kathopanishad-1-2-9-naiṣā tarkeṇa

Commentary by Swami Krishnananda of the great Divine Life Society

Naiṣā tarkeṇa matir āpaneyā, proktānyenaiva sujñānāya preṣṭha: yāṁ tvam āpas satyadhritir batāsi; tvādṛṅ no bhūyān naciketaḥ praṣṭā (1.2.9): Argument is not a means of right knowledge. Logic is not going to help us, because argument is based on logical dissection of what in grammar is called the subject and the predicate. A sentence has a subject side and a predicate side. The very fact that we distinguish between the subject and the predicate in a sentence shows that they are not identical with each other. If they are one and the same, we should not use two different words. If they are unconnected, the sentence will be cut into two parts, and it will not convey a wholesome meaning. What logic or grammatical construing does, is that the apparently segregated parts of a sentence known as the subject and the predicate are brought together as two pieces of wood are dovetailed by a carpenter, yet not knowing that the two pieces of wood are always two pieces of wood. They have not become identical with each other. That is to say that logic, in its attempt at uniting two parts of a sentence which are actually sundered one from the other, will not ultimately be of any use to us because all logic is based on a certain hypothesis, and unless we logically establish the hypothesis itself, which cannot be done, logic will not help us. Logic is an intellectual activity, and as the intellect itself is a feeble medium of the individual egoistic personality, our argument, logic or disputation of any kind is not going to be of utility. Thus, this knowledge cannot come to us by logic and argument.

Naiṣā tarkeṇa matir āpaneyā, proktānyenaiva sujñānāya preṣṭha. Again the same word comes: anya. Somebody who is different from the logician has to teach us, and the one who is above the logician is the spiritual Master, like Yama himself. Then only does knowledge become rooted in our personality.

Yāṁ tvam āpas: “Nachiketas, you are blessed. You have obtained such a teacher, and the teacher has obtained such a suitable disciple. You are established in truthfulness,” says Yama. Tvādṛṅ no bhūyān naciketaḥ praṣṭā: “May I have more and more students like you, who put questions of this kind.” How happy Yama is, we can imagine. He is immensely pleased with this student. “You have obtained the best of teachers, and I have obtained the best of students. Wonderful!”