Upanishads · Kaṭha 2.4
॥
Devanāgarī
दूरम् एते विपरीते विषूची अविद्या या च विद्येति ज्ञाता ।
विद्याभीप्सिनं नचिकेतसं मन्ये न त्वा कामा बहवो ऽलोलुपन्त
Transliteration (IAST)
dūram ete viparīte viṣūcī avidyā yā ca vidyeti jñātā /
vidyābhīpsinaṃ naciketasaṃ manye na tvā kāmā bahavo 'lolupanta
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
दूरम्dūramfar away; at a great distance
एतेetethese two; they
विपरीतेviparīteopposed (vi-pari-√i — 'going apart'); contrary to each other; of divergent direction
विषूचीviṣūcīdiverging (viṣūcī); running apart; going asunder
अविद्याavidyāignorance; avidyā
याyāwhich; that which
चcaand; as well as
विद्याvidyāknowledge; vidyā
इतिitithus; how
ज्ञाताjñātāare known; are understood
विद्याभीप्सिनम्vidyābhīpsinamseeking knowledge (vidyā-abhīpsin); thirsting for vidyā; straining toward knowledge
नचिकेतसम्naciketasamNaciketas; Naciketas as a pupil
मन्येmanyeI hold; I hold
नnanot; no
त्वाtvāyou; by you
कामाःkāmāḥdesires; pleasures
बहवःbahavaḥmany; numerous
अलोलुपन्तalolupantathey tore apart (intensive of √lup — 'to rend'); they plundered; they carried off piecemeal
Translation
"Far apart lie these two, opposed and divergent: ignorance, and what is called knowledge. In Naciketas I see one who seeks knowledge: a multitude of desires has not torn you apart."
Version
bc9abd5567f7 · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
dūram ete viparīte viṣūcī — "far [apart] are these two, opposed, going asunder": avidyā and vidyā are not two degrees of education but two diverging roads, and the distance between them grows with every step. He who walks the way of the pleasant and he who walks the way of the good are at first neighbours; across a lifetime there is an abyss between them.
vidyābhīpsinam naciketasam manye — "in Naciketas I see one who thirsts for knowledge": abhi-īpsin is an intensified desiderative, "straining toward", a hunger and not an interest. And the ground for the diagnosis: na tvā kāmā bahavo 'lolupanta — "the many desires have not torn you apart": √lup — "to rend, to plunder"; desires are described as a pack tearing a man to pieces — every scrap of the heart to its own craving. Wholeness is the rarest of states: the ordinary man is taken apart by desires down to the last fibre; the pupil who stood firm before Death's price-list is whole — and therefore able to contain a whole knowledge.
Here the Kaṭha echoes the Īśa Upaniṣad (mantras 9–11), where the same pair vidyā/avidyā measured the paths: darkness for those who honour ignorance alone, greater darkness for those besotted with knowledge alone, and life for him who knows both. Yama will lead his pupil along that same blade: not rejecting the world of action, but not letting it screen off the eternal.