DAILY READINGS
From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji
678
Swamiji Comments on the Katha Upanishad
It is because of the guru's power of personal devotion, personal faith and personal experience of the truth of the Upanishads, that truth in turn is passed to the disciples.
The Katha Upanishad is a story but not a fairy tale. It is not a story that we read to entertain our minds; it is a story just like the Bhagavad Gita. Bhagavad means God, Gita means song. Here Bhagavad also means the Universal Soul. Therefore it means: 'The Song of the Universal Soul, God'. It is not the song of the jivatma [individual soul].
Similarly the Katha Upanishad is a story, not of any particular individual, but it is a story of the immortal, universal Atman [one divine consciousness]. And this has to be understood. And if it is a story of the immortal, universal Atman it lends strength and light to everything that we see and see not in all the lokas [realms of consciousness]. Rightfully the Atman is known as immortal, otherwise it is relative.
Om saha navavatu sahanau bhunaktu saha viryam karavavahai
Tejasvi navadhitamastu ma vidhvishavahai
Om shantih. shantih. shantih.
This means: May the disabled one and the able one - the chela [disciple] and the guru [teacher or preceptor] - have the knowledge. May these two not get caught in intellectual gymnastics. Do not let us get caught in that because this is Katha Upanishad; it is not Buddhi [intellect] Upanishad. It is the Upanishad of the soul and not the Upanishad of the intellect.
'May we help each other.' That is the idea. Not to supersede anybody but to help each other. The crux of the whole Upanishad is that we are trying to understand that Universal Soul.
We also hear about Nachiketa, the young son, who was full of faith and devotion to the scriptures, to the mother and father, and lastly to the guru.
1) Care should be taken by the reader to understand and take Swamiji's words in these postings, in context. Every teaching or instruction that he gave was specific to the people who were with Swamiji at the time. 2) Mouse-over the words highlighted in red in the posting for further explanation or links.
There are currently available, over 100 different CDs or DVDs with mp3 files, of Swamiji speaking. Please email timhoare@webmail.co.za to order. Click HERE for the second website on Swamiji's life and teachings.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna - read online
Reference websites - please mouse over the name and click to connect:
Ramakrishna Math and Mission Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa Ramakrishna Dham
