Upanishads · Kaṭha 2.24
॥
Devanāgarī
नाविरतो दुश्चरितान् नाशान्तो नासमाहितः ।
नाशान्तमानसो वापि प्रज्ञानेनैनम् आप्नुयात्
Transliteration (IAST)
nāvirato duścaritān nāśānto nāsamāhitaḥ /
nāśāntamānaso vāpi prajñānenainam āpnuyāt
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
नnanot; no
अविरतःavirataḥone who has not desisted (a-virata — 'not having ceased'); not having turned away; not having stopped
दुश्चरितात्duścaritātfrom bad conduct (duś-carita); from evil deeds; from a vicious course
नnanot; no
अशान्तःaśāntaḥunquieted (a-śānta); restless; unpacified
नnanot; no
असमाहितःasamāhitaḥuncollected (a-samāhita); unconcentrated; the unconcentrated
नnanot; no
अशान्तमानसःaśāntamānasaḥwith an unquiet mind; restless in mind
वा अपिvā apior even; also
प्रज्ञानेनprajñānenaby knowledge (prajñāna — 'discernment'); by wisdom; by realization
एनम्enamit; this Ātman
आप्नुयात्āpnuyāthe would attain (optative of √āp); he would gain; he would obtain
Translation
But he who has not desisted from bad conduct, who is not quieted, not collected, not at peace in mind — he will not attain Him even by knowledge.
Version
cbaeccba2c14 · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
An immediate counterweight to the verse on election — lest grace be taken for lawlessness. Four "nots": nāvirato duścaritāt — "not having desisted from bad conduct"; nāśāntaḥ — "not quieted"; nāsamāhitaḥ — "not collected"; nāśānta-mānasaḥ — "with an unpacified mind": such a man prajñānenainam āpnuyāt — "will not attain Him even by knowledge". One may know all of Vedānta by heart and not know the Ātman: an unclean mirror does not reflect, however brightly you shine.
The order of the two verses is exactness itself: first "He is attained by nothing but His choosing" (52), then "but without purity He is not attained at all" (53). Grace is not bought with morality — but neither does it settle in a dirty vessel; it is free, yet not unprincipled. A moral life is not the price of the ticket but the capacity to contain the gift.
Here the Kaṭha joins the finale of the Kena Upaniṣad (austerity, restraint and work are the supports of knowledge) and the Gītā (16.24): scripture is the measure of what to do and what not to do. A spirituality that despises ethics is unmasked by this verse for ever: he who cannot manage his own conduct is not entrusted with Himself — not out of severity but out of incompatibility: the Purest enters unshod only into a clean heart.