; उपािक
gets क्रममुनक्त; a non-ज्ञाक्षन, non-उपािक will get पुिरनप
जििम् पुिरनप मरणम् cycle. So with this the फलम् of the
second boon also has been talked about. Continuing;
मतर 2-3-17
अङ्िुष्ठमारः पुरुषोऽततरात्मा िदा जिािां र्हदये िंनिनविः ।
तं स्वाच्छरीरात्प्रवहृ े तमुञ्जानदवेषीकां य ै ेण ।
तं नवद्याच्छुक्रममतृ ं तं नवद्याच्छुक्रममत
ृ नमनत ॥ १७ ॥

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
यम मा राज thought of concluding the teaching with the
previous मन्त्र in which क्रममुनक्त was pointed out. But
यम मा राज was worried. Because if he concludes the entire
teaching with क्रममुनक्त, generally the students will remember
the last point in the teaching. Therefore he doesn’t want to
conclude with क्रममुनक्त, therefore once again he comes back to
ब्रह्मनवद्या फलम्, so that the student will remember जीवतमुनक्त
rather than क्रममुनक्त. And therefore once again ब्रह्मनवद्या फलम्
is reiterated and re-ascertained in this मतर. For that purpose
ब्रह्मनवद्या is summarized. अङ्िुष्ठमारः पुरुषः अततरात्मा – there
is the अततरात्मा – inner self which is अङ्िुष्ठमारः – which is
as though of the size of the thumb. Why it is called
अङ्िुष्ठमारः I have explained before.
अङ्िुष्ठमारः पुरुषो मध्य आत्मनि नतष्ठनत ॥ कठोपनिषत् २-१-
१२ ॥
अङ्िुष्ठमारः पुरुषो ज्योनतररवा म
ू कः नतष्ठनत ॥ कठोपनिषत्
२-१-१३ ॥
Such an अततरात्मा is called पुरुषः. It is called पुरुषः because
of two reasons. In-dwells the body, पुरर शेते इनत पुरुषः । पुरौ
शेते इनत पुरुषः । and also because it in-dwells every other body
also, परू यनत िवा म् इनत पुरुषः. It goes beyond the body also.
And where is that आत्मा present? िदा जिािां र्हदये िंनिनविः
– that आत्मा is very much present in the heart or mind of
everyone. How is the आत्मा present? As the Consciousness
witnessing every thought and witnessing even the absence of
thoughts. So in the form of witness Consciousness आत्मा is
there mixed with inside the अिात्म शरीरम्. And what is
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
ब्रह्मनवद्या? ब्रह्मनवद्या is separating the आत्मा from its container,
अिात्मा. One should separate that Consciousness from
अिात्मा, the container. So तं स्वात् शरीरात् प्रवहृ े त् – so one
should separate that Consciousness from the body which is
matter. Because they are mixed together, remember the
example of light and hand. Similarly Consciousness pervading
the body is totally a distinct entity that one has to understand.
Therefore प्रवहृ े त् – one should segregate, separate, discriminate
which is called आत्म-अिात्म-नववेक, शरीर-शरीरर-क्षववेक,
दृग्दृश्य-नववेक. This discrimination cannot be physically done
just as the light cannot be scraped off the hand, light and hand
are together. Separation is not a physical process, it is an
intellectual process one of understanding. You can never
physically separate Consciousness and matter, and since it is an
intellectual cognitive process it requires a very subtle intellect
and therefore it should be done very carefully. Otherwise you
will imagine one day you would have pushed aside your body
and sit like आत्मा. Body will be lying away, mind will be away,
you will imagine that you will go to a state when you will
remain as pure Consciousness. Don’t imagine any such अवस्र्ा,
in any अवस्र्ा Consciousness and matter will be together, even
in निनवा कल्पक िमान your mind is present in a dormant form.
So where is physical freedom from matter? Therefore you
cannot physically separate, you have to intellectually separate,
प्रवहृ े त्. य
ै ेण – very alertly. Like what? An example is given.
मुञ्जात् इषीकाम् इव. मुञ्ज is a type of grass and within that grass
there is an inner portion which is called इषीका which is tender.
