Nachiketa's Story
By Swami Rama
Nachiketa’s story in the Kathopanishad begins when his
wealthy father, Vajashravas, is to perform a special sacrifice. The sacrifice
required Vajashravas to give all his wealth, all his possessions, and
distribute them to the great seers and Brahmins. It was a rare sacrifice
performed only by the most highly advanced aspirants. One who could give up all
transitory things would have the knowledge of Brahman, the knowledge of Reality.
The story is not unlike the New Testament meeting of Jesus
with the rich, young ruler who asks what it will take to have eternal life.
After the rich man assures Jesus that he has obeyed the commandments against
murder, stealing, adultery, and lying all his life, and has honored his mother
and father, and loved his neighbor, Jesus gives him a single instruction. He
tells the rich man he must give away all that he has to the poor, and come with
him.
The rich man cannot. Although virtuous in every respect, he
is too attached to his worldly possessions and wealth. The scriptures tell us
that the rich man went away sorrowful.
Nachiketa’s father also could not part with his wealth,
despite the assurance that the knowledge of Brahman would follow the sacrifice.
The Kathopanishad tells us he brought cows for giving away as
part of the sacrifice, but only those cows that were old, dry, blind, diseased,
and of little or no use to anybody. Vajashravas kept the good cows for himself.
Nachiketa saw the old and useless cows his father brought for
the sacrifice and knew such an unworthy gift would bring misery to his father.
Eager to help his father, Nachiketa reminded his father that as his son he was
also his property and should be included in the sacrifice for distribution.
“Father, to whom will you give me?” asked Nachiketa.
Vajashravas, haunted by the knowledge of his halfhearted
sacrifice, focused his negative emotion on his son and chose to interpret
Nachiketa’s offer as impudence.
Three times Nachiketa asked his father to whom he would be
given. After the third time, Vajashravas angrily retorted. “You I shall give to
the Ruler of Death, Yama.”
Nachiketa, with a pure heart and an abundance of faith,
cheerfully took his father at his word.
“There is nothing in death,” said Nachiketa. “All beings
flourish like grain and die again. Now I shall be the first one to discover
truth and reveal the mystery of death.”
When Nachiketa went to Yama’s abode, the Ruler of Death was
not at home. Three nights passed before Yama returned. To make amends for not
being there to welcome his guest, Yama gave Nachiketa three boons, one for each
night he had waited alone without proper hospitality.
Nachiketa’s first boon, demonstrating again the respect he
had for his father, asked Yama to soothe Vajashravas’ heart, to allay his
father’s anger, and to remove any worry Vajashravas might have because
Nachiketa was now away from home.
Yama granted the wish and said, “Oh, Nachi-keta, your father
will happily recognize you and treat you with the greatest love and kindness.
“For his second boon, Nachiketa asked Yama to show him the fire sacrifice and
all the rituals and ceremonies that went with it.
“In heaven,” said Nachiketa in his request for the second
boon, “there is neither fear nor death, neither age nor decay, neither hunger
nor thirst, neither pain nor suffering. There is perpetual bliss. Ruler of
Death, you alone know how, by performing sacrifice, mortals can attain this
blissful heaven. This is my second boon that I ask. I want to know the nature
of the sacrifice which leads a mortal to heaven.”
Yama granted it, and taught Nachiketa the fire sacrifice.
Yama then told Nachiketa to choose his third boon. After going within himself
and quieting himself, Nachiketa said to Yama:
“There is a belief that after a man departs from the world he
is gone forever. There is another viewpoint that he is born again, that even
after death man does not die in the real sense but remains on a subtle plane
with his subtle body, and only the outer physical garment is discarded; and
that is called death. There is yet another belief that one who dies, lives.
Which of these is true? What exists after death? Explain it to me. This is my
third request—the truth relating to the mystery of death.”
Yama did not want to explain the mystery of death to
Nachiketa without testing the eagerness and sincerity of his young disciple.
Yama told Nachiketa that even the gods had difficulty understanding this
mystery.
“It is very difficult for anyone to grasp,” said Yama. “Ask
any other boon and I shall grant it to you with great pleasure.”
Nachiketa was steadfast. He told Yama that even though the
gods were once puzzled by the mystery of death, and even though the subject was
difficult to understand, there was no better teacher than Yama to explain it.
“Oh King of Death,” said Nachiketa, “I shall not make any
other request. There is no boon equal to this and I must know the secret.”
Yama tried another route and tested Nachiketa with the
temptations all human beings face, the choice between God and mammon, between
passing material pleasures and eternal joy, between illusion and reality.
Yama offered Nachiketa a life span of as many years as he
might wish, with all the pleasures there are in heaven. Yama said he would
grant Nachiketa children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, fine horses
and elephants, gold, jewels, and rare gems. He said he would give Nachiketa the
kingdom of earth to rule. He did not want to grant the third boon requested by
Nachiketa.
