KathaUpanishad

mahyam śraddadānāya = to me who am full of faith,
svarga-lokā = the dwellers of heaven, those who have reached heaven,
bhajanta = get ;
amṛtatvam = immortality
etat = this;
vṛṇe = I seek for;
dvitīyena varena = through the second boon.
“O Yama, you know the secret of the performance of this mysterious universal
fire- sacrifice, by which one can attain heaven. Teach this to me, who has come
with faith. I am honest. I have heard that they become immortal, who reach that
abode. This I choose as my second boon.”
"Thou knowest, O Death, that fire (sacrifice which is) the aid to heaven. Describe it to
me, full of faith, how the dwellers in heaven gain nnmortality. This I choose, as my
second boon." In svarga which is a part of the manifested universe, the immortality may
be endlessness but not eternity. Whatever is manifest will sooner or later enter into that
from which it emerged. Yet as the duration in svarga-loka is incalculable, the dwellers in
it are said to be immortal. They may continue as long as the manifested world does.
(RadhaKrishnan)
Fire has been used in religious rites and symbolism for hundreds of years; with the main
image of the smoke from the fire disperses into the heavens. Fire is one of the four
classical elements: air, earth, fire and water, as well as one of the five in the Chineese
elements.
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