उपनिषद् · Kaṭha 1.1
॥
देवनागरी
उशन् ह वै वाजश्रवसः सर्ववेदसं ददौ ।
तस्य ह नचिकेता नाम पुत्र आस
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
uśan ha vai vājaśravasaḥ sarvavedasaṃ dadau /
tasya ha naciketā nāma putra āsa
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
उशन्uśandesiring (from √vaś — 'to wish'); craving [the fruit]; moved by desire
हhaindeed; truly
वैvaiindeed; verily
वाजश्रवसःvājaśravasaḥVājaśravas; a descendant of Vājaśravas
सर्ववेदसम्sarvavedasamall his property; his whole estate; everything he owned
ददौdadaugave away (perfect of √dā — 'to give'); distributed; offered up
तस्यtasyahis; it
हhaindeed; truly
नचिकेताःnaciketāḥNaciketas; a son named Naciketas
नामnāmaby name; called
पुत्रःputraḥa son; a boy
आसāsawas; there was
अनुवाद
Desiring [its fruit], Vājaśravas gave away all his estate. He had a son named Naciketas.
संस्करण
2bbe375bbf49 · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 9:13:03 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The Kaṭha Upaniṣad opens with a scene of sacrifice — and with a worm at its core. uśan — "desiring": Vājaśravas gives away all his property (sarvavedasam) at the Viśvajit, the "All-conquering" sacrifice, but he gives it desiring the fruit — fame and a heavenly reward. A gift made for gain is a bargain dressed up as a sacrifice; out of this quiet contradiction the whole drama will grow.
tasya ha naciketā nāma putra āsa — "he had a son named Naciketas". In a single line the hero is introduced — a boy through whose eyes the Upaniṣad will look at his father's sacrifice and will not permit itself to overlook the falsity. Tradition links his name with the root √cit — "to be aware": one in whom consciousness does not sleep. Nothing is yet said of his greatness; it is all ahead, and it will all grow out of the one quality the next verse will name.
So the question is set which the Upaniṣad will settle through the mouth of Death herself: what is a religion worth in which the outward is performed and the inward substituted? Formally Vājaśravas is faultless; but scripture judges not by the rite but by the heart — and it appoints a child as judge.