Upanishads · Kaṭha 1.6
॥
Devanāgarī
अनुपश्य यथा पूर्वे प्रतिपश्य तथापरे ।
सस्यम् इव मर्त्यः पच्यते सस्यम् इवाजायते पुनः
Transliteration (IAST)
anupaśya yathā pūrve pratipaśya tathāpare /
sasyam iva martyaḥ pacyate sasyam ivājāyate punaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अनुपश्यanupaśyalook back (anu-√paś — 'to look after'); look at those before; remember
यथाyathāhow; in what manner
पूर्वेpūrvethe former ones; the forefathers
प्रतिपश्यpratipaśyalook forward (prati-√paś); consider those now living; look about you
तथाtathālikewise; in this way
अपरेaparethose that come after; other
सस्यम् इवsasyam ivalike grain; as a crop
मर्त्यःmartyaḥa mortal; man
पच्यतेpacyateripens (from √pac — 'to cook, to ripen'); matures; comes ripe [for the harvest]
सस्यम् इवsasyam ivalike grain; as a crop
अजायतेajāyateis born (from √jan — 'to be born'); springs up again; arises once more
पुनःpunaḥagain; anew
Translation
"Look back at those before, look forward at those now: like grain a mortal ripens and falls — and like grain he is born again."
Version
25664dafc4bf · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Naciketas comforts his father — and his comfort is not childlike at all. anupaśya… pratipaśya — "look back… look forward": the forefathers went this road, the descendants will go it too; in sending me to Death you do nothing that time does not do with all. Keep your word — the truth of the family is dearer than a reprieve for me.
sasyam iva martyaḥ pacyate — "like grain a mortal ripens" — sasyam ivājāyate punaḥ — "and like grain he is born again". A great vegetal image: death is a harvest, not an annihilation; the grain falls into the earth in order to spring up. In a single verse the boy states that knowledge of the soul's passage which Yama will later unfold and deepen: the body is mortal as the ear of corn is mortal, but life passes over into a new sowing.
This calm breadth of view is what distinguishes the Vedic mind: time has a circle, the circle has a Master, and therefore death is no occasion either for hysteria or for a lie. He who sees life as longer than one body finds it easier to be truthful in this body: the truth will stay with the soul even when the ear of corn is cut.