Upanishads · Kaṭha 5.4
॥
Devanāgarī
अस्य विस्रंसमानस्य शरीरस्थस्य देहिनः ।
देहाद् विमुच्यमानस्य किम् अत्र परिशिष्यते ॥
एतद् वै तत्
Transliteration (IAST)
asya visraṃsamānasya śarīrasthasya dehinaḥ /
dehād vimucyamānasya kim atra pariśiṣyate //
etad vai tat
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अस्यasyaof this; it
विस्रंसमानस्यvisraṃsamānasyafalling apart (vi-√sraṁs — 'to crumble'); disintegrating; decaying
शरीरस्थस्यśarīrasthasyaabiding in the body (śarīra-stha); embodied; dwelling in the flesh
देहिनःdehinaḥof the embodied one (dehin — 'the owner of a body'); of the soul in the body; of the body-dweller
देहात्dehātfrom the body; out of the body
विमुच्यमानस्यvimucyamānasyabeing released (vi-√muc); being freed; going forth
किम्kimwhat; which
अत्रatrahere; in this
परिशिष्यतेpariśiṣyateremains; remains
एतत्etatthis; he
वैvaiverily; indeed
तत्tatthat; That
Translation
When this embodied one, abiding in the body, parts [from it], being released from the body — what remains here? This, truly, is That.
Version
fd2f77324cab · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Naciketas's question returns point-blank — but now as a lesson, with the ground for an answer already laid. asya visraṁsamānasya śarīrasthasya dehinaḥ — "of this disintegrating… embodied one abiding in the body": the exact grammar of death: what disintegrates is the body (visraṁsamāna — "crumbling", like a decaying wall), what is released is the dehin, the owner of the body. Two different words, two different events in one hour: for one, dissolution; for the other, departure.
kim atra pariśiṣyate — "what remains here?": the same question as in verse 74, and with the same double point: what remains of the man? — He who was not the body. And: what remains unchanged through all disintegrations? — That in which both the body and its dweller stood. etad vai tat — "this, truly, is That": death, taken apart, discloses not a void but the One who Remains.
So the fifth vallī answers the third boon almost matter-of-factly: the mystery of death is terrible so long as you look at the crumbling wall; shift your gaze to the one going out — and you will see not an ending but a removal. The next verse will drive the point home: even breath was not the last support of life — men lived by Another.