Chapter 2
Story Analysis
Verse 9
“Yataś codeti sūryo astam yatra ca gacchati… etad vai tat.”
Meaning:
“The place from which the sun rises and the place into which it sets—all the gods are offered into That. No one can ever go beyond That. This is the very Supreme you asked about, Nachiketa.”
This verse is simple. It says that:
– The sun rises from the Supreme and sets in the Supreme.
– The sun is considered the greatest deity for the earth, yet even the sun rises from That One Reality.
– All gods are contained within That One.
We only understand sunrise and sunset as astronomical events. But here the idea is that the entire existence is one, and that whole existence is the Supreme. The world is the expression of the Supreme.
We cannot grasp where that Reality begins or ends. All gods are contained in it. When we worship different deities one by one, we are worshipping only individual expressions. But the Supreme is the One in whom all gods are included.
So it says: instead of devotion scattered among many forms, understand that the Supreme contains everything—the sun, the moon, all deities.
Verse 10
“Yad eva iha tad amutra yad amutra tad anu iha….”
Meaning:
“That which is here is the same that is there; that which is there is the same that is here. A person goes from death to death who sees the Supreme as many.”
This repeats what the previous verse said:
The Supreme is one. The same One exists here and in the other world.
The verse warns: do not divide this One Reality into many.
This is explained with a simple example:
– The space inside a pot and the space outside the pot are the same.
– A wall or pot merely appears to divide it.
– In truth, space is one.
Similarly, we create a division by identifying ourselves with the body. This body-based identity acts like a wall. When that “wall” is removed, we see that the Self in all beings is one.
The verse calls “this world” the condition in which we live in body-identity.
It calls “the other world” the condition in which we live in soul-identity.
But the Self is one in both.
“As long as the wall of body-identity exists, we keep going from death to death.”
That is the essence of this 10th verse.
Verse 11
“Manasā eva idam āptavyam neha nānāsti kiṁcana…”
Meaning:
“This Supreme is to be realized through the mind alone. In this world there is nothing other than the One. Those who see multiplicity go from death to death.”
The idea is the same, with one extra detail:
The Supreme is realized through a purified mind.
The text says “only through the mind,” meaning:
– a subtle mind,
– a pure mind,
– a steady mind,
– a mind free from disturbances.
Only such a mind can grasp the oneness behind all forms.
If the mind remains impure, it keeps seeing differences:
the soul in animals is different, in humans different, in insects different, in elephants different.
As long as this sense of separation persists, the cycle of birth and death continues.
When the mind becomes pure, the vision of unity arises.
Verse 12
“Aṅguṣṭhamātraḥ puruṣo madhyātmani tiṣṭhati…”
Meaning:
“The Supreme Person, of the measure of a thumb, dwells in the middle of the body, in the space of the heart. He is the ruler of past, present, and future. Knowing Him, one never criticizes anyone. This is the very Supreme you asked about.”
Most of the verse is clear:
– The Self is in the heart-cave.
– He governs past, present, and future.
– One who knows this does not criticize anyone.
The difficult phrase here is aṅguṣṭhamātraḥ—“the size of a thumb”.
Many interpret this literally: the soul inside the heart is thumb-sized.
Then questions arise:
– If the human heart-space is this big, what about an ant?
– Will the soul inside an ant also shrink?
– Will the soul inside an elephant expand?
This literal meaning does not fit well.
The speaker then explains another interpretation found in a Vedic reference, in which a sage named Śākalya analyses the word “aṅguṣṭha” by breaking it into three parts:
aṅga – in the body, in a limb, in the heart-cave.
uṣṭa/ṣṭha (from the root sthā) – to stay, to remain.
The middle syllable (gu/ku/ṣa) is linked with a Vedic sound that signifies the Self or the Supreme.
Thus, “aṅguṣṭha” symbolically means:
“the One that remains seated in the body, in the heart-cave.”
Then comes the word mātra—meaning only in the sense of presence.
So the phrase means:
“The Self is merely present—its presence alone is necessary.”
This interpretation says:
– The soul does not “do” anything.
– It is simply present in the heart-cave.
– All activity is actually done by prakṛti—body, mind, intellect, senses.
– But these can act only because the Self is present, just like a catalytic agent.
A catalytic agent doesn’t do the action itself;
it only needs to be present for the reaction to happen.
The speaker gives a simple example:
Hydrogen + oxygen do not become water unless electricity is passed between them.
Electricity doesn’t “do” anything by itself—it is merely the necessary presence.
Similarly:
– The body performs all actions.
– The mind thinks.
– The intellect decides.
– Nature functions constantly.
But none of this works unless the Self is present as the inner “catalyst.”
So “aṅguṣṭhamātraḥ puruṣaḥ” means:
“The Self is present in the heart-cave as the essential catalyst, enabling all activity, though doing nothing itself.”
Knowing this, a person stops criticizing others.
Because one understands:
– the Self is present in everyone,
– all actions flow through nature,
– and the Supreme alone sustains everything.
Criticism exists only when we see from the standpoint of the body.
When body-identity drops, criticism ends.
This completes the interpretation of verse 12.