उपनिषद् · Kaṭha 4.1
॥
देवनागरी
पराञ्चि खानि व्यतृणत् स्वयंभूस् तस्मात् पराङ् पश्यति नान्तरात्मन् ।
कश्चिद् धीरः प्रत्यग् आत्मानम् ऐक्षद् आवृत्तचक्षुर् अमृतत्वम् इच्छन्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
parāñci khāni vyatṛṇat svayaṃbhūs tasmāt parāṅ paśyati nāntarātman /
kaścid dhīraḥ pratyag ātmānam aikṣad āvṛttacakṣur amṛtatvam icchan
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
पराञ्चिparāñciturned outward (parāñc); looking outward; outward-directed
खानिkhānithe openings (kha — 'an aperture'); the gates of the senses; the windows [of perception]
व्यतृणत्vyatṛṇathe pierced (vi-√tṝd — 'to bore through'); he made; he cut through
स्वयंभूःsvayaṃbhūḥthe Self-existent (svayam-bhū); being of himself; the Self-born
तस्मात्tasmāttherefore; for that reason
पराङ्parāṅoutward; outward
पश्यतिpaśyatisees; looks
नnanot; no
अन्तरात्मन्antarātmanthe inner Ātman; the inner Self
कश्चित्kaścitsomeone; a rare man
धीरःdhīraḥwise; the steadfast one
प्रत्यक्pratyakturned inward (pratyañc); backward; inwards
आत्मानम्ātmānamthe Ātman; himself
ऐक्षत्aikṣathe saw (from √īkṣ — 'to look'); beheld; he looked upon
आवृत्तचक्षुःāvṛttacakṣuḥwith his gaze turned back (āvṛtta-cakṣus); having turned his eyes inward; having averted his look [from the outward]
अमृतत्वम्amṛtatvamof immortality; of immortality
इच्छन्icchandesiring; striving
अनुवाद
The Self-existent pierced the openings [of the senses] outward — therefore [a being] looks outside and not within itself. But a certain wise man, seeking immortality, turned his gaze back — and saw the Ātman within.
संस्करण
67648b91d240 · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 9:13:03 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The fourth vallī opens by explaining why the Hard-to-See is hard: parāñci khāni vyatṛṇat svayambhūḥ — "the Self-existent bored the openings outward". khāni — "apertures": eyes, ears, nostrils — windows cut into the outer world; tasmāt parāṅ paśyati — "therefore [a being] looks outward", nāntarātman — "not at the inner Ātman". The very constitution of perception turns us back to the depth: we are outfitted for the world, not for the Self — and in this there is no malice but the order of a creation turned toward activity.
kaścid dhīraḥ — "[but] a certain wise man": kaścit — "someone, a rare one" (the same rarity as in verse 36: "wondrous is the knower"). His feat is named in two words: āvṛtta-cakṣuḥ — "with his gaze turned back" — and amṛtatvam icchan — "desiring immortality": the motive is named before the method; what turns the gaze is not a technique but a thirst. pratyag ātmānam aikṣat — "he saw the inward Ātman": pratyañc — "turned inward" — the technical term for the whole inner science of the Upaniṣads.
Here is the source of what vallī 2 called adhyātma-yoga (verse 41): spiritual life begins with a hundred-and-eighty-degree turn — against the current of one's own senses. The stream carries everyone outward; the rare swimmer turns toward the source. And the Upaniṣad is quiet and exact in that it does not curse the windows: they were bored by the Self-existent — but windows exist to be looked through, not so that one may forget who is looking.