KathaUpanishad

When all the ties of the heart are severed here on earth, then the mortal becomes
immortal.
This much alone is the teaching.
The knots of the heart are all the conditioned concepts arising from ignorance (avidya)
which bind one to the wheel of samsara. These concepts are all the notions of identity
(ahaṅkāra), the delusion of possession (mamata), attraction (rāga), aversion (dveṣa),
clinging (abhiniveśa), etc.
Thus far is the teaching. — The original Upanisad, it was felt, ended with I.1.17. The
subsequent sections may have been added at a late date. These words seem to mark the end
of the enlarged Upanishad. The remaining verses seem to be a still later addition.
Another portion of later addition starts here.
śata̍ṁ caikā ca hṛ̱ daya̍ sya nāḍyas tā̱sām mūrdhā̍nam a̱ bhinı̍ ḥsṛtaikā |
tayo̍rdhvam āyann a̱mṛta̍ tvam eti vi̱ ṣvaṅg a̱ nyā uṯkramaṇe̍ bhavanti || 16 ||
śataṁ ca eka = one hundred and one
hṛdayasya nāḍyaḥ = channels into the heart
tāsām = of these
mūrdhānam = the head
abhiniḥsṛtā = exists through
tayā = through that channel
ūrdhvam āyan = going upwards
amṛtatvam eti = one goes to immortality
viṣvak anyāḥ = the other channels that branch out in different directions
utkramaṇe bhavanti = serve for death ie. rebirth.
There are one hundred and one arteries of the heart, one of which pierces the crown of
the head. Going upward by it, a man at death attains immortality. But when his prana
passes out by other arteries, going in different directions, then he is reborn in the world.
This evidently refers to the Chakra Theory which developed much later in history. It was taken
over by the Gnostics and is now a total vast subject area. It speaks of seven centers of
openings starting from the bottom to the crown. Reference here is only about the importance of
the Crown Chakra on the top of the head known also as Sahasra Chakra. If the breath leaves
the body from the Crown Chakra it has attained mukthi. That is the proposition here.
The crown of head is known as Brahmarandhra (Sanskrit) [from Brahman cosmic spirit +
randhra opening, fissure, cavity] Brahman's crevice; a mystical suture or opening in the crown of
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