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 1.2.22
अशरीरँ शरीरेष्वनवस्थेष्ववस्थितं ।
महान्तं विभुमात्मानं मत्वा धीरो न शोचति ॥ २२ ॥aśarīram̐ śarīreṣvanavastheṣvavasthitaṃ |
mahāntaṃ vibhumātmānaṃ matvā dhīro na śocati || 22 ||22. The intelligent man knowing the atman, bodiless, seated firmly in perishable bodies, great and all-pervading, does not grieve.
Shankara’s Commentary:
Com.—This text shows that by knowing him, grief also vanishes. ‘Bodiless,’ the atman being like the akas by its own nature; ‘bodies,’ bodies of the gods, the manes, men and the rest. ‘Perishable,’ devoid of firmness, not eternal; ‘firmly seate,’ eternal, i.e., not subject to modifications; ‘great,’ to avoid the doubt that the greatness may be relative, the text adds ‘all-pervading.’ The word ‘atman’ is used to show that it is not distinct from one’s Self. The word atman is primarily used to denote the Pratyagatman, i.e., the atman in the body. Having known the atman of this description, i.e., having realised him in the form ‘I am he,’ the intelligent do not grieve. There is no occasion for such a knower of the atman to grieve.