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Kathopanisad

Adyaya 1 Valli 2 Mantra 13

Lecture

Mantra

eta̍c chrutvā sa̱mpa̍rigṛhya martyaḥ
pravṛ̍hya dha̱rmyam aṇum e̍tam āpya
sa mo̍date mo̱danī̍yaguṁ hi labdhvā
vi̱vṛtagu̍ṁ sadma na̱cike̍tasam manye

śrutvā = after hearing the teaching on; etat = that reality of the Self that I shall speak of; samparigṛhya = after intellectually grasping, comprehending (It) fully; pravṛhya = after separating; dharmyam = the essence, the true nature of it; āpya = after attaining, realizing; aṇum etam = this subtle thing – the Self; saḥ martyaḥ = that [enlightened] mortal; modate = rejoices; labdhvā = having obtained, reached; modanīyatṁ = that which causes great delight; manye = I consider; [that the] sadma = mansion – the experience of Brahman; vivṛtaṁ = is wide open; naciketasam = [to you] O Naciketas.

Hearing this and comprehending (it), separating the essence and realizing the subtle, one rejoices, having attained the source of supernal bliss. I know that such an experience is wide open unto you O Naciketa.

pravṛhya dharmyam — separating the essence. We must extract its essential nature, discern its real character and separate the real from the unreal, the permanent from the impermanent, wisdom from delusion.

Rāmānuja takes this to mean separation from the adjunct of the body and mind. Or it can also mean that the “mansion” of the body/mind complex is wide open and no longer confining as in the words of the Buddha upon enlightenment:

‘Never again shalt thou, O builder of houses, make a house for me; broken are all thy beams, thy ridgepole shattered.’

modanīyam: — the source of great joy. In the deepest space of our being is the highest beatitude. To attain That which is the Ultimate Reality  is to gain supernal, abiding bliss. It is not the merging in a negative, characterless Absolute, where all experience is extinguished.

vivṛtaṁ sadma: — the abode or true space of Being referred to as Brahman (the Immensity); it means our ultimate and true resting place or ontological experience is wide open to being personally realized by each and every one of us. The stress is placed upon our personal experience of the Ultimate Truth.

In this verse Yama mentions the three classical steps on the path of discipleship:

śravana (śrutva) — listening attentively to the teaching
manana (samparigṛhya) — reflecting rationally and developing discrimination and 
nididhyāsana (pravṛhya) — putting the teaching into practice and realizing personally the truth of the teaching.

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Kathopanisad

Adyaya 1 Valli 2 Mantra 12

Lecture

Mantra

taṁ du̱rdarśaṁ gū̱ḍham a̍nupraviṣṭaṁ
guhāhitaṁ gahvare̱ṣṭham pu̍rāṇam
adhyātma-yo̱gādhigame̍na devam
ma̱tvā dhī̱ro ha̱rṣa-śokau̍ jahāti

matvā = meditating on; taṁ = Him; that purāṇam = ancient, everlasting; devam = Deity/Self; durdarśaṁ = hard to perceive; gūḍham anupraviṣṭaṁ = deeply hidden; guhāhitaṁ = situated in the depth of the mind; gahvareṣṭham = existing in the midst of misery [in the body/mind complex which is the source of all suffering]; adhyātma-yogādhigamena = focusing of the mind upon the Ātman; dhīraḥ = the Intelligent person; jahāti = is freed from, abandons; harṣa-śokau = happiness and sorrow.

Realizing through self-contemplation that Paramātman, difficult to be seen, deeply hidden, situated in the cave (of  the  heart/intellect), dwelling in the depth, the wise-one leaves behind both joy and sorrow.

Yama tells Naciketas about the mysterious Divine Being hidden in the depths of one’s own being, which is difficult of access by ordinary means such as perception (pratyakṣaṁ) and reason (anumāna) and yet is accessible by meditation. Yama, in different ways and phrases, brings out the impenetrable mystery of the inmost reality which is the goal of the spiritual journey. If the Brahma world is the fulfilment of all desires, this eternal bliss is obtained by the renunciation of all desires; while Brahma-loka is the highest place of the manifested cosmos, its farthest limit, there is the eternal which is far beyond it.

gūḍham — deeply hidden. It is hidden because we have to get behind the senses, mind and understanding. It is the very ground of the Self. The Buddhists look upon every creature as an embryo of the tathāgata, tathāgata-garbha. Every creature has the possibility of becoming a Buddha. When we reach the sub-conscious mind, we are in immediate relationship with the Eternal. This basic principle which we recognise by direct experience or continued contemplation is the basis of human freedom. It is the principle of indeterminacy, the possibilities of determinations which are not yet. If we identify ourselves with what is determinate, we are subject to the law of determinism.

It is deeply hidden because it is obscured by avidya in the form of Karma. — Rāmānuja.

adhyātma-yoga — self-contemplation. adhyātma means pertaining to the Self as distinct from adhibhūta, pertaining to the material elements and adhidaiva, pertaining to the deities. Adhyātma yoga is connecting with one’s essential self. It is the practice of meditation, a quiet, solitary sustained effort to apprehend truth which is different from the ordinary process of cerebration. The insight into the nature of the jīvātman is the cause of the knowledge of the Paramātman.

See ŚU. 1.3; Maitrī VI.23. And thus it has been said elsewhere: The syllable Om is what is called the word. And its end is the silent, the soundless, fearless, sorrowless, joyful, satisfied, firm, unwavering, immortal, immovable, certain (Brahman), called Vishnu. Let him worship these two, that he may obtain what is higher than everything (final deliverance). For thus it is said:

‘He who is the high and the highest god, by name Om-kāra, he is soundless and free from all distinctions: therefore let a man contemplate on him in the crown of his head.’

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