Kathopanishad- Verse 17 - kathopanishad-1-1-17-triṇāciketastribhiretya

Kathopanishad – Part 1 – Canto 1 – Verse 17 « »

त्रिणाचिकेतस्त्रिभिरेत्य सन्धिं
त्रिकर्मकृत्तरति जन्ममृत्यू ।
ब्रह्मजज्ञं देवमीड्यं विदित्वा
निचाय्येमाँ शान्तिमत्यन्तमेति ॥ १७॥

triṇāciketastribhiretya sandhiṃ
trikarmakṛttarati janmamṛtyū .
brahmajajñaṃ devamīḍyaṃ viditvā
nicāyyemām̐ śāntimatyantameti .. 17..

17 He who has performed three times this Nachiketa sacrifice, having been instructed by the three and also has performed his three duties, overcomes birth and death. Having known this Fire born of Brahman, omniscient, luminous and adorable and realised it, he attains supreme peace.

Table of Contents

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

Again he praises Karma; the three-fold Nachikêtas, i.e., he by whom the Nachikêta fire has been kindled thrice; or, he who knows, studies and performs in, the Nachikêta fire. United with the three, i.e., who united with his mother, father and preceptor, i.e., having duly received instruction from them; for, that such instruction is a source of authority, is inferred from other Srpitis, such as ‘he who has a mother’ and ‘he who has a father,’ etc. or, the three may refer to ‘direct perception,’ ‘inference’ and ‘ágamas or to ‘the vêdas,’ ‘the Smritis’ and ‘good men’; for, knowledge of virtue from these sources is an obvious fact. Doing the threefold karma, i.e., performing sacrifices, reciting the vêdas, and making gifts. Whoso does these, crosses or travels beyond birth and death; again Brahmajagnam: Brahmaja means born of Brahma, i.e., Hiranyagarbha; he who is born of Brahma and is omniscient is Brahmajagnah. Dêvam, so called because shining, i.e., having the qualities of knowledge, etç. Idyam, worthy of praise. Knowing such fire, from the Sâstras and having realised him as his own âtman, one attains this absolute renunciation which is realized in his intellect. The meaning is that one attains the place of the virât, by the continued practice of Upâsana and Karma.

Commentary by Swami Krishnananda of the great Divine Life Society

Triṇāciketas tribhir etya sandhiṁ trikarma-kṛt tarati janma-mṛtyū, brahmajajñaṁ devam īḍyam viditvā nicāyye’māṁ śāntim atyantam eti (1.1.17). Yama speaks further, “Any person who has performed the sacrifice of Nachiketas three times, and anyone who has been inwardly united through this knowledge which is secret, which is threefold in its nature, overcomes birth and death.”

What is the threefold knowledge, the threefold getting united? We have to look to the commentators here again because the words are too mystical. They do not give an overt meaning. The three-times performance is identified with the practice of a kind of meditation which consists, first of all, in receiving knowledge from a preceptor, then contemplating it inwardly in one’s own mind, delving deeply into it, and converting that knowledge into the very being of one’s own self, which is sometimes known as sravana, manana, nididhyasana. This is one meaning that commentators attach to the passage “he who has thrice performed the Nachiketas sacrifice”; or we may literally say it means one who has performed it three times and has been inwardly united through instruction by means of the Vedas, the Smritis and the Masters, which is also a meaning that has been read into it by commentators because the original itself is too mystical and its meaning is not obvious. Knowledge comes to us through the Vedas, the Smritis, and the observation of great people. This is the threefold unity to be inwardly achieved by the study and acquisition of the knowledge of the highest scripture, which is the Veda, and the secondary scripture, which is the Smriti, the law of ethics and morality, and the lives of saints, the conduct of the Masters.

Thus, one who has performed the Nachiketas sacrifice in a threefold manner, and has performed the three duties, is free from death. Yajna, dana, tapas are the three words that we have in the Bhagavad Gita. The greatest duty of the human being is yajna, dana, tapas. We have gone into the meaning of these three words on other occasions, so I shall not repeat them now. These three are said to be the study of the Veda, the performance of sacrifice, and giving in charity. These three meanings are available to us in the Chhandogya Upanishad, but to make it less complicated, we may take it as yajna, dana, tapas in the language of the Bhagavad Gita. Great conditions are put here: thrice performing, in a threefold manner, and getting inwardly united by three means of knowledge, and performing three duties—yajna, dana, tapas. Such a person is free from death. He overcomes birth and death. He becomes omniscient by knowing this, the root of the universe, Vaishvanara, which is rooted in Brahman.

Brahmajajñaṁ devam īḍyam: having known this adorable God of the cosmos who was born of Brahman. We know the gradation of the manifestation of the Supreme Being as Brahman, Ishvara, Hiranyagarbha and Virat. We are now discussing the power and knowledge of the Virat as the Vaishvanara-tattva, knowing which, one becomes the Lord of the universe, and are describing it here as being born of Brahman. Knowing this, one becomes endowed with eternal peace: brahmajajñaṁ devam īḍyam viditvā nicāyye’māṁ śāntim atyantam eti.

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

Kathopanishad – Verse 17 – kathopanishad-1-1-17-triṇāciketastribhiretya – In Sanskrit with English Transliteration, Meaning and Commentary by Adi Shankaracharya (Sankara Bhashya) – Katha-1-1-17