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DECEMBER, 1928 ]
KATHAKA UPANISAD
223
Yama: "As of old he will be full of joyit; the son of Uddalaka Aruni has already) been let loose by met. In peace will he sleep every night, free from worries when having seen73 thee released from the jaws of Death." (11)
Naciketas : "In the heavenly world there is no fear of any kind, (for) thou art not there, nor does one (there) fear old age14 Having overcome both, hunger and thirst, having left sorrow behind one rejoices in the heavenly world." (12)
"Thou, O Death, knoweat the sacrificial) fire leading to heaven; proclaim it then to me who am longing75 (to know). Those in the heavenly world partake of immortality. This I choose as my second boon." (13)
Yama: “I proclaim it to thee and do thou listen carefully to me--being conversant with the fire that leads to heaven, O Naciketas Know it as the obtainment of the eternal world and its basis, know it as being deposited in the secret place." (14)
He taught him of that fire which is the beginning of the world, which bricks (are needed) and how many and how to be laid). And this one (Naciketas) repeated it word after word. Then Death, well pleased, again spoke to him. (15)
16 To him with a loving mind spoke the great one: "I now grant thee one more boon. This fire shall be (known) by thy name; and take thou also this multicoloured chain?7." (16)
"Building three Naciketa-fires78, entering into union with threets, and performing three actions one goes beyond birth and death. Having known and meditated upon (the texts) brahmi jajñanam and devam idyam8i he for eternal time goes to this peace 82." (17)
71 Viz., when the son returns to him.
73 This seems the only possible translation. Geldner's translation : "Zurückgekehrt ist der Sohn des Uddalaka Arupi, den ich geben hiess" is very clever but scarcely possible. Hillebrandt, however, quite correctly, says: "Aruni, Sohn des Udd&laka, ist (hiermit) von mir ontlassen." Previous translators, misled by Samkara, have taken Auddalaki to be=Uddalaka which is, of course, impossible. Yema impli. citly tells Naciketas that he is already free to go back.
73 dadsávan, Kern, S.B. 1891, p. 86; Whitney, l.c. p. 94.
74 Bohtlingk (in accordance with Pan. i, 4, 25) would prefer na jardyd bidheti. The grammar of our text is far from Papinean, but still the instrumental (jarayd) seems scarcely possible.
78 Cf. n. 57 supra.
74 Most seholars, as M. Müller SBE.XV, 6 n. 1; Whitney, 1.c. p. 96; Hillebrandt, 1.c. p. 175; and Sieg, Lc. p. 130, consider v.16-18 as being a later interpolation on altogether futile reasons. On the contrary they are absolutely necessary in order to understand the text: cf. Geldner, Ved, Stud. iii, 154 n. 1.
1 The word srákd occurs here and in 2, 3, but is otherwise unknown in the literature. The explanstions are manifold, and differ from each other to a great degree. Samkars apparently knew an old and fairly correct interpretation, which he renders by fabdarac ratnamay mala 'a rattling chain of jewels'; but his other explanations (dkutaita gatih karmamayi and optih kutsita madhajanapravrtid) show us that he was in a hopeless muddle as to the real sense of the word. The Petersburg dictionaries hesitatingly translate it by 'way', whilo M. Müller, Douesen and others interpret it as meaning 'chain' or 'garland (Cf. Hume, l.c. p. 344). Bohtlingk, Roth, Kern and Garbo all have explanations which are more or less fanciful and unconvincing, while Whitney left the word untranslated. The late Professor Johansson, in an unpublished paper, tried to establish the sense of 'cornucopis', but that iden is unknown to the Hindus. The word simply means, garland or still better chain.' It is a chain of gold and jewels which symbolises at once worldly riches and the snare (pada) of Death. Etymologically it seems closely connected with sraj. 'garland. Professor Sieg., l.c. p. 130, following Madhva, has given a fairly accurate interpretation of our passage.
78 trindciketa (en irregular formation) is difficult and obscure ; but I suppose it means that one should build all the three sacrificial fires (dhavaniya, gdrhapatya, and dakrina) according to the special rules laid down by Yama to Naciketas. I am unable to follow Bieg here.
70 Samkara (followed by Bohtlingk and Hillebrandt) says that the three mean father, mother, and our, which gives little sense. It possibly means dharma, artha, and kdma, the three goals of every man's life.
0 Vis., yajana, adhyayana, and dona; but d. also Tait. S. VI, 3, 10, 5 (Geldner, Ved. Stud, iii, 152).
91 Correctly interpreted by Hillebrandt (and, though not so well, by Geldner and vaguely suggested already by Whitney p. 95). For brahma jajñanam see AV. iv, i, 1 sq., while devam Edyam alludes to some unidentified Agni-hymn. This, like the preceding verses, alludes to Agni as the basis of the universe and identified with brahman-deman.
** Santi is nothing but the Buddhist nirvana and, of course, also brahma.