And if you have to separate the inner tender portion from the
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
मुञ्ज grass you have to do it very carefully because the grass
has got a very sharp edge. It can cut your finger, you can even
bleed. Therefore like separating the stalk within the मुञ्ज grass
one should separate आत्मा from अिात्मा, again not physically
but in terms of understanding. Here by the word य ै ेण courage
is not meant. Here य ै ेण means अप्रमादेि, क्षववेकेन, with a very
subtle mind. And having separated आत्मा from अिात्मा, which
is called त्वम् पद क्षववेक, then तं शुक्रं अमत ृ ं नवद्यात् – one should
know that this Consciousness is nothing but ब्रह्मि् described in
the उपनिषत.् शुक्रम् – शुद्धम्, अमत ृ म् – क्षनत्यम्. शुद्धम् क्षनत्यम्
ब्रह्म is not sitting somewhere else, I, the witness Consciousness
am ब्रह्मि्. This is called तत् पद ऐक्यम् and therefore it is a
महावाक्य मन्त्र. So first separate yourself from the body, then
identify yourself with ब्रह्मि्. Disidentification from the body
and identification with ब्रह्मि् is वेदातत. That is why the क्षचन्मुद्र
symbol also where the forefinger stand for you is separated
from the other three fingers which represent the three bodies
and then identification with ब्रह्मि् which is indicated by the
अङ्िुष्ठमारः पुरुषः. This is the ब्रह्मनवद्या which will give
जीवतमुनक्त. And one should work for जीवतमुनक्त, not vote for
क्रममुक्षत. And तं नवद्यात् शुक्रं अमत ृ ं – this is repeated again to
indicate the conclusion of the यम-िनचकेत-िंवादः. Now
उपनिषत् comes concludes the कठोपनिषत्.
मतर 2-3-18
मत्ृ युप्रोक्तां िनचकेतोऽर् ल्ध्वा नवद्यामेतां योिनवन ं च कृत्स्िम् ।
ब्रह्मप्रािो नवरजोऽभनू द्वमत्ृ युरतयोऽप्येवं यो नवदध्यात्ममेव ॥ १८ ॥

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
So now the उपनिषत् comes back to the stage and is
glorifying िनचकेति् because he was a brilliant student who
received this knowledge and got liberated. That is said here,
िनचकेतः should be understood as िनचकेताः, एतां मत्ृ युप्रोक्ताम्
नवद्यां ल्ध्वा – िनचकेति् attained this wisdom given out by
मत्ृ युः, यम मा राज. Not only did he learn the वेदातत, योिनवन ं
च कृत्स्िम् – यम मा राज also taught him योिाभ्यािः which is
required for the assimilation of the teaching, निनदध्यािनार्ु म्.
And having acquired the wisdom, ब्रह्मप्रािः नवरजः नवमत्ृ युः
अभत ू ् – he became one with ब्रह्मि् and therefore only नवरजः –
नवितरजाः नवित माा मा ः, he became free of all impurities like
अक्षवद्या, पुण्यपापम्, िनञ्चत, प्रार् , आिानम and नवमत्ृ युः – he
became free from mortality also. And then उपनिषत् wants to
say that not only did िनचकेति् got मोक्ष but anybody else who
studies कठोपनिषत् they also can get मोक्ष. It is valid now also.
अतयोऽनप एवंनवत् – whoever receives the same wisdom from the
same उपनिषत् in the same manner, अहम् ब्रह्माक्षस्म इक्षत. So the
word एवम् and नवत् should be joined together. एवंनवत् –
whoever knows thus, अध्यात्मम् – आत्मज्ञािम्. So whoever
gains the आत्मज्ञािम्, अतयः, there is no restriction – age is not
mentioned, र्ाक्षत is not mentioned, वणा is not mentioned,
आश्रमis not mentioned, male or female is not mentioned, is not
mentioned. whoever gains this knowledge िोऽनप एवम् यः, the
sentence is incomplete, you have to complete it by adding
िोऽनप नवरजाः िि् ब्रह्म प्राप्य नवमत्ृ युभावतीनत वाक्यशेषः – he
will also attain oneness with ब्रह्मि्, he will also become pure
and immortal. And remember from Vedantic angle पापम् as
well as पुण्यम् are impurities. Therefore नवरजाः means
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
पुण्यपापाभ्याम् क्षवमुतः भवक्षत. And once कमा is not there, there
is no पुनर्ु न्म and if र्न्म is not there, there is no मत्ृ यु.
Therefore संसारात् क्षवमुतः भवक्षत. When? You have to supply
अत्र – here and now any student of कठोपनिषत् will attain
liberation. So the उपनिषत् concludes with this फलश्रुक्षत,
previously it was given by यम मा राज. We will chant the
शानततपाठ once again.
