Katha Upanishad Explained

Katha
Devanagari:कठ
Sanskrit Transliteration:Kaṭha
Composition Date:5th to 1st century BCE
Type:Mukhya Upanishad
Veda:Krishna Yajurveda
Commentary:Adi Shankara, Madhvacharya

The Katha Upanishad (Sanskrit: कठोपनिषद्,), is an ancient Hindu text and one of the mukhya (primary) Upanishads, embedded in the last eight short sections of the school of the Krishna Yajurveda.[1] [2] It is also known as Upanishad, and is listed as number 3 in the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads.

The Katha Upanishad consists of two chapters (Adhyāyas), each divided into three sections (Vallis). The first Adhyaya is considered to be of older origin than the second.[2] The Upanishad has the legendary story of a little boy, Nachiketa – the son of Sage Vajasravasa, who meets Yama (the king of the dead). Their conversation evolves to a discussion of the nature of man, knowledge, Atman (Self) and moksha (liberation).[2]

The chronology of Katha Upanishad is unclear and contested, but it is generally considered to belong to the later Upanishads, dated to the 5th to first centuries BCE.

The Kathaka Upanishad is an important ancient Sanskrit corpus of the Vedanta sub-schools, and an influential Śruti to the diverse schools of Hinduism. It asserts that "Atman (Self) exists", teaches the precept "seek Self-knowledge, which is Highest Bliss", and expounds on this premise like the other primary Upanishads of Hinduism. The detailed teachings of Katha Upanishad have been variously interpreted, as Dvaita (dualistic)[3] and as Advaita (non-dualistic).[4] [5]

It is among the most widely studied Upanishads. Katha Upanishad was translated into Persian in the 17th century, copies of which were then translated into Latin and distributed in Europe.[6] Other philosophers such as Arthur Schopenhauer praised it, Edwin Arnold rendered it in verse as "The Secret of Death", and Ralph Waldo Emerson credited Katha Upanishad for the central story at the end of his essay Immortality, as well as his poem "Brahma".[4] [7]

Etymology

Katha (Sanskrit: कठ) literally means "distress".[8] Katha is also the name of a sage, credited as the founder of a branch of the Krishna Yajur-veda, as well as the term for a female pupil or follower of Kathas school of Yajurveda.[8] Paul Deussen notes that the Katha Upanishad uses words that symbolically embed and creatively have multiple meanings. For example, a closely pronounced word Katha (Sanskrit: कथा) literally means "story, legend, conversation, speech, tale".[8] All of these related meanings are relevant to the Katha Upanishad.

Nachiketa, the boy and a central character in the Katha Upanishad legend, similarly, has closely related words with roots and meanings relevant to the text. Paul Deussen[2] suggests Na kṣiti and Na aksiyete, which are word plays of and pronounced similar to Nachiketa, means "non-decay, or what does not decay", a meaning that is relevant to second boon portion of the Nachiketa story. Similarly, Na jiti is another word play and means "that which cannot be vanquished", which is contextually relevant to the Nachiketa's third boon.[2] Both Whitney and Deussen independently suggest yet another variation to Nachiketa, with etymological roots that is relevant to Katha Upanishad: the word Na-ciketa also means "I do not know, or he does not know".[9] Some of these Sanskrit word plays are incorporated within the Upanishad's text.

Like Taittiriya Upanishad of Yajurveda, each section of the Katha Upanishad is called a Valli (वल्ली), which literally means a medicinal vine-like climbing plant that grows independently yet is attached to a main tree. Paul Deussen states that this symbolic terminology is apt and likely reflects the root and nature of the Upanishads in Black Yajur veda, which too is largely independent of the liturgical Yajur Veda, and is attached to the main text.[10]

Chronology

The chronology of Katha Upanishad is unclear and contested by scholars.[11] All opinions rest on scanty evidence, an analysis of archaism, style and repetitions across texts, driven by assumptions about likely evolution of ideas, and on presumptions about which philosophy might have influenced which other Indian philosophies.[11]

Richard King and A.L. Basham date the Katha Upanishad's composition roughly to the 5th century BCE, chronologically placing it after the first Buddhist Pali canons.[12] [13] Olivelle assigns the Katha Upanishad to the verse Upanishads, together with the Kena, Isha, Svetasvatara, and Mundaka, dating it to the first centuries BCE. Paul Deussen too considers Katha Upanishad to be a post-prose, yet earlier stage Upanishad composed about the time Kena and Isha Upanishads were, because of the poetic, mathematical metric structure of its hymns.[14]

Stephen Phillips notes the disagreement between modern scholars. Phillips places the Katha Upanishad chronologically after Brihadaranyaka, Chandogya, Isha, Taittiriya, Aitareya and Kena, but before Mundaka, Prasna, Mandukya, Svetasvatara and Maitri Upanishads, as well as before the earliest Buddhist Pali and Jaina canons.[11] Winternitz considers the Kathaka Upanishad as pre-Buddhist, pre-Jaina literature.[14] [15]

