उपनिषद् · Kaṭha 2.9
॥
देवनागरी
नैषा तर्केण मतिर् आपनेया प्रोक्तान्येनैव सुज्ञानाय प्रेष्ठ ।
यां त्वम् आपः सत्यधृतिर् बतासि त्वादृङ् नो भूयान् नचिकेतः प्रेष्टा
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
naiṣā tarkeṇa matir āpaneyā proktānyenaiva sujñānāya preṣṭha /
yāṃ tvam āpaḥ satyadhṛtir batāsi tvādṛṅ no bhūyān naciketaḥ preṣṭā
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
नnanot; no
एषाeṣāthis; this
तर्केणtarkeṇaby reasoning (tarka — speculative logic); by ratiocination; by arguments
मतिःmatiḥthought; the understanding
आपनेयाāpaneyāis arrived at (ā-√āp — 'to bring to'); is reached; is brought about
प्रोक्ताproktāset forth; spoken
अन्येन एवanyena evaby another indeed; by a true teacher
सुज्ञानायsujñānāyafor clear knowledge; for right understanding
प्रेष्ठpreṣṭhaO dearest (preṣṭha — superlative of priya); O most beloved; O dearest of all
याम्yāmwhich; this understanding
त्वम्tvamyou; you yourself
आपःāpaḥyou have attained; you have obtained
सत्यधृतिःsatyadhṛtiḥfirm in truth (satya-dhṛti — 'holding to the truth'); faithful to truth; steadfast in righteousness
बतbataverily; truly
असिasiare you; you are
त्वादृक्tvādṛkone like you; such as yourself
नःnaḥto us; for us
भूयात्bhūyātvery well; may there be
नचिकेतःnaciketaḥO Naciketas; Naciketas
प्रेष्टाpreṣṭādear one; beloved
अनुवाद
"This understanding is not to be arrived at by reasoning; only when expounded by another, [who sees], does it become easy to know, O dear one. You have obtained it, for you are firm in truth. May every questioner be like you, Naciketas!"
संस्करण
dc0c6d005350 · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 9:13:03 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
naiṣā tarkeṇa matir āpaneyā — "this understanding is not brought [into the heart] by tarka": reasoning can clear the road but cannot walk it; the crucial knowledge enters by another way — proktānyenaiva sujñānāya — "spoken by another [who sees], it becomes easy to know". The word of a living witness carries in it what no syllogism has — the very reality of which it speaks; that is why one conversation with a seer gives more than years of solitary inference.
And how did Naciketas deserve it? yāṁ tvam āpaḥ satyadhṛtir batāsi — "you have obtained it — for you are firm in truth": satya-dhṛti, "holder of the truth", is his whole diploma. Not keenness of intellect, not learning — fidelity to truth shown in deed: the truth about the cows, the truth before his father, the truth before temptation. Truth is known by truth; the organ for the knowledge of God is a truthful heart.
And Death's sigh, the only one in the Upaniṣad: tvādṛṅ no bhūyān naciketaḥ praṣṭā — "may there be for us [always] a questioner like you". Teachers wait for pupils more than pupils for teachers: knowledge that finds no worthy vessel is the loneliness of the knower. In that sigh of Yama is all the longing of a tradition for a real asker; a question is rarer than an answer.