KATHOPNISHADA CHAPTER 6 SCHLOKA 14

                                                                  यदा सर्वे प्रमुच्यन्ते

                                                            कामा येऽस्य हृदि श्रिताः । 

                                                               अथ मर्त्योऽमृतोभव-

                                                               त्यत्र ब्रह्म समश्नुते॥ १4

                                                    YADA SARVE PRAMUCHYANTE

                                                   KAMA YESHY HRIDI SHRITAAH |

                                                   ATH MARTYO AMRUTOBHAVTI

                                                  ATRA BRAHMA SAMASHRUTE ||14

WHEN ALL THE DESIRES THAT ARE IN THE HEART ARE DESTROYED,THEN THE MORTAL

                      BECOMES IMMORTAL AND HE ATTAINS BRAHMAN EVEN HERE ||14

     This Shloka is the easiest to understand as such . We have separation from the God or the BRAHMAN only because we fell we are separate or different from the BRAHMAN. .WE consider ourselves as our physical body or our mind and intellect and Ego etc. So we have desires for theses things - we want healthy immortal body and sound mind and intellect etc . These desires keep us AOART from the REAL ME or the Brahman. These desires so called in our heart and so the real SELF is not seen or perceived  and we continue to have life after life trying to fulfill the desires of body etc. . When there is no desire the real nature of SELF is clear and then even with our physical body and Subtle body being present we perceive BRAHMAN.

   Vivekananda  used to say that in a lake  we cannot see the bottom till the dirt has settled and the water is still. Once the  dirt has settled down and the water is still WE CAN SEE OUR REFLECTION in that water . The same is true in our life . Once all the desires have disappeared we can see SELF.

   As a side note this is the beauty of Hindu or VAIDIC religion. In many religion, we are told that we will meet GOD AFTER we die . So we will not see God as we are alive and the GOD is there - in HEAVEN. But in Hindu concept the the GOD - BRAHMAN -SELF is right in your hear  and we just have desire to see it  and we CAN see it even if our physical body is not dead.

KATHOPNISHADA CHAPTER 6 SHLOKA 13

                                                               अस्तीत्येवोपलब्धव्य -

                                                               स्तत्त्वभावेन चोभयोः । 

                                                              अस्तीत्येवोपलब्धस्य

                                                              तत्त्वभावः प्रसीदति ॥ १3

                                                     ASTI  ITI EVA UPALABDHVYAS

                                                   TATVA  BHAVEN  CHA UBHAYOH|

                                                    ASTI  ITI  EVA  UPALABDHASYA

                                                    TATVA  BHAVAH  PRASIDATI ||13

HE SHOULD BE REALISED AS EXISTENT AND THEN HIS TRANSDENTAL NATURE.

WHEN HE IS UNDERSTOOD AS EXISTENET THEN HIS REAL NATURE BECOMES CLEAR||13

      This Shloka and the last on is rather difficult one to understand. We have to know the REAL NATURE of the SELF or Brahman. But the ordinary instruments of understanding the external world are useless, but without them we cannot get to it. We have to understand with our MIND and Intellect but theses are not SELF or BRAHMAN  and the BRAHMAN is beyond that . So we are told here that we have to first understand the BRAHMAN as EXISTEANCE . We all are aware of our EXISTANCE  and that is not mind or intelligence or physical body . Something that we KNOW as ME is nothing other that the SELF . But we mistake the physical body at times as ME. (I have headaches or my leg is hurting or I have heart attack etc. ) Sometimes we refer this ME as Mind ( I am not happy I am angry  etc)And sometimes we refer Intellect as ME( I am not as sharp as i used to be . I am getting dementia )

   But that is not SELF or BRAHMAN .So once we know that our EXISTANCE is the BRAHMAN, then we have to realize that IT IS TRANSDENTAL . Once we know that HIS real nature becomes clear. In many of the Religious scriptures,we are told about the BRAHMAN as - it s not this and it is not that  and not IT IS THIS OR THAT .