िह िाववतु । िह िौ भुिक्तु । िह वीयं करवावहै ।
तेजनस्विाव ीतमस्तु मा नवनद्वषावहै ॥ १९ ॥ ॐ शानततः शानततः
शानततः ॥
The शानततपाठ is repeated at the end also for expressing
the gratitude to the Lord for our successful completion and also
more importantly to pray to the Lord that this knowledge should
be assimilated by me and there should be a character
transformation in me, a behavioral transformation in me. The
knowledge should not be theoretical but it should become part
of my life. With this prayer we conclude the उपनिषत्.
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
ॐ सदाक्षशव समारम्भाम् शङ्कराचायु मध्यमाम् अस्मदाचायु
पयु न्ताम् वन्दे गुरु परम्पराम् ॐ ॥
Summary of the second chapter
Today I will give you the summary of the second chapter of
कठोपनिषत्. I hope you remember the background of
कठोपनिषत्, it is a dialogue between यम मा राज who happens
to be the गुरु here and िनचकेति,् a small boy who happens to
be a disciple here. And in a particular context यम मा राज offers
three boons to िनचकेति्. And िनचकेति् as a part of the third
boon asks for आत्मनवद्या. The first two boons he utilizes for
other things. And through the third boon he asked for आत्मनवद्या
which is his personal desire. And यम मा राज fulfills the desire
of िनचकेति् expressed through the first two boons and then
elaborately gives आत्मनवद्या by way of fulfilling िनचकेति’् s
third desire. And in the first chapter itself आत्मनवद्या was given
in the second as well as the third sections. The first chapter has
three sections, in that the second and third sections were utilized
for आत्मनवद्या. Now the second chapter also deals with the third
boon alone. And therefore in the three sections of the second
chapter also we find आत्मनवद्या given by यम मा राज. With this
background we will see the essence of all the three sections of
the second chapter. First we will take up the first वल्ली of the
second अध्याय, नद्वतीयाध्याये प्रर्मा वल्ली. In this section the
first two मतरs deal with an important discipline which is a
primary requisite for a student. Several disciplines are
mentioned in the शास्त्र but यम मा राज highlights a particular
discipline in the first two मतरs and that is sensory control

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
otherwise known as दमः, otherwise in the योगशास्त्र it is called
प्रत्याहारः. So इनतिय निग्रहः, otherwise called दमः, otherwise
called प्रत्याहारः is the discipline यम मा राज mentioned. And he
points out that it is not easy an discipline because the sense
organs are naturally turned outward, they are naturally attached
to the sense objects.
परानञ्च खानि व्यतणृ त् स्वयंभस्ू तस्मात्पराङ् पश्यनत ॥
कठोपनिषत् २-१-१ ॥
It is not an acquired habit, but it is an instinctive habit. And
whatever is instinctive it is extremely difficult to handle. In fact
we are fighting against our own nature. And therefore It is going
to be an uphill task and therefore it requires a lot of
discrimination and will power. And therefore यम मा राज says
कनिद्धारः प्रत्यिात्मािमैक्षदावि
ृ चक्षुरमत
ृ त्वनमच्छि् ॥
कठोपनिषत् २-१-१ ॥
Only some rare people master the sense organs. Here we do not
mean the suppression of sense organs but mastery born out of
understanding. In suppression the controlling factor comes
from outside but in mastery the controlling factor comes from
my own wisdom. When I say no it is mastery. When the other
people impose that it is suppression. And therefore it must be
born out of क्षववेक or discrimination and that discrimination
point is given in the second मतर in which यम मा राज says if a
person doesn’t have sensory control what will be the
consequences he should know. And what is the consequence?
He will be lost in the ephemeral world, in the fleeting world of
sense objects.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
पराचः कामाििुयनतत बालास्ते मत्ृ योया नतत नवततस्य पाशम् ॥
कठोपनिषत् २-१- २ ॥
So if you get carried away by the sense organs and sense objects
you will be lost in the world of mortality and the result is पुिरनप
जििम् पुिरनप मरणम् cycle. To put in यम मा राज’s language,
you will be under my grip. Therefore understand and then
master your sense organs. Thus दम is highlighted in the first
two मतरs. Then from the third मतर upto the thirteenth मतर is
the central theme of this section through which यम मा राज
answers िनचकेति्’s question regarding आत्मस्वरूपम्.
Therefore मतर three to thirteen is आत्मस्वरूप वणु नम्. What
is the description of आत्मा? आत्मा is of the nature of चैततयम्
or Consciousness. What is the nature of Consciousness?
