structural:scholar_edition, stylistic:style_transfer, information:highlighting, quality:correction
Katha Upanishad

The Katha Upanishad is the legendary story of a little boy, Nachiketa, the son of sage Vājaśravasa, who meets Yama, the Vedic deity of death. Their conversation evolves to a discussion of the nature of man, knowledge, Atman (Self) and moksha (liberation). In section 1.2, Katha Upanishad characterises knowledge (vidyā) as the pursuit of the good, and ignorance (avidyā) as the pursuit of the pleasant. It teaches that the essence of the Veda is to make man liberated and free, look past what has happened and what has not happened, free from the past and the future, beyond good and evil, and one word for this essence is the word Om.

The word which all the Vedas proclaim, That which is expressed in every Tapas (penance, austerity, meditation), That for which they live the life of a Brahmacharin, Understand that word in its essence: Om! that is the word. Yes, this syllable is Brahman, This syllable is the highest. He who knows that syllable, Whatever he desires, is his.