The Katha-Upanishad - Max Muller

The Katha-upanishad is probably more widely known than any other Upanishad. It formed part of the Persian translations, was rendered into English by Rammohan Roy, and has since been frequently quoted by English, French, and German writers as one of the most perfect specimens of the mystic philosophy and poetry of the ancient Hindus.

It was in the year 1845 that I first copied at Berlin the text of this Upanishad, the commentary of Sankara (MS. 127 Chambers¹), and the gloss of Gopalayogin (MS. 224 Chambers). The text and commentary of Sankara and the gloss of Anandagiri have since been edited by Dr. Roer in the Bibliotheca Indica, with translation and notes. There are other translations, more or less perfect, by Rammohan Roy, Windis-chmann, Poley, Weber, Muir, Regnaud, Gough, and others. But there still remained many difficult and obscure portions, and I hope that in some at least of the passages where I differ from my predecessors, not excepting Sankara, I may have succeeded in rendering the original meaning of the author more intelligible than it has hitherto been.

The text of the Katha-upanishad is in some MSS ascribed to the Yagur-veda. In the Chambers MS. of the commentary also it is said to belong to that Veda2, and in the Muktikopanishad it stands first among the Upanishads of the Black Yajur-veda. According to Colebrooke (Miscellaneous Essays, I, 96, note) it is referred to the Sama-veda also. Generally, however, it is counted as one of the Atharvana Upanishads.

The reason why it is ascribed to the Yajur-veda, is probably because the legend of Nachiketas occurs in the Brahmana of the Taittiriya Yajur-veda. Here we read (III, I, 8):

© "The Upanisads" translated by F Max Muller, published by Dover Publications, Inc. New York, USA. Reprinted with permission.

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