page last updated Jan. 17, 2005 D&D
S05 Assignmentson
Death -- extracts from Katha Upanishad
from Chapter V. of Katha Upanishad,
India 1400-800 B. C. E.
[4] When the embodied soul whose dwelling is the body
Dissolves and from the body is released,
What then of this remains?
[5] Neither by breathing in nor yet by breathing out
Lives any mortal man:
By something else they live
On which the two [breaths] depend.
[6] Lo! I will declare to thee this mystery
Of Brahman never-failing,
And of what the self becomes
When it comes to [the hour of] death.
[7] Some to the womb return,-
Embodied souls, to receive another body;
Others pass into a lifeless stone (sthanu)
In accordance with their works (karma),
In accordance with [the tradition] they had heard (sruta).
[8] When all things sleep, [that] Person is awake,
Assessing all desires:
That is the Pure, that Brahman,
That the Immortal, so they say:
In It all the worlds are stablished;
Beyond it none can pass.
[9] As the one fire esconced within the house
Takes on the forms of all that's in it,
So the One Inmost Self of every being
Takes on their several forms, [remaining] without [the while].
[10] As the one wind, once entered into a house,
Takes on the forms of all that's in it
So the One Inmost Self of every being
Takes on their several forms, [remaining] without [the while].
[11] Just as the sun, the eye of all the world,
Is not defiled by the eye's outward blemishes,
So the One Inmost Self of every being
Is not defiled by the suffering of the world,-
[But remains] outside [it].
[12] One and all-mastering is the Inmost Self of every being;
He makes the one form manifold:
Wise men who see Him as subsistent in [their] selves,
Taste everlasting joy, -no others.
[13] Permanent among impermanents, conscious among the
conscious,
The One among the many, Disposer of desires:
Wise men who see Him as subsistent in [their] selves,
Taste of everlasting peace, -no others.
[14] 'That is this ' so think [the wise]
Concerning that all-highest bliss which none can indicate.
How, then, should I discern lt?
Does It shine of itself or but reflect the brilliance?
[15] There the sun shines not, nor moon nor stars;
These lightnings shine not [there], -let alone this fire.
All things shine with the shining of this light,
This whole world reflects its radiance.