Upanishads · Kaṭha 3.14
॥
Devanāgarī
उत्तिष्ठत जाग्रत प्राप्य वरान् निबोधत ।
क्षुरस्य धारा निशिता दुरत्यया दुर्गं पथस् तत् कवयो वदन्ति
Transliteration (IAST)
uttiṣṭhata jāgrata prāpya varān nibodhata /
kṣurasya dhārā niśitā duratyayā durgaṃ pathas tat kavayo vadanti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
उत्तिष्ठतuttiṣṭhataarise (ud-√sthā); stand up; rise
जाग्रतjāgrataawake (from √jāgṛ — 'to be awake'); wake up; keep vigil
प्राप्यprāpyahaving obtained; having found
वरान्varānthe best; worthy teachers
निबोधतnibodhataunderstand (ni-√budh); attend; comprehend
क्षुरस्यkṣurasyaof a razor (kṣura); of the blade; of the knife
धाराdhārāthe edge (dhārā — 'the rim'); the blade; the cutting edge
निशिताniśitāwhetted (ni-√śā — 'to sharpen'); sharpened; honed
दुरत्ययाduratyayāhard to pass over (dur-atyaya); insuperable; barely passable
दुर्गम्durgamdifficult; perilous
पथःpathaḥgoing; the road
तत्tatthis; such
कवयःkavayaḥthe seer-poets (kavi); the inspired; the far-seeing
वदन्तिvadantithey say; they call
Translation
Arise! Awake! Having found the best [teachers], understand. Sharp as a razor's edge, hard to pass, is that road — so say the seers.
Version
25223cbb4966 · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The loudest verse of the Kaṭha — an alarm-bell in the midst of contemplation. uttiṣṭhata jāgrata — "arise, awake": the plural — the call is no longer to Naciketas but to all sleepers of all times; sleep here is that life "with the current" which vallī 2 called the walking of the blind after the blind. prāpya varān nibodhata — "having found the best (varān — the excellent [teachers]; and again the word vara — 'a boon'), understand": awakening is not self-made — one who has woken first of all looks for those who see.
kṣurasya dhārā niśitā duratyayā — "the whetted edge of a razor, hard to pass over": durgaṁ pathas tat — "impassable is that road". The image is double, and both senses are true: the road is narrow — one does not stroll along a blade, one falls off it either into "it will do as it is" or into "not for me"; and the road cuts — he who walks it parts with the skin of his habits, the blade shears away all the excess one carries.
kavayo vadanti — "so say the seer-poets": the testimony of those who have gone, not a bogey for beginners. The severity of this verse is a continuation of its mercy: to tell a sleeper that the path is sheer is to wake him for good. Tradition has not for nothing made "the razor's edge" the name of the whole spiritual road: here one keeps awake — or does not walk.