Choose, choose — thus we say. Choose something else, not this long life.

In this verse, Naciketas ironizes about Yama’s insistence. The repetition varaṃ varaṃ (choose, choose) mimics the voice of Yama urging him to take any blessing except the one he truly desires. The form varayāmahe (we say, we speak) suggests that Naciketas is quoting the god of death’s own words.

The phrase anyathā (in another way, differently) is crucial. Naciketas indicates that he is willing to accept a blessing, but anya (another), not the one offered. The specification cirajīvikāyai (for long life) makes explicit what he rejects: temporal extension of conditioned existence.

The tone of the verse mixes respect with unbreakable firmness. Naciketas is neither rude nor arrogant, but neither is he manipulable. He maintains his position with the clarity of one who has seen the truth. For him, a long life in the realm of death — however long — is still death.

This interaction establishes the dramatic arc of the Upaniṣad: Yama, the most powerful god, finds himself before a human child whom he cannot intimidate or bribe. The power of spiritual knowledge is superior even to the power of death itself.