Upanishads · Kaṭha 6.18
॥
Devanāgarī
मृत्युप्रोक्तां नचिकेतो ऽथ लब्ध्वा विद्याम् एतां योगविधिं च कृत्स्नम् ।
ब्रह्मप्राप्तो विरजो ऽभूद् विमृत्युर् अन्यो ऽप्य् एवं यो विद् अध्यात्मम् एव
Transliteration (IAST)
mṛtyuproktāṃ naciketo 'tha labdhvā vidyām etāṃ yogavidhiṃ ca kṛtsnam /
brahmaprāpto virajo 'bhūd vimṛtyur anyo 'py evaṃ yo vid adhyātmam eva
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मृत्युप्रोक्ताम्mṛtyuproktāmspoken by Death; expounded by Yama
नचिकेतःnaciketaḥNaciketas; the son of Gautama
अथathathereupon; after this
लब्ध्वाlabdhvāhaving received (from √labh — 'to obtain'); having gained; having taken in
विद्याम्vidyāmknowledge; vidyā
एताम्etāmthis; the present
योगविधिम्yogavidhimthe rule of yoga (yoga-vidhi); the whole order of yoga; the discipline of the path
चcaand; as well as
कृत्स्नम्kṛtsnamentire (kṛtsna); complete; without omission
ब्रह्मप्राप्तःbrahmaprāptaḥhaving attained Brahman (brahma-prāpta); come to Brahman; having gained Brahman
विरजःvirajaḥdustless (vi-rajas — 'without the dust [of passion]'); free of passion; unsullied
अभूत्abhūtbecame; was made
विमृत्युःvimṛtyuḥdeathless (vi-mṛtyu — 'without death'); free from death; beyond the reach of death
अन्यःanyaḥother; another
अपिapialso; even
एवम्evamthus; in this way
यःyaḥwho; the one who
विद्vidknows; realises
अध्यात्मम्adhyātmamconcerning the inner [Ātman] (adhyātma); the inner [truth]; the science of one's own depth
एवevaindeed; truly
Translation
Having received this knowledge told by Death, and the whole rule of yoga, Naciketas attained Brahman, becoming pure and deathless. So too [will attain] every other who knows this concerning the inner [Ātman].
Version
4c219bf7a11c · published Jul 26, 2026, 9:13:03 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The epilogue settles the account of the whole tale. mṛtyu-proktāṁ vidyām — "the knowledge uttered by Death": an impossible combination that has become the content of a whole book: death proved the best teacher of life, and the question the world avoids ("only do not ask about death!" — verse 25) proved the one door to immortality. labdhvā — "having received": Naciketas carried a pupil's business through to the end — he received; yoga-vidhiṁ ca kṛtsnam — "and the whole rule of yoga": not the truth only but the way to it.
brahma-prāpto virajo 'bhūd vimṛtyuḥ — "he attained Brahman, becoming dustless and deathless": viraja — "without rajas", without the dust of passions: the purity of which the Upaniṣad has spoken from the cows of the first vallī to the knots of the last; vimṛtyu — "without death": the boy handed over to Death by his father's word came out of this story as one over whom Death has no word at all.
anyo 'py evaṁ yo vid adhyātmam — "and every other who thus knows the inner": the last words of the Kaṭha are a door flung open outward, to the reader. The tale refuses to be the life of an exceptional hero: Naciketas's way — faith, honesty, the unrelenting question, the rejected lures, the accepted instruction — is reproducible; "every other" means everyone. The three boons are exhausted: a father has regained a son, a fire has gained a name, a man has gained immortality — and the Upaniṣad, which began with a defective sacrifice, ends with a perfect one: a life given wholly to the Truth — and therefore wholly given back.