Nachiketa and Yama

The Katha Upanishad’s Story of Death, Choice and the Self

“Father, to whom will you give me?” He asked again, and a third time. His father turned. “To death I give you.”

From the Katha Upanishad

1. A Gift That Cost Nothing

In the Katha Upanishad, a man named Vajashravasa wanted heaven. So he performed the Vishvajit, the sacrifice in which a man gives away everything he owns. He had a son, a boy named Nachiketa.

As the cows were led away to the priests, the boy watched them. Old cows, milked dry, too old to bear a calf: a gift that cost him nothing. If we have lost nothing by giving, we have given nothing.

And Shraddha entered the boy, young as he was: faith born of care for his father. Gifts like these lead not to heaven, but to joyless worlds.

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.1.1

उशन् ह वै वाजश्रवसः सर्ववेदसं ददौ।

तस्य ह नचिकेता नाम पुत्र आस॥

Meaning: Desiring the fruit of the sacrifice, Vajashravasa gave away all his possessions. He had a son named Nachiketa.

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.1.2

तं ह कुमारं सन्तं दक्षिणासु नीयमानासु श्रद्धाऽऽविवेश सोऽमन्यत॥

Meaning: While the gift-cows were being led away, faith (shraddha) entered the boy, young as he was, and he thought:

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.1.3

पीतोदका जग्धतृणा दुग्धदोहा निरिन्द्रियाः।

अनन्दा नाम ते लोकास्तान् स गच्छति ता ददत्॥

Meaning: Cows that have drunk their water, eaten their grass, given their milk, and lost their strength: the one who gives such cows goes to worlds called joyless.

2. “To Death I Give You”

His father had vowed to give everything, and one thing he had not given: his son. “Father, to whom will you give me?” His father did not answer. He asked again, and again. “This is not how a child behaves,” his father thought, and in anger he said, “To death I give you.”

Alone, the boy thought, “My father spoke in anger. Still, his word must not be false.” But his father’s anger had already turned to grief. “What have I said?” The boy said, “Keep your word, father. Send me to Yama.” And so that his word would stay true, his father sent him.

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.1.4

स होवाच पितरं तात कस्मै मां दास्यसीति।

द्वितीयं तृतीयं तं होवाच मृत्यवे त्वा ददामीति॥

Meaning: He said to his father, “Father, to whom will you give me?” A second time, and a third. Then the father said to him, “I give you to Death.”

3. Three Nights at Death’s Door

Yama was not at home. For three nights, the boy waited at his door with no food and no water. When Yama came home, his household met him. “A guest enters a house like fire,” they said. “Yama, bring him water.” “A host who lets a guest go hungry,” they warned, “loses everything: his hopes, his good deeds, his sons, his cattle.”

So Yama went to the boy. “Three nights you waited at my door and ate nothing. Salutations to you. For each night, choose a boon.” Death bowed to a boy.

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.1.7

वैश्वानरः प्रविशत्यतिथिर्ब्राह्मणो गृहान्।

तस्यैतां शान्तिं कुर्वन्ति हर वैवस्वतोदकम्॥

Meaning: A Brahmin guest enters houses like the fire Vaishvanara. They appease him thus: “Bring water, O Vaivasvata (Yama).”

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.1.8

आशाप्रतीक्षे सङ्गतं सूनृतां च इष्टापूर्ते पुत्रपशूंश्च सर्वान्।

एतद् वृङ्क्ते पुरुषस्याल्पमेधसो यस्यानश्नन् वसति ब्राह्मणो गृहे॥

Meaning: His hopes and expectations, his good company, his pleasant speech, his sacrifices and charities, his sons and cattle: all this is taken from the man of little wisdom in whose house a Brahmin guest stays unfed.

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.1.9

तिस्रो रात्रीर्यदवात्सीर्गृहे मेऽनश्नन् ब्रह्मन्नतिथिर्नमस्यः।

नमस्तेऽस्तु ब्रह्मन् स्वस्ति मेऽस्तु तस्मात् प्रति त्रीन् वरान् वृणीष्व॥

Meaning: Since you, a venerable guest worthy of homage, stayed three nights in my house without food: salutations to you, O Brahmin; may it be well with me. Therefore, for each night, choose a boon.

4. The First Boon: Peace for a Father

His first wish was for his father: that his anger would cool and that he would know his son when Yama sent him home. “He will know you as before. He will sleep in peace, seeing you set free from the mouth of death.”

