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...
Verse 1.1.3
पीतोदका जग्धतृणा दुग्धदोहा निरिन्द्रियाः ।
अनन्दा नाम ते लोकास्तान्स गच्छति ता ददत् ॥ ३ ॥pītodakā jagdhatṛṇā dugdhadohā nirindriyāḥ |
anandā nāma te lokāstānsa gacchati tā dadat || 3 ||3. (These cows) have drunk water for the last time, eaten grass for the last time, have yielded all their milk and are devoid of vigour. Joyless verily are those worlds; them he attains who gives these.
Shankara’s Commentary:
Com.—How he thought is explained; the epithet Pitodakah and those which follow describe the cows to be given as rewards. Pítodakah, by which all water has been drunk; jagdhatrinah, by which all grass has been eaten. Dugdhadohah, from which all milk has been milched. Nirindriah (?), not capable of breeding. The meaning is—cows old and useless; giving such cows to the Ritviks for their rewards, the person performing the sacrifice attains those worlds which are joyless, i.e., devoid of happiness.