1) Consciousness is not a part or property or product of the
body,
2) It is an independent entity separate from the body, which
pervades and enlivens the body,
3) It is not limited by the dimensions of the body,
4) It continues to survive even after the fall of the body,
5) That continuing Consciousness cannot transact not
because it is absent but because the transacting medium is not
there. Therefore this body only serves as a medium for
manifestation of Consciousness.
So the third point is there is no spatial limitation and the fourth
point is there is no time-wise limitation. Since there is no space-
wise limitation it is all-pervading and since it doesn’t have time-
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wise limitation it is eternal. So Consciousness is all-pervading
and eternal. So this is आत्मस्वरूपम् यम मा राज points out. And
being Consciousness it is that principle because of which one is
conscious of everything.
येि रूपं रिं ित ं श्दातस्पशां ि मैर्ुिाि् ।
एतेिवै नवजािानत नकमर पररनशष्यते । एतद्वै तत् ॥ कठोपनिषत्
२-१-३ ॥
It is that principle because of which I am conscious of
everything. So चैततयस्वरूप आत्मा. Then the next point that
यम मा राज highlights is very important. Even though
Consciousness is all-pervading and one, this Consciousness
manifests in the medium of matter in different ways. Why it
manifests differently? Not because there is difference in
Consciousness but because of the difference in the quality of
the medium the manifestations are manifold. Like one
electricity manifests in different forms depending upon the
medium, in the fan it manifests as the mechanical energy of
motion, in the mic it manifests as the magnifying sound, in the
bulb it manifests as the light principle. Thus Consciousness is
one but its manifestations are many. And these manifestations
यम मा राज broadly classified into three levels.
1) When the Consciousness is manifest in the िमनि
कारण प्रपञ्च, the total causal universe, i.e., universe in seed
form Consciousness is called ईश्वर चैततयम् or अततयाा नम
चैततयम्.
2) When the very same Consciousness manifests through
िमनि िक्ष्ू म प्रपञ्च, the total subtle universe, which you can
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understand as the total mind the very same Consciousness is
called नहरण्यिभा चैततयम्.
3) When the very same Consciousness manifests through
िमनि स्र्ल ू प्रपञ्च, the total gross universe the Consciousness
is called नवराट् चैततयम् or वैश्वािर चैततयम्.
Therefore one Consciousness itself expresses as ईश्वर
नहरण्यिभा and नवराट्. This is at the macro-level. Like one अक्षग्न
manifests as a huge conflagration and also as a candle light
flame, similarly the Consciousness expresses at micro level also
as कारण, िक्ष्ू म and स्र्ल
ू शरीरम्. The same Consciousness
expressing through कारण शरीरम् is called प्राज्ञ चैततयम्,
expressing through िक्ष्ू म शरीरम् is called तैजि चैततयम्,
expressing through स्र्लू शरीरम् is called नवश्व चैततयम्. So
how many? ईश्वर चैततयम्, नहरण्यिभा चैततयम्, नवराट् चैततयम्,
प्राज्ञ चैततयम्, तैजि चैततयम् and नवश्व चैततयम्. All these six
are manifestations of Consciousness in six different matter
media. And suppose you remove the matter Consciousness is
only one.
यदेवेह तदमुर यदमुर तदनतवह ॥ कठोपनिषत् २-१-१० ॥
What is at the macro level is at the micro level, what is at the
micro level is at the macro level. The differences of micro and
macro belong to the matter only but these differences are not
there in the Consciousness. So having talked about
Consciousness is one then यम मा राज gets into various matter
media. So the basic question is Consciousness may be one, but
there seems to be plurality at the level of matter in the form of
स्र्ल
ू , िक्ष्ू म, कारण शरीरम्s, स्र्ल
ू , िक्ष्ू म, कारण प्रपञ्चs. So
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
यम मा राज says there is no plurality in the form of matter also,
in fact there is no matter separate from Consciousness.
मििैवेदमािव्यं िेह िािानस्त नकञ्चि ।
मत्ृ योः ि मत्ृ युं िच्छनत य इह िािेव पश्यनत ॥ कठोपनिषत् २-१-
११ ॥
There is no matter medium at all separate from Consciousness.
Therefore matter is Consciousness with िाम-रूप. Thus
यम मा राज establishes अद्वैतम् in the first section.
