Upanishads · Kaṭha 6.6
॥
Devanāgarī
इन्द्रियाणां पृथग्भावम् उदयास्तमयौ च यत् ।
पृथग् उत्पद्यमानानां मत्वा धीरो न शोचति
Transliteration (IAST)
indriyāṇāṃ pṛthagbhāvam udayāstamayau ca yat /
pṛthag utpadyamānānāṃ matvā dhīro na śocati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
इन्द्रियाणाम्indriyāṇāmof the senses; of the sense-organs
पृथग्भावम्pṛthagbhāvamtheir separate nature (pṛthag-bhāva); their separateness [from the Ātman]; their being-apart
उदयudayathe rising (udaya); the arising; coming forth
अस्तमयौastamayauand the setting (astamaya); and the going down; and the vanishing
चcaand; as well as
यत्yatthat which; what
पृथक्pṛthakapart; severally
उत्पद्यमानानाम्utpadyamānānāmof those that arise (ud-√pad); of those that are born; of those that appear
मत्वाmatvāhaving understood; having realized
धीरःdhīraḥwise; the steadfast one
नnanot; no
शोचतिśocatigrieves; laments
Translation
Having realized the separate nature of the senses, and their rising and setting — [namely] that they arise apart [from the Ātman] — the wise man does not grieve.
Version
7a5c23d30601 · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
indriyāṇāṁ pṛthag-bhāvam — "the separate nature of the senses": the senses are not I: they are pṛthak, separate; they arise out of their own elements and go back into their elements; udayāstamayau — "their rising and setting": sight, hearing and taste have their morning and evening — an infant gains them gradually, an old man gradually surrenders them; in every sleep they set, every morning they rise. He who has observed their risings and settings evidently did not rise and set along with them.
matvā dhīro na śocati — "having realized, the wise man does not grieve": the last of the four strokes of the refrain of non-grieving (41, 51, 75, 107), and here the ground is the most everyday of all: ageing. A failing eye, a deafening ear, a departing sense of taste — for one identified with them this is the crumbling of his very self, the panic of sunset; for one who knows, it is the evening putting-away of tools, which has nothing to do with the craftsman. The senses set like luminaries — the Witness of their risings does not set.
This verse is the practical application of the whole science of the Kaṭha to age and infirmity: a dignified old age is the fruit of a correct metaphysics. Grief over an ageing body is cured not by cheerfulness but by knowledge: that in me which looked upon youth and looks upon old age has not aged by a single day.