kathoupnishad 10-11-15

8/19/2019 Kathoupnishad 10-11-15

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What are Upnishads? The Upanishads are Hindu scriptures that discuss the

nature of God, reality, and the individual soul. The word ‘Upanishad’ literally

means ‘sitting down eside,’ referring to the practice of disciples sitting on the

ground while the guru !teacher" imparts his teaching.

#any learned persons attach a sense of deep mysticism and comple$ity while

e$plaining the concepts of Upnishads which is not correct. %t should e simpli&ed

so that layman can understand and ta'e advantage of their wisdom. Hinduism is

called as the most lieral religion of the world as it allows spirit of free in(uiry

and freedom to practice as per one’s own conviction. %n the Upanishads, we

have a scripture which, among all Holy )criptures of the world, displays the most

scienti&c spirit in connection with spiritual en(uiry. The sages whose thoughts

and teachings we read in the Upanishads, seem to e as much inspired y

constructive dout as the most modern men of science. Their (uestions and

answers indicate that they lived in an age when, alongside of conformism and

rigid maintenance of old practices men thirsted for Truth and the atmosphere

was charged with the oldest free thought* Satyamevajayate nanrtam

satyenapantha vitato devayanah. (Truth always wins and following path of Truth

one attains the ultimate state of Truth.)

The religious igotry, conservatism and conformism that prevails in our society

midst today, in spite of so much development in science and free lieral

thought, does not confuse us. We are familiar with it and we &nd no di+culty in

appraising and evaluating them in their true measure, oth the conicting

elements, orthodo$ practice as well as prevailing s'epticism. -ut the

conformism of some thousands of years ago and ritualism and orthodo$y in allreligions is a very dierent thing. We understand it much less, if at all, and it,

therefore, lurs the picture. We may fail for this reason rightly to appreciate the

spirit of en(uiry which dominated the mind and lives of the sages whose

teachings are recorded in the Upanishads, and which is reected in every line of

this scripture of %ndia.



%f we learn to ma'e due allowance for the time/interval, and have enlightenment

and elasticity of mind enough to e ale to use and pro&t y a holy oo' with

invaluale hoary associations, without having to get the te$t actuallye$purgated and revised in order to e$clude the irrelevancies and the mere

ac'ground of a ygone age, we could not have a etter oo' for the modern

times than the Upanishads.

0mong Upnishads, there is one Upnishad called as ‘1atha Upnishad’. The 1atha

Upanishad compares the individual ody to a chariot driven y senses instead of

horses. 2ur cardinal goal is to reach at the end of the ultimate road. The

individual soul is said to e the master of this chariot, the intellect thecharioteer, and the mind the reins. When an individual has a restrained mind,

&rmly holding the reins, and armed with devotion and love for his perfect #aster

or Guru, he reaches the end of the road3self / reali4ation and God / reali4ation.

This forms the su5ect matter of one of the Upanishads called 1atha Upanishad.

There was 6a5asrawas, a famous person during the ancient %ndia, who was

performing a great ya5na !7itual of sacrifice, devotion, worship and offering) in which the

performer of the ya5na had to give away all his worldly possessions. %t was a

uni(ue occasion. The place was eautifully decorated. The sages and rishis

attended in great numer and they were chanting the holy mantras !sacredutterances" with great devotion while oering oerings to the holy &re.

6a5asrawas had a son named 8achi'eta, who was si$teen years old. 0t the end

of the sacri&ce, 6a5asrawas announced in pompous manner that he is giving

away all his possessions including a large herd of cows to the teachers and

saints, who had come from all the places. 8achi'eta was standing ne$t to his

father and oserving his father gifting away the cows one y one. 8achi'eta was

surprised to see his father gifting away old cows which could not wal' properly

or give mil'. 8achi'eta felt that this was not proper as y giving these cows his

father would not get the desired result of the sacri&ce.8achi'eta protested in a loud whisper,9:ou are not giving away all your

possessions; <ather, 0m % not your possession?9 8achi'eta as'ed his father to

whom he would li'e to gift his son to. The father did not pay much attention to

his (uestion. 8achi'eta repeatedly as'ed the same (uestion. His father ecame

angry on eing repeatedly critici4ed and replied, =% give you to :ama, the God of

death.9 Though his father tried to ta'e ac' his curse, the words could not e



unsaid as words spo'en y a meditating person carries weight of his meditation.