And then in the last two मतरs fourteen and fifteen
यम मा राज talks about the benefit of this vision. So either you
can have अद्वैत दशा िम् or you can have द्वैत दशा िम्. Either you
can see oneness or you can see plurality यम मा राज talks about
the consequences of both. He says whoever sees division he
will go from mortality to mortality. मत्ृ योः ि मत्ृ युमाप्िोनत य
इह िािेव पश्यनत ॥ Whoever sees भेद, द्वैतम्, division he will
go from mortality to mortality. Whereas whoever sees अद्वैतम्,
अद्वैत दशा िम् or अभेद दशा िम् he attains immortality. An
example is given of rain water which flows down the slope of a
mountain. How the water gets dissipated and it becomes weaker
and weaker and ultimately it gets absorbed by the earth and it
disappears. So division means disappearance. Whereas when
all the waters merge into the ocean then there is eternity,
नित्यत्वम्.
यर्ोदकं शुद्धे शुद्धमानिक्तं तादृिेव भवनत । एवं मुिेनवा जाित
आत्मा भवनत िौतम ॥ कठोपनिषत् २-१-१५ ॥

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
And the best example you can have is when a wave looks upon
itself as a wave it will see itself as mortal. Whereas when a wave
learns to look upon itself as water, forgetting the name and
form, it understands itself as water, िवा त्र एक र्ल दशा िम्,
there is no mortality. Therefore the vision is your choice and
the benefit depends upon the type of vision you have. So with
this फलश्रुक्षत the first वल्ली is over.
The entire second वल्ली happens to be आत्मस्वरूप
वणा िम्. Very important section. The whole section is dedicated
to only one topic. आत्मा looked from the individual angle and
आत्मा looked from the macro angle. When आत्मा looked from
the individual angle it is called जीवात्मा, when looked from
total angle the same आत्मा is called परमात्मा. But from its own
angle it is neither जीवात्मा nor परमात्मा, it is just आत्मा. It
doesn’t have an adjective. जीव is micro adjective, परम is macro
adjective, आत्मा by itself is neither micro nor macro, it is
आत्मा. And here in this section in the first seven मतरs आत्मा
is described from the individual angle. And यम मा राज points
out that आत्मा alone makes every organ alive by lending
reflected Consciousness, नचदाभाि, the material स्र्ल ू शरीरम्
has become sentient and the material mind is also alive and
even पञ्चप्राणs have become sentient because of आत्मा only.
And यम मा राज points out आत्मा lends Consciousness to the
प्राण. Now the प्राण has become sentient. And then what does
प्राण do? Out of the borrowed Consciousness प्राण lends
Consciousness to the physical body. Therefore superficially
seeing the body seems to borrow life from प्राण, but really
speaking the body does not borrow life from प्राण, but the body
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
borrows life from आत्मा alone through the medium of प्राण. So
प्राण is only a broker, borrows from here and hands over. Or a
postman. So it appears as though प्राण is enlivening the body,
यम मा राज says don’t give credit to प्राण but give credit to the
आत्मा alone.
अस्य नवस्रंिमािस्य शरीरस्र्स्य देनहिः । देहानद्वमुच्यमािस्य
नकमर पररनशष्यते । एतद्वै तत् ॥ कठोपनिषत् २-२-४ ॥
ि प्राणेि िापािेि मत्यो जीवनत किि । इतरे ण तु जीवनतत
यनस्मतिेतावुपानश्रतौ ॥ कठोपनिषत् २-२-५ ॥
If Consciousness were not there to bless the प्राण and the body
they will be dead bodies which will decay and disintegrate. That
is why in fifteenth chapter of the िीता कृष्ण beautifully says
every activity of every organ reveals the presence of the आत्मा.
Therefore when you touch the body and feel the body it is the
expression of चैततयम्.
उत्क्रामततं नस्र्तं वानप भुञ्जािं वा िुणानतवतम् ।
नवमढ ू ा िािुपश्यनतत पश्यनतत ज्ञािचक्षुषः ॥ िीता १५-१० ॥
Therefore when you are tasting something don’t take it for
granted the tasting is possible because life is there. The life is
an expression of Consciousness, expression of Consciousness
is expression of आत्मा. Thus in the first seven मतरs
आत्मस्वरूपम् from the individual angle was described.
And then from the eighth मतर upto the fifteenth मतर
the very same आत्मा is described from the macro angle. And
यम मा राज says this आत्मचैततयम्, the Consciousness is really
speaking not located in the body, on the other hand all the
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
bodies are located in this Consciousness. Remember the
example. First I say space is there within the hall. This is the
first stage of knowledge. Then in the second stage: space is
there not only within the hall, but it is outside the hall also. Then
the third and final stage is: it is not that space is inside or outside
the hall, in fact the hall is in one all-pervading space. Similarly
यम मा राज says Consciousness is not in the body, all the bodies
are in Consciousness. In fact, not all the bodies but the entire
universe is in Consciousness. Therefore आत्मा िवा -अन ष्ठाि
चैततयम् अक्षस्त.
