उपनिषद् · Kaṭha 6.3
॥
देवनागरी
भयाद् अस्याग्निस् तपति भयात् तपति सूर्यः ।
भयाद् इन्द्रश् च वायुश् च मृत्युर् धावति पञ्चमः
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
bhayād asyāgnis tapati bhayāt tapati sūryaḥ /
bhayād indraś ca vāyuś ca mṛtyur dhāvati pañcamaḥ
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
भयात्bhayātout of reverential fear (bhaya); out of awe; out of fear [of Him]
अस्यasyabefore Him; His
अग्निःagniḥfire; Agni
तपतिtapatiburns, blazes (from √tap); scorches; warms
भयात्bhayātout of reverential fear (bhaya); out of awe; out of fear [of Him]
तपतिtapatiburns, blazes (from √tap); scorches; warms
सूर्यःsūryaḥthe sun; Sūrya
भयात्bhayātout of reverential fear (bhaya); out of awe; out of fear [of Him]
इन्द्रःindraḥIndra; the king of the gods
चcaand; as well as
वायुःvāyuḥVāyu; the wind
चcaand; as well as
मृत्युःmṛtyuḥDeath; Yama
धावतिdhāvatiruns (from √dhāv); hastens; hastens [to obey]
पञ्चमःpañcamaḥas the fifth; fifth [in the row]; as the fifth one
अनुवाद
Out of reverential fear of Him fire burns, out of fear the sun blazes, out of fear Indra and Vāyu run, and Death runs as the fifth.
संस्करण
c5f891bd4cd1 · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 9:13:03 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The upraised thunderbolt of the preceding verse is unfolded by name. bhayād asyāgnis tapati — "out of fear of Him fire burns": flame burns not by its own caprice — it executes an office; bhayāt tapati sūryaḥ — the sun blazes in its season and its measure — out of reverence; bhayād indraś ca vāyuś ca — Indra the power and Vāyu the wind run their own courses; mṛtyur dhāvati pañcamaḥ — "and Death runs as the fifth".
The fifth name is the loudest in this conversation: the narrator himself, Yama, includes himself in the list of the subject. The lord of death, who was three nights in debt to a boy and has disclosed to him all the mysteries, here humbly testifies: I too run out of fear of Him; death is not sovereign — she is an official on errands for the Eternal. For Naciketas this is the final overturning of the whole picture: that Death about whom men doubt (verse 20) herself trembles before Him whom he now knows.
The Taittirīya Upaniṣad (2.8.1) sings this same verse almost verbatim: bhīṣāsmād vātaḥ pavate — "out of fear of Him the wind blows…". The order of the world, both hymns say, is not mechanics but obedience; the laws of nature are the discipline of servants before a King. And therefore one who knows the King passes calmly through the ranks of the terrible servants: they are terrible not to him — they are terrible to chaos.