Index…

Kathopanisad

Chapter 1 Valli 2 Mantra 15

Lecture

Mantra

Sarve vedāh yat padam āmananti
tapāmsi sarvāni cha yat vadanti;
yat icchhantah brahmacharyam charanti
tat te padam sangrahena braveemi:
Om iti etat.

Sarve vedāh all the Vedas; yat padam  as the Goal; āmananti  declare; tapāmsi by all penances; sarvāni cha or acts of austerity; yat vadanti  that proclaim; yat icchhantah wishing for which; brahmacharyam Brahmacharya; charanti practice; tat that; te to you; padam Goal; sangrahena braveemi briefly declare; Om iti etat It is “OM”.

Yama says to Naciketas:

4-5 Lord Yama answers Naciketas’s re-phrased boon directly by stating what the answer is, without giving any explanation. This is the briefest possible answer “OM”. The first approach to this Truth is via a symbol that has been unanimously accepted by the enlightened Rishis of the Vedic period as being OM. Yama is providing an answer to the boon in the briefest manner. Under the symbol OM is found every possible detail in the scriptures of the path that leads to the Self. It is a perfect point to begin. The symbol Om is used in three different contexts, as given in this verse in its first three Padas, i.e. goal. These may be considered to be three more ways of expressing the same boon. In any case, it is the way Yama has understood the boon to be:

• Used widely in all the Vedas: Its use has scriptural authority. It is an accepted symbol for the Everyone will understand what is meant when the sound symbol OM is referred to.
• The Objective of All Tapas or Austerity: People perform many kinds of austerity, undergoing great hardship. However, the meditation upon Om is said to cover all these forms of austerities whether one wishes to attain merit or spiritual
• The Reason Why Brahmacharya or Celibacy is Observed: The greatest of all austerities is the vow of Brahmacharya, because it is the most difficult. There are two types of people who observe Brahmacharya: i) that observed by students of the Vedas during their period of study; or ii) the life-long observance of it for the purpose of making oneself fit to do the intense Sadhana to realize the Self. Conservation of energy for higher purposes is the principle behind this austerity.

The symbol OM stands for all these. It is a blanket term for all Upasanas directed towards a goal beyond the ordinary earth plane. This is explained further.

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