Upaniṣads · Kaṭha 3.16
॥
Devanāgarī
नाचिकेतम् उपाख्यानं मृत्युप्रोक्तं सनातनम् ।
उक्त्वा श्रुत्वा च मेधावी ब्रह्मलोके महीयते
Transliteración (IAST)
nāciketam upākhyānaṃ mṛtyuproktaṃ sanātanam /
uktvā śrutvā ca medhāvī brahmaloke mahīyate
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
नाचिकेतम्nāciketamof Naciketas; connected with Naciketas
उपाख्यानम्upākhyānamthe narrative (upa-ākhyāna — 'a tale'); the story; the account
मृत्युप्रोक्तंmṛtyuproktaṃuttered by Death (mṛtyu-prokta); told by Yama; spoken by Death
सनातनम्sanātanamthe eternal (sanātana); ancient and everlasting; the everlasting
उक्त्वाuktvāhaving told; having uttered
श्रुत्वाśrutvāhaving heard; having listened
चcaand; as well as
मेधावीmedhāvīthe intelligent (medhāvin); the quick of understanding; wise
ब्रह्मलोकेbrahmalokein the world of Brahman; in the abode of Brahman
महीयतेmahīyateis honoured; is magnified
Traducción
An intelligent man who has told or heard this eternal narrative of Naciketas, uttered by Death, is magnified in the world of Brahman.
Versión
68ccde22b0da · publicado 26 jul 2026, 21:13:03 UTC
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The first of the two seals of phala-śruti (the proclamation of the fruit) that close half the Upaniṣad. nāciketam upākhyānam — "the narrative of Naciketas": the Upaniṣad looks back upon itself as upon a story — and this is not the modesty of a genre but an indication of method: the truth here is handed on not by a treatise but by a story, and therefore it works as a story does — it can be uktvā, "told", and śrutvā, "heard", and both acts are called equally saving.
mṛtyu-proktaṁ sanātanam — "uttered by Death, eternal": a pair of words set side by side with deliberate boldness: from the lips of mortality itself, the tidings of the eternal; the best attestation of authenticity that is possible. medhāvī — "the intelligent": hearing bears fruit not mechanically but in one who considers; brahmaloke mahīyate — "he is magnified in the world of Brahman" — a formula that already stood beside the word about Oṁ (verse 46): the hearing of the story and the holding of the Name lead by one road.
For a living tradition this verse is a statute: to tell and to hear the tales of the soul's meeting with truth is itself a spiritual practice, not an ornament of one. That is why the Kaṭha has been told for three thousand years: a narrative in which Death teaches a boy immortality performs upon the hearer, at every retelling, a part of what it teaches.