Katha Upanishad

More minute than the minute, greater than the great / Is the Soul (Ātman) that is set in the heart of a creature here. / One who is without the active will beholds Him, and becomes freed from sorrow — / When through the grace of the Creator he beholds the greatness of the Soul.

First Adhyāya

First Vallī

Now verily, with zeal did Vajasravasa give his whole possession [as a religious gift]. He had a son, Naciketas by name.
Into him, boy as he was, while the sacrificial gifts were being led up, faith (śraddhā) entered. He thought to himself:
'Their water drunk, their grass eaten,
Then milk milked, barren! —
Joyless (ānandā) certainly are those worlds
He goes to, who gives such [cows].'
Then he said to his father: 'Papa, to whom will you give me?' — a second time — a third time. To him then he said: 'To Death I give you!'
Of many I go as the first.
Of many I go as an intermediate.
What, pray, has Yama (Death) to be done
That he will do with me today?
Look forward, how [fared] the former ones!
Look backward; so the after ones.
Like grain a mortal ripens,
Like grain he is born hither (ā-jāyate) again!
As fire, enters
A Brahman (brāhmaṇa) guest into houses.
They make this the quieting thereof: —
Fetch water, Vaivasvata!
Hope and expectation, intercourse and pleasantness,
Sacrifices and meritorious deeds, sons and cattle, all —
This he snatches away from the man of little understanding
In whose home a Brahman remains without eating.
Since for three nights thou hast abode in my house
Without eating, O Brahman, a guest to be reverenced,
Reverence be to thee, O Brahman! Well-being (svasti) be to me!
Therefore in return choose three boons!
With intent appeased, well-minded, with passion departed,
That Gautama toward me may be, O Death;
That cheerfully he may greet me, when from thee dismissed —
This of the three as boon the first I choose!
Cheerful as formerly will he be —
Auddalaki Aruni, from me dismissed.
Happily will he sleep o'nights, with passion departed,
When he has seen thee from the mouth of Death released.
In the heavenly world is no fear whatsoever.
Not there art thou. Not from old age does one fear.
Over both having crossed — hunger, and thirst too —
Gone beyond sorrow, one rejoices in the heaven-world.
Thyself, O Death, understandest the heavenly fire.
Declare it to me who have faith (śraddhādhāna).
Heaven-world people partake of immortality.
This I choose with boon the second.
To thee I do declare, and do thou learn it of me —
Understanding about the heavenly fire, O Naciketas!
The attainment of the infinite world, likewise too its establishment —
Know thou that as set down in the secret place [of the heart].
He told him of that fire as the beginning of the world,
What bricks, and how many, and how [built].
And he too repeated that as it was told.
Then, pleased with him, Death said again —
Delighting, the great soul (mahātman) said to him: —
A further boon I give thee here today.
By thy name indeed shall this fire be [known].
This multifold garland (śṛṅkā), too, accept.
Having kindled a triple Naciketas-fire, having attained union with the three,
Performing the triple work, one crosses over birth and death.
By knowing the knower of what is born from Brahma, the god to be praised,
[And] by revering [him], one goes for ever to this [peace (śānti)].
Having kindled a triple Naciketas-fire, having known this triad,
He who knowing thus, builds up the Naciketas-fire —
He, having cast off in advance the bonds of death,
With sorrow overpassed, rejoices in the heaven-world.
This, O Naciketas, is thy heavenly fire
Which thou didst choose with the second boon.
As thine, indeed, will folks proclaim this fire.
The third boon, Naciketas, choose!
This doubt that there is in regard to a man deceased,
'He exists,' say some; 'He exists not,' say others —
This would I know, instructed by thee!
Of the boons this is boon the third.
Even the gods had doubt as to this of yore!
For truly, it is not easily to be understood. Subtile is this matter (dharma).
Another boon, O Naciketas, choose!
Press me not! Give up this one for me!
Even the gods had doubt, indeed, as to this,
And thou, O Death, sayest that it is not easily to be understood.
And another declarer of it the like of thee is not to be obtained.
No other boon the equal of it is there at all.
Choose centenarian sons and grandsons,
Many cattle, elephants, gold, and horses.
Choose a great abode of earth.
And thyself live as many autumns as thou desirest.
This, if thou thinkest an equal boon,
Choose — wealth and long life!
A great one on earth, O Naciketas, be thou.
The enjoyer of thy desires I make thee.
Whatever desires are hard to get in mortal world —
For all desires at pleasure make request.
These lovely maidens with chariots, with lyres —
Such [maidens], indeed, are not obtainable by men —
By these, from me bestowed, be waited on!
O Naciketas, question me not regarding dying (maraṇa)!
Ephemeral things! That which is a mortal's, O End-maker,
Even the vigor (tejas) of all the powers, they wear away.
Even a whole life is slight indeed.
Thine be the vehicles (vāha)! Thine be the dance and song!
Not with wealth is a man to be satisfied.
Shall we take wealth, if we have seen thee?
Shall we live so long as thou shalt rule?
— This, in truth, is the boon to be chosen by me.
When one has come into the presence of undecaying immortals,
What decaying mortal here below that understands,
That meditates upon the pleasures of beauty and delight,
Would delight in a life over-long?
This thing whereon they doubt, O Death:
What there is in the great passing-on — tell us that!
This boon, that has entered into the hidden —
No other than that does Naciketas choose.

