Kathopanishad- Verse 23 - kathopanishad-1-2-23-nāyamātmā

Kathopanishad – Part 1 – Canto 2 – Verse 23 « »

नायमात्मा प्रवचनेन लभ्यो
न मेधया न बहुना श्रुतेन ।
यमेवैष वृणुते तेन लभ्यः
तस्यैष आत्मा विवृणुते तनूꣳ स्वाम् ॥ २३॥

nāyamātmā pravacanena labhyo
na medhayā na bahunā śrutena .
yamevaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyaḥ
tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanūgͫ svām .. 23..

23 This Atman cannot be attained by the study of the Vedas, or by intelligence, or by much hearing of sacred books. It is attained by him alone whom It chooses. To such a one Atman reveals Its own form.

Table of Contents

Sri Shankara’s Commentary (Bhashya) translated by S. Sitarama Sastri

Com.—This text says that though this âtman is hard to know, still he can certainly be known well by proper means. This âtman is not attainable by the study of many Vêdâs, or by intelligence, i.e., a retentive memory of the import of books, or by any amount of mere learning. By what then can he be attained is explained. That âtman (self) whom the neophyte seeks, by the same self, i.e., by the seeker, can the âtman be known. The meaning is that, of one who seeks only the âtman, being free from desire, the âtman is attained by the âtman alone. How it is attained is explained. To the man who seeks the âtman, the âtman reveals its real form, i.e., its own true nature.

Commentary by Swami Krishnananda of the great Divine Life Society

Nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyo na medhayā, na bahunā śrutena: yamevaiṣa vṛṇute, tena labhyas tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanūṁ svām (1.2.23). Nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyaḥ: Disquisition, argumentation, verbosity and academic investigation cannot enable us to know this Atman. Na medhayā: By intellectuality this Atman cannot be known. Na bahunā śrutena: By immense learning we cannot know this.

How will we know it? Another intricate passage comes here, which is interpreted in two ways by the universalists and the dualists. How do we know this, then? Yamevaiṣa vṛṇute, tena labhyaḥ. The devotees, the Vaishnavas, say only that person who is chosen by the Ultimate Being can attain to that glorious state. God has to choose us as a fit person to know Him, and we have to wait until He chooses us. So our destiny is in His hands, not entirely in our hands. People say that man is the master of his own destiny. The Vaishnava devotees do not believe this. God is the master of the destiny of everybody; we are not the masters. We are helpless people, and therefore only he knows the Ultimate Reality, the Atman, whom the Atman chooses. Whom the Atman chooses, only that person will know the Atman. This is the devotee’s interpretation of this verse: yamevaiṣa vṛṇute, tena labhyaḥ.

But Acharya Sankara has another interpretation. He does not bring in the factor of division between God and devotee. He wants to unite them both. So his interpretation is that it is known by the seeker who seeks it as non-different from his own self, it is known by the knower only, it is sought by the one who seeks, and it is the attainment of That which itself is the seeker of That. Here the path and the goal are identical. The path which leads to the goal is itself the goal. If the path is totally different from the goal, it cannot lead to the goal. A cannot be B; this is the law of contradiction in logic. If the path is different from the goal—if A is different from B—it shall always be different. So, Acharya Sankara says that the one who seeks That is itself That, and finally it is That which seeks itself. This interpretation is read into this passage: yamevaiṣa vṛṇute, tena labhyaḥ. Tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanūṁ svām: In the case of that blessed one, the Atman reveals itself.

Links
Various resources on the Kathopanishad
Upanishad Series – Katopanishad Commentary by Swami Chinmayananda

Kathopanishad – Verse 23 – kathopanishad-1-2-23-nāyamātmā – In Sanskrit with English Transliteration, Meaning and Commentary by Adi Shankaracharya (Sankara Bhashya) – Katha-1-2-23