Katha Upanishad with Shankara’s Commentary

by S. Sitarama Sastri | 1928 | 23,822 words

The Katha Upanishad is a collection of philosophical poems representing a conversation between the sage Naciketas and Yama (god of death). They discuss the nature of Atman, Brahman and Moksha (liberation). The book is made up of six sections (Valli). This commentary by Shankara focuses on ‘Advaita Vedanta’, or non-dualism: one of the classical ort...

यदा सर्वे प्रमुच्यन्ते कामा येऽस्य हृदि श्रिताः ।
अथ मर्त्यो'मृतो भवत्यत्र ब्रह्म समश्नुते ॥ १४ ॥

yadā sarve pramucyante kāmā ye'sya hṛdi śritāḥ |
atha martyo'mṛto bhavatyatra brahma samaśnute || 14 ||

14. When all desires clinging to the heart of one fall off, then the mortal becomes immortal and here attains Brahman.

 

Shankara’s Commentary:

Com.—When of the person thus seeing the truth, all desires, which were clinging to the intellect of the knower before he attained the knowledge, fall off from want of anything else to be desired (for intellect and not the atman is the seat of desires, and also from another sruti which says desire, volition, etc.), then the mortal (he was so before he attained the knowledge), subsequently to the acquisition of knowledge, becomes immortal, death consisting in ignorance, desire and karma being destroyed, and becomes Brahman even here (there being no necessity of going, death resulting in a going having been destroyed) like fire extinguished, all bondage being destroyed.

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