Second Vallī

The better (śreyas) is one thing, and the pleasanter (preyas) quite another.
Both these, of different aim, bind a person.
Of these two, well is it for him who takes the better;
He fails of his aim who chooses the pleasanter.
Both the better and the pleasanter come to a man.
Going all around the two, the wise man discriminates.
The wise man chooses the better, indeed, rather than the pleasanter.
The stupid man, from getting-and-keeping (yoga-kṣema), chooses the pleasanter.
Thou indeed, upon the pleasant and pleasantly appearing desires
Meditating, hast let them go, O Naciketas.
Thou art not one who has taken that garland of wealth
In which many men sink down.
Widely opposite and asunder are these two:
Ignorance (avidyā) and what is known as 'knowledge' (vidyā).
I think Naciketas desirous of obtaining knowledge!
Many desires rend thee not.
Those abiding in the midst of ignorance,
Self-wise, thinking themselves learned,
Running hither and thither, go around deluded,
Like blind men led by one who is himself blind.
The passing-on is not clear to him who is childish,
Heedless, deluded with the delusion of wealth.
Thinking 'This is the world! There is no other!' —
Again and again he comes under my control.
He who by many is not obtainable even to hear of,
He whom many, even when hearing, know not —
Wonderful is the declarer, proficient the obtainer of Him!
Wonderful the knower, proficiently taught!
Not, when proclaimed by an inferior man, is He
To be well understood, [though] being manifoldly considered.
Unless declared by another, there is no going thither;
For He is inconceivably more subtile than what is of subtile measure.
Not by reasoning (tarka) is this thought (mati) to be attained.
Proclaimed by another, indeed, it is for easy understanding,
Dearest friend (preṣṭha)! —
This which thou hast attained! Ah, thou art of true steadfastness!
May there be for us a questioner the like of thee, O Naciketas!
I know that what is known as treasure is something inconstant.
For truly, that which is steadfast is not obtained by those who are unsteadfast.
Therefore the Naciketas-fire has been built up by me,
And with means which are inconstant I have obtained that which is constant.
The obtainment of desire, the foundation of the world,
The endlessness of will, the safe shore of fearlessness,
The greatness of praise, the wide extent, the foundation — having seen
Thou, O Naciketas, a wise one, hast with steadfastness let [these] go!
Him who is hard to see, entered into the hidden,
Set in the secret place [of the heart], dwelling in the depth, primeval —
By considering him as God, through the Yoga-study of what pertains to self,
The wise man leaves joy and sorrow behind.
When a mortal has heard this and fully comprehended,
Has torn off what is concerned with the right (dharmya) and has taken Him as the subtile,
Then he rejoices, for indeed he has obtained what is to be rejoiced in.
I regard Naciketas a dwelling open [for Ātman].
Apart from the right (dharma) and apart from the unright (a-dharma),
Apart from both what has been done and what has not been done here,
Apart from what has been and what is to be —
That thou seest as that, speak that!
The word which all the Vedas rehearse,
And which all austerities proclaim,
Desiring which men live the life of religious studentship (brahmacarya) —
That word to thee I briefly declare!
That is Ōm!
That syllable, truly, indeed, is Brahma!
That syllable indeed is the supreme!
Knowing that syllable, truly, indeed,
Whatever one desires is his!
That is the best support.
That is the supreme support.
Knowing that support,
One becomes happy in the Brahma-world.
The wise one [i.e., the soul, the ātman, the self] is not born, nor dies.
This one has not come from anywhere, has not become anyone.
Unborn, constant, eternal, primeval, this one
Is not slain when the body is slain.
If the slayer think to slay,
If the slain think himself slain,
Both these understand not.
This one slays not, nor is slain.
More minute than the minute, greater than the great,
Is the Soul (Ātman) that is set in the heart of a creature here.
One who is without the active will (a-kṛatin) beholds Him, and becomes freed from sorrow —
When through the grace (prasāda) of the Creator (dhātṛ) he beholds the greatness of the Soul (Ātman).
Sitting, he proceeds afar,
Lying, he goes everywhere.
Who else than I is able to know
The god (deva) who rejoices and rejoices not?
Him who is the bodiless among bodies,
Stable among the unstable,
The great, all-pervading Soul (Ātman) —
On recognizing Him, the wise man sorrows not.
This Soul (Ātman) is not to be obtained by instruction,
Nor by intellect, nor by much learning.
He is to be obtained only by the one whom He chooses;
To such a one that Soul (Ātman) reveals his own person (tanuṁ svām).
Not he who has not ceased from bad conduct,
Not he who is not tranquil, not he who is not composed,
Not he who is not of peaceful mind
Can obtain Him by intelligence (prajñā).
He for whom the priesthood (brahman) and the nobility (kṣatra)
Both are as food,
And death is as a sauce —
Who really knows where He is?

