kathopanishad-1-1-4-sa hovāca

Commentary by Swami Krishnananda of the great Divine Life Society

Sa hovāca pitaram, tāta kasmai māṁ, dāsyasīti; dvitīyaṁ tṛtīyam; taṁ hovāca: mṛtyave tvā dadāmīti (1.1.4): Nachiketas asked his father, “Dear Father, to whom are you going to offer me?”

The father did not pay any attention to this blabbering of the impertinent child. He thought: “You speak like this before me as if I am going to offer you, my dear son, to somebody else?” and he spoke not a word in reply.

A second time the child asked, “Father, to whom are you going to give me?”

The second time also the father did not give a reply. He was annoyed.

A third time this boy persisted in asking the same question: “To whom are you going to offer me as a gift?”

The father got irritated. “To hell you go. To death I offer thee.”

Sometimes, in uncontrollable irascibility, people utter words, to their own repentance afterwards. You might have seen a father or mother condemning their children in words which are abominable, they themselves not knowing the meaning at all. Anyway, this word came from the mouth of the father in haste and anger, though he would not have uttered such words in saner moments.