kathopanishad-1-3-8-yastu vijñānavānbhavati

Commentary by Swami Krishnananda of the great Divine Life Society

Yas tu vijñānavān bhavati samanaskas sadā śuciḥ, sa tu tat padam āpnoti yasmāt bhūyo na jāyate (1.3.8): “Are the roads really many, or is it one?” is the question. The roads to the senses are many, but to the purified intellect it is one. The one road is Hiranyagarbha, or Vaishvanara, in whom everything gets combined and all roads meet. The diversified activities of the senses can stop only when the unity behind them is beheld, which is not possible without self-withdrawal through intelligence. The five roads merge into a single road. If five horses tied to the same chariot run in different directions, what will happen to the chariot? That is our case. On the other hand, if they all move in one direction, what will be their power! So he whose senses are controlled and whose intellect is purified, he does not come back.