Katha Upanishad

Katha Upanishad

Part of the Krishna Yajurveda, and one of the most popular Upanishads, Katha Upanishad comprises two parts and 120 verses. It is one of the ten Upanishads Shankara commented on, and comes to us in the form of a dialogue between young seeker Nachiketas and Lord Yama (Death). Lord Yama tests Nachiketas’ qualifications as a student and finds in him unswerving shraddha (faith), vairagya (dispassion), and resolve for the absolute truth. Impressed, Lord Yama teaches Nachiketas that most sacred of all knowledge—the knowledge of the self that is full and complete.

This dialogue between Lord Yama and Nachiketas has all the elements we require to understand the self. Lord Yama thoroughly answers Nachiketas’ questions about the nature of the self that is “doubted even by the gods” and is “other than dharma and adharma and cause and effect.”