Nachiketam the seeker KATHA UPANISHAD Yama is the lord of the underworld. It is his duty to see that people are rightly judged. He sits in judgment on the actions of all living beings. A young seeker after truth dares go to this god of death for knowing the truth about the nature of the human soul and its destiny. By persistent questioning and by a simple naivete all his own, he persuades Yama to part with the mystic knowledge about the soul and the Supreme Spirit. What is more, he elicits from Yama the full course of the pathway to the realization of the great truth. It is this pathway that later developed into the more scientific Yoga school of Patanjali. This story describes the adventure of young Nachiketa.] “To the god of death do I give you away,” said the angry father Vajasravas to young Nachiketa when he insisted upon his being gifted away during a sacrifice. Vajasravas was a very ambitious householder and he thought of performing some sacrifice that would bring him name and fame. Of the many sacrifices that were current in those days, Vishwajit (that which conquers the world) was one such sacrifice. The price that the performer of this sacrifice had to pay was very heavy. He was expected to give away all his property. Vajasravas decided upon performing this sacrifice rather than any other and gave away all his property to the Brahmins. But poor man, he had not much of it and many a lean and barren and limbless cows also formed part of his scanty offerings. His young son, who was but a stripling, observed all this and was convinced that his father’s ambition had overshot the mark. But he had great faith in himself and he believed that by offering himself up he would be rescuing his father from a calumny and from the joyless world that would otherwise be his lot. So he went to his father and placed himself at his disposal as if he too was part of his property. “Dear father, to whom, to what god would you give me in this great sacrifice that you are performing?” said the son in simple faith. His father did not heed the request. He was not in a mood to treat his son as chattel. He was preoccupied with other details of the sacrifice. But his son Nachiketa was persistent. He repeated his question. Still the father cared not. Then he repeated the question for the third time. The father was angry at the impertinence of his child and said in a huff, “Go thou, to the god of death do I give thee away. Pester me not any further.” Young Nachiketa wondered at this strange reply from his father. He knew that his father had blurted out in this manner in a fit of temper. He felt that he himself was not in the wrong, and yet his father had chosen to be angry. He was conscious that he was not below the mark compared to other boys, but he wondered as to how he would be useful to Yama, if he went to him. He consoled himself saying that like the grain does a man ripen and like the grain does he fall to the ground and then again is he reborn. So may it happen with himself if he went to Yama, thought he. True to his word and true to the angry command of his father, Nachiketa went to the lord of death. Yama was absent from his home that was at the gate of the worlds. He waited at Yama’s door for three long days without food. When Yama returned he was surprised to see a young Brahmin fasting on his doorsteps. He knew that a fasting Brahmin at his door boded no good to himself, the owner of the house. So he immediately ordered for water and other usual offerings for his guest. He invited Nachiketa to a seat near him and requested him to ask for three boons, one for each of the three days of the fast. His own father’s pacification was Nachiketa’s first consideration. So he said to the lord of death, “Grateful beyond measure am I, great god, for the boons that you have offered. Let my father feel like one whose will is done. Let him be of good cheer and let your anger be pacified. Let him welcome me as before when I return from you. Let this be the first of the boons.” Lord Yama immediately said, “This will happen. Your father will be pleased to see you returning from the very jaws of death. He will sleep in peace having overcome all anger.” While asking for the second boon Nachiketa said, “I learn that there is no fear in heaven. Nor are you, who destroy life, to be found there. Nor does old age afflict people in that happy place. Free from the pangs of hunger and thirst and free from sorrow, people enjoy life there without any let or hindrance. I am full of faith and I deserve to know that world. Therefore, O Yama, give that knowledge. This I ask of you as the second boon.” Yama was very much pleased with Nachiketa’s question. He gave him the full knowledge of a certain sacrifice. He taught him how to perform that sacrifice correctly and told him that one who performs that sacrifice would go to heaven and enjoy life there. He further told him that that particular yajna or sacrifice would from then onwards be known in the world by Nachiketa’s name. The fire used in that sacrifice would also be named after him. After imparting that knowledge to him, Yama called upon him to ask for the third and last boon. “When man dies, some say he lives after death, while others say he does not. This is yet a matter which is in dispute and which is much discussed. I would like to learn definitely from you the truth about the matter. This is the third boon I ask,”said Nachiketa