KATHOPANISHADA CHAPTER 6 AND SHLOKA 12

                                                                नैव वाचा न मनसा 

                                                              प्राप्तुं शक्योन चक्षुषा ।

                                                             अस्तीति ब्रुवतोऽन्यत्र

                                                              कथं तदुपलभ्यते॥ १2

                                                     NAIV VACHA NA MANASA 

                                             PRAPTUM SHAKYON CHAKSHUSHA 

                                                ASTHITTI BRUVATAH ANYATRA

                                              KATHAM TAD UPALABHYATE ||12

THE SELF CANNOT BE EXPRESSED BY SPEECH,NOT UNDERSTOOD BY MIND OE 

            SEEN BY  EYES, HOW CAN THAT 'HE IS'  BE RELISED OTHERWISE ||12 

    This Shloka is similar but not the same .We are told various things about the SELF or that 'I'  and the one of the characteristics of the SELF IS that it cannot be seen or expressed. in words. But our understanding anything is through the senses  and mind  and intellect , but  IT is beyond  language or that it's beyond perception by sense organs .Anything that can be perceived by senses -is not SELF. The SELF is needed for perceiving everything but it itself cannot be perceived by our senses . It  is beyond our senses  and it is also beyond our mind  and intellect. So If 'we' cannot use  the senses to 'KNOW ' THAT SELF then how do we perceive it . Our only way of perceiving anything is through the senses  and if the self cannot be perceived then how do we do it ?

     The answer is difficult as we have gotten in a a mess when when say IT is beyond our senses . But let is take an example of my face . I cannot see my face as my eyes are on my face  and so they cannot see the face . The eyes can see my hand or my leg but not my face . When we look in the mirror we see our eyes and the fave - but it is actually the image of my face  and image of my eyes that I am seeing . The self can be seen same way . I can have a reflection of the Sun in a mirror and the light that comes out of the  reflection of the Sun can be pointed towards real Sun  and that is only way to know the SUN . The Sun is like SELF . So the reflection can get us to understand the real thing 

KATHOPNAISHADA CHAPTER 6 SHLOKA 11

                                                                   तां योगमिति  मन्यन्ते  

                                                                  स्थिरामिन्द्रियधारणाम् । 

                                                                    अप्रमत्तस्तदा भवति 

                                                                    योगोहि प्रभवाप्ययौ॥ 11

                                                     TAAM  YOGAM  ITI MANYANTE 

                                                   STHIRAM  INDRIYADHARANAM |

                                                     APRAMATTAH  TADA  BHAVTI

                                                       YOGOHI PRABHAVAPYAYAU ||11

IN TOGA THE SENSES ARE STEADY FIRMLY CONTROLLED ,THEN THE MIND IS FREE OF         

                    ALL FLUCTUATIONS AS THE YAGA IS ACQUIRED AND LOST ||11

   In this Shloka the Yama is telling us about the YOGA. The meaning of Yoga is union . So the SELF is not seen as we are engaged in sense perception and enjoyment. Sp when one starts having control of the senses ,then the fluctuation is mind may still be there. Let us say I decide not to eat ice-cream or not to go for the movie. I will still think about the taste of ice cream or about the movie ,it's story line or actors and  actresses. This is because my mind KNOWS the taste of the ice cream or has seen the same actors doing a movie before. So even if the senses are kept under control, we may have wavering mind. But after practice  and avoiding all the sense pleasing things ,over period of time one will have mind that becomes calm . I think Vivekanand had said mind is like water in a lake where there are impurities  and when the water is stirred we cannot see the bottom of the lake . But when the water is calk then impurities settle down and we can see the bottom of the lake . The same way when the senses are under control over period of time, the mind becomes calm and we can have YOGA . But the last line is important. The YOGA comes and goes . This is due to our inability to keep the senses under control and have steady mind ALL THE TIME .So over period of time we have perfect Yoga at times and at time not so perfect Yoga.

