Go Back to the Upanishads
मृत्युप्रोक्तां नचिकेतोऽथ लब्ध्वा
विद्यामेतां योगविधिं च कृत्स्नम् ।
ब्रह्मप्राप्तो विरजोऽभूद्विमृत्यु-
रन्योऽप्येवं यो विदध्यात्ममेव ॥ १८॥
mṛtyuproktāṃ naciketo’tha labdhvā
vidyāmetāṃ yogavidhiṃ ca kṛtsnam .
brahmaprāpto virajo’bhūdvimṛtyu-
ranyo’pyevaṃ yo vidadhyātmameva .. 18..
Having received this wisdom taught by the King of Death and the entire process of yoga, Nachiketa became free from impurities and death and attained Brahman. Thus it will be also with any other who knows, in this manner, the inmost Self.
Commentary:
Blessed Nachiketas received this science of yoga in its entirety. This great knowledge of Brahman was imparted to him by Yama, the Lord of Death, and he attained to Brahman: brahmaprāpta. Nachiketas became free from the contamination of the body, and he was free from the trammels of death. Whoever takes recourse to this method which Nachiketas took will also attain immortality in a similar manner. Anyopy evam yo vid adhyātmam eva: It is not only Nachiketas who attained it; you and I also can attain it, provided we follow the same path which Nachiketas followed. That rejection of all values, that persistence in asking for Truth, that tenacity in knowing it somehow or other, concentrating the mind on the instruction that is given, and practising it assiduously until it is reached, these are the ways which Nachiketas adopted. He got it; and whoever follows this way of tenacious concentration on that Reality, rejecting all attachments, will also attain to the same goal.
This is the Kathopanishad—a great, grand scripture.
Oṁ sahanāvavatu, saha nau bhunaktu, saha vīryam karavāvahai, tejasvinavadhītamastu, mā vidviśāvahai, aum śāntih śāntih śāntih.
Swami Vivekananda Says —
…Proceed along the path of the Shastras as in olden times. Have faith within yourselves and thereby bring it back into the country. Plant in your heart the faith of Nachiketâ. Even go up to the world of Yama like him. Yes, if to know the secrets of the Atman, to liberate your soul, to reach the true solution of the mystery of birth and death, you have to go to the very jaws of death and realise the truth thereby, well, go there with an undaunted heart.[Source]
Have you got the Katha Upanishad by heart? Among the Upanishads, one finds no other book so beautiful as this. I wish you would all get it by heart. What will it do only to read it? Rather try to bring into your life the faith, the courage, the discrimination, and the renunciation of Nachiketâ.[Source]
Go back to your Upanishads — the shining, the strengthening, the bright philosophy — and part from all these mysterious things, all these weakening things. Take up this philosophy; the greatest truths are the simplest things in the world, simple as your own existence. The truths of the Upanishads are before you. Take them up, live up to them, and the salvation of India will be at hand.[Source]
Peace Abounds
ॐ सह नाववतु । सह नौ भुनक्तु । सहवीर्यं करवावहै ।
तेजस्विनावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै ॥ १९॥
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
इति काठकोपनिषदि द्वितीयाध्याये तृतीया वल्ली ॥
saha nāvavatu . saha nau bhunaktu . saha vīryaṃ karavāvahai .
tejasvināvadhītamastu mā vidviṣāvahai .. 19..
oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ ..
iti kāṭhakopaniṣadi dvitīyādhyāye tṛtīyā vallī ..
Om. May Brahman protect us both! May Brahman bestow upon us both the fruit of Knowledge! May we both obtain the energy to acquire Knowledge! May what we both study reveal the Truth! May we cherish no ill feeling toward each other!
Om. Peace! Peace! Peace!
Swami Vivekananda Says —
…The Brahman of the Vedantists, He the all-pervading, whose glory has been known only in this land — may He bless us, may He help us, may He give strength unto us, energy unto us, to carry this idea into practice. May that which we have listened to and studied become food to us, may it become strength in us, may it become energy in us to help each other; may we, the teacher and the taught, not be jealous of each other! Peace, peace, peace, in the name of Hari![Source]