🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷
Chapter 1
At the Door of Death
🌻 Day 1 🌻
Upanishad means sitting close , sitting near the Master , not just physically, but also with attention , with the presence of mind in the space as that of the Master. Katha Upanishad – Katha – ‘tha’ means the final. What is the final thing about life? What is the end? What is the ultimate?
Every Upanishad begins with a Shanti Mantra and ends with a Shanti Mantra. Shanti means peace. Only when you have peace can you think of higher knowledge. Higher knowledge cannot be grasped by a disturbed mind. The mind needs to be calm , free from anguish , from hatred , from cravings, and then higher knowledge can be attained.
ॐ सह नाववतु । सह नौ भुनक्तु । सहवीर्यं करवावहै ।
तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु । मा विद्विषावहै ॥
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
ॐ सह नाववतु । – Let us be together.
सह नौ भुनक्तु । – Enjoy this life together.
सहवीर्यं करवावहै । – Let us grow in strength together.
तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु । – Let us become effulgent , glow
together.
मा विद्विषावहै ॥ – Let us not hate each other.
Let us be together. Let us grow together , let us eat together , let us enjoy together. This sholka is the foundation of learning. This mantra is also chanted before having food.
भुनक्तु means eating , but in this shloka , it doesn’t mean just eating. It means to experience the whole world. When our sights don’t match , when our perceptions don’t match , then there is conflict. सह नौ भुनक्तु – let our perception match. Let us see things together , let us experience the same. One experiences one thing and the other experiences something else , then there is conflict. But if both experience the
same thing together , then there is peace and tranquillity.
Suppose one person likes something and says , “Wow , this is so great!” But the other person says , “This is horrible!” , then they cannot enjoy.
सह नाववतु – Let us be together. We are together anyway. If we are born during the same time on this planet , then we are meant to be together. When we are meant to be together , let us be together mentally also. Let us be together with the spirit. It is the mind , the intellect which creates barriers and you have to remove the barriers
through the intellect. Hence the prayer – Let us be together , let us grow together , let us shine together.
When a very talented person is interviewed , the first thing asked is – Who is your teacher? This is tradition. A brilliant sitarist will be proud of his teacher. In soccer matches , they ask who the coach is. The coach gets the credit for victory. Students feel very proud of being students of a particular teacher.
सहवीर्यं करवावहै – Let us glow in effulgence together. Let us grow in strength together.
मा विद्विषावहै – Let us not hate each other.
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥ – Let there be peace in our soul. I our mind and in our environment. You can go deep into knowledge into a peaceful environment , but you can’t do so if the environment is disturbed. If your mind is disturbed , you have to do pranayama , yoga , meditation and kriya to calm it and only then you can talk about higher knowledge. The minute you sit close to the master , the vibration is already getting transferred and by the vibration , the mind is already becoming calm.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji
Katho Upanishad