Upanishads · Kaṭha 4.2
॥
Devanāgarī
पराचः कामान् अनुयन्ति बालास् ते मृत्योर् यन्ति विततस्य पाशम् ।
अथ धीरा अमृतत्वं विदित्वा ध्रुवम् अध्रुवेष्व् इह न प्रार्थयन्ते
Transliteration (IAST)
parācaḥ kāmān anuyanti bālās te mṛtyor yanti vitatasya pāśam /
atha dhīrā amṛtatvaṃ viditvā dhruvam adhruveṣv iha na prārthayante
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
पराचःparācaḥthe outward [pleasures] (parāñc — 'turned outward'); the external; those that lead outward
कामान्kāmāndesires; pleasures
अनुयन्तिanuyantithey run after (anu-√i); they chase; they follow after
बालाःbālāḥthe immature (bāla — 'a child'); the unwise; the childish
तेtethey; such
मृत्योःmṛtyoḥof death; of Death
यन्तिyantigo; they come
विततस्यvitatasyawidely spread (vi-√tan — 'to stretch out'); the set [net]; outstretched
पाशम्pāśaminto the snare (pāśa — 'a noose'); into the net; into the noose
अथathaand yet; but
धीराःdhīrāḥthe wise; the steadfast
अमृतत्वम्amṛtatvamimmortality; imperishability
विदित्वाviditvāhaving known; having known
ध्रुवम्dhruvamconstant; unchanging
अध्रुवेषुadhruveṣuamid the impermanent; in transient things
इहihahere; in this world
नnanot; no
प्रार्थयन्तेprārthayantethey beg for (pra-√arth — 'to solicit'); they seek; they crave
Translation
The immature run after outward desires — and fall into the snare of widely spread death. But the wise, having discerned immortality, do not seek the stable here among the unstable.
Version
1cabc583913f · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The contrast continues: bālāḥ — "children" (in ripeness, not in years) anuyanti — "run after" parācaḥ kāmān — "outward desires": that very stream out of the pierced windows. The end of that road: te mṛtyor yanti vitatasya pāśam — "they fall into the snare of widely spread death": vitata — "stretched out [like a net]": death here is a hunter with nets spread over the whole field of desires; every "I want" sent outward is a step toward a mesh of the net.
atha dhīrāḥ — "but the wise", amṛtatvaṁ viditvā — "having discerned immortality" — dhruvam adhruveṣv iha na prārthayante — "do not beg for the stable among unstable things". The formula is whetted: the trouble is not desire as such — the trouble is the address; to seek dhruva in adhruva, the eternal in the transient, is a category error, like drawing water with a sieve. Every thirst thirsts in essence for the eternal — but immaturity substitutes mortal objects for it, and the thirst returns hungry, breeding the next chase.
Wisdom, then, does not quench desire — it corrects its address: having learned from verse 72 to turn the gaze about, the dhīra turns his thirst about too — toward Him who alone is commensurate with it. Naciketas did this before the reader's eyes in the first vallī: "he chooses nothing else".