Third Vallī

There are two that drink of righteousness (ṛta) in the world of good deeds;
Both are entered into the secret place [of the heart], and in the highest upper sphere.
Brahma-knowers speak of them as 'light' and 'shade,'
And so do householders who maintain the five sacrificial fires, and those too who perform the triple Naciketas-fire.
This which is the bridge for those who sacrifice,
And which is the highest imperishable Brahma,
For those who seek to cross over to the fearless farther shore —
The Naciketas-fire may we master!
Know thou the soul (ātman, self) as riding in a chariot,
The body as the chariot.
Know thou the intellect (buddhi) as the chariot-driver,
And the mind (manas) as the reins.
The senses (indriya), they say, are the horses;
The objects of sense, what they range over.
The self combined with senses and mind
Wise men call 'the enjoyer' (bhoktṛ).
He who has not understanding (a-vijñāna),
Whose mind is not constantly held firm —
His senses are uncontrolled,
Like the vicious horses of a chariot-driver.
He, however, who has understanding,
Whose mind is constantly held firm —
His senses are under control,
Like the good horses of a chariot-driver.
He, however, who has not understanding,
Who is unmindful and ever impure,
Reaches not the goal,
But goes on to transmigration (saṁsāra).
He, however, who has understanding,
Who is mindful and ever pure,
Reaches the goal
From which he is born no more.
He, however, who has the understanding of a chariot-driver,
A man who reins in his mind —
He reaches the end of his journey,
That highest place of Viṣṇu.
Higher than the senses are the objects of sense.
Higher than the objects of sense is the mind (manas);
And higher than the mind is the intellect (buddhi).
Higher than the intellect is the Great Self (Ātman).
Higher than the Great is the Unmanifest (avyakta).
Higher than the Unmanifest is the Person.
Higher than the Person there is nothing at all.
That is the goal. That is the highest course.
Though He is hidden in all things,
That Soul (Ātman, Self) shines not forth.
But He is seen by subtle seers
With superior, subtle intellect.
An intelligent man should suppress his speech and his mind.
The latter he should suppress in the Understanding-Self (jñāna ātman).
The understanding he should suppress in the Great Self [i.e., buddhi, intellect].
That he should suppress in the Tranquil Self (śānta ātman).
Arise ye! Awake ye!
Obtain your boons and understand them!
A sharpened edge of a razor, hard to traverse,
A difficult path is this — poets (kavi) declare!
What is soundless, touchless, formless, imperishable,
Likewise tasteless, constant, odorless,
Without beginning, without end, higher than the great, stable —
By discerning That, one is liberated from the mouth of death.
The Naciketas tale,
Death's immemorial teaching —
By declaring and hearing this, a wise man
Is magnified in the Brahma-world.
If one recites this supreme secret
In an assembly of Brahmans,
Or at a time of the ceremony for the dead, devoutly —
That makes for immortality!
— That makes for immortality!