तनस्मँल्लोकाः नश्रताः िवे तदु िात्येनत किि ॥ कठोपनिषत् २-
२-८ ॥
And then यम मा राज points out that being िवा -आधारम् or िवा -
अन ष्ठािम् आत्मा is all-pervading, िवा -व्यापक चैततयम्. So
िवा -अन ष्ठाि चैततयम् and िवा -अन ष्ठाि चैततयम् for which
two examples are given.
ै ो भुविं प्रनविो रूपं रूपं प्रनतरूपो बभवू ॥ कठोपनिषत्
अनग्िया र्क
२-२-९ ॥
वायुयार्क
ै ो भुविं प्रनविो रूपं रूपं प्रनतरूपो बभवू ॥ कठोपनिषत्
२-२-१० ॥
Just as the fire principle pervades the entire earth and just as the
air principle pervades the entire earth, similarly आत्मा pervades
everything. And through the example यम मा राज conveys
something important. When the fire pervades a metal, red-hot
metal, it seems to have the shape of the metal. The shapeless
fire has got a seeming shape when it is in a shaped metal. And

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
if there are two shaped metals it looks as though fire is in metal
one and fire is in metal two and it appears as though there is no
fire in between. But the fact is that the fire is in all the metals
also, it is in between also. How do you know? Stand close to it
you will know. So you will not be able to withstand the heat
which indicates the presence of the formless fire principle. Thus
the fire is formless, but in various media it seems to have form
similarly Consciousness is formless and all-pervading but it
seems to be located in individual bodies. Thus िवा -व्यापक
चैततयम् आत्मा.
Then the next point that यम मा राज highlights is even
though Consciousness is all-pervading, it is not affected by
anything. It is associated with everything, but not affected by
anything. अिङ्ि चैततयम् आत्मा. Here also a beautiful
example is given.
ू ो यर्ा िवा लोकस्य चक्षुः ि नलप्यते चाक्षुषबै ाा ह्यदोषैः ।
िय
एकस्तर्ा िवा भत ू ाततरात्मा ि नलप्यते लोकदुःखेि बाह्यः ॥
कठोपनिषत् २-२-११ ॥
Just as the िय ू ा प्रकाश, the sunlight pervades every object, but
the sunlight is not wet by water, the sunlight is not burnt by fire,
the sunlight is not sullied by dust, the sunlight does not become
foul smelling because of कूवम् river water association, the
sunlight is अिङ्िः. Similarly Consciousness is not tainted.
This is the next point. Then यम मा राज says since the
Consciousness is all-pervading it is एकः, अक्षद्वतीयः. You cannot
count Consciousness. You can count the bodies but not the
आत्मा. So this is very significant from Philosophical angle
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
because there are other systems of philosophy which claim that
आत्माs are many. साङ््य philosophy which is very close to
अद्वैत philosophy, which has got several features common to
अद्वैत that साङ््य philosophy says आत्माs are many. For each
one आत्मा. So your body has got your आत्मा, my body has got
my आत्मा. How many आत्माs are there? As many bodies are
so many. So now it is very clear in this मतर आत्मा एकः.
अनात्माs are many but आत्मा एकः. And not only the आत्मा is
एकः but this आत्मा alone appears as though many. It has got
seeming plurality. It manifests as pluralistic universe. Therefore
it is called जित-् कारणम्. So एकश्च कारणञ्च चैततयम्.
एकमेव िदिेककारणं कारणाततरनिरािकारणम् ।
काया कारणनवलक्षणं स्वयं ब्रह्म तववमनि भावयात्मनि ॥
नववेकचडू ामनण २६१ ॥
एको वशी िवा भतू ाततरात्मा एकं रूपं बहु ा यः करोनत ॥
कठोपनिषत् २-२-१२ ॥
Then यम मा राज points out that this आत्मा is नित्यः, eternal.
कारणरूपत्वात् नित्यः, everything else being कायु म् they are
अनित्यम्. Any product is अनित्यम्, but the cause is नित्यम्.
Clay was there before the creation of the pot, clay exists after
the creation of the pot and clay continues even after the
destruction of the pot. Therefore clay exists in all the three
periods of time, whereas the pot is subject to birth and death.
Therefore always कायु म् is अनित्यम्, कारणम् is नित्यम्. आत्मा
being the जित-् कारणम् it is नित्यः.