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.1.10

शान्तसङ्कल्पः सुमना यथा स्याद्वीतमन्युर्गौतमो माऽभि मृत्यो।

त्वत्प्रसृष्टं माऽभिवदेत् प्रतीत एतत् त्रयाणां प्रथमं वरं वृणे॥

Meaning: May Gautama, my father, be calm in mind, kind-hearted, and free from anger toward me, O Death; and may he greet me with recognition when I am sent back by you. This I choose as the first of the three boons.

5. The Second Boon: The Sacred Fire

The second was the sacred fire that leads to heaven. “In heaven, there is no fear,” the boy said. “You are not there, Death. No one grows old.” Yama taught it brick by brick, and the boy repeated every word. Pleased, Yama named the fire after him, the Nachiketa fire. And he gave him a garland of jewels that chimed. “Heaven lasts long, but even heaven ends. When the merit that earned it is spent, one returns. Now choose the third.”

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.1.12

स्वर्गे लोके न भयं किञ्चनास्ति न तत्र त्वं न जरया बिभेति।

उभे तीर्त्वाऽशनायापिपासे शोकातिगो मोदते स्वर्गलोके॥

Meaning: In the world of heaven there is no fear at all. You are not there, and no one fears old age. Having crossed beyond both hunger and thirst, and gone beyond sorrow, one rejoices in heaven.

6. The Third Boon: What Happens After Death?

“When a man dies,” the boy said, “some say he still exists. Others say nothing of him remains. Teach me which is true. That is my third wish.”

“Even the gods doubted this long ago. It is not easy to know. It is subtle. Choose another boon, Nachiketa. Do not press me. Let this go.” Yama was not refusing. He was testing him. Was this boy ready to hear the answer?

“If even the gods were in doubt, and you yourself say it is hard to know, then who could teach it but you, the lord of death himself? No other boon comes close to this.”

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.1.20

येयं प्रेते विचिकित्सा मनुष्येऽस्तीत्येके नायमस्तीति चैके।

एतद्विद्यामनुशिष्टस्त्वयाऽहं वराणामेष वरस्तृतीयः॥

Meaning: This doubt about a man who has departed: some say, “He exists,” and others say, “He does not.” Taught by you, I would know this. Of the boons, this is the third.

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.1.21

देवैरत्रापि विचिकित्सितं पुरा न हि सुविज्ञेयमणुरेष धर्मः।

अन्यं वरं नचिकेतो वृणीष्व मा मोपरोत्सीरति मा सृजैनम्॥

Meaning: Even the gods had doubt about this in ancient times. It is not easy to know; this matter is subtle. Choose another boon, Nachiketa. Do not press me; release me from this.

7. The Temptations

“Choose sons and grandsons who will live a hundred years, cattle, elephants, gold, and horses. Choose the wide earth and live as many years as you wish. Be a king on the great earth. Every desire that is hard to win among mortals, ask for it. These women, with their chariots and their music, no man can win their like. They will serve you. Only do not ask me about death.”

Temptations do not come as temptations. They come as gifts.

“Keep your horses. Keep your dance and song. No one is ever satisfied by wealth. The boon I want is the one I asked.” He stood like a deep lake that nothing could stir.

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.1.23

शतायुषः पुत्रपौत्रान् वृणीष्व बहून् पशून् हस्तिहिरण्यमश्वान्।

भूमेर्महदायतनं वृणीष्व स्वयं च जीव शरदो यावदिच्छसि॥

Meaning: Choose sons and grandsons who will live a hundred years, many cattle, elephants, gold and horses. Choose a vast expanse of earth, and yourself live as many autumns as you wish.

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.1.25

ये ये कामा दुर्लभा मर्त्यलोके सर्वान् कामांश्छन्दतः प्रार्थयस्व।

इमा रामाः सरथाः सतूर्या न हीदृशा लम्भनीया मनुष्यैः।

आभिर्मत्प्रत्ताभिः परिचारयस्व नचिकेतो मरणं माऽनुप्रार्क्षीः॥

Meaning: Whatever desires are hard to win in the mortal world, ask for all of them as you please. These women with their chariots and their music are not to be had by men like this. Be served by them, given by me; but, Nachiketa, do not ask about death.

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.1.26

श्वोभावा मर्त्यस्य यदन्तकैतत् सर्वेन्द्रियाणां जरयन्ति तेजः।

अपि सर्वं जीवितमल्पमेव तवैव वाहास्तव नृत्यगीते॥

Meaning: These are things of tomorrow, O Death; they wear out the vigor of all the senses. Even a whole life is short. Keep your horses, keep your dance and song.

