उपनिषद् · Kaṭha 5.14
॥
देवनागरी
तद् एतद् इति मन्यन्ते ऽनिर्देश्यं परमं सुखम् ।
कथं नु तद् विजानीयां किम् उ भाति विभाति वा
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
tad etad iti manyante 'nirdeśyaṃ paramaṃ sukham /
kathaṃ nu tad vijānīyāṃ kim u bhāti vibhāti vā
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
तत्tatthat; this
एतत्etatthis; precisely this
इतिitithus; as such
मन्यन्तेmanyantethey consider; they understand [it to be]
अनिर्देश्यम्anirdeśyamthat at which nothing can point (a-nirdeśya — 'not to be indicated'); indescribable; admitting of no pointing out
परमम्paramamthe highest; the excellent
सुखम्sukhamhappiness; bliss
कथम्kathamhow; in what manner
नुnusurely; then
तत्tatthat; it
विजानीयाम्vijānīyāmam I to discern (optative of vi-√jñā); how am I to grasp it; how am I to understand it
किम्kimwhether; is it that
उusurely; indeed
भातिbhātishines (from √bhā — 'to shine'); gives light [of itself]; beams
विभातिvibhātishines in reflection (vi-√bhā); is manifested by reflection; shines with a borrowed gleam
वाvāor; whether
अनुवाद
"This is That," so the [wise] deem of the unindicable supreme happiness. How then am I to discern That? Does it shine of itself — or [only] by reflection?
संस्करण
bab0fa80ec67 · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 9:13:03 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The pupil's voice breaks in for the last time — with a question about the light itself. tad etad iti manyante 'nirdeśyaṁ paramaṁ sukham — "'this is That', so they deem of the unindicable (a-nirdeśya — that at which one cannot point a finger) supreme happiness": the wise recognize Him but cannot point Him out — how does one point at that by which every pointable thing is seen? kathaṁ nu tad vijānīyām — "how then am I to discern That?"
kim u bhāti vibhāti vā — "does it shine [of itself] — or does it shine by reflection?": the subtlest of questions: has He a light of His own, or is He seen reflectedly, as the moon by another's light? Everything depends on the answer: what is reflected must be sought through the reflector; what is self-luminous discloses itself.
The question is put so exactly that the answer (the next verse — one of the greatest in all the Vedas) will sound like thunder: not only does He shine of Himself — all else shines by Him. Note in passing the humility of the asker: after all the instructions he does not say "I have understood" — he asks about the manner of recognizing. A real teaching does not end in understanding — it ends in a thirst to see.