उपनिषद् · Kaṭha 6.4
॥
देवनागरी
इह चेद् अशकद् बोद्धुं प्राक्शरीरस्य विस्रसः ।
ततः सर्गेषु लोकेषु शरीरत्वाय कल्पते
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
iha ced aśakad boddhuṃ prākśarīrasya visrasaḥ /
tataḥ sargeṣu lokeṣu śarīratvāya kalpate
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
इहihahere; in this life
चेत्cetif; when
अशकत्aśakathe was able (aorist of √śak — 'to be able'); he managed; he had the power
बोद्धुम्boddhumto awaken, to know (infinitive of √budh); to know; to see clearly
प्राक्prākbefore; before
शरीरस्यśarīrasyaof the body; of the body
विस्रसःvisrasaḥof the dissolution (vi-sraṁsa — 'the crumbling'); of the destruction; of the falling apart
ततःtataḥthen; otherwise
सर्गेषुsargeṣuin the worlds of creation (sarga — 'creation'); in the worlds being created; in the rounds of creation
लोकेषुlokeṣuin the worlds; in the abodes
शरीरत्वायśarīratvāyato bodiliness; for the gaining of a body
कल्पतेkalpatebecomes fit; proves to be destined
अनुवाद
If [a man] has been able to awaken here, before the dissolution of the body — [he is free]; if not, embodiment in the worlds of creation is prepared for him.
संस्करण
f11a35f505c9 · प्रकाशित 26 जुल॰ 2026, 9:13:03 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
iha ced aśakad boddhuṁ prāk śarīrasya visrasaḥ — "if he has been able to awaken here, before the crumbling of the body": iha — "here" — is the stressed word (the same as in the Kena Upaniṣad, 2.5: "if one has known here, there is truth"): the human body, with its rarest capacity to ask about the eternal, is the only workshop of awakening; neither in wombs, nor in posts (verse 93), nor even in the heavens of the gods is this work done.
tataḥ sargeṣu lokeṣu śarīratvāya kalpate — "otherwise bodiliness in the worlds of creation is prepared for him": not a punishment but the continuation of a course: one who has not learned is sent to resit, into new bodies, by the law yathā-karma yathā-śrutam. The wheel does not take revenge — it simply turns as long as there is something to turn.
The urgency of this verse is a mercy, not an intimidation: awakening has the shelf-life of a body, and no one knows his own term. Hence the alarm-bell of the third vallī: uttiṣṭhata jāgrata — "arise, awake" — not because God is in a hurry but because the hour of death does not coordinate schedules. All that is needed has already been given: the instruction, the Name, the light; only one irreplaceable thing remains — time.