Upaniṣads · Kaṭha 1.25
॥
Devanāgarī
ये ये कामा दुर्लभा मर्त्यलोके सर्वान् कामांश् छन्दतः प्रार्थयस्व ।
इमा रामाः सरथाः सतूर्या न हीदृशा लम्भनीया मनुष्यैः ।
आभिर् मत्प्रत्ताभिः परिचारयस्व नचिकेतो मरणं मानुप्राक्षीः
Transliteración (IAST)
ye ye kāmā durlabhā martyaloke sarvān kāmāṃś chandataḥ prārthayasva /
imā rāmāḥ sarathāḥ satūryā na hīdṛśā lambhanīyā manuṣyaiḥ /
ābhir matprattābhiḥ paricārayasva naciketo maraṇaṃ mānuprākṣīḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
ये येye yeof whatever kind; all those
कामाःkāmāḥdesires; pleasures
दुर्लभाःdurlabhāḥhard to obtain (dur-labha); rare; unattainable
मर्त्यलोकेmartyalokein the world of mortals; among men
सर्वान्sarvānall; entirely
कामान्kāmāndesires; pleasures
छन्दतःchandataḥat [your] pleasure; as you wish; as many as you like
प्रार्थयस्वprārthayasvaask for them; desire them
इमाःimāḥthese; these here
रामाःrāmāḥthe fair women; beautiful maidens; the delighting ones
सरथाःsarathāḥwith chariots (sa-ratha); attended by chariots; upon chariots
सतूर्याःsatūryāḥwith music (sa-tūrya); with instruments; to the sound of music
नnanot; no
हिhiindeed; for
ईदृशाःīdṛśāḥsuch; the like of them
लम्भनीयाःlambhanīyāḥattainable; obtainable
मनुष्यैःmanuṣyaiḥby men; by men
आभिःābhiḥby these; by them
मत्प्रत्ताभिःmatprattābhiḥgiven by me; bestowed by me
परिचारयस्वparicārayasvalet them wait upon you (pari-√car — 'to go about, to serve'); let them attend you; surround yourself with their care
नचिकेतःnaciketaḥO Naciketas; Naciketas
मरणम्maraṇamabout death; death
माmānot; may you not
अनुप्राक्षीःanuprākṣīḥask (anu-pra-√prach — 'to enquire closely'); enquire; press your question
Traducción
"Whatever desires are hard to come by in the world of mortals — ask for them all at your pleasure. Here are fair women with chariots and music — the like of them mortals cannot obtain. I give them: let them wait upon you, Naciketas. Only do not ask about death."
Versión
79b20ec4967b · publicado 26 jul 2026, 21:13:03 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
The last assault — a sensual paradise in full array: imā rāmāḥ sarathāḥ satūryāḥ — "here are maidens with chariots and music", na hīdṛśā lambhanīyā manuṣyaiḥ — "the like of them mortals cannot get". Death offers a superhuman enjoyment — something past all earthly possibility, so as to cut off the objection "all this I might have had myself".
And here the main thing slips out: maraṇaṁ mānuprākṣīḥ — "only do not ask about death". Here is the condition for whose sake the whole price-list was heaped up; here, it turns out, is what is asked of a man in exchange for all the kingdoms and all the maidens of the world — that he not put one question. The formula is terrible in its familiarity: this is the world's eternal contract with the soul. Amusement, wealth, status, the very endlessness of new impressions — the payment for silence about mortality; the whole industry of human distraction grew out of this "only do not ask".
Having let the temptation speak itself out to the end, the Upaniṣad has laid bare its nature: the temptation is not abundance, the temptation is forgetting. And therefore the antidote to it is not an ascetic gloom but memory — mṛtyu-smṛti, the remembrance of death, which Naciketas carried through three nights at Yama's threshold. He who remembers the hour of the question cannot be bought with anything that hour annuls.