Upanishads · Kaṭha 2.14
॥
Devanāgarī
अन्यत्र धर्माद् अन्यत्राधर्माद् अन्यत्रास्मात् कृताकृतात् ।
अन्यत्र भूताच् च भव्याच् च यत् तत् पश्यसि तद् वद
Transliteration (IAST)
anyatra dharmād anyatrādharmād anyatrāsmāt kṛtākṛtāt /
anyatra bhūtāc ca bhavyāc ca yat tat paśyasi tad vada
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अन्यत्रanyatraon the other side (anyatra — 'elsewhere'); beyond; other than
धर्मात्dharmātthan dharma; than righteousness
अन्यत्रanyatraon the other side (anyatra — 'elsewhere'); beyond; other than
अधर्मात्adharmātthan adharma; than unrighteousness
अन्यत्रanyatraon the other side (anyatra — 'elsewhere'); beyond; other than
अस्मात्asmātof this; of this
कृताकृतात्kṛtākṛtātthan the done and the undone (kṛta-akṛta); than the caused and the uncaused; than the accomplished and the unaccomplished
अन्यत्रanyatraon the other side (anyatra — 'elsewhere'); beyond; other than
भूतात्bhūtātthan what has been; than the past; than what has come to be
चcaand; as well as
भव्यात्bhavyātthan what is to come; than the future; than that which shall be
चcaand; as well as
यत्yatwhat; that which
तत्tatthat; this
पश्यसिpaśyasiyou see; you behold
तत्tatthat; this
वदvadatell; explain
Translation
"Other than dharma, other than adharma; other than this done and undone; other than what has been and what shall be — that which you see [as such], tell me that."
Version
83dc45511266 · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Naciketas frames his question anew — and it is a formula of ultimate purity. Four pairs are cast aside: dharmād… adharmāt — the righteous and the unrighteous (the whole province of merit and sin); kṛtākṛtāt — the done and the undone (the whole province of causes and effects, of karma); bhūtāc ca bhavyāc ca — what has been and what shall be (time itself). He asks about that which is anyatra — "on the other side" of all the world's twos and threes: not about the best inside the system but about that on which the system stands.
The exactness of a question is half the answer, and Yama will now answer without delay (verse 44), for the first time in the whole conversation not testing his pupil: there is nothing left to test — curiosity does not ask like this, a ripened heart does. Note: even dharma is left behind. Righteousness is a chariot, not a harbour; he who has arrived does not go on living in the chariot.
yat tat paśyasi — "what you see": not "what you know", not "what you think" — see. The pupil asks an eyewitness about what he has seen; the whole epistemology of the Upaniṣads is in that verb. tad vada — "tell me that": two words close the circle: the elder's vision, handed on in speech, becomes the younger's hearing — śravaṇa, the beginning of the path (verse 36).