Upaniṣads · Kaṭharudra 23
॥
Devanāgarī
सारमेव रसं लब्ध्वा साक्षाद्देही सनातनम् । सुखी भवति सर्वत्र अन्यथा सुखता कुतः
Transliteración (IAST)
sārameva rasaṃ labdhvā sākṣāddehī sanātanam | sukhī bhavati sarvatra anyathā sukhatā kutaḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
सारम् एव रसं लब्ध्वाsāram eva rasaṃ labdhvāhaving obtained the very essence, the sap
साक्षात् देही सनातनम्sākṣāt dehī sanātanamdirectly, the embodied one — the eternal
सुखी भवति सर्वत्रsukhī bhavati sarvatrabecomes happy everywhere
अन्यथा सुखता कुतःanyathā sukhatā kutaḥotherwise, whence would happiness come?
Traducción
Having directly obtained the very essence, the sap, the eternal, the embodied one becomes happy everywhere; otherwise, whence would happiness come?
Versión
c3d33d0367be · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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This verse rests on the famous passage of the Taittirīya: raso vai saḥ, "He is sap" (2.7) — and this word deserves examination, for it is among the most remarkable in this literature. Rasa means "sap, moisture, taste, the sensation of taste," and in poetics, "the mood a thing gives." The highest is named not light, not space, not law, but taste.
This definition is material and thoroughly unabstract. Taste cannot be deduced or proven; it can only be experienced, and anyone who has tasted knows it, and to one who has not, it cannot be explained. The Vaiṣṇava side has placed this word at the foundation of her whole teaching on service. Rasa, for her, is the very name of the relationship with Him, and its kinds are distinguished — peace, service, friendship, parenthood, love; and the whole structure of bhakti is described in the language of tastes, not of concepts.
The second half of the verse is especially fine: anyathā sukhatā kutaḥ, "otherwise, whence would happiness come?" The question is put as an argument, and the argument is stronger than it seems. People are happy — this is a fact no one denies; and it is asked, where would happiness come from if there were no source of it at all. Taste does not come from nothing; and since it exists, so does that which is tasty.