kathopanishad-2-1-14-yathodakaṃ

Commentary by Swami Krishnananda of the great Divine Life Society

Yathodakam durge vṛṣṭam parvateṣu vidhāvati, evaṁ dharmān pṛthak paśyaṁs tān evānuvidhāvati (2.1.14): When rain falls, water is poured on the peak of a mountain. If there is a large depression, like a valley on a mountain of great height, the rainfall will channelise itself through that valley, and there will be a concentrated rush of water in one direction only. But if there are many such little crevices and cracks on the mountain, the downpour of water that falls as rain will be distracted in many directions. Some water will flow here, some water will flow there. Everywhere there will be a scattered movement of the water from the rainfall.

In the case of a distracted mind, this is what happens. The rain of wisdom, which actually falls from the essential soul of man, is distracted in many ways, as the water on a mountain is split in different ways, because of the movement of the five sense organs and the millions of thoughts and feelings. Endless thoughts and endless feelings are the channels through which consciousness manifests itself, so that there is a tremendous inconceivable multiplicity of the manifestation of the soul consciousness when it actually reveals itself through the conditioning factors of the mind and the sense organs. When a person sees many things, thinks many things, feels many things, the consciousness will also be diverted along the same channel of diversity in a manifold manner, so that there would be no concentration in life. There will be no sense of unity in personality. There will be no alignment of the psychic modes of operation. There will be unhappiness and a kind of impossibility to choose even what is good and proper, or is the aim of one’s life.