Structure

The Katha Upanishad has two chapters (adhyāyas), each with three sections (valli), thus a total of six sections. The first section has 29 verses, the second section 25 verses, and the third section has 17. The second chapter opens with the fourth section of the Katha Upanishad, which has 15 verses, while the fifth valli also has 15 verses. The final section has 17 verses.[2]

The first chapter with the first three vallis is considered older because the third section ends with a structure in Sanskrit that is typically found at the closing of other Upanishads. Additionally, the central ideas are repeated and expanded upon in the last three sections, which makes up the second chapter.[2] This, however, does not imply a significant gap between the two chapters, both chapters are considered ancient, and from 1st millennium BCE.[2]

The origin of the story of the little boy named Nachiketa, contained in Katha Upanishad is of a much older origin.[16] Nachiketa is mentioned in the verses of chapter 3.11 of Taittiriya Brahmana, both as a similar story,[16] and as the name of one of five fire arrangements for rituals, along with Savitra, Caturhotra, Vaisvasrja and Aruna Agni.[2] [17]

The style and structure suggests that some of the verses in Katha Upanishad, such as 1.1.8, 1.1.16-1.1.18, 1.1.28, among others, are non-philosophical, do not fit with the rest of the text, and are likely to be later insertion and interpolations.[2] [16] [18]

Content

The son questions his father - First Valli

The Upanishad opens with the story of Vajasravasa, also called Aruni Auddalaki Gautama,[19] who gives away all of his worldly possessions. However, his son Nachiketa (Sanskrit: नचिकेता) sees the charitable sacrifice as a farce, because all those worldly things have already been used to exhaustion, and are of no value to the recipients. The cows that were given away, for example, were so old that they had 'drank-their-last-water' (पीतोदकाः), 'eaten-their-last-grass' (जग्धतृणाः), 'don't give milk' (दुग्धदोहाः), 'who are barren' (निरिन्द्रियाः). [20] Concerned, the son asks his father,

Nachiketa does not die, but accepts his father's gifting him to Death by visiting the abode of Yama - the deity of death in the Indian pantheon of deities. Nachiketa arrives, but Yama is not in his abode. Nachiketa as guest goes hungry for three nights, states verse 9 of the first Valli of Katha Upanishad. Yama arrives and is apologetic for this dishonor to the guest, so he offers Nachiketa three wishes.[21]

Nachiketa's first wish is that Yama discharge him from the abode of death, back to his family, and that his father be calm, well-disposed, not resentful and the same as he was before when he returns. Yama grants the first wish immediately, states verse 1.1.11 of Katha Upanishad.[21]

For his second wish, Nachiketa prefaces his request with the statement that heaven is a place where there is no fear, no anxiety, no old age, no hunger, no thirst, no sorrow.[21] He then asks Yama, in verse 1.1.13 of Katha Upanishad to be instructed as to the proper execution of fire ritual that enables a human being to secure heaven. Yama responds by detailing the fire ritual, including how the bricks should be arranged, and how the fire represents the building of the world. Nachiketa remembers what Yama tells him, repeats the ritual, a feat which pleases Yama, and he declares that this fire ritual will thereafter be called the "Nachiketa fires". Yama adds that along with "three Nachiketa fires", anyone who respects three bonds (with mother, father and teacher), does three kinds of karma (rituals, studies and charity), and understands the knowledge therein, becomes free of sorrow.[22]

In his third wish Nachiketa then asks Yama, in verse 1.1.20, about the doubt that human beings have about "what happens after a person dies? Does he continue to exist in another form? or not?"[22] The remaining verse of first Valli of Katha Upanishad is expression of reluctance by Yama in giving a straight "yes or no" answer. Yama states that even the gods doubt and are uncertain about that question, and urges Nachiketa to pick another wish.[23] Nachiketa says that if gods doubt that, then he "Yama" as deity of death ought to be the only one who knows the answer. Yama offers him all sorts of worldly wealth and pleasures instead, but Nachiketa says human life is short, asks Yama to keep the worldly wealth and pleasures to himself, declares that pompous wealth, lust and pleasures are fleeting and vain, then insists on knowing the nature of Atman (Self) and sticks to his question, "what happens after death?"[24] [25]

The theory of good versus dear - Second Valli

Yama begins his teaching by distinguishing between preya (प्रेय, प्रिय, dear, pleasant, gratifying),[26] and shreya (श्रेय, good, beneficial excellence).[27]

The verses 1.2.4 through 1.2.6 of Katha Upanishad then characterizes knowledge/wisdom as the pursuit of good, and ignorance/delusion as the pursuit of pleasant. The verses 1.2.7 through 1.2.11 of Katha Upanishad state knowledge/wisdom and the pursuit of good is difficult yet eternal, while ignorance/delusion and the pursuit of the pleasant is easy yet transient. Knowledge requires effort, and often not comprehended by man even when he reads it or hears it or by internal argument.[28] The pursuit of knowledge and the good, can be taught,[29] learnt and thus realized.[30]

A similar discussion and distinction between the pleasant and the beneficial is found in ancient Greek philosophy, such as in Phaedrus by Plato.[31]

Atman exists, the theory of Yoga and the essence of Vedas - Second Valli

The Katha Upanishad, in verses 1.2.12, asserts that the Atman – Self – exists, though it is invisible and full of mystery.[32] It also states that it is ancient and recognizable by Yoga (meditation on one's self). This is one of the earliest mentions of Yoga in ancient Sanskrit literature, in the context of Self-development and meditation.

