यस्य ब्रह्म च क्षत्रं च उभे भवत ओदनः ।
मृत्युर्यस्योपसेचनं क इत्था वेद यत्र सः ॥ २५॥
इति काठकोपनिषदि प्रथमाध्याये द्वितीया वल्ली ॥
yasya brahma ca kṣatraṃ ca ubhe bhavata odanaḥ .
mṛtyuryasyopasecanaṃ ka itthā veda yatra saḥ .. 25..
iti kāṭhakopaniṣadi prathamādhyāye dvitīyā vallī ..
Who, then, knows where He is-He to whom Brahmins and kshattriyas are mere food and death itself a condiment?
Commentary:
Brahmanas and Kshatriyas are the diet of this Great Being. This Great Being eats Brahmanas and Kshatriyas every day. What does this mean? It is symbolic of knowledge and power. The highest knowledge and the highest power are embedded in this great Atman. That is the meaning of saying that it eats knowledge and power embedded in what we call Brahmana and Kshatriya. Brahmanas are supposed to be the repositories of knowledge and wisdom; Kshatriyas are supposed to be the repositories of power and strength. Both these are swallowed by this Great Being, because it is above all knowledge and power. Yasya brahma ca kṣatraṁ ca ubhe bhavata odanaḥ: It is a good meal. Brahmanas and Kshatriyas are its daily breakfast and lunch. Mṛtyur yasyopasecanaṁ: But it cannot digest this easily, so it wants some achar, some condiment. Death is the condiment. When we take a meal we have a little condiment, achar as it is called in Hindi. We eat the meal, whatever it is, chapati, paratha, with a little condiment. And this Great Being takes death itself as the condiment. What a great power! It is staggering, really staggering. It will make us giddy. We are unable to think it, so great and grand it is. Ka itthā veda yatra saḥ: Who can know it? Yama himself is saying, “Who can know it?” Who can know where it is? Great indeed it is! May it bless us.