“Take all of this wealth and power instead of the third boon
that is asked for,” said Yama to Nachiketa. “I shall fulfill all your desires,”
Yama continued, “except this, for it is the greatest secret of life. All the
maidens in the celestial regions, such as cannot be had by ordinary mortals,
shall be yours if you want them. Do not ask me that question again. I do not
wish to divulge the secret of life and death.”
Nachiketa then showed the depth of his faith and resolve to
know the purpose of life and the relationship between life and death. He was
not interested in the temptations Yama offered him. He did not hesitate in
answering Yama. He told the Ruler of Death.
“What shall I do with all these transitory and perishable
objects? Everything that is perceived by the senses is momentary, and life on
this plane is subject to change by death and decay. Even life in heaven is not
worth living without acquiring the knowledge of liberation. All your dancing
maidens and worldly attractions are merely sensual pleasures. Oh King of Death,
keep them with you. No one can acquire happiness by worldly wealth. All the
material enjoyments of this world and even heavenly life are subject to change.
After knowing the fleeting nature of this world, who will long for mere
longevity? I don’t care to live for a thousand years. What shall I do with such
a long life if I cannot acquire the highest wisdom and attain the supreme
knowledge?”
When Yama saw the clarity and determination of Nachiketa, he
gladly offered to grant the third boon.
Now the Kathopanishad begins in earnest to reveal the secret
of immortality, the meaning of death and life.
Worldly, transitory life, with all of its charms, is not the
purpose of human existence. The world is full of objects and temptations.
People want them, choose them, and organize their lives around getting them,
lifetime after lifetime.
Today a person develops a pattern of identifying with the
world, with its objects, and with the emotions that go with having those
objects or with the possibility of losing them. He begins to think that joy
will come with having glamorous possessions, a new car, a new suit, or a new
spouse. With each new acquisition there is a flash of satisfaction followed by
a prolonged sense of dissatisfaction.
A person identifies with the emotions that go with the
objects and relationships. He thinks he loves someone, that he must have her to
be happy. When he has her, so often the relationship settles into something
else that is not very loving. He may hurt the person he said he needed. Then he
says he is sorry. A month passes and he does the same hurtful thing again.
Finally, they separate. So he finds another person he thinks he needs for his
happiness, and the process begins all over again.
There are many variations of this theme. The point is that a
human being becomes attached to things and relationships, and the thoughts and
emotions attendant to the attachments. That creates suffering because none of
those things or relationships lasts. Nonetheless, human beings keep trying to
find peace in this way, lifetime after lifetime.
“Those who are dwelling in the darkness of ignorance and are
deluded by wealth and possessions are like children playing with toys,” says
Yama to Nachiketa. “Such foolish children are caught in the snares of death and
come again and again under my sway. They remain in the snares of death. They
cannot get beyond the limits of the dark realm. They travel back and forth.”
Fortunately, this condition is not permanent. Eventually a
time comes when the desire for all of those objects—what the nineteenth century
Bengali saint Ramakrishna repeatedly referred to as lust and greed—begins to
appear as empty and pointless.
Growth and expansion are the nature of the soul, so
inevitably what happens is: a person comes to recognize the pattern that behind
every pleasure is pain, behind every expectation is disappointment, and
following every fulfilled desire is yet another desire. For all the world’s
charms, the bottom line and the sum of it all adds up to an inordinate amount
of suffering, loneliness, and emptiness.
That arithmetic is instructive. The bottom line awakens the
human soul. Suffering teaches and trains a person in the necessary art of
discrimination.
The Kathopanishad outlines a pure, unequivocal choice. Yama
tells Nachiketa that there are two alternative paths before us in the world.
One is good and the other is pleasant. One, though difficult, leads to the
knowledge of the highest Truth. The other, though appearing very pleasant, is
ephemeral and when an apparently pleasurable experience passes, as it inevitably
will, there is pain. The wise choose that which is good, and the ignorant rely
on that which is pleasant.
That is the nature of life. The purpose of life is to grow,
expand, and completely realize one’s own true identity. If the path toward that
goal is not taken, then the world will bring one around toward it. Blow after
blow, one misfortune will follow another, one disappointment, then another,
until the person begins to understand. The choice between good and pleasant
becomes clear.
The theme of Kathopanishad is that the treasure of human
life, the real Self, is to be found within. Within is immortality. Within is
where Atman or Reality resides. The journey to the discovery of the real Self
is the goal or the purpose of life. One who has realized one’s own real Self
can then realize the cosmic Self who encompasses the entire universe.
The dualists believe that the individual, the universe, and
the cosmic Self are entirely separate units, having their independent
existence. According to this belief, by knowing one’s own Self one acquires
only a partial knowledge. A wide gulf separates this school of thought from
Vedanta. The most valuable and elevating contribution of Vedantic literature is
that the Self, or God, is not separate or far away from us, but dwells within
the inner chamber of our being. This is the central tenet in the philosophy of
Vedanta.