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.1.27

न वित्तेन तर्पणीयो मनुष्यो लप्स्यामहे वित्तमद्राक्ष्म चेत् त्वा।

जीविष्यामो यावदीशिष्यसि त्वं वरस्तु मे वरणीयः स एव॥

Meaning: A man is not to be satisfied by wealth. We shall obtain wealth, now that we have seen you; we shall live as long as you permit. But the boon to be chosen by me is that very one.

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.1.29

यस्मिन्निदं विचिकित्सन्ति मृत्यो यत् साम्पराये महति ब्रूहि नस्तत्।

योऽयं वरो गूढमनुप्रविष्टो नान्यं तस्मान्नचिकेता वृणीते॥

Meaning: That about which they doubt, O Death, concerning the great beyond: tell us that. This boon has entered into the hidden mystery; Nachiketa chooses no other than that.

8. The Good and the Pleasant

“The good is one thing. The pleasant is another. The wise choose the good. The fool chooses the pleasant. Both come to everyone. The wise one tells them apart as a swan parts milk from water. That is viveka, discernment.”

“You have looked at every pleasure, Nachiketa, and let it go. You did not take the road of wealth where so many drown.”

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.2.1

अन्यच्छ्रेयोऽन्यदुतैव प्रेयस्ते उभे नानार्थे पुरुषं सिनीतः।

तयोः श्रेय आददानस्य साधु भवति हीयतेऽर्थाद्य उ प्रेयो वृणीते॥

Meaning: The good is one thing, and the pleasant is another. Both, with different aims, bind a person. For the one who takes the good, it goes well; the one who chooses the pleasant falls away from the goal.

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.2.2

श्रेयश्च प्रेयश्च मनुष्यमेतस्तौ सम्परीत्य विविनक्ति धीरः।

श्रेयो हि धीरोऽभि प्रेयसो वृणीते प्रेयो मन्दो योगक्षेमाद् वृणीते॥

Meaning: Both the good and the pleasant come to a person. The wise one examines them and tells them apart. The wise prefers the good to the pleasant; the dull chooses the pleasant for the sake of gain and security.

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.2.3

स त्वं प्रियान् प्रियरूपांश्च कामानभिध्यायन् नचिकेतोऽत्यस्राक्षीः।

नैतां सृङ्कां वित्तमयीमवाप्तो यस्यां मज्जन्ति बहवो मनुष्याः॥

Meaning: You, Nachiketa, having considered desires that are dear and pleasing in form, have let them go. You did not take that road of wealth in which many people sink.

9. Yama’s Answer: The Self Never Dies

And then Yama answered the question. Life is the student. Death is the tutor. The self, the one who knows, is never born and never dies. It is not killed when the body is killed.

Think back. The child you were is gone. So is the youth. The face in the mirror keeps changing. But the one who has watched all of it has not aged a single day. Krishna speaks nearly the same words in the Bhagavad Gita.

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.2.18

न जायते म्रियते वा विपश्चिन्नायं कुतश्चिन्न बभूव कश्चित्।

अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे॥

Meaning: The knowing Self is never born and never dies. It has not come from anywhere, nor has it become anything. Unborn, constant, eternal, ancient, it is not killed when the body is killed. (The Bhagavad Gita 2.20 gives nearly the same verse.)

10. The Self Is Won by Choosing

“This self is not won by teaching, nor by cleverness, nor by much learning. It is won by the one who chooses it. To him, it shows itself.” Death had said it to him again and again: “Choose.” In Sanskrit, a boon is just that, a thing chosen. He had chosen only this.

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.2.23

नायमात्मा प्रवचनेन लभ्यो न मेधया न बहुना श्रुतेन।

यमेवैष वृणुते तेन लभ्यस्तस्यैष आत्मा विवृणुते तनूं स्वाम्॥

Meaning: This Self is not won by teaching, nor by intelligence, nor by much learning. It is won by the one whom it chooses; to him this Self reveals its own form.

11. The Chariot

“Know the self as the rider and the body as the chariot. The intellect is the driver, the mind is the reins, the senses are the horses, and the world is the road they run on. Let the reins go slack and the senses bolt like wild horses, dragging the chariot wherever they please, and the rider with it. Hold the reins and the same horses carry him home. The one whose understanding holds the reins of the mind reaches the end of the journey, the highest place of Vishnu, the all-pervading.”

Most days, the horses drive us. A sound, a scream, a craving, and they are off, and we call it choosing. But where does this road end? Go past the horses, past the reins, past the driver. Only the rider is left. The journey ends where it began, in the one who sat in the chariot all along.

