________________
1
18
KATHA-UPANISHAD.
FIFTH VALLI.
1. There is a town with eleven1 gates belonging to the Unborn (Brahman), whose thoughts are never crooked. He who approaches it, grieves no more, and liberated (from all bonds of ignorance) becomes free. This is that.'
2. 'He (Brahman) is the swan (sun), dwelling in the bright heaven; he is the Vasu (air), dwelling in the sky; he is the sacrificer (fire), dwelling on the hearth; he is the guest (Soma), dwelling in the sacrificial jar; he dwells in men, in gods (vara), in the sacrifice (rita), in heaven; he is born in the water, on earth, in the sacrifice (rita), on the mountains; he is the True and the Great.'
3. He (Brahman) it is who sends up the breath (prâna), and who throws back the breath (apâna). All the Devas (senses) worship him, the adorable (or the dwarf), who sits in the centre.'
4. 'When that incorporated (Brahman), who dwells in the body, is torn away and freed from the body, what remains then? This is that.'
5. No mortal lives by the breath that goes up and by the breath that goes down. We live by another, in whom these two repose.'
6. 'Well then, O Gautama, I shall tell thee this mystery, the old Brahman, and what happens to the Self, after reaching death.'
1 Seven apertures in the head, the navel, two below, and the one at the top of the head through which the Self escapes. Cf. Svet. Up. III, 18; Bhag. Gîtâ V, 13.
2 Cf. Rig-veda IV, 40, 5.
Digitized by
Google
