Upanishads · Kaṭha 1.11
॥
Devanāgarī
यथा पुरस्ताद् भविता प्रतीत औद्दालकिर् आरुणिर् मत्प्रसृष्टः ।
सुखं रात्रीः शयिता वीतमन्युस् त्वां ददृशिवान् मृत्युमुखात् प्रमुक्तम्
Transliteration (IAST)
yathā purastād bhavitā pratīta auddālakir āruṇir matprasṛṣṭaḥ /
sukhaṃ rātrīḥ śayitā vītamanyus tvāṃ dadṛśivān mṛtyumukhāt pramuktam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यथाyathāhow; since
पुरस्तात्purastātbefore; as before
भविताbhavitāwill be; shall become
प्रतीतःpratītaḥcontent; recognizing me
औद्दालकिःauddālakiḥAuddālaki; the son of Uddālaka
आरुणिःāruṇiḥĀruṇi; a descendant of Aruṇa
मत्प्रसृष्टःmatprasṛṣṭaḥreleased by me; sent by me
सुखम्sukhampeacefully; happily
रात्रीःrātrīḥnights; through the nights
शयिताśayitāhe will sleep; he will fall asleep
वीतमन्युःvītamanyuḥfree from anger; free of vexation
त्वाम्tvāmyou; you yourself
ददृशिवान्dadṛśivānhaving seen (perfect participle of √dṛś); having beheld; having met with his eyes
मृत्युमुखात्mṛtyumukhātfrom the jaws of death (mṛtyu-mukha); from the mouth of death; from the maw of destruction
प्रमुक्तम्pramuktamset free (pra-√muc — 'to release'); let go; liberated
Translation
"As before, Auddālaki Āruṇi will be kindly toward you — I release you. Having seen you delivered from the jaws of death, he will sleep peacefully at night, his anger gone."
Version
0f3847d8642e · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Yama grants the request with something over: the father will not merely "receive" his son but will be yathā purastāt, "as before", as though the terrible word had never been; he will sukhaṁ rātrīḥ śayitā — "sleep peacefully at night". Death knows the price of a guilty heart's sleeplessness: forgiveness is measured by sleep restored.
mṛtyu-mukhāt pramuktam — "delivered from the jaws of death": the Upaniṣad does not soften it — the boy was truly in the jaws; to let one who has come go back alive is an exception Death makes out of duty to a guest and out of joy over a pupil. The father is named with his full lineage — Auddālaki Āruṇi, son of Uddālaka, descendant of Aruṇa: it is not merely a man that is restored but the honour of a family, all but broken by the untruth of a single day.
The first boon is completed, and in it the hand of Providence is already visible: an angry word that turned into a road to Death will come home as a peace deeper than before — but only because there was found in that house one who preferred truth to grievance.