Second Adhyāya

Fourth Vallī

The Self-existent (svayambhū) pierced the openings [of the senses] outward;
Therefore one looks outward, not within himself (antarātman).
A certain wise man, while seeking immortality,
Introspectively beheld the Soul (Ātman) face to face.
The childish go after outward pleasures;
They walk into the net of widespread death.
But the wise, knowing immortality,
Seek not the stable among things which are unstable here.
That by which [one discerns] form, taste, smell,
Sound, and mutual touches —
It is with That indeed that one discerns.
What is there left over here?
This, verily, is That!
By recognizing as the great pervading Soul (Ātman)
That whereby one perceives both
The sleeping state and the waking state,
The wise man sorrows not.
He who knows this experiencer (madhv-ad)
As the living Soul (Ātman) near at hand,
Lord of what has been and of what is to be —
He does not shrink away from Him.
This, verily, is That!
He who was born of old from austerity (tapas),
Was born of old from the waters,
Who stands entered into the secret place [of the heart],
Who looked forth through beings —
This, verily, is That!
She who arises with life (prāṇa),
Aditi (Infinity), maker of divinity,
Who stands entered into the secret place [of the heart],
Who was born forth through beings —
This, verily, is That!
Fire (Agni), the all-knower (Jātavedas), hidden away in the two fire-sticks
Like the embryo well borne by pregnant women.
Worthy to be worshiped day by day
By watchful men with oblations —
This, verily, is That!
Whence the sun rises,
And where it goes to rest —
On Him all the gods are founded;
And no one ever goes beyond it.
This, verily, is That!
Whatever is here, that is there.
What is there, that again is here.
He obtains death after death
Who seems to see a difference here.
By the mind, indeed, is this [realization] to be attained: —
There is no difference here at all!
He goes from death to death
Who seems to see a difference here.
A Person of the measure of a thumb
Stands in the midst of one's self (ātman),
Lord of what has been and of what is to be.
One does not shrink away from Him.
This, verily, is That!
A Person of the measure of a thumb,
Like a light without smoke,
Lord of what has been and what is to be.
He alone is today, and tomorrow too.
As water rained upon rough ground
Runs to waste among the hills,
So he who sees qualities (dharmā) separately,
Runs to waste after them.
As pure water poured forth into pure
Becomes the very same,
So becomes the soul (ātman), O Gautama,
Of the seer (muni) who has understanding.

Fifth Vallī

By ruling over the eleven-gated citadel
Of the Unborn, the Un-crooked-minded one,
One sorrows not.
But when liberated [from the body], he is liberated indeed.
This, verily, is That!
The swan [i.e., sun] in the clear, the Vasu in the atmosphere,
The priest by the altar, the guest in the house,
In man, in broad space, in the right (ṛta), in the sky,
Born in water, born in cattle, born in the right, born in rock,
Is the Right, the Great.
Upwards the out-breath (prāṇa) he leadeth.
The in-breath (apāna) inwards he casts.
The dwarf who is seated in the middle,
All the gods (deva) reverence.
When this incorporate one that stands in the body
Is dissolved,
And is released from the body,
What is there left over here?
This, verily, is That!
Not by the out-breath (prāṇa) and the in-breath (apāna)
Doth any mortal whatsoever live.
But by another do men live —
Even That whereon both these depend.
Come! I will declare this to you:
The hidden, eternal Brahma;
And how, after it reaches death,
The soul (ātman) fares, O Gautama!
Some go into a womb
For the embodiment of a corporeal being.
Others go into a stationary thing
According to their deeds (karman), according to their knowledge.
He who is awake in those that sleep,
The Person who fashions desire after desire —
That indeed is the Pure. That is Brahma.
That indeed is called the Immortal.
On it all the worlds do rest;
And no one soever goes beyond it.
This, verily, is That!
As the one fire has entered the world
And becomes corresponding in form to every form,
So the one Inner Soul (Ātman) of all things
Is corresponding in form to every form, and yet is outside.
As the one wind has entered the world
And becomes corresponding in form to every form,
So the one Inner Soul of all things
Is corresponding in form to every form, and yet is outside.
As the sun, the eye of the whole world,
Is not sullied by the external faults of the eyes,
So the one Inner Soul of all things
Is not sullied by the evil in the world, being external to it.
The Inner Soul (antarātman) of all things, the One Controller,
Who makes his one form manifold —
The wise who perceive Him as standing in oneself,
They, and no others, have eternal happiness!
Him who is the constant among the inconstant, the intelligent among intelligences,
The One among many, who grants desires —
The wise who perceive Him as standing in oneself,
They, and no others, have eternal peace!
'This is it!' — thus they recognize
The highest, indescribable happiness.
How, now, shall I understand 'this'?
Does it shine [of itself] or does it shine in reflection?
The sun shines not there, nor the moon and stars,
These lightnings shine not, much less this (earthly) fire!
After Him, as He shines, doth everything shine,
This whole world is illumined with His light.