नित्योऽनित्यािां चेतििेतिािाम् एको बहू िां यो नवद ानत
कामाि् ॥ कठोपनिषत् २-२-१३ ॥
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
So it is one cause among all the perishable effects. Thus he
gives a brilliant description of आत्मा from various angles. All
these are from macro level. So with this the second वल्ली is
over.
And then comes the third वल्ली. In this the first four
मतरs यम मा राज summarizes the आत्मस्वरूपम् which he had
revealed in the previous section. उपसंहार भागः. In these four
मतरs यम मा राज highlights one feature and that is आत्मा alone
is both the intelligent and material cause of the universe. It is
निनमि-उपादाि कारणम्. That is आत्मा is the maker of the
universe and आत्मा is the very material out of which the
universe manifests. For which we had an example before in
मुण्डकोपनिषत्,
यर्ोणा िानभः िज
ृ ते िह्णृ ते च ॥ मुण्डकोपनिषत् १-१-७ ॥
Just as a spider is the intelligent cause of the web and spider
itself is the material cause also of the web. Similarly आत्मा is
both the intelligent and the material cause of this universe. Then
from the fifth मतर upto the thirteenth मतर यम मा राज gives
various िा िs, preparatory disciplines. It is very important
because आत्मा is extremely subtle subject, therefore grasping
the teaching requires lot of preparation. Four िा िs are
highlighted here.
1) Remembering the greatness of the human birth because
in this birth alone knowledge is possible. Therefore never take
the human birth for granted and postpone it. In human र्न्म
alone knowledge can be attained, and if you remember in other
र्न्मs knowledge is not possible. Even if it is possible it will be
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
vague. Only the other place where knowledge is possible is
ब्रह्मलोक. But for ब्रह्मलोक visa you cannot get that easily. And
therefore make use of human र्न्म. Remember the value of
human र्न्म so that we will prioritize properly.
2) Then the second value highlighted is आत्म-अिात्मा-
नववेकः. The clear understanding of the meaning of the word ‘I’
as taught by the scriptures. When we are learning the scriptures
we should remember the meaning of the word ‘I’ because ‘I’
happens to be a mixture of two things. One is the body-mind-
complex and the other is the Consciousness pervading that. Just
as there are two principles – hand which you always notice and
the other one which you always take for granted is the light
pervading the hand. So when I show my finger either I can refer
to the hand or I can refer to the light. So if communication must
be clear you should know what my intention is. similarly when
I say you are all-pervading my finger is referring to the mixture
of you – the body part of you and the Consciousness part. And
when I am showing the finger what is in my mind? Which part?
The body part or Consciousness part? Consciousness part. And
I say you are all-pervading, and if understand ‘I’ as
Consciousness without batting the eyelid you can node your
head and say yes it is true I am all-pervading. But suppose I say
you are all-pervading and you take only the physical body then
you wonder what is being taught. This is called communication
gap. And therefore to avoid the communication gap we should
always know the meaning of the I as Consciousness. This is
called त्वम् पद लक्ष्यार्ा must be kept in mind throughout वेदातत
श्रवणम्. Don’t take the popular meaning of the word ‘I’ but take
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
the scriptural meaning of the word ‘I’. This is called लक्ष्यार्ा
ज्ञािम्. This is the second qualification required for listening to
वेदातत. That is ब्रह्म-आत्म-ऐक्य क्षसद्ध्यर्ु म्.
3) Then the third preparation is यम मा राज introduces
योिाभ्यािः, the practice of meditation for disciplining the
mind.
यदा पञ्चावनतष्ठतते ज्ञािानि मििा िह । बुनद्धि ि नवचेिते
तामाहु ः परमां िनतम् ॥ कठोपनिषत् २-३-१० ॥
The capacity to withdraw the mind from external object and
focus on a particular field and retain there for a length of time.
This absorption capacity is called निनवा कल्पक िमान . And
this िमान अभ्याि यम मा राज presents as a discipline of the
mind. You can call it as उपािि or meditation.
4) Then the fourth preparatory discipline यम मा राज
highlights is श्रद्धा, i.e., faith in the words of गुरु and scriptures.
Giving the benefit of doubt to the गुरु and शास्त्र. So even
though I am not able to conceive of ब्रह्मि् which is formless,
colorless, attributeless, which cannot be conceived by sense
organs, which cannot be thought of by the mind, the more you
hear the description the more you get doubt. Even though you
are not able to comprehend accept the existence of ब्रह्मि्, ब्रह्म
अनस्त इक्षत श्रद्धा. And with this श्रद्धा you persistently listen it
will become clearer and clearer in due course.
