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1.
'There are the two, drinking their reward in the world
of their own works, entered into the cave (of the heart),
dwelling on the highest summit (the ether in the heart).
Those who know Brahman call them shade and light; likewise,
those householders who perform the Trinakiketa sacrifice.'
2.
'May we be able to master that Nakiketa rite which is
a bridge for sacrificers; also that which is the highest,
imperishable Brahman for those who wish to cross over
to the fearless shore.'
3.
'Know the Self to be sitting in the chariot, the body
to be the chariot, the intellect (buddhi) the charioteer,
and the mind the reins.'
4.
'The senses they call the horses, the objects of the
senses their roads. When he (the Highest Self) is in
union with the body, the senses, and the mind, then
wise people call him the Enjoyer.'
5.
'He who has no understanding and whose mind (the reins)
is never firmly held, his senses (horses) are unmanageable,
like vicious horses of a charioteer.'
6.
'But he who has understanding and whose mind is always
firmly held, his senses are under control, like good
horses of a charioteer.'
7.
'He who has no understanding, who is unmindful and always
impure, never reaches that place, but enters into the
round of births.'
8.
'But he who has understanding, who is mindful and always
pure, reaches indeed that place, from whence he is not
born again.'
9.
'But he who has understanding for his charioteer, and
who holds the reins of the mind, he reaches the end
of his journey, and that is the highest place of Vishnu.'
10.
'Beyond the senses there are the objects, beyond the
objects there is the mind, beyond the mind there is
the intellect, the Great Self is beyond the intellect.'
11.
'Beyond the Great there is the Undeveloped, beyond the
Undeveloped there is the Person (purusha). Beyond the
Person there is nothing this is the goal, the highest
road.'
12.
'That Self is hidden in all beings and does not shine
forth, but it is seen by subtle seers through their
sharp and subtle intellect.'
13.
'A wise man should keep down speech and mind; he should
keep them within the Self which is knowledge; he should
keep knowledge within the Self which is the Great; and
he should keep that (the Great) within the Self which
is the Quiet.'
14.
'Rise, awake! having obtained your boons', understand
them! The sharp edge of a razor is difficult to pass
over; thus the wise say the path (to the Self) is hard.'
15.
'He who has perceived that which is without sound, without
touch, without form, without decay, without taste, eternal,
without smell, without beginning, without end, beyond
the Great, and unchangeable, is freed from the jaws
of death.'
16.
'A wise man who has repeated or heard the ancient story
of Nakiketas told by Death, is magnified in the world
of Brahman.'
17.
'And he who repeats this greatest mystery in an assembly
of Brahmans, or full of devotion at the time of the
Sraddha sacrifice, obtains thereby infinite rewards.'
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