boon: May I return alive to my father; choose a second: Command that (the fruits of) my sacrifices and oblations may be imperishable: He bestowed on him this Nachiketa fire. Hence his sacrifices and oblations do not lose their effect. ... He (Death) then said, choose a third (boon). Command that I may again overcome death. (The commentator explains that command to mean, death as the result of a subsequent birth). He gave him this Nachiketa fire; whereby he again overcame death. . . ." The story in the Brāhmaṇa ends here; the interesting dialogue contained in the Katha Upanishad being altogether wanting in it. Katha Upanishad. Omitting the earlier part of this Upanishad, I take it up at Valli i. 20. Having been asked to choose a third boon, Nachiketas replies: 20. "In answer to the doubt as to a man's state after death, some say that he exists, others that he does not. The third boon which I ask is that, being instructed by thee, I may know [what is the truth] regarding this. (Death answers) 21. Even the gods have of old been in doubt on this subject; for it is not easy to know. The question is one of a subtle character. Choose another boon, Nachiketas, do not press me; give this up. 22. (Nachiketas rejoins): Thou tellest me that the gods have of old been in doubt regarding this; and as for what thou sayest that it is difficult to know, no one can be found so capable as thou art to declare it; and no other boon is equal to this. 23. (Death replies): Choose sons and grandsons who shall live a hundred years, much cattle, elephants, gold, horses; choose a wide domain of land, and live thyself as many autumns as thou desirest. 24. Or, if thou regardest any (other) boon as equal to this, choose it, with wealth and long life; be (lord) over a great kingdom; I grant thee the fulfilment of all thy desires. 25. Ask at will all those enjoyments which cannot be obtained in the world of mortals, those enchantresses with their cars and musical instruments; for such as they cannot be gained by men. Be waited upon by them after I have given them to thee; but do not, O Nachiketas, enquire about death. 26. (Nachiketas says): "These, O Death, which are things of the morrow,*

Švobhāvāḥ, “Things, the existence of which to-morrow is doubtful" (commentary). "Equivalent to, cares for the morrow," Böhtlingk and Roth, s.v. "Ephemeral" (Regnaud).

wear out the vigour of all a man's senses. An entire life, too, is but short. Thine be the cars, and the dancing and singing. 27. A man cannot be satisfied with wealth. Shall we obtain wealth if we have seen thee? We shall live only so long as thou shalt rule.* The boon I will choose is the one I have said. 28. What decaying mortal, living here below on earth,+ but attaining to the undecaying state of the immortals, yet knowing (the reality), and reflecting on the enjoyments springing from beauty and love, would take delight in a very long life 29. Tell us, Death, that about which they doubt regarding the great future. Nachiketas chooses no other than this boon regarding the question which is involved in mystery. ii. Valli. 1. 1. (Death speaks): "One thing is the good, another the pleasant. Both objects, though varying, enchain man. It is well with him who of these two embraces the good; but he who chooses the pleasant misses the (highest) end. 2. The good and the pleasant present themselves to man. The wise man considering them, distinguishes them, and chooses the good in preference to the pleasant; but the unthinking man prefers the pleasant as consisting in (present) enjoyment. 3. But thou, O Nachiketas, pondering them, hast abandoned enjoyments which are pleasant and lovely, not following the road of wealth on which many men fall. 4. Far apart and divergent are these two things, ignorance, and what is known as knowledge. I regard thee, Nachiketas, as desiring knowledge; many pleasures did not allure thee. 5. Fools living enveloped in ignorance, wise in their own conceit, regarding themselves as instructed, go wandering about like blind men led by a blind man. 6. The means of attaining future felicity are not apparent to the unthinking and careless man deluded by

* Dr Roer (Bibliotheca Indica, vol. xv., p. 102), renders this: "If we should obtain wealth, and behold thee, we would (only) live as long as thou shalt say." In Windischmann's "Philosophie im Fortgang der Weltgeschichte, page 1709, the words are rendered: "Shall we strive after riches when we have beheld thee? We shall live so long as thou commandest." (Sollen wir nach Reichthum streben, wenn wir dich gesehen? wir werden leben so lange du befiehlst).

+ There is another reading in place of the word kvadhaḥsthaḥ so rendered; but it is not necessary to refer further to it,

riches. Fancying that this world and no other exists, he again and again becomes subjected to my sway.

7. Wonderful is he who declares, skilful is he who attains, wonderful is he who, instructed by a skilful teacher, knows that (the Soul), which many can never hear of, which many who hear of it, cannot comprehend. 8. This (Soul) when declared by an inferior man, is not easy to comprehend, being regarded in various ways. But when it is declared by one who beholds no duality, there is no doubt as to it.* It is more minute than an atom, and transcends reasoning. 9. This recognition is not to be gained by reasoning. It can be well known when declared by another. 12. The wise man, recognising by spiritual contemplation, the primeval divine (Soul), invisible, and enveloped in mystery, seated in the heart, dwelling in the cavity, abandons joy and grief. 18. The omniscient (soul) is not born, and does not die. If it did not spring from aught, nor was any one (produced) from it. It is unborn, perpetual, eternal, and primeval. It is not slain when the body is slain. 19. If the smiter thinks that he kills, or the smitten thinks himself slain, both of them are ignorant: the one does not slay, nor is the other slain. 20. The Soul, which is, minuter than the minutest, and greater than the greatest, dwells in the heart of this living being. The man who is free from desire, and exempt from grief, beholds this greatness of the Soul by the grace of the creator.† 21. Resting, it travels afar; sleep