अस्तीत्येवोपल् व्यस्तववभावेि चोभयोः ।
अस्तीत्येवोपल् स्य तववभावः प्रिीदनत ॥ कठोपनिषत् २-३-१३
॥

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
This is called श्रद्धा. श्रद्धावाि् लभते ज्ञािम्. गुरु-वेदान्त वाक्येषु
क्षवश्वास श्रद्धा. So thus four िा िs were highlighted in this
portion beginning from the fifth upto the thirteen.
Then from the fourteenth मन्त्र upto the eighteenth मन्त्र,
i.e., the end ज्ञािफलम्, the benefit of such a knowledge is
given. The फलम् is presented in several ways. यम मा राज
presents in three different forms. First he says िवा ग्रनतर् नाशः,
all the knots of ignorance are gone. िवा ग्रनतर् नाशः can be
understood as अक्षवद्या अध्यासः नाशः, the destruction of
ignorance and consequent misconception. In fact ignorance by
itself is not a problem. Because ignorance is bliss. But
ignorance leads to varieties of errors and that creates lot of
problems. I am the body is one error, I am the mind is one error,
I am subject to birth is one error, I am subject to death is another
error. Even though ignorance may be one errors are many. And
ignorance plus errors is called here ग्रतर्यः. And all of them are
destroyed. This is फलम् number one. Then the second फलम्
that यम मा राज highlights is िवा काम नाशः, destruction of all
desires, especially all binding desires. Whenever we say desire
in the context of वेदातत remember binding desires. Non-
binding desires you have any amount no problem. Because they
are fulfilled ok, not fulfilled equally ok. They are called non-
binding desires. Here we are talking about binding desires
through which I expect fulfilment in life. And therefore
consequent tension, anxiety, fear, stress, disappointment,
everything in the form of संसार. All such कामs are gone. So
काम नाशः is the second फलम्. Then the third one, the positive
फलम् is ब्रह्मप्राक्षप्तः, attainment of oneness with ब्रह्मि्.
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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
अर ब्रह्म िमश्नुते ॥ कठोपनिषत् २-३-१४ ॥
ब्रह्मप्रािः नवरजः नवमत्ृ युः अभत
ू ् ॥ कठोपनिषत् २-३-१८ ॥
So ब्रह्मप्राक्षप्तः or ब्रह्म ऐक्यम् is the third फलम्. But here we
should be very careful. When I say ब्रह्मप्राक्षप्तः it is not actually
getting united with ब्रह्मि्. There is no union. ब्रह्मप्राक्षप्तः means
dropping the notion of division between ब्रह्मि् and me. So that
divisive notion is dropped, that is called ऐक्यप्राक्षप्तः.
So these are the three फलम्s of ज्ञािम्. And the most
important thing is यम मा राज promises the result here and now.
Therefore available for verification. So you can see the benefit
here and now, guaranteed. And incidentally यम मा राज gives
the फलम् for the िानचकेत ritual also which was taught through
the second boon. So िानचकेत ritual along with नवराट् उपािि,
नवराट् उपािि िनहत िानचकेत कमा was taught and he reminds
the benefit of that also. It is क्रममुनक्त. And after presenting this
ज्ञािफलम् both यम मा राज and िनचकेति् withdraw to the
green room. Then the उपनिषत् comes back and tells us not only
िनचकेति् got the benefit, whoever gains this knowledge they
will all get the same benefit.
मत्ृ युप्रोक्तां िनचकेतोऽर् ल्ध्वा नवद्यामेतां योिनवन ं च कृत्स्िम् ।
ब्रह्मप्रािो नवरजोऽभनू द्वमत्ृ युरतयोऽप्येवं यो नवदध्यात्ममेव ॥
कठोपनिषत् २-३-१८ ॥
So with this the general फलश्रुक्षत from the उपनिषत् the third
section is also over. The second chapter of कठोपनिषत् is over
and also the entire कठोपनिषत्. So we will repeat the

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कठोपनिषत् वल्ली ६
शानततपाठ once again to thank the Lord for the successful
completion.
िह िाववतु । िह िौ भुिक्तु । िह वीयं करवावहै ।
तेजनस्विाव ीतमस्तु मा नवनद्वषावहै ॥ ॐ शानततः शानततः
शानततः ॥
ॐ पण ू ु मदः पणू ु क्षमदम् पण ू ु मुदच्यते । पण
ू ाु त्पण ू ु स्य पण
ू ु मादाय
ू ु मेवावक्षशष्यते ॥ ॐ शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः शाक्षन्तः ॥ हररः ॐ.
पण

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