6a5asrawas did not mean what he said. He had uttered these words in anger. 8o

father would li'e to send their son away to the land of death. 8achi'eta decided

to oey the words of his father y going to the aode of :ama. 6a5asrawas

implored his little son to stay ac'. 8achi'eta loved his father and did not want

to disoey him. -ut at the same time he was very &rm as he had to 'eep thehonor of his father’s word. <olding his hands he told his father that their

ancestors never went ac' on their words and he would li'e to follow the same.

He wanted his father to follow the same tradition. 8achi'eta had a spiritual

leaning and 'new that all the things in this world are temporary and he was not

afraid of death. He understood that following the path of truth is the gateway to

lieration and will &nally lead to God/reali4ation.

6a5asrawas was very sad ut gave him permission as he was a follower of truth.

8achi'eta left for the aode of :ama. 2n reaching there he found that :ama was

not at home as he was collecting souls from the mortal world. <or three daysand nights the young oy waited without food, water and sleep at the doorstep

of :ama’s aode. <inally :ama arrived riding a water ualo and loo'ing very

&erce, felt sorry and was deeply grieved to see that there was no one to

welcome 8achi'eta. :ama himself greeted him with due respect for having 'ept

8achi'eta waiting for three days as he rememered the saying =Honor the guest

as God.9 >hagrined, he told the oy that he cannot enter gate of death until his

mar'ed time for death does not come and he was free to leave the land of death

unharmed. -ut 8achi'eta was insistent as he was ound to follow his father’s

words. :ama was perple$ed and tried to appease him y granting him three

oons.

8achi'eta said, =% see' the welfare of my father as my &rst oon. His anger e

appeased9 He granted him happily. =)ir % desire to 'now how one could reach

heaven where there is no sorrow, old age or death9. 8achi'eta did not as' this

second oon for himself ut for the sa'e of the people. He wanted everyone to

learn this secret 'nowledge and free themselves for the suerings.

:ama was pleased with the unsel&shness of 8achi'eta. :ama gave all the details

of a particular method, the performance of which would ta'e one to heaven.

0s 8achi'eta was an intelligent and a sincere oy lessed with a spiritual

'nowledge, he could understand all that was taught. :ama was pleased with him

and in appreciation, named that particular sacri&ce after 8achi'eta himself.

8achi'eta as'ed, =7espected )ir. What happens to a man after death? % should

li'e to 'now the truth from you. This % as' for the third oon.9

He in(uires, =%f % gain immorality, will % e still me when % die.9



:ama had not e$pected this (uestion from a young oy. He tried to divert him

ut 8achi'eta was very &rm. He wanted to 'now the answer. :ama was very

pleased ut he tried to divert the attention with lot of attractive things.

8achi'eta declined all these worldly pleasures. :ama was pleased with such a

young truth/see'er who had re5ected the path of en5oyment and chose the path

of goodness. Then :ama taught him the 'nowledge of the 0tman, reali4ing whichman attains immortality. :ama e$plained that this ody is a chariot, with the

sense as horses, the intellect as charioteer, and the )elf as the one who rides in

the ac'. )oul !0tma" is translated as )elf, and is understood not only as the

individual consciousness ut also the universal -eing towards which all love

ows. :ama e$plained*

%f a person does not 'now the )elf, then his mind is restless, li'e uncontrolled

veins. The horses dash this way and that, dragging the whole chariot in every

direction. )uch a person never reaches the goal of life. -ut those who 'now the

)elf have even minds. They reach their home.

He further e$plained*

When you see' life eternal, you must turn your attention inward. There you will

&nd the )elf. The innermost )elf resides in the center of the heart li'e a ame

without smo'e. %t is the same today and will e same tomorrow. %t grants all

desires. The )elf is -rahma. %t is immortal. :ou will 'now the )elf when your

senses will e still, your mind is at peace, and your heart is pure.

Here ord of death is trying to e$plain the spiritual secret of second spiritual

place, the aode of -rahma !also called as astral region or Tri'uti". Here mind

resides. The real 5ourney starts after that as soul separates from the mind and it

travels to @arrahma !7egion of pure spirituality" and &nally to )ach'hand !and

of @ure Truth". This is the 5ourney of saints, )u&s and real fa(irs.

kathoupnishad 10-11-15

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