Upanishads · Kaṭha 6.17
॥
Devanāgarī
अङ्गुष्ठमात्रः पुरुषो ऽन्तरात्मा सदा जनानां हृदये संनिविष्टः ।
तं स्वाच् छरीरात् प्रवृहेन् मुञ्जाद् इवेषीकां धैर्येण ।
तं विद्याच् छुक्रम् अमृतं तं विद्याच् छुक्रम् अमृतम् इति
Transliteration (IAST)
aṅguṣṭhamātraḥ puruṣo 'ntarātmā sadā janānāṃ hṛdaye saṃniviṣṭaḥ /
taṃ svāc charīrāt pravṛhen muñjād iveṣīkāṃ dhairyeṇa /
taṃ vidyāc chukram amṛtaṃ taṃ vidyāc chukram amṛtam iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अङ्गुष्ठमात्रःaṅguṣṭhamātraḥof the size of a thumb; a thumb's measure
पुरुषःpuruṣaḥPuruṣa; the inner person
अन्तरात्माantarātmāthe inner Ātman; the inner Self
सदाsadāalways; constantly
जनानाम्janānāmof men; of living beings
हृदयेhṛdayeinto the heart; in the core
संनिविष्टःsaṃniviṣṭaḥfirmly seated (sam-ni-√viś — 'to settle down'); established; abiding
तम्tamHis; Him
स्वात्svātout of one's own; from one's own
शरीरात्śarīrātof the body; bodily condition
प्रवृहेत्pravṛhetone should draw out (optative of pra-√vṛh — 'to pull forth'); it should be drawn out; it must be extracted
मुञ्जात्muñjātfrom the muñja reed (muñja); from the stalk of muñja; from the muñja grass
इवivahow; as it were
इषीकाम्iṣīkāmthe pith (iṣīkā — 'the inner stem'); the slender filament; the inner fibre
धैर्येणdhairyeṇawith patient steadfastness (dhairya); patiently; with endurance
तम्tamHis; Him
विद्यात्vidyātone ought to know (optative of √vid); it should be known; let him know
शुक्रम्śukrampure; bright
अमृतम्amṛtamimmortal; imperishable
तम्tamHis; Him
विद्यात्vidyātone ought to know (optative of √vid); it should be known; let him know
शुक्रम्śukrampure; bright
अमृतम्amṛtamimmortal; imperishable
इतिitithus; thus it concludes
Translation
The Puruṣa of a thumb's size, the inner Ātman, is always seated in the heart of men. He is to be drawn patiently out of one's own body, as the pith from a reed. He is to be known as the Pure, the Immortal; He is to be known as the Pure, the Immortal.
Version
5f8cdf3dc09e · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
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The last lesson — the last image. aṅguṣṭha-mātraḥ puruṣo 'ntarātmā sadā janānāṁ hṛdaye sanniviṣṭaḥ — "the Puruṣa of a thumb's size, the inner Ātman, is always seated in the heart of men": sadā — always: not in rare minutes of grace but always; janānām — "of men": of all, not of the elect.
taṁ svāc charīrāt pravṛhet muñjād iveṣīkāṁ dhairyeṇa — "He is to be drawn out of one's own body, as the iṣīkā-pith from a muñja reed": the image is exact in every facet: the stalk of muñja and its pith have grown together — yet they are distinct; one must pull dhairyeṇa — "with patient steadfastness": a jerk tears the stalk, haste breaks the essence; the drawing out is an art of slow fidelity (all of life according to the Kaṭha is this drawing out: discrimination, the rein, remembrance, day after day). And the pith drawn out is not a "nothing": a pure fibre, a slender axis — here it is, in one's hands.
taṁ vidyāc chukram amṛtam — "know Him: the Pure, the Immortal" — and again, in the doubling by which the Vedas seal the end of a book: "know Him: the Pure, the Immortal". A double seal upon two words that carry the whole sum: śukram — light without admixture, amṛtam — life without death. So ends Death's instruction: with the very thing with which the boy's faith began — that beneath the straw of the mortal there is an unmortal pith, and it is worthy of having everything devoted to it.