naively. Yama was not a little disconcerted at this great question from the young questioner. He tried to dissuade Nachiketa from asking that difficult question. But he failed to do so. On the other hand, he whetted Nachiketa’s curiosity the more by withholding a ready reply. “Young seeker, why not choose some other boon? Even the gods have not come to know about it. Nor is it easy to understand this subject. It is too subtle a matter. Please relieve me of the burden of answering this difficult question. Why press me hard?” pleaded Yama. Nachiketa insisted, “Rightly said, lord Yama. If what you say is true, who else is there so competent as you to solve this problem? You deal in life and death and none can know the destiny of the human soul so well as you. Nor do I see any other boon as good as this.” Yama tried again to tempt him out of the question by offering other gifts, but the young man persisted. “Ask for sons and grandsons that would live the full span of hundred years. Ask for numerous cattle, elephants, horses and gold. Ask for ample land and you may even ask for life that may last as long as you desire. You may ask for any other boon that you deem equal to this. You may rule this wide world as long as you desire and I shall give you the power to enjoy all possible pleasures on earth. You are free to ask me frankly for the fulfilment of all desires that are usually difficult of fulfilment in the world of mortals. These beautiful damsels with chariots and musical instruments going about here are hardly ever seen by men. But at my behest, they will all attend on you and serve you. But do not, for god’s sake ask me anything about life after death,” said Yama. This offer was a fresh temptation in the way of Nachiketa. But he was firm in mind. He therefore brushed aside this temptation and said, “All these that you mention are but temporary and ephemeral things, living but for a short time. Do they not corrupt and enfeeble the senses? This life after all is but a brief one and therefore I shall have none of these things that you generously offer. These chariots and these dancing girls, I leave to you. Not by wealth or pleasure alone is the human soul satisfied. And after all, we would get this wealth when we have once seen you and we would live on as long as you choose and as long as you rule. I do not wish to concern myself with all these things. It is that knowledge alone which is worth asking for from you. What fool of a man would indulge in mere dance and song and wish to live long merely like an animal when once he has known the true nature of life and when once he has come in touch with you who never become old and who are immortal! Therefore, O Yamaraj, tell me about that life after death which even the gods are still in doubt. I shall not choose any boon other than this- the solution of this mystery of mysteries.” When Yama found that his disciple was staking everything on this question, he became helpless. Yet he was pleased. He saw that young Nachiketa deserved to know the highest truth. He had faith, sincerity, purity, simplicity of mind, tenacity of purpose, freedom from temptations and above all an intense desire to know the truth and realize it in his own life. Yama said, "Dear and wise child, two paths always lie open before a man, the path of Sreya or of good deeds, and the path of Preya or of pleasure. He who follows the former achieves the goal while he who follows the path of pleasure perishes. The wise always choose the right path. You have spurned the path of sensual pleasures and have chosen the path of the spirit that brings permanent good to you. Pleasures did not, could not tempt you. Ignorant fools who know not that there is the other world of immortal bliss, are caught again and again in my net. The wise, however, are few and they follow the other path. It is no doubt a subtle and difficult path. The knowledge of t is so rare. Rare also are those who inquire after it and it is only those who have realized it that can impart it to others. By intellect and logic alone this truth cannot be known. You have risen above every temptation and now you deserve to know the highest truth. “The wise man attains this ancient knowledge of the immanence of the spirit that pervades all things by meditation on the inner self and he goes beyond joy and sorrow. The truth lies beyond the dualities of life like pleasures and pain, success and failure, beyond all relativity. The Vedas or the sacred books and the various penances aim at it. Great sadhakas try to attain it by the discipline of brahmacharya (celibate disciplines). The mystic symbol of that truth of truths is AUM. “That Supreme Spirit is eternal; is not born and does not die. It is the pure and the immaculate Being. It is unborn and immortal and dies not at the passing away of the body. One who is desireless and one who has gone beyond sorrow can have a vision of this truth through his purified senses and mind. “This Spirit cannot be known by teaching nor can it be grasped by the intellect, nor can it be acquired by vast learning. It is by the grace of the Spirit alone that one can be blessed with its knowledge though all these do help the process. “One who has not abstained from bad deeds and one whose mind is not calm and composed cannot hope to know the truth. “The human body is like a chariot and the soul is the charioteer. The senses are the horses and the