Kathopanishad- Verse 16 - kathopanishad-2-3-16-śataṃ caikā

Kathopanishad – Part 2 – Canto 3 – Verse 16 « »

शतं चैका च हृदयस्य नाड्य-
स्तासां मूर्धानमभिनिःसृतैका ।
तयोर्ध्वमायन्नमृतत्वमेति
विष्वङ्ङन्या उत्क्रमणे भवन्ति ॥ १६॥

śataṃ caikā ca hṛdayasya nāḍya-
stāsāṃ mūrdhānamabhiniḥsṛtaikā .
tayordhvamāyannamṛtatvameti
viṣvaṅṅanyā utkramaṇe bhavanti .. 16..

16 There are one hundred and one arteries of the heart, one of which pierces the crown of the head. Going upward by it, a man at death attains immortality. But when his prana passes out by other arteries, going in different directions, then he is reborn in the world.

Table of Contents

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

It has been stated that there is no going; for, the knower who has attained the knowledge that the âtman is the all-pervading Brahman devoid of all attributes and who has untied all the knots due to ignorance, &c., and who has become Brahman even while alive; because, says the sruti ‘ he attains Brahman here’ and also says another sruti ‘ his prânâs do not go out.’ ‘Being Brahman, he attains Brahman; but, for those who attain Brahmalôka by the knowledge of the lower Brahman and by other kinds of worship and for those of an opposite kind who whirl in samsâra this special way is pointed out, with a view to eulogise the fruits of the knowledge of the higher Brahman now treated of; moreover, the knowledge of the agni has been made the subject of a question and a reply and this mantra is begun also for the purpose of stating the process by which the fruit of that knowledge is attained. Here, nerves, one hundred in number, and one other named sushumnâ branch out from the heart of man. Among them, the one named sushumnâ has gone out piercing the head. At the moment of death, one should control the âtman in the heart and make it join that nerve, nâdi; going up by that nerve, one goes through the orb of the sun and attains relative immortality; according to the smriti permanency till the absorption of the elements is spoken of as immortality; or, he attains absolute immortality along with Brahma, in due course of time, having enjoyed incomparable pleasures in the Brahmalôka. At the time of death, the other nerves travel diverse ways, i.e., they become the cause of one, being born again in samsâra alone.

Commentary by Swami Krishnananda of the great Divine Life Society

Śataṁ caikā ca hṛdayasya nāḍyas tāsām mūrdhānam abhiniḥsṛtaikā: tayordhvam āyann amṛtatvam eti, viṣvaṅṅ anyā utkramaṇe bhavanti (2.3.16): One hundred and one nerve currents are said to emanate from the centre of the heart. There are millions of nerve currents, but the main ones are one hundred and one. Tāsām mūrdhānam abhiniḥsṛtaikā: Among these nerve currents which are spread out throughout the body, one rises to the crown of the head. Tayordhvam āyann amṛtatvam eti: If the jiva departs through this central nerve current, called the sushumna, through the crown of the head, one attains immortality. Viṣvaṅṅ anyā utkramaṇe bhavanti: But if the prana departs horizontally or inversely through the lower parts of the body, there will be rebirth.

The belief is that if the prana departs through any aperture above the neck, there will be no rebirth. It can depart through the nostril or the ear or the mouth; or if it departs through the brahmarandhra, it means final salvation. And even if it is through the mouth, it may go to some region such as Brahmaloka, etc. But if the prana passes through any other horizontally moving nerve or downward moving current of the nerve, there will be rebirth in some realm or the other. So work has to be carried on through the practice of yoga by eliminating the circumstances which may make the nerve currents flow transversely or horizontally. They take that zigzag movement because of desires, which are horizontal.

All our desires are horizontal movements; they do not go vertically. They move to the front, to the rear, to the right, to the left, in the direction of objects. Because of the externality, the horizontality of the objects of attraction, the nerve currents and prana also move in that direction and compel us to take birth in this very world of objects. But if our consciousness rises up through the concepts of higher and higher dimensions of reality to the realms of being which are above, until we reach Brahmaloka and the Absolute, then the prana will push the consciousness through the sushumna nadi and pierce the brahmarandhra. There are some people who break the head with a coconut at the time of death—or sometimes they break the coconut only, just to give a semblance of the apparent movement of consciousness through the current of the head.

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

Kathopanishad – Verse 16 – kathopanishad-2-3-16-śataṃ caikā – In Sanskrit with English Transliteration, Meaning and Commentary by Adi Shankaracharya (Sankara Bhashya) – Katha-2-3-16