🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷
Chapter 3
The grace of the divine
🌻 Day 16 🌻
स त्वं प्रियान्प्रियरूपांश्च कामान् अभिध्यायन्नचिकेतोऽत्यस्त्राक्षीः ।
नैतां सृङ्कां वित्तमयीमवाप्तो यस्यां मज्जन्ति बहवो मनुष्याः ॥
दूरमेते विपरीते विषूची अविद्या या च विद्येति ज्ञाता ।
विद्याभीप्सिनं नचिकेतसं मन्ये न त्वा कामा बहवोऽलोलुपन्त ॥
“You have chosen liberation when pleasure was offered to you. They both have got different uses. One who goes for liberation, pleasure also comes to him. One who goes only for pleasure, only misery comes to him. Not only does he get misery, he is deprived of the highest! You have chosen the path of liberation, so you will get all other pleasures as well. They follow you.”
What is certain is that the one who chooses this path of knowledge is lucky in the sense he gets both. But if you have chosen only pleasure, you will be deprived of this highest knowledge, this beautiful knowledge, which is the birth right of human life.
This is what Yama said, and it is so beautiful. “I consider you worthy of giving that instruction because none of this could distract you; your attention is not on that, your attention is on what is real. Not money, not power, not position, not reputation, none of this.” There is a beautiful couplet in Sanskrit that says-pleasures that are of utmost importance for people – food, sex, enjoyment. More difficult to get over is reputation and recognition. Once you have it, it is so difficult for you not to have it. Many are caught up in these two – pleasure and reputation. The brave cross beyond reputation. They don’t worry because they know it is all temporary. What people think about you – they don’t have time, they will all forget.
अविद्यायामन्तरे वर्तमानाः स्वयं धीराः पण्डितंमन्यमानाः ।
दन्द्रम्यमाणाः परियन्ति मूढा अन्धेनैव नीयमाना यथान्धाः ॥
The so called scholars, who think they are very brave, will go round in circles in ignorance. People learn a little about this and that and they get fame and then their feet don’t stay on the ground. A person gets an award and that’s it, he thinks that he has achieved something great in life. The common men don’t get the inertia that the scholars get. People think they are very intelligent and they get into a certain sort of inertia. It is the most dangerous thing. You think you know it without knowing and that’s the end. Those people can never see the imperfections in them and then they think they are perfect and then there is no learning anymore.