* The words ananya-prokte gatir atra nāsti are differently rendered by different translators. Dr Roer renders: "(but) when it is declared by a teacher who beholds no difference, there is no doubt concerning it." Mr Gough, in the Calcutta Review, translates: "There is no dissenting about it when it is explained by one that recognises nought but it." M. Regnaud (Matériaux pour servir à l'histoire de la philosophie de l'Inde, p. 173) renders: "On ne saurait y atteindre si elle n'est pas transmise par un maître qui ne voit point de différences (pour qui tout est l'âtman);" and Windischmann, p. 1711. "Ist er von einem wahrhaften Lehrer verkundet, so kan keine Meinung (keine Verschiedenheit der Ansicht) mehr darin sein." Can the real reading be ananyāprokte and the sense, when it is not taught by one who recognises no duality, there is no attaining to it ?”

66

+ Dr Roer, following the commentator, renders the last words "by the tranquillity of his senses;" and Mr Gough "through the limpid

ing, it moves everywhere. Who but I (the wise man, Comm.) should know this god who rejoices, and does not rejoice? 22. Regarding the soul as bodiless in bodies, as unchanging in changing things, as vast, and all pervading, the wise man does not mourn. 23. This soul is not attainable by teaching, nor by the understanding, nor by much Vedic learning. It is attainable by him whom it chooses; that man's body the soul chooses as its own.* * 24. The man who has not ceased from evil deeds, who is not tranquil, meditative, and calm in spirit, cannot attain that soul by knowledge."

LXXVI. M. Bh. xiii. 2160. "By the victorious power of the Brahmans the Asuras lie prostrate on the ocean, by the Brahmans' favour the gods dwell in heaven. The æther could not be created, the Himalaya mountain cannot be shaken, the Ganges cannot be stemmed by an embankment. The Brahmans cannot be conquered on earth. The earth cannot be governed in opposition to the Brahmans, for they are the gods of the gods. Honour them always with gifts and service, if thou desirest to possess this earth which is girdled by the ocean. xiii. 7163. The might of the Brahmans could destroy even

clearness of his faculties." Windischmann translates: "durch die Gnade des Schoepfers." The commentator on Svet. Upan. iii. 20 (see p. 198 above), renders "by the favour of the Creator."

* This verse occurs also in the Munda Upanishad iii. 2, 2. Dr Roer, who, in his translation of that passage, in his text renders the words according to the commentator's interpretation, states in a note (p. 163), that it appears to him at variance with the strict sense of the words, and he would prefer the following rendering:-" It (the supreme soul) can be obtained by him (the individual soul) whom it chooses; it (the supreme soul) chooses as its own the body of him (of the individual soul)." The same words have been rendered as follows by Professor Max Müller (Anc. Sansk. Lit., p. 320): "That divine self," the poet says, "is not to be grasped by tradition, nor by understanding, nor by all revelation: by him whom He himself chooses, by him alone is He to be grasped; that self chooses his body as his own." Mr Gough translates: "This spiritual reality is not attainable by learning, by memory, by much spiritual study; but if he choose this reality, it may be reached by him; to him the soul unfolds its own essence." And Windischmann, p. 1713, renders thus: "Welchen jener sich erwaehlt, von dem ist er erlangbar, für diesen erwaehlt, er einen eigenen Leib.' "Whomsoever that one chooses for himself, by him is he attainable ; for this (man) he chooses a body of his own."

the gods.*

7164. They are to be honoured and reverenced, and men ought to act the part of sons towards them, for these wise men support all these worlds. The Brahmans are the barriers of righteousness in all worlds; they delight in parting with riches, and control their speech. They are amiable, the supporters of creatures. . . 7167. Austerities are ever their riches, and their word is great power. They are skilled in duty and have nicety of perception. 7170. They ever bear the heavy load handed down from fathers and ancestors,† and like stout oxen never sink under the load, though the road be uneven. 1771b. They are a lamp to all the people, the eye of those who have eyes, rich in instruction and in scriptural knowledge, skilful, perceiving the way of redemption, understanding the course of all men, ponderers of the path to the highest spiritual goal. 7175. Sandal wood and mud, food or no food, are the same to them. Their clothing may be silk, or sackcloth, of linen cloth, or skins. 7177. They can make what is not divine divine, or what is divine not divine. If incensed, they could create other worlds and other rulers of worlds. The curse of these mighty ones rendered the ocean undrinkable, and the fire kindled by their anger in the Dandaka forest is not even now extinguished. They are the gods of the gods, the cause of the cause, the authority of authority. What wise man can overcome them? They all, whether young or old, deserve respect; but by eminence in learning and austerities they honour [or, confer honour on] each other. An ignorant Brahman is a god, honourable, and a great source of purity. A learned Brahman is still more a god, like a full ocean. 7183. Just as even in a cemetery fire is not soiled, it shines duly in the sacrifice with butter, and in the house;

*If the proper sense is here assigned to the words brāhmaṇānām paribhavaḥ (and it is confirmed by the use of the words in xiii. 2160— see above), the metrical rendering in lines 9-12 of p. 62 would appear to be wrong, as the overthrow of the deities by the victorious power of the Brahmans seems to be the idea contemplated.

The same expressions occur in xiii. 377, and xiv. 25. Ancestral rites and usages must be intended. The exact idea is not reproduced in the metrical rendering, lines 15 ff. of p. 63.

R