Notes and References

  1. Johnston, Charles (1920-1931). The Mukhya Upanishads. Kshetra Books. (Reprinted in 2014).
  2. Paul Deussen. Sixty Upanishads of the Veda. Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass. . pages 269-273
  3. Ariel Glucklich (2008), The Strides of Vishnu: Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective, Oxford University Press,, page 70, Quote: "The Upanishadic age was also characterized by a pluralism of worldviews. While some Upanishads have been deemed 'monistic', others, including the Katha Upanishad, are dualistic. Monism holds that reality is one – Brahman – and that all multiplicity (matter, individual Selfs) is ultimately reducible to that one reality. The Katha Upanishad, a relatively late text of the Black Yajurveda, is more complex. It teaches Brahman, like other Upanishads, but it also states that above the 'unmanifest' (Brahman) stands Purusha, or 'Person'. This claim originated in Samkhya (analysis) philosophy, which split all of reality into two coeternal principles: spirit (purusha) and primordial matrix (prakriti)."
  4. SH Nasr (1989), Knowledge and the Sacred: Revisioning Academic Accountability, State University of New York Press,, page 99, Quote: "Emerson was especially inebriated by the message of the Upanishads, whose nondualistic doctrine contained so lucidly in the Katha Upanishad, is reflected in his well known poem Brahma".
  5. https://archive.org/stream/upanishadsandsr00agoog#page/n12/mode/2up Kathopanishad
  6. Philip Renard (1995), Historical bibliography of Upanishads in translation, Journal of Indian philosophy, vol 23, issue 2, pages 223-246
  7. R White (2010), Schopenhauer and Indian Philosophy, International Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 50, issue 1, pages 57-76
  8. http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/tamil/index.html KaTha
  9. WD Whitney, Translation of the Katha-Upanishad, Transactions of the American Philological Association, Vol. 21, page 91
  10. [Paul Deussen]
  11. Stephen Phillips (2009), Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy, Columbia University Press,, Chapter 1
  12. Richard King (1995), Ācārya, Gauḍapāda - Early Advaita Vedānta and Buddhism: the Mahāyāna context of the Gauḍapādīya-kārikā, SUNY Press,, pages 51-58
  13. A.L. Basham in Paul Williams, ed., Buddhism: Buddhist origins and the early history of Buddhism in South and Southeast Asia. Taylor & Francis, 2005, (page 61).
  14. S Sharma (1985), Life in the Upanishads,, pages 17-19
  15. M Winternitz (2010), History of Indian Literature, Vol 1, Motilal Banarsidass,
  16. WD Whitney, Translation of the Katha-Upanishad, Transactions of the American Philological Association, Vol. 21, pages 88- 112
  17. Radhakrishnan, S. (1994). The Principal Upanishads. New Delhi: HarperCollins Publishers India. p. 593.
  18. The Upanishads - Part II, Dover Publications,, pages xxi-xxv, and page 5 with footnote 1
  19. (1962), Katha Upanishad, in The Upanishads - Part II, Dover Publications,, page 1 with footnote 1
  20. (1962), Katha Upanishad, in The Upanishads - Part II, Dover Publications,, pages 1-2 with footnote 3
  21. Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass,, pages 277-278
  22. Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass,, pages 278-279
  23. (1962), Katha Upanishad, in The Upanishads - Part II, Dover Publications,, pages 5-6
  24. Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass,, pages 279-281
  25. (1962), Katha Upanishad, in The Upanishads - Part II, Dover Publications,, page 7
  26. http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/tamil/index.html Search for zreyas and priya spellings under Harvard-Kyoto convention for Sanskrit
  27. p. 42, Easwaran (2009), Essence of the Upanishads (see article). Easwaran writes that "these alternatives have precise Sanskrit names that have no English equivalent: preya and shreya. Preya is what is pleasant; shreya, what is beneficial. Preya is that which pleases us, that which tickles the ego. Shreya, on the other hand, has no reference to pleasing or displeasing. It simply means what benefits us" (p. 42).
  28. Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass,, pages 282-283
  29. Note: in later verses, Katha Upanishad clarifies that empirical knowledge can be taught, but spiritual knowledge about Atman can not be instructed, only meditated upon and realized. See verses 1.2.23-1.2.25, Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass,, page 286
  30. Katha Upanishad, in The Upanishads - Part II, Dover Publications,, page 9
  31. S Radhakrishnan (1994 Reprint, 1953), The Principal Upanishads (see article), in discussing this verse, offers a quote from Plato's Phaedrus for comparison: "In every one of us there are two ruling and directing principles, whose guidance we follow wherever they may lead; the one being an innate device of pleasure, the other an acquired judgment which aspires after excellence. Now these two principles at one time maintain harmony, while at another they are at feud within us, and now one and now the other obtains mastery" (p. 608).
  32. Paul Deussen, Kathaka Upanishad in Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass,, pages 283