kathopanishad-1-1-16-tamabravīt

Commentary by Swami Krishnananda of the great Divine Life Society

Tam abravīt prīyamāṇo mahātmā varaṁ tavehādya dadāmi bhūyaḥ. tavaiva nāmnā bhavitāyam agniḥ, sṛṅkāṁ cemām aneka-rūpāṁ gṛhāṇa (1.1.16): Having been pleased with the way in which Nachiketas received this vidya, Yama speaks. “I shall bless you with another boon which is not one of the three—a fourth one, as it were. In future this vidya will be called Nachiketas vidya. That is, your name will be immortalised from this day onwards.” As we dedicate a building in the name of some great personage or call a road by somebody’s name, etc., this vidya specially granted by Yama to Nachiketas was hereafter known as Nachiketas vidya, or Nachiketas agnividya. Tavaiva nāmnā bhavitāyam agniḥ: “This vidya will be known by your name in future, and I shall give you a garland full of colourful constituents.”

What is this garland? The Upanishad does not tell us what the garland is made of. It cannot be a flower garland. It also may not be a garland of jewels. It is a secret, mystical garland. Here the commentators come to our aid when they say that this garland of many hues, contours and colours mentioned in this verse is actually the knowledge of the mystery of life and death, of the process of karma itself. One of the greatest secrets of the world is the mystery of karma—how actions produce complementary reactions, what kind of fruit is the outcome of what kind of action that we perform, and what is actually the connection between birth and death. We know these words, but their actual import is difficult to immediately grasp. Why is it necessary for us to be born? If we had not been born, what is the harm? Having been born, why should we die? If we do not die, what is the harm? And why should every action produce a reaction? These are the multifaceted hues of life in this world. The secret of this is also given here in the form of a garland—mystical, invisible, unsubstantial, intangible. Power and glory are attached to this spiritual garland. This is what the commentators tell us. The secret of life and death and karma is also granted. This is a new kind of boon that was granted—a fourth boon, as it were.