The question is if I think Katha Upanishad qualifies as an allegory. Personally, I do think that the story qualifies as an allegory. There are a few reasons why I think that it is an allegory and so I will explain. An allegory is basically a story that has a hidden meaning to it.
The reason I think Katha Upanishad is considered a allegory is kind of obvious. In Katha Upanishad, a boy named Nachiketa meets Yama after being sacrificed by his father. Yama is represented as death, but not death itself. In this story, death is described as someone not something. Nachiketa is given three boons by Yama, Nachiketa then asks 2 simple questions. But on his 3rd question he asks about death, Yama tries to tell him that it's not a question he should ask, but he does it anyways.
Yama becomes impressed that explaining death to him did not throw him off at all. But when Yama explains death to Nachiketa, he explains it in a way that explains the things about death but not death in general. What the story doesn't tell you that makes it an allegory is that we can overcome death. We could overcome death by understanding it. Death could also teach us many lessons, and to not take our life for granted. It also teaches us that we should not be overly attached to something.
So that is why I think Katha Upanishad qualifies as an allegory. The story tells you about many things about death but not death itself. And with that there are meanings to what death teaches you.
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