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Katha Upanishad: Translations and Interpretations
The Katha Upanishad is probably the most widely known of all the Upanishads. It has been translated into many languages. English, German, French and other writers have all agreed in pronouncing it as one of the most perfect expressions of the religion and philosophy of the Vedas.
There is no consensus regarding the place of this Upanishad in Vedic literature. Some authorities declare it to belong to the Yajur–Veda, others to the Sama–Veda, while a large number put it down as a part of the Atharva–Veda. The story is first suggested in the Rig–Veda; it is told more definitely in the Yajur–Veda. In the Katha Upanishad, it appears fully elaborated and interwoven with the loftiest Vedic teaching.
Dialogue between Nachiketa and Yama
It contains the famous dialogue between Nachiketa and Yama, the lord of departed spirits. Nachiketa’s father, in a rage, inadvertently promises his son to Yama as a sacrifice, and to keep his promise, promptly sends him to the doors of Yama’s abode. Finding Yama absent, Nachiketa was kept waiting for three days at the doors, without food or water. Yama, on his return, apologizes to Nachiketa as no guest is to be treated in such a manner in his household. He offers three boons to Nachiketa. Return to his father in earth and the meaning of the sacrificial fire were the first two boons granted without hesitation.
Now for the third one, Nachiketa asked, “What happens to the soul after death? After the death of this body or it may be after the death of the individuality itself – in either case, what happens to the soul?”
The third boon was to explain the meaning of death, which even Yama, the Lord of Death finds it difficult to explain. Refusing to take alternative offers of worldly blessings, Nachiketa’s persistently questions about death and immortality. This forms the philosophical discourse in Katha Upanishad.
The Lord of Death, Yama, starts his reply by these words – “There are two paths available for every person in this world: the way of the good and the way of the pleasant. The choice is up-to the individual to choose.
The good is called “sreyas” and the pleasant is called “preyas”. These are the two roads you can tread; you can either choose what is good or you can choose what is pleasant for you.
Lord Yama advises that the correct choice for a person to take is the first alternative. It is improper for any person to choose the pleasant path, because the good does not always look pleasant and the pleasant is certainly not always good. That which appears as the pleasant is nothing but the reaction of the sense organs in respect of objects outside. The pleasantness is not something existing in the object outside. The pleasantness is only in the sensations – a reaction of the sense organs.
Choosing the good is the correct path. But then what is good? It must always be good for you. It should not be a time-variant. Good for some time and not so good at other times.
Is there such a thing?
That which is commensurate with the needs of the soul may be regarded as good. Why? The body and parts of the body are impermanent. The soul is permanent. The impermanent cannot satisfy the permanent. When we talk about “good for the soul” we are not referring social goodness or conduct goodness. We refer to the spiritual goodness. It is not a goodness that lasts for some time only, or will apply to some people only, or suitable for certain conditions only. It is good for all conditions, for all times and for all individuals. Yet Nachiketa’s question was – what happens to the soul? We get a vague answer from the Katha Upanishad.
A more robust and satisfying answer is found in the Chandogya Upanishad and the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. Tentatively Lord Yama answers that when the body is shed, one takes a re-birth. One can be re-born as anything, according to the thoughts and the feelings entertained by the person during the tenure of the person. Thoughts that enter your mind at the moment of your death are very deciding.
If you think you can cheat the system by enjoying a life with a gay abandon and yet come up with some appropriate thoughts at the last hour – you are mistaken. You never know when and how your last hour will come up. And the last thoughts are but an essence of all thoughts entertained in your life.
Why do you have to have rebirth? It is necessary to fulfil the desires that you could not fulfil till date. But in the realization of the Self, which is universal, desires get extinguished. All your desires melt in the light of the Self. This is Nirvana.
Soul after death
What happens to the soul after death?” is the question raised by Nachiketa. “Ordinarily, rebirth takes place,” is the answer. And most people in the world are ordinary people because everyone has a desire of some kind or the other. Everyone is filled with egoism, and a self-assertive nature; therefore, everyone will be reborn.
If you have to be reborn, it is good to be born in more advanced circumstances. If you live like a tree, you may become a tree. if you live like an animal, you may become an animal. If you conduct yourself in a humanitarian way, you will be reborn as a very good human being. We said you will be re-born till all your desires are exhausted. What happens to the person who has no desires? Yama says I shall tell you about the man, the person who has no desires.
He who has no desires of any kind is called-“Nishkama”.
Apta-kama is one who has fulfilled all desires. Atma-kama refers to one who loves only the Self.
Only he who has love for the Universal Self can be said to have fulfilled all desires; every other person has some extraneous desire.
What happens to such a person when he departs from the body?
He will not depart. We generally say the soul departs. In the case of a Self-realised soul, no departure takes place. It sinks then and there into the Absolute, like a bubble in the ocean. When the bubble in the ocean bursts, it does not travel some distance; it dissolves itself into the bosom of the sea.
They become one with the very Existence, then and there, here and now. They neither have to go to heaven, nor to Brahma-loka.
The question of going arises only because of the concept of space and time. A timeless Eternity, which is the true essence of the soul of a person, does not travel to any place. It melts instantly into Pure Existence.
The Soul is Absolute and, hence, it enters the Absolute. This is what we gather from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. So much detail is not found in the Katha Upanishad . Many other things are casually mentioned by way of a tentative elucidation of the answer expected by Nachiketa.
