The Katha Upanishad is given to us by the Lord of Death in the context of the aspiration of Nachiketas who sought for eternal life. It is death that leads to life, as it were. Die to live , is the burden of one of the songs of His Holiness Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj. Unless you die to the self, you cannot live the life eternal. Unless you be reborn and be as children, you cannot enter the gates of heaven, said the Christ.
All great men think alike.
The Upanishad, which is given by Yama, the Lord of Death, is an attempt at the solution of a central mystery which is before us on one side as life in this world and on the other side as life hereafter. We make a distinction between the here and the hereafter. We are accustomed to differentiate between life and death. For us they are two different things altogether, without similarity of character. That is why we love life and dread death.