kathopanishad-1-2-11-kāmasyāptiṃ

Commentary by Swami Krishnananda of the great Divine Life Society

Kāmasyāptiṁ jagataḥ pratiṣṭhāṁ krator ānantyaṁ abhayasya pāram, stoma-mahad urugāyam pratiṣṭhāṁ dṛṣṭvā dhṛtyā dhīro naciketo’tyasrākṣīḥ (1.2.11): “You have rejected something very great and grand, Nachiketas. Nobody would do that. What have you rejected? That state which is the fulfilment of every desire. This Vaishvanara-tattva is what is referred to here. That state of Vaishvanara attainable through this sacrifice, this is the fulfilment of all desires at one stroke, not in succession. Today you are granted this, tomorrow another thing, the third day something else, and mostly your desires are apparently being fulfilled stage by stage in a state of succession in this world. All things cannot be had in one moment. But here, at one stroke, instantaneously, in a timeless grasp, as it were, you have all the desires fulfilled in this Vaishvanara-tattva.” Jagataḥ pratiṣṭhāṁ: “It is the very source, the root of this whole cosmos.” Krator ānantyaṁ abhayasya pāram: “The endless fruit accruing from the performance of all good deeds and sacrifices is that great thing. It is the ultimate state of final fearlessness, most adorable, most glorious, the final resort of all beings. I offered it to you and you have got it, and yet with the power of your will and understanding, you have abandoned even that thing. You have abandoned even the bliss and joy of Brahmaloka, to put it in other terms. O Nachiketas, how glorious, how powerful you are! Brahmaloka’s joy, Vaishvanara’s joy, Virat’s happiness you have rejected for the sake of another thing, about which you are questioning me.”