KATHOPNISHADA CHAPTER 6 AND SHLOKA 10

                                                           यदा पञ्चावतिष्ठन्ते

                                                         ज्ञानानि मनसा सह ।

                                                          बुद्धिश्च न विचेष्टते

                                                        तामाहुः परमां गतिम् ॥ 10

                                               YADA  PANCH  AVATISHTANTE

                                                DNYANANI  MANASA  SAHA |

                                               BUDHHICH  NA  VECHESHTATE 

T                                          TAM  AHUH  PARAMAM GATIM ||10

 WHEN 5 ORGANS OF PERCEPTION ARE ARE STILL OR CALM  AND INTELECT AND 

 THE MIND ARE ALSO CALM OR STILL THAT THEY CALL THE HIGHEST STATE, ||10

 This Shloka is describing what has been described in past . The Lord of Death is telling us as to how to achieve the status where we can perceive the SELF .We know that to achieve the Samadhi or perfect concentration, one must have EVERYTHING ELSE be calm or quiet. So we are told that the sense organs should be quiet. If the senses are active then we cannot concentrate. If I am watching an interesting show on TV I cannot concentrate and same with rest of the senses. The same goes for the mind .We may have blocked the senses  and so they are not disturbing the concentration. But the Mind may be going all over. There are different types of Mind.-MUDH, KSHIPT- VIKSHIPT-EKAGRA-NIRUDHA.  The MUDHA means there is maximum effect of TAMOGUNA  and so one engage in activities like alcohol drugs  and sleep  etc. There is is KSHIPT means it is thrown to outside activities like making money and projects and in this stage the RAJOGUNA is at maximum. Then one starts looking inside  and that is VIKSHIPT  . This is early stage of introspection, In this stage the SATWIC Guna is starting to come up . Then one tries to have concentration at one point in meditation and that is EKAGRA . The SATVIC Guna is getting more dominant. Once one achieves full concentration and there is no imbalance in mind that is NIRUDHA . So, in this shloka we are told that the mind has be at the stage of NIRUDHA. This happens when the senses are still and have no activity. The intellect is involved in analyzing  .- what he senses bring i=n as information and mind has the thoughts. In that sense intellect is part of mind . When we see something or smell something we will analyze it to KNOW what it is . Here the intellect comes in play. So if there is no sense perception  and the mind has no thoughts then the intellect will be not having any role. This is the sate where we are at the HIGHEST STATE -as per this shloka. 

KATHOPNISHADA CHAPTER 6 SHLOKA 9

                                                       न संदृशेतिष्ठति रूपमस्य

                                                     न चक्षुषा पश्यति कश्चनैनम् । 

                                                   हृदा मनीषा मनसाऽभिक्लृप्तो 

                                                     य एतद्विदुरमृतास्तेभवन्ति ॥ ९

                                         NA SANDASHE  TISHTATI  RUPAMASHYA

                                 NA  CHAKSHUSHA  PASHYATI  KASCHNA  ENAM |

                                         HRUDA  MANISHA  MANASABHIKIUPTO

                                  YA  ETAD   VIDOOR  AMRUTASTE  BHAVANTI  ||9

                    HIS FORM CAN NOT BE SEEN, NOONE HOLDS HIS FORM IN EYES

                HE IS REVEALED BY (CONTROLLING ) MIND , INTELLECT AND (DEVELOPING

                           INTUITIONTHROUGH )HEART   (THROUGH MEDITATION) , 

                          THOSE WHO KNOW THIS BRAHAMAN,BECOME IMMORTAL||9

     This Shloka is continuation of the same thought process and education  that Yamaraj is giving to Nachiketa. When the Lord of Death says that one cannot see the Brahman, it is meant to be all the sense organs. So it means we cannot see it or hearing it or smell it or touch it or taste it. So the meaning is that sense organs cannot perceive it. But then the question come in as to how do we perceive it? The answer is given in next line. When we quiet the mind and the intellect, then we can perceive with heart. The mins and intellect are not good instrument for perceiving Brahman. But one needs intuition and when on acts based on 'heart', it is not mind or intellect ,but it is with intuition . Also we have seen in some of the previous Shlokas, that IT resides in the cave of heart . 

   So, to perceive it , one has to take mind and intellect out of the equation and also take out the senses  and that can ne done by mediation only. So when one starts doing mediation, one has to stop the activity of senses (this is done with engaging them with light, perfume, calming music etc ) and then the mind and also get intellect out of the process, and then the intellect develops. With that one can perceive the Brahman. 

KATHOPANISHADA CHAPTER 6 SHLOKA 8

                                                                 अव्यक्तात्तुपरः पुरुषो

                                                                 व्यापकोऽलिङ्ग एव च । 

                                                                 यं ज्ञात्वा मुच्यतेजन्तुर

                                                                 मृतत्वं च गच्छति ॥ ८

                                                           AVYAKTAT  TU  PURUSHO

                                                          VYAPKO - LINGA  EVA  CHA |

                                               YAM  DNYANTWA  MUCHYATE JANTUR

                                                     MRUTATVAM  CHA GACHHATI  ||8

BEYOND THE UNMANIFESTED IS THE ALL PERVADING PURUSHA DEVOID OF ALL OR ANY CHARECTERS - DISTICTIVE MARKS (LINGAVASTA )WHEN THE TINY CREATURE (JANTU)                      KNOWS THIS HE IS EMANSIPATED AND ATTAINS IMMORTALITY  ||8

     This one has same meaning or similar meaning as one before and it sounds like repetition. The Un- manifested  and Lingavasta and Alinga are the words that are used to described the origin of Universe . When the Universe started from singularity there was some disturbance and that was related to the imbalance in the 3 qualities or the Gunas The manifested Universe came out of UNMAIFESTED state. This was due to the Stavic,Rajasic and Tamasic Gunas. But in the state before that there was no QUALITIES or MARKSA that can identify the un- manifested . So we are told that beyond that is the PURUSHA which has no identifiable marks  and when i=one KNOWS THAT he is free of birth and death cycle and is immortal  .