Katha:1.1.4

Mantra 1.1.4

Original Text:

स होवाच पितरं तत कस्मै मां दास्यसीति ।
	द्वितीयं तृतीयं तँ होवाच मृत्यवे त्वा ददामीति ॥ 4॥

sa hovāca pitaraṃ tata kasmai māṃ dāsyasīti ।
	dvitīyaṃ tṛtīyaṃ tam̐ hovāca mṛtyave tvā dadāmīti ॥ 4॥

Word-by-Word Breakdown

Sanskrit Term	Transliteration	Hindi Meaning	English Word or Meaning	Comments
स	sa	वह – यह (नचिकेता)	he (Nachiketa)		होवाच	hovāca	कहा – बोला	said		पितरम्	pitaram	पिता को – अपने जनक से	to his father		तत्	tat	वह – (वचन)	that (statement)		कस्मै	kasmai	किसको – किस व्यक्ति को	to whom		माम्	mām	मुझे – स्वयं को	me (myself)		दास्यसीति	dāsyasīti	दोगे – समर्पित करोगे	will you give		द्वितीयम्	dvitīyam	दूसरी बार – पुनः	a second time		तृतीयम्	tṛtīyam	तीसरी बार – फिर से	a third time		तम्	tam	उससे – उससे (नचिकेता से)	to him (Nachiketa)		होवाच	hovāca	कहा – बोला	said		मृत्यवे	mṛtyave	मृत्यु को – यमराज को	to Mṛtyu (Death, Yama)		त्वा	tvā	तुझे – तुम्हें	you (thee)		ददामि	dadāmi	देता हूँ – समर्पित करता हूँ	I give		इति	iti	ऐसा – इस प्रकार	thus

Translation/Explanation

Hindi: नचिकेता ने अपने पिता से कहा, "पिताजी, आप मुझे किसे देंगे?" उसने यह प्रश्न दूसरी बार और फिर तीसरी बार भी पूछा। तब उसके पिता ने कहा, "मैं तुम्हें मृत्यु (मृत्यवे, अर्थात् यमराज) को देता हूँ।" इस प्रसंग में नचिकेता अपने पिता के यज्ञ की पूर्णता के लिए स्वयं को दान में देने की बात करता है, जिससे यज्ञ में कोई दोष न रहे।

English: Nachiketa approached his father and asked, "Father, to whom will you give me?" He repeated this question a second and a third time. His father, in irritation, replied, "I give you to Mṛtyu (Death, that is, Yama)." Here, Nachiketa, seeking to ensure the perfection of his father's yajña, offers himself as dāna so that no imperfection remains in the sacrifice.

Commentary

Thinking that, as being the duty of a good son, he should ward off the undesirable consequences, which might befall his father on account of the imperfection in the yajña, by even giving himself away and thus perfect the yajña, he approached his father and said to him, ‘father, to whom, i.e., to which of the Ṛtviks will you give me as dakṣiṇā, i.e., reward? though unheeded by his father thus addressed, he repeated the question a second time and a third time ‘to whom will you give me,’ ‘to whom will you give me?’ The father incensed at the thought that that was not like a boy said to the son ‘to Mṛtyu do I give thee.’

Concept List

Nachiketa
yajña
dāna
Mṛtyu
Yama
dakṣiṇā
Ṛtvik