Upanishads · Kaṭha 1.27
॥
Devanāgarī
न वित्तेन तर्पणीयो मनुष्यो लप्स्यामहे वित्तम् अद्राक्ष्म चेत् त्वा ।
जीविष्यामो यावद् ईशिष्यसि त्वं वरस् तु मे वरणीयः स एव
Transliteration (IAST)
na vittena tarpaṇīyo manuṣyo lapsyāmahe vittam adrākṣma cet tvā /
jīviṣyāmo yāvad īśiṣyasi tvaṃ varas tu me varaṇīyaḥ sa eva
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
नnanot; no
वित्तेनvittenaby wealth; by possessions
तर्पणीयःtarpaṇīyaḥcan be sated (gerundive of √tṛp — 'to be satisfied'); can be satisfied; may be contented
मनुष्यःmanuṣyaḥman; a mortal
लप्स्यामहेlapsyāmaheshall we obtain; shall we gain
वित्तम्vittamwealth; property
अद्राक्ष्मadrākṣmawe have seen (aorist of √dṛś — 'to see'); we have beheld; we have met
चेत्cetif; when
त्वाtvāyou; with you
जीविष्यामःjīviṣyāmaḥwe shall live; we shall live on
यावत्yāvatas long as; as many as
ईशिष्यसिīśiṣyasiyou will dispose (from √īś — 'to rule'); you will have power; you will command
त्वम्tvamyou; you yourself
वरःvaraḥa gift; the choice
तुtusurely; however
मेmemy; for me
वरणीयःvaraṇīyaḥworthy to be chosen (gerundive of √vṛ — 'to choose'); the one that must be chosen; the choosable
सःsaḥthat one; it is he who
एवevaindeed; only
Translation
"A man is not to be sated with wealth. And wealth we shall have, since we have seen you; and we shall live as long as you shall dispose. But the boon I choose is only that one."
Version
c83a1e426d8f · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
na vittena tarpaṇīyo manuṣyaḥ — "a man is not to be sated with wealth": not "I have no need of it" but a law of the nature of desire. The thirst to possess grows by being slaked; the Bhāgavatam (9.19.14) casts it in a formula: na jātu kāmaḥ kāmānām upabhogena śāmyati — "desire is not quenched by the enjoyment of what is desired, as fire is not quenched by an oblation of butter". To promise satiety through wealth is to promise a man his fill of sea-water.
Then an argument of astonishing sobriety: lapsyāmahe vittam adrākṣma cet tvā — "and wealth we shall have, since we have seen you": for one who has seen Death face to face the lesser goods will follow without any special boon — there is nothing there to spend a wish on; jīviṣyāmo yāvad īśiṣyasi tvam — "and we shall live as long as you shall dispose": the term of life is in your hand in any case, ask for it or not. Both of Yama's "generous" gifts are handed back as already contained in the ordinary order of things: the seeker has separated what will come anyway from what will never come unless it is asked for.
varas tu me varaṇīyaḥ sa eva — "but the boon worthy of choice is for me that one only". In the word varaṇīyaḥ (a gerundive of √vṛ — "what ought to be chosen") sounds the whole ethics of choosing: of all that may be wished for, only the irrevocable is worth a wish. So Naciketas repeats his choice a third time — and the testing is exhausted.