Kathopanishad

Among our thirteen principal Upanishads, the Kathopanishad is considered very important. Of course, some people say there are 250 Upanishads, and there are even books published that contain 108 Upanishads. So the total number is not fixed. There are many Upanishads. But the main Upanishads—the ones compiled by Gita Press, Gorakhpur, into a collection of eleven—these are regarded as the principal ones.

These Upanishads are small sections taken from the Vedas, or from the Brahmanas or Aranyakas, which themselves form part of the Vedas. This means an Upanishad is not an independent text by itself—it is actually a small part of the Vedas. Some Upanishads come from the Brahmanas, some from the Aranyakas. Brahmanas and Aranyakas are integral parts of the Vedas, written to explain and expand on the Vedic teachings.

Whenever a very important portion of knowledge appeared within the Vedas, Brahmanas, or Aranyakas, it was taken out separately so that it could be studied more easily.
For example, we all know that the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita is not a separate, independent book—it is a part of the Mahabharata. The same is true for the Upanishads.

Another example is the story of the Goddess recited during Navratri. The text Durga Saptashati was extracted from the Markandeya Purana. So whenever our scriptures contained particularly important portions of wisdom, and since it is difficult to read the entire text, those essential parts were separated out so that everyone could study them more easily.

Isha Upanishad is the 40th chapter of the Shukla Yajurveda.
Prashna Upanishad is part of the Atharvaveda.
Mundaka Upanishad is also from the Atharvaveda.
Chandogya Upanishad is a small part of the Samaveda.
And the Kathopanishad is a small part of the Krishna Yajurveda—its section on knowledge.

It is called the Kathopanishad because many branches of the Vedas were developed by different sages. Each sage studied the Vedas and formed his own branch. This Upanishad belongs to the Katha branch of the Krishna Yajurveda, which is why it is named the Kathopanishad.

Upanishads are not independent books; they are extremely important portions of spiritual knowledge taken from the Vedas. The Kathopanishad has two chapters—Chapter One and Chapter Two—just like the chapters in modern books. And each chapter has three sub-chapters. These sub-chapters are called Vallis. Just as in the Bhagavata Purana, chapters are sometimes called sarga, here these sub-chapters are called valli.

Every Upanishad begins with a prayer. For example, the Isha Upanishad begins with Purnamada Purnamidam. The Kathopanishad also begins with a prayer we all know:

“Saha nāv avatu,
Saha nau bhunaktu,
Saha vīryam karavāvahai,
Tejasvināv adhītam astu,
Mā vidvishāvahai.”

Saha nāv avatu — “May the Lord protect us both.” Here “both” means the guru and the student. This is a joint prayer.
Saha nau bhunaktu — “May He nourish and support us both.”
Saha vīryam karavāvahai — “May we both gain strength together.”
Tejasvināv adhītam astu — “May the knowledge we study become bright and illuminating for both of us.”
Mā vidvishāvahai — “May we not have any hostility or misunderstanding toward each other.”

This is the simple prayer offered by the guru and the student together. Let us explore this most amazing Kathopanishad together.