Upaniṣads · Kaṭha 1.18
॥
Devanāgarī
त्रिणाचिकेतस् त्रयम् एतद् विदित्वा य एवं विद्वांश् चिनुते नाचिकेतम् ।
स मृत्युपाशान् पुरतः प्रणोद्य शोकातिगो मोदते स्वर्गलोके
Transliteración (IAST)
triṇāciketas trayam etad viditvā ya evaṃ vidvāṃś cinute nāciketam /
sa mṛtyupāśān purataḥ praṇodya śokātigo modate svargaloke
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
त्रिणाचिकेतःtriṇāciketaḥthrice a Naciketas; who has performed the Naciketas fire threefold
त्रयम्trayamthe triad; the three parts
एतत्etatthis; the present
विदित्वाviditvāhaving known; having known
यःyaḥwho; the one who
एवम्evamthus; in this way
विद्वान्vidvānknowing; wise
चिनुतेcinutehe lays (from √ci — 'to pile, to build'); he builds [the altar]; he constructs
नाचिकेतम्nāciketamthe fire of Naciketas; the Naciketas fire
सःsaḥhe; such a man
मृत्युपाशान्mṛtyupāśānthe nooses of death (mṛtyu-pāśa); the snares of death; the bonds of death
पुरतःpurataḥbefore him; ahead
प्रणोद्यpraṇodyahaving cast off (pra-√nud — 'to push away'); having cast off; having driven away
शोकातिगःśokātigaḥhaving gone beyond grief; passed beyond sorrow
मोदतेmodaterejoices; enjoys
स्वर्गलोकेsvargalokein the heavenly world; in the world of svarga
Traducción
He who, knowing these three, thrice kindles the Naciketas fire — he, having cast off the nooses of death beforehand and having gone beyond grief, rejoices in the heavenly world.
Versión
5068750144d6 · publicado 26 jul 2026, 21:13:03 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The concluding verse on the fruit of the fire. mṛtyu-pāśān purataḥ praṇodya — "having cast off the nooses of death beforehand": purataḥ — "in advance", while yet before the hour of death. Freedom from fear begins not beyond the threshold but here: one who knows the meaning of sacrifice lives already unbound, and death itself finds him no prisoner but a traveller.
The image of the nooses (pāśa) is ancient: in the Vedas death comes with a lasso that binds the departing. But what it binds, in truth, is not the body — the body is hers in any case; what binds are fear, attachment, the unpaid debts of the heart. The Naciketas fire — sacrifice, knowledge and giving woven into a life — burns through those fibres one by one: what has been given away does not hold, what has been known does not terrify.
śokātigo modate svargaloke — "having gone beyond grief, he rejoices in the heavenly world": the formula gives back Naciketas's own words about svarga (verse 12) — Yama confirms: yes, it is so, this path leads where there is neither you-as-fear nor you-as-grief. The second boon is honestly fulfilled to the end. And precisely for that reason the greatness of the third question will now be visible: having got the keys of heaven, the boy will ask about what is higher than heaven.