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.3.3–4

आत्मानं रथितं विद्धि शरीरं रथमेव तु।

बुद्धिं तु सारथिं विद्धि मनः प्रग्रहमेव च॥

इन्द्रियाणि हयानाहुर्विषयांस्तेषु गोचरान्।

आत्मेन्द्रियमनोयुक्तं भोक्तेत्याहुर्मनीषिणः॥

Meaning: Know the Self as the rider in the chariot, and the body as the chariot. Know the intellect as the charioteer, and the mind as the reins. The senses, they say, are the horses, and the objects of the senses are the paths they range over. The Self joined with body, senses and mind, the wise call the enjoyer.

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.3.9

विज्ञानसारथिर्यस्तु मनःप्रग्रहवान्नरः।

सोऽध्वनः पारमाप्नोति तद्विष्णोः परमं पदम्॥

Meaning: The person whose charioteer is discernment and who holds the reins of the mind reaches the end of the road, that highest place of Vishnu.

12. Arise, Awake

“Arise, awake. Most of us go through life asleep with our eyes open. Find those who are awake and learn from them. And walk with care. This path is a razor’s edge. It is not long, but it is narrow. Lose your attention for a moment and you fall back into the dream.”

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 1.3.14

उत्तिष्ठत जाग्रत प्राप्य वरान्निबोधत।

क्षुरस्य धारा निशिता दुरत्यया दुर्गं पथस्तत् कवयो वदन्ति॥

Meaning: Arise, awake! Having found the excellent teachers, understand. Sharp as a razor’s edge and hard to cross is that path, say the wise.

13. One Fire, Many Forms

As one fire takes the shape of every form it enters, so the one self takes the shape of each and is beyond them, too. The same fire burns in a temple lamp, in a kitchen stove, on a funeral pyre. Gentle in one, fierce in another. It takes the shape of whatever it burns. But it is one fire. You and the stranger beside you are two lamps. The fire is one.

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 2.2.9

अग्निर्यथैको भुवनं प्रविष्टो रूपं रूपं प्रतिरूपो बभूव।

एकस्तथा सर्वभूतान्तरात्मा रूपं रूपं प्रतिरूपो बहिश्च॥

Meaning: As one fire, having entered the world, takes the form of every form it enters, so the one Self within all beings takes the form of each, and is also outside them.

14. Turning the Eyes Within

The self-born opened the senses outward, so we look out and not within. But a rare, steady one, wanting the deathless, turned his eyes back and saw the self. That light is your own self. You do not see it by the sun. You see the sun by it. Think of the lamp in a theater. It lights the patron, the audience, and the dancer all alike. And when the dance is over and everyone has gone home, the lamp still shines.

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 2.1.1

पराञ्चि खानि व्यतृणत् स्वयम्भूस्तस्मात् पराङ् पश्यति नान्तरात्मन्।

कश्चिद् धीरः प्रत्यगात्मानमैक्षदावृत्तचक्षुरमृतत्वमिच्छन्॥

Meaning: The Self-born pierced the senses outward; therefore one looks outward and not at the inner Self. A rare wise one, wishing for immortality, turned his eyes back and saw the Self within.

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 2.2.15

न तत्र सूर्यो भाति न चन्द्रतारकं नेमा विद्युतो भान्ति कुतोऽयमग्निः।

तमेव भान्तमनुभाति सर्वं तस्य भासा सर्वमिदं विभाति॥

Meaning: The sun does not shine there, nor the moon and stars, nor do these lightnings shine; how then this fire? When That shines, everything shines after it; by its light all this is lit.

15. Desire Is the Tie to Death

What ties us to death is not the world. It is the wanting in our hearts. When every desire there is let go, the mortal becomes deathless. Not in a heaven after this life, but here. His father gave him to death. And death gave him back with the one gift no father could give.

Mantra — Katha Upanishad 2.3.14

यदा सर्वे प्रमुच्यन्ते कामा येऽस्य हृदि श्रिताः।

अथ मर्त्योऽमृतो भवत्यत्र ब्रह्म समश्नुते॥

Meaning: When all the desires that dwell in the heart are let go, then the mortal becomes immortal and attains Brahman right here.

16. Closing Prayer: Shanti Mantra

Mantra — Katha Upanishad शांति पाठ

ॐ सह नाववतु। सह नौ भुनक्तु। सह वीर्यं करवावहै।

तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः॥

Meaning: Om. May He protect us both. May He nourish us both. May we work together with vigor. May our study be illuminating. May we not hate each other. Om, peace, peace, peace.