Sixth Vallī

Its root is above, its branches below —
This eternal fig-tree!
That [root] indeed is the Pure. That is Brahma.
That indeed is called the Immortal.
On it all the worlds do rest,
And no one soever goes beyond it.
This, verily, is That!
This whole world, whatever there is,
Was created from and moves in Life (prāṇa).
The great fear, the upraised thunderbolt —
They who know That, become immortal.
From fear of Him fire (Agni) doth burn.
From fear the sun (Sūrya) gives forth heat.
From fear both Indra and Wind (Vāyu),
And Death (Mṛtyu) as fifth, do speed along.
If one has been able to perceive [Him] here on earth
Before the dissolution of the body,
According to that [knowledge] he becomes fitted
For embodiment in the world-creations.
As in a mirror, so is it seen in the body (ātman);
As in a dream, so in the world of the fathers;
As if in water, so in the world of the Gandharvas (genii);
As if in light and shade, so in the world of Brahma.
The separate nature of the senses,
And that their arising and setting
Is of things that come into being apart [from himself],
The wise man recognizes, and sorrows not.
Higher than the senses (indriyāṇi) is the mind (manas);
Above the mind is the true being (sattva).
Over the true being is the Great Self [i.e., buddhi, intellect];
Above the Great is the Unmanifest (avyakta).
Higher than the Unmanifest, however, is the Person (Puruṣa),
All-pervading and without any mark (a-liṅga) whatever.
Knowing which, a man is liberated
And goes to immortality.
His form is not to be beheld.
No one soever sees Him with the eye.
He is framed by the heart, by the thought, by the mind.
They who know That become immortal.
When cease the five
[Sense-]knowledges, together with the mind (manas),
And the intellect (buddhi) stirs not —
That, they say, is the highest course.
This they consider as Yoga —
The firm holding back of the senses.
Then one becomes undistracted.
Yoga, truly, is the origin and the end.
Not by speech, not by mind,
Not by sight can He be apprehended.
How can He be comprehended
Otherwise than by one's saying 'He is'?
He can indeed be comprehended by the thought 'He is' (asti)
And by [admitting] the real nature of both [his comprehensibility and his incomprehensibility].
When he has been comprehended by the thought 'He is'
His real nature manifests itself.
When are liberated all
The desires that lodge in one's heart,
Then a mortal becomes immortal!
Therein he reaches Brahma!
When are cut all
The knots of the heart here on earth,
Then a mortal becomes immortal!
— Thus far is the instruction.
There are a hundred and one arteries of the heart.
One of these passes up to the crown of the head.
Going up by it, one goes to immortality.
The others are for departing in various directions.
A Person of the measure of a thumb is the inner soul (antarātman),
Ever seated in the heart of creatures.
Him one should draw out from one's own body
Like an arrow-shaft out from a reed, with firmness.
Him one should know as the Pure, the Immortal —
Yea, Him one should know as the Pure, the Immortal.
Then Naciketas, having received this knowledge
Declared by Death, and the entire rule of Yoga,
Attained Brahma and became free from passion, free from death;
And so may any other who knows this in regard to the Soul (Ātman).

Colophon

Source: Sanskrit (Vedic tradition; oral and manuscript tradition, ~3rd–4th century BCE)

Translation: Hume, Robert Ernest. The Thirteen Principal Upanishads Translated from the Sanskrit. Oxford University Press, 1921. Public domain.

Scribal Formatting: Wataru (Translator-07), 2026-04-25. Transcribed and formatted from the DjVu OCR scan of Hume's 1921 edition (Internet Archive identifier: in.ernet.dli.2015.88708). OCR artifacts corrected throughout; Hume's scholarly parenthetical Sanskrit glosses (Ātman, buddhi, manas, etc.) preserved where philosophically significant. Hume's section-heading apparatus omitted per archival convention; structural headers (Adhyāya, Vallī) retained as they are part of the text's own organization. First archival presentation of this translation in the Good Works Library.

Note on the Katha Upanishad: One of the most celebrated Upanishads — a formal dialogue between the boy Naciketas and Yama, the Lord of Death. When Naciketas's father rashly gives him away "to Death," the boy goes willingly and waits three days at Yama's house. As recompense for the slight, Yama offers three boons. The third — knowledge of what happens after death — Yama tries to deflect with wealth, pleasure, and long life. Naciketas refuses them all. The rest of the Upanishad is Yama's teaching: the Self is eternal, unborn, indestructible; it is reached not by cleverness but by grace and renunciation; it is smaller than the smallest, greater than the greatest; and it is identical with Brahman, the ground of all being. The chariot metaphor of the Third Vallī became one of the most famous images in Indian philosophy, repeated and elaborated in the Bhagavad Gita.

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