Upanishads · Kaṭha 3.2
॥
Devanāgarī
यः सेतुर् ईजानानाम् अक्षरं ब्रह्म यत् परम् ।
अभयं तितीर्षतां पारं नाचिकेतं शकेमहि
Transliteration (IAST)
yaḥ setur ījānānām akṣaraṃ brahma yat param /
abhayaṃ titīrṣatāṃ pāraṃ nāciketaṃ śakemahi
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यःyaḥwhich; the one who
सेतुःsetuḥthe bridge (setu); the crossing; the causeway
ईजानानाम्ījānānāmfor those who sacrifice (from √yaj — 'to sacrifice'); for the offerers of sacrifice; for those who worship with rites
अक्षरम्akṣaramthe imperishable; the indestructible
ब्रह्मbrahmaBrahman; the sacred reality
यत्yatthat which; what
परम्paramthe highest; the transcendent
अभयम्abhayamfearlessness; the safe bourne
तितीर्षताम्titīrṣatāmfor those who long to cross (desiderative of √tṝ); for those who thirst for the passage; for those straining toward the far bank
पारम्pāramthe far shore; the limit
नाचिकेतम्nāciketamthe fire of Naciketas; the Naciketas knowledge
शकेमहिśakemahimay we be able (optative of √śak — 'to be able'); may we manage; may we prevail
Translation
May we be able [to lay] the Naciketas fire — the bridge for those who sacrifice — and [to know] the imperishable supreme Brahman, the fearless far shore for those who long to cross.
Version
347237bcfee6 · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A verse that is a prayer, a rare genre inside an instruction: nāciketaṁ śakemahi — "may we be able [to kindle] the Naciketas fire". Death prays together with the pupils, counting herself among the travellers: even the lord of ritual asks for strength for the ritual; knowledge does not abolish humility.
Two images of the crossing are set side by side as a ladder: setur ījānānām — "the bridge for those who sacrifice": the rite, the Naciketas fire, carries one across the river of mortal fears to the shore of svarga (the second boon); akṣaraṁ brahma yat param — "the imperishable supreme Brahman" — abhayaṁ titīrṣatāṁ pāram — "the fearless far shore for those who thirst to cross" (titīrṣu — a desiderative of √tṝ: "straining to pass over"). A bridge — and a shore: the means is honoured but not confused with the goal; no one settles down on a bridge.
abhayam — "fearlessness" — is a word we know already: with it Naciketas described svarga (verse 12), with it Yama named the summit attainable by works (verse 40). Now it is fixed to the supreme Brahman: complete fearlessness is only where every crossing ends. So the third vallī, having begun with the two in the heart, at once points out the road to them as well — from the bridge of rite to the shore of the Imperishable; the verses that follow will give that road a chariot.