Upaniṣads · Kaṭha 1.8
॥
Devanāgarī
आशाप्रतीक्षे संगतं सूनृतां च इष्टापूर्ते पुत्रपशूंश् च सर्वान् ।
एतद् वृङ्क्ते पुरुषस्याल्पमेधसो यस्यानश्नन् वसति ब्राह्मणो गृहे
Transliteración (IAST)
āśāpratīkṣe saṃgataṃ sūnṛtāṃ ca iṣṭāpūrte putrapaśūṃś ca sarvān /
etad vṛṅkte puruṣasyālpamedhaso yasyānaśnan vasati brāhmaṇo gṛhe
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
आशाāśāhope; the expectation of what is to come
प्रतीक्षेpratīkṣeexpectancy; anticipation
संगतम्saṃgatamwhat is joined; what is attained
सूनृताम्sūnṛtāmkindly speech (sūnṛtā — 'glad truth'); a friendly word; heartfelt truthfulness
चcaand; as well as
इष्टापूर्तेiṣṭāpūrtethe fruits of sacrifices and good works (iṣṭa-pūrta); the merits of rite and liberality; the sacrificial and the charitable
पुत्रपशून्putrapaśūnsons and cattle; offspring and herds
चcaand; as well as
सर्वान्sarvānall; entirely
एतत्etatthis; all this
वृङ्क्तेvṛṅktehe tears away (from √vṛj — 'to wrest'); he takes away; he carries off
पुरुषस्यpuruṣasyathe man; in a man
अल्पमेधसःalpamedhasaḥfrom the man of little wit (alpa-medhas); from the dull of understanding; from the unwise
यस्यyasyain whose case; in whose
अनश्नन्anaśnannot having eaten; fasting
वसतिvasatidwells; abides
ब्राह्मणःbrāhmaṇaḥa brāhmaṇa; a sacred guest
गृहेgṛhein the house; in the dwelling
Traducción
Hope and expectation, fellowship and kindly speech, the fruits of sacrifices and good works, sons and cattle — all this a brāhmaṇa living unfed in his house takes away from a man of little wit.
Versión
886dafdb71bf · publicado 26 jul 2026, 21:13:03 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The price of slighting a guest is set out with alarming completeness: āśā-pratīkṣe — hope and expectation (the very capacity to look forward), saṁgatam — the fruit of association with the worthy, sūnṛtā — good and truthful speech, iṣṭāpūrte — the merits of sacrifices and public benefactions (wells, roads, shelters), putra-paśavaḥ — sons and cattle. An unfed guest, like the fire of the seventh verse, burns away not one item of well-being but the whole fabric of a life, from invisible merits to visible plenty.
alpamedhasaḥ — "of the man of little wit": the Upaniṣad calls inhospitality not cruelty but stupidity. Not to honour the one who has come is to fail to recognize Who comes in the guest; it is the same root as Vājaśravas's error: unbelief in the invisible together with correctness in the visible.
In the house of Death this law rings especially grim: for three nights at Yama's threshold there fasts not merely a brāhmaṇa but a boy who came at his father's word, a living offering handed over to Death. The next verse will show that dharma stands above even its lord: Yama will come out to the child with an apology.