उपनिषद् · Kaṭha 1.12
॥
देवनागरी
स्वर्गे लोके न भयं किंचनास्ति न तत्र त्वं न जरया बिभेति ।
उभे तीर्त्वा अशनायापिपासे शोकातिगो मोदते स्वर्गलोके
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
svarge loke na bhayaṃ kiṃcanāsti na tatra tvaṃ na jarayā bibheti /
ubhe tīrtvā aśanāyāpipāse śokātigo modate svargaloke
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
स्वर्गेsvargein the heavenly [world]; in the highest
लोकेlokeworld; realms
नnano; not
भयम्bhayamof fear; of dread
किंचनkiṃcanaany; not the least
अस्तिastiam; exists
नnanot; no
तत्रtatrathere; in that world
त्वम्tvamyou; you yourself
नnanot; no
जरयाjarayāby old age; because of old age
बिभेतिbibhetihe fears (from √bhī — 'to fear'); fears; quivers
उभेubheboth; the two
तीर्त्वाtīrtvāhaving crossed (from √tṝ — 'to pass over'); having passed beyond; having passed over
अशनायाaśanāyāhunger; the wish to eat
पिपासेpipāsethirst; the wish to drink
शोकातिगःśokātigaḥgone beyond grief (śoka-atiga); passed out of sorrow; risen above sadness
मोदतेmodaterejoices; enjoys
स्वर्गलोकेsvargalokein the heavenly world; in the world of svarga
अनुवाद
"In the heavenly world there is no fear of any kind; you are not there, and old age does not frighten. Having crossed both hunger and thirst, having passed beyond grief, men rejoice in the heavenly world."
संस्करण
c9968980b731 · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 9:13:03 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Approaching the second boon, Naciketas describes svarga — and it is worth listening to what draws him there. Not pleasures: not a word about maidens, feasts and palaces. His list is all releases: na bhayam — no fear; na tatra tvam — "you are not there", O Death; no old age, no hunger, no thirst; śokātigaḥ — "gone beyond grief". A boy who has stood three nights at the threshold of Death knows what he wants freedom from.
The directness of his address is astonishing: to say to Death's face "you are not there" — and not as impudence but as a statement of fact. Already now Naciketas looks at Yama not from below, as a trembling mortal, but straight, as a pupil at his teacher: he seeks a world where his interlocutor's power ends — and asks the way from the lord of that power himself.
But note the limit of the request too: svarga is freedom from ills, not yet a meeting with the Highest. It is the second storey of the ladder, not the summit; the Upaniṣad is honest: it will describe this rung faithfully and will lay bare its insufficiency too — with the third question.