Kaṭha Upaniṣad 12

12

tad evaṃ kratvasampattinimittaṃ pitur aniṣṭaṃ phalaṃ mayā putreṇa satā nivāraṇīyam ātmapradānenāpi kratusampattiṃ kṛtvā ity evaṃ matvā pitaram upagamya sa hovāca pitaram -- he tata tāta kasmā ṛtvigviśeṣāya dakṣiṇārthaṃ māṃ dāsyasīti prayacchasīty etat / evam uktena pitropekṣyamāṇo 'pi dvitīyaṃ tṛtiyam apy uvāca kasmai māṃ dāsyasi kasmai māṃ dāsyasīti / nāyaṃ kumārasvabhāva iti kruddhaḥ san pitā taṃ ha putraṃ kilovāca mṛtyave vaivasvatāya tvā tvāṃ dadāmīti ///1,1.4 //

Shankara’s Commentary:
Com.—Thinking that, as being the duty of a good son, he should ward off the undesirable consequences, which might befall his father on account of the imperfection in the sacrifice, by even giving himself away and thus perfect the sacrifice, he approached his father and said to him, ‘father, to whom, i.e., to which of the Ritviks will you give me as Dakshina, i.e., reward? though unheeded by his father thus addressed, he repeated the question a second time and a third time ‘to whom will you give me,’ ‘to whom will you give me?’ The father incensed at the thought that that was not like a boy said to the son ‘to Death do I give thee.’