उपनिषद् · Kaṭha 3.1
॥
देवनागरी
ऋतं पिबन्तौ सुकृतस्य लोके गुहां प्रविष्टौ परमे परार्धे ।
छायातपौ ब्रह्मविदो वदन्ति पञ्चाग्नयो ये च त्रिणाचिकेताः
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
ṛtaṃ pibantau sukṛtasya loke guhāṃ praviṣṭau parame parārdhe /
chāyātapau brahmavido vadanti pañcāgnayo ye ca triṇāciketāḥ
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
ऋतम्ṛtamthe truth (ṛta — the universal law-truth); the right; [the fruit of] truth
पिबन्तौpibantauthe two drinkers (dual of √pā — 'to drink'); the two who partake; both drink
सुकृतस्यsukṛtasyaof good deeds (su-kṛta); of righteous acts; of merits
लोकेlokein the world; in the region
गुहाम्guhāminto the cave; into the depth of the heart
प्रविष्टौpraviṣṭauhaving entered; abiding within
परमेparamein the highest; in the excellent
परार्धेparārdhein the higher half (para-ardha); in the transcendent region; in the supreme reach
छायातपौchāyātapaushade and sunshine (chāyā-ātapa, dual); as shadow and the sun's heat; shadow and radiance
ब्रह्मविदःbrahmavidaḥthe knowers of Brahman; those who have known the sacred truth
वदन्तिvadantithey say; they call
पञ्चाग्नयःpañcāgnayaḥthe keepers of the five fires (pañca-agni); who maintain the five sacrificial fires; the five-fired [householders]
येyethose who; they who
चcaand; as well as
त्रिणाचिकेताःtriṇāciketāḥthrice-Naciketas men; those who have known the Naciketas fire
अनुवाद
Two drink the [fruit of] truth in the world of good deeds, having entered the secret place, the higher half of the transcendent. Shade and sunshine the knowers of Brahman call them — the keepers of the five fires and those who have thrice laid the Naciketas fire.
संस्करण
848983e6d217 · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 9:13:03 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The third vallī opens with one of the chief pictures of all Vedānta: in the secret place of the heart there are two. ṛtaṁ pibantau — "the two who drink the truth" (the dual number runs through the whole verse): the soul and her Lord, the jīva and the Master, who have entered together into the guhā — that very cave where the Kaṭha has already set the fire, the question and the Ātman. The Śvetāśvatara (4.6) will give this pair its immortal image: dvā suparṇā sayujā sakhāyā — "two birds, inseparable friends, on one tree: one eats the fruits, the other looks on without eating".
chāyātapau — "shade and sunshine": a definition of the utmost exactness. The two are utterly close — as shade and sunlight are inseparable — and utterly distinct: one is dependent, the other self-luminous; the soul eats the fruits of works (pibantau — both "drink", but the jīva drinks the fruit of karma, while the Lord only witnesses and upholds), and the Master is untouched by them. The whole theology of relationship — unity without merging, difference without parting — is already here, in two words about shade and light.
The witnesses named are brahmavidaḥ — the knowers, pañcāgnayaḥ — the keepers of the five sacrificial fires, triṇāciketāḥ — those who have thrice laid the Naciketas fire: contemplatives and ritualists see one and the same thing with one accord. With this verse the Upaniṣad answers the temptation of monism before it was born: in the deepest depth of the heart there is not a solitary "I" but an eternal meeting; salvation will be not the awakening of the lonely but the recognition of the Companion.