Upaniṣads · Kaṭha 4.3
॥
Devanāgarī
येन रूपं रसं गन्धं शब्दान् स्पर्शींश् च मैथुनान् ।
एतेनैव विजानाति किम् अत्र परिशिष्यते ॥
एतद् वै तत्
Transliteración (IAST)
yena rūpaṃ rasaṃ gandhaṃ śabdān sparśīṃś ca maithunān /
etenaiva vijānāti kim atra pariśiṣyate //
etad vai tat
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
येनyenaby which; by whom
रूपम्rūpamthe form; the visible form
रसम्rasamsavour; the relish
गन्धम्gandhamsmell; fragrance
शब्दान्śabdānsounds; of speech
स्पर्शान्sparśāntouches; contacts
चcaand; as well as
मैथुनान्maithunānsexual unions (maithuna); conjugal delights; carnal unions
एतेनetenaby this; by that very [self]
एवevaindeed; only
विजानातिvijānātihe discerns (vi-√jñā); one distinguishes; one knows apart
किम्kimwhat; which
अत्रatrahere; in this
परिशिष्यतेpariśiṣyateremains over (pari-√śiṣ — 'to be left as a remainder'); survives; remains
एतत्etatthis; he
वैvaiverily; indeed
तत्tatthat; That
Traducción
That by which [a being] discerns form, taste, smell, sounds, touches and sexual unions — by that very [self] is this also discerned. What remains [unknown] to it? This, truly, is That.
Versión
a0aacf032915 · publicado 26 jul 2026, 21:13:03 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
yena rūpaṁ rasaṁ gandham… — "that by which men know form, taste, smell, sound, touch, sexual union": the whole spectrum of sensory experience, including the most intoxicating, is enumerated in order to pose the question of the common denominator: etenaiva vijānāti — "by that very thing all of it is discerned". Behind the motley fan of experiences stands one discerning faculty — consciousness; it is present in every experience, being itself none of them.
kim atra pariśiṣyate — "what remains here?": a pearl of a question with a double bottom. The first: what remains outside Him — what experience is possible without the Conscious One? None: He is the condition of every "to undergo". The second: what remains when the experiences have passed? The images have faded, the tastes are forgotten — the Experiencer has remained: He alone lives through all the livings-through.
etad vai tat — "this, truly, is That" — a refrain that will sound twelve times in the Kaṭha like the stroke of a bell: "That" about which Naciketas asked (tat — that great after-death matter) is neither beyond the mountains nor beyond the grave — here It is, nearer than any experience, at the very heart of every recognition. The great mystery is not hidden far away — it is hidden too near.