Upanishads · Kaṭha 5.6
॥
Devanāgarī
हन्त त इदं प्रवक्ष्यामि गुह्यं ब्रह्म सनातनम् ।
यथा च मरणं प्राप्य आत्मा भवति गौतम
Transliteration (IAST)
hanta ta idaṃ pravakṣyāmi guhyaṃ brahma sanātanam /
yathā ca maraṇaṃ prāpya ātmā bhavati gautama
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
हन्तhantawell then (hanta — an exclamation of resolve); so then; come now
तेteto you; for you
इदम्idamthis; the present
प्रवक्ष्यामिpravakṣyāmiI shall tell; I shall declare
गुह्यम्guhyamthe secret (guhya); the hidden; the sacred
ब्रह्मbrahmaBrahman; the sacred truth
सनातनम्sanātanameternal; ancient
यथाyathāhow; in what manner
चcaand; as well as
मरणम्maraṇamdeath (maraṇa); dying; the decease
प्राप्यprāpyahaving obtained; having gained
आत्माātmāthe Ātman; the soul
भवतिbhavatibecomes; is
गौतमgautamaO Gautama; Naciketas
Translation
"Well then, I shall declare to you, O Gautama, the secret eternal Brahman — and what the soul becomes when it meets death."
Version
49a87aa7c93b · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
hanta — "well then": an exclamation of resolve; Death sets about the direct fulfilment of the third boon. Two things are promised at once, and their conjunction is the very substance of the teaching: guhyaṁ brahma sanātanam — "the secret eternal Brahman" and yathā ca maraṇaṁ prāpya ātmā bhavati — "and how it is with the soul after death". Not "either-or": the question of the after-death lot is not settled without knowledge of the Eternal, for a soul's lot is determined by what it partakes of.
In this doubled promise is all of Yama's pedagogy. Naciketas asked (verse 20): "is there a man beyond death or not?" The answer came from far off, through everything: through the two paths, the chariot, the ladder, the secret place of the heart — because a bare "yes" would have given nothing; a "yes" has weight only for one who knows by Whom that "yes" is upheld. Now that the foundation is laid, the mechanics of the passage may be spoken of too.
gautama — again the family name, a warm address: the mystery of death is told not to an audience but to a son of a house, personally. The next verse will give the answer itself — in two lines that are worth whole volumes.