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Kathopanisad

Chapter 1 Valli 3 Mantra 9

Lecture

Mantra

vi̱jñāna̱ sāra̍thir ya̱stu̱ mana̍ḥ pragraha̱vā̍n naraḥ |
so̱’dhvana̱ḥ pāra̍m āpno̱ti̱ ta̱d viṣṇo̎ḥ para̱mam pa̱dam ||

yaḥ naraḥ tu = that person who; vijñāna = insight; sārathiḥ = as the charioteer; manaḥ pragrahavān = with the mind as the reins; saḥ = he; āpnoti = reaches, attains; adhvanaḥ pāram = the final destination; tat = that; paramam = is the supreme; padam = place/state; viṣṇoḥ = of Vishnu.

The sense (and the instincts) they say, are the horses, and their roads are the sense objects. The wise call Him the enjoyer (when He is) united with the body, the senses and the mind.

by Swami Chinmayananda:

Concluding the analogy portion, the Sruti states in this stanza that the individual who has allowed his Indriyas to function under the dictatorial charge of his Pure Intellect alone can reach the Supreme Destination. In our ordinary drives, if the driver be a dead drunken fool, it is obvious that we will not reach our place of appointment.

In our life, ordinarily, we ate careless, and, under the instructions of an impure intellect, we run amuck among the sense objects whipped by the lashing strokes of an uncontrolled mind’s vicious urges; panting, and exhausted, weary and fatigued, emaciated and weak, so called man of the world lives a life of unrest and disappointment, even though he is housed in a palace, clothed in silk and rolling in a feather bed! None of the material successes and no amount of sense objects can give such a shattered human personality any taste of the real joy and the Godly peace which are the birthrights of a full grown man.

But, on the other hand, we find a sage or a saint without any of the sense objects about him, housed under some tree, clothed in rags, rolling on stones, yet withal, supremely happy, and divinely peaceful. It becomes evident, if we just open our eyes and observe these two scenes, that the real Shanti is not a product to be concocted from a favorable setting of the sense objects around us. Contentment and inner joy can gurgle up from the bosom of an individual, only if he has trained his mind to function under a well-disciplined self-control, unless we bring the play of the mind under strict and continuous supervision of an ever vigilant intellectual discrimination in us, we shall not, during our life, progress steadily towards our life’s goal, That the Temple of Peace. This Supreme Goal is mentioned here as the Place of Vishnu. It would be absurd if a student of Vedanta were to understand that the “Place of Vishnu” is the Puranic concept of Vaikunta. For purposes of explaining the Scripture, Vishnu is to be conceived. of as one of the Trinities, but, here, the meaning is, the all pervading Vasudeva’, the Paramatman.

by Swami Gurubhaktananda:

1 Vijnāna sārathih yah tu               One who has a good intellect as his charioteer,
2 manah pragrahavān narah;        and a well-controlled mind as his reins,
3 sah adhvanah pāram āpnoti       such a man, attains the end of his journey,
4 tat vishnoh paramam padam.     that Supreme Abode of Vishnu, the all pervading.

1-2 Besides a good intellect, a well-disciplined mind is also needed. This is brought into the equation at this point. Whilst the fruit of a well trained intellect is one pointedness or Chitta Ekagrata, the fruit of a well trained mind is purity or Chitta Shuddhi. The mind has to be well controlled and disciplined, and emotionally stable. A mind that obeys the orders from the intellect is needed.

3-4 The destination reached is the Abode of Vishnu, which will mean different things to the three persons we met in 1.3.1. But that difference is not important at this stage of the text. It is enough for our Sadhana purposes to know that such qualities will certainly take us to our proper destination without a hitch.

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