sense-objects are the roads along which they travel. The wise people who know the truth say that the soul is the enjoyer through the senses and the mind. An unrestrained mind without understanding cannot control the senses which would then be like uncontrolled horses. A restrained mind with good understanding can control the senses like a good charioteer who keeps his horses well in hand. And unrestrained mind cannot concentrate and cannot keep itself pure; cannot attain the goal. One with an unrestrained mind is caught up in the cycle of birth and death. One with a controlled mind can attain a place whence there is not return. “Few are they who look into themselves and try to find and realise the Atman or the Great Spirit. Since at the time of creation, the spirit went forth outward, the senses and the mind have a tendency to be engaged with the external world. He who looks into himself sees that the soul is the witness of both the dream state and the waking state. It is only through the power of the spirit that the senses can function. One who realises this goes beyond all sorrows. “ It is the great Atman from whom the sun and the moon and all things take their birth. In that Atman do all find their final rest and fulfilment. This Atman is everywhere, here as well as in the other worlds. He is one and indivisible. He who sees more than the One here goes from death to death. One who realises unitary life integrally is saved and he becomes immortal. “That alone is the real Atman who is awake in those who are sleeping, shaping things as he likes in dreams. That power resides in the pure consciousness which is Brahman (Supreme Spirit) and in that Brahman are all the worlds centred. Like fire that assumes innumerable shapes and forms according to the objects that it burns, the one Atman that is at the centre in the heart of all things appears differently in different objects. The sun who is like the eye of the universe is not affected by the impurities of the universe. So too the inner Atman stands unaffected by the sins and the sorrows of the world. “He, the great Atman, the arch-controller, is the inner essence of all beings. It is he who shapes the One into many. Those wise and brave men who see him and realize him in their souls – it is their joy that is eternal and not that of others. “He is the One eternal among the fleeting many, He is the life in the living. He is the one who fulfils the desires of many and all. Those wise men who see Him and realise Him in their inner selves- it is their joy that is eternal and not that of others. “As we observe things, we see first the objects of our senses. But our senses are subtler than the objects as it is our senses that see those objects. But the primary elements are subtler than our senses since our senses are made of those primary elements. The mind is superior and subtler than the elements as it is the mind that perceives the elements. The power of understanding is superior to the mind as it has the power of discrimination. The soul is greater and subtler than the power of understanding as the soul is but a part and a fraction of that Great Soul. But the Unmanifest is greater and vaster than even the Great Soul that manifests. But Purusha, the Supreme Person, is far greater than the manifest and the unmanifest, as it is the synthesis of both and contains both integrally. There is nothing subtler, greater and superior to that Purusha, which is the final word in existence and being. That is the final goal of all. “He pervades all beings secretly and is not manifestly seen. He can be perceived or felt only by subtler seers through their one-pointed power of understanding. “There is a way by which we can approach that Purusha. The wise who want to have a vision of that great Reality should merge the powers of speech, etc. in the mind, that mind in the power of understanding, that power again into the great Soul, and that again into the infinitely peaceful Spirit. “When the five senses and their power of perception along with the mind are stilled and when the power of understanding is held in suspense- that is the supreme condition of human consciousness. That is called the Yoga condition or perfect concentration and communion. That is the steady stilling of the senses and holding them there. Then the man is free from objective and fleeting ideas. Such a pure condition of consciousness cannot be realized by the powers of speech or by the power of sight or by the mind. It can be realized only through faith and by intuition, purified by long practice and strict discipline. When all desires have vanished from the mind and all doubts have been cleared, a man becomes immortal. “That great immanence is speechless and touchless and formless and deathless. It can neither be tasted nor smelt. It has neither beginning nor end. It is smaller than the smallest and greater than the greatest. It is the great truth, the greatest Reality and one who knows this goes beyond death. “Arise, awake, approach the worthy ones and learn to realise the truth. Narrow is the path and difficult to tread, sharp like the edge of a razor. But success is sure to those who dare and do.” This is the highest knowledge and the Yogic pathway to it, as taught by Yama to Nachiketa, the ideal seeker after truth.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Jul 2013 10:14:55 +0000
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