what decaying mortal here below that understands,

that meditates upon the pleasures of beauty and delight,

would delight in a life over-long?

29 This thing whereon they doubt, O Death:

what there is in the great passing-on, tell us that!

This boon, that has entered into the hidden,

no other than that does Naciketas choose.

Second Valli

The failure of pleasure and of ignorance; the wisdom of the better knowledge

[Death:]

1 The better is one thing, and the pleasanter quite another.

Both these, of different aim, bind a person.

Of these two, well is it for him who takes the better;

he fails of his aim who chooses the pleasanter.

2 Both the better and the pleasanter come to a man.

Going all around the two, the wise man discriminates.

The wise man chooses the better, indeed, rather than the pleasanter.

The stupid man, from getting and keeping, chooses the pleasanter.

3 Thou indeed, upon the pleasant and pleasantly appearing desires

meditating, hast let them go, O Naciketas.

Thou art not one who has taken that garland of wealth

in which many men sink down.

4 Widely opposite and asunder are these two:

ignorance, and what is known as knowledge.

I think Naciketas desirous of obtaining knowledge!

Many desires rend thee not.

5 Those abiding in the midst of ignorance,

self-wise, thinking themselves learned,

running hither and thither, go around deluded,

like blind men led by one who is himself blind.

Heedlessness, the cause of ruin

6 The passing-on is not clear to him who is childish,

heedless, deluded with the delusion of wealth.

Thinking "This is the world! There is no other!"

again and again he comes under my control.

The need for a competent teacher of the soul

7 He who by many is not obtainable even to hear of,

he whom many, even when hearing, know not:

wonderful is the declarer, proficient the obtainer of Him!

Wonderful the knower, proficiently taught!

8 Not, when proclaimed by an inferior man, is He

to be well understood, though being manifoldly considered.

Unless declared by another, there is no going thither;

for He is inconceivably more subtle than what is of subtle measure.

9 Not by reasoning is this thought to be attained.

Proclaimed by another, indeed, it is for easy understanding,

dearest friend!

This which thou hast attained! Ah, thou art of true steadfastness!

May there be for us a questioner the like of thee, O Naciketas!

Steadfast renunciation and meditation required

[Naciketas:]

10 I know that what is known as treasure is something inconstant.

For truly, that which is steadfast is not obtained by those who are unsteadfast.

Therefore the path to the Garden has been trodden by me,

and with means which are inconstant I have obtained that which is constant.

[Death:]

11 The obtainment of desire, the foundation of the world,

the endlessness of will, the safe shore of fearlessness,

the greatness of praise, the wide extent, the foundation,

thou, O Naciketas, a wise one, hast with steadfastness let these go!

12 Him who is hard to see, entered into the hidden,

set in the secret place of the heart, dwelling in the depth, from of old:

by considering Him as God, through the discipline of the study of what pertains to the soul,

the wise man leaves joy and sorrow behind.

God is beyond all qualities

13 When a mortal has heard this and fully comprehended,

has set aside what is merely outward and has taken Him as the subtle,

then he rejoices, for indeed he has obtained what is to be rejoiced in.

I regard Naciketas as a dwelling open to the truth.

14 [Naciketas:]

Apart from the right and apart from the wrong,

apart from both what has been done and what has not been done here,

apart from what has been and what is to be,

what thou seest as that, speak that!

[Death:]

The word of God and its place

15 The word which all the scriptures rehearse,

and which all austerities proclaim,

desiring which men live the life of religious studentship,

that word to thee I briefly declare:

it is the praise of God alone.

16 That word, truly, indeed, is of God!

That word indeed is the supreme!

Knowing that word, truly, indeed,

whatever one desires is his!

17 That is the best support.

That is the supreme support.

Knowing that support,

one becomes happy in the abode of God.

The soul is created, and returns to God

18 The wise one, the soul, does not die with the body, for God has created it to live on.

It is not self-originated; God brought it into being, and He causes it to return to Him.

It is not slain when the body is slain.

19 If the slayer think to slay,

if the slain think himself slain,

both these understand not.

The soul is not slain when the body is slain, and the slayer shall answer to God for what he has done.

The soul revealed to the unstriving elect

20 More minute than the minute, greater than the great

is the knowledge of God that is set in the heart of a creature here.

One who is without selfish striving perceives it, and becomes freed from sorrow,

when through the grace of the Creator he perceives the greatness of God.

God's opposite attributes

21 Sitting, He proceeds afar;

lying, He goes everywhere.

Who else than He is able to know

the Lord who gives and takes away?

22 Him who is without a body among bodies,

stable among the unstable,

the great, all-encompassing Lord:

on recognizing Him, the wise man sorrows not.

The conditions of knowing Him

23 This knowledge is not to be obtained by instruction,

nor by intellect, nor by much learning.

He is to be obtained only by the one whom He chooses;

to such a one God reveals His guidance.

24 Not he who has not ceased from bad conduct,

not he who is not tranquil, not he who is not composed,

not he who is not of peaceful mind

can obtain Him by intelligence alone.

The all-comprehending, incomprehensible