Kath Upanishad – Session Summary – 2
Three boons asked by Nachiketa
Daan-Datta (Donated) Nachiketa asked for these three boons from the God of Death, Yamraj:
1. When you send me back, my father should treat me lovingly, without any anger or regret.
2. Provide the 'Agnividya' (knowledge of means) to attain that 'heaven' which is free from birth, death, old age, disease, hunger and desire.
3. Remove all doubts related to the soul and preach the ultimate truth thoroughly.
Yamraj's replies regarding all three boons
In reply to the first boon, 'Antak' said –
"Your father will love you throughout his life and will sleep comfortably during the remaining nights of his life."
With this boon, Nachiketa took away his father's lifelong worries! This is the sign of an ideal son that if the parents are unhappy with their children, then the ideal children repent so strongly that as a penance, they free their parents from lifelong worries.
In reply to the second boon, Yamraj said –
"Listen to the proper ritual of 'Agni Vidya' which ascends to heaven."
Saying this, Yamdev described the entire 'Agni Vidya'. But, its real form is not mentioned in detail in any available scripture. This means that its description must be there in some other lost branch of Yajurveda or in other lost chapters of this Kath branch; which is not available here in the Mrityulok (Earth) today.
After this, Yamraj said –
“By performing this with Gayatri Mantra (Vedatrayi) thrice with exact selfless ritual, the worshipper will get divine fruits; my servants will never come to take them at the time of death.”
Gayatri Mantra is the extract of Vedatrayi (Rig, Yajur, Saam). This is such a unique mantra that if properly included in rituals, then the results of that ritual and the period of enjoying the results can be increased manifold. But, in Kaliyug, such brilliant scholars are not available. Therefore, without insisting on rituals, man should make his life meaningful by performing only selfless worship (devotion).
After this, Yamdev explained about Sakaam Swarga (ascension to heaven) and said –
“By performing the exact ritual of the form-number-selection method of this Vidya in Sakaam Yagyas (selfish rituals), the desired heavenly wish will be fulfilled.”
There are many provisions of heavenly Agni Vidya for Sakaam Karmas, there are innumerable rules of prohibition; which were hardly fulfilled in Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dwapar Yuga! Then, of course, all this is impossible in the present age of Kali. And then –
स्वर्गउ स्वल्प अंत दुखदाई𑅁
(Ramcharitmanas)
Meaning, “Heaven is also under the influence of Maya and is perishable, so the pleasures there are also short-lived and, when the Punya are exhausted, one has to wander in various painful births for millions of years.”
Even before giving the third boon, Mrityudev gave the fourth boon to Nachiketa as a reward and said –
“This ‘Agni Vidya’ that enables one to go to heaven will be known as ‘Naachiket Vidya’ from today onwards.”
Yamraj, Indra, Surya, Varuna, Agni, Vayu and other designated gods have special powers that they can give special boons to someone if they are pleased with them.
When Yamraj taught Agni Vidya to Nachiketa, he saw that Nachiketa had learnt this Agni Vidya with unprecedented faith, humility and concentration. So, he gave this boon to Nachiketa under his special divine powers that “From now on this knowledge of ascension will be known as ‘Naachiket Vidya’.”
The beginning of the important 'Yama-Nachiketa dialogue' which gives an understanding of the ultimate essence.
Although Yamraj very lovingly donated this fourth boon to Nachiketa; Nachiketa's curiosity regarding the essence of the soul was still not resolved! Therefore, child Nachiketa again started asking Yamdev about the soul and ultimate essence.
When the death god Antak' found Nachiketa again expressing his curiosity about the ultimate truth, then he made various efforts to avoid this third boon, such as,
- Children do not like complexities. So, first of all Yamraj expressed the divinity and complexity of the soul and said –
“Dear Nachiketa! This soul-element is very mysterious, complex and divine. This soul is a matter of research even for the gods who have ascended to heaven. So, do not get too entangled in this matter. It is better for you to ask for some other boon!”
But Nachiketa kept looking at Yamraj in amazement. As if he was telling Yamdev that without telling him the element, how can he decide whether it seems complex to me (Nachiketa) or not! - When Nachiketa did not get perturbed by the complexity of the Soul element, then Yamraj gave him child-like temptations and said –
“O Nachiketa! Ask for sons and grandsons who live for hundreds of years. I will give you as much livestock and gold as they can last. Ask for a long-lasting empire over a large expanse of land, where your subjects will be favorable to you. I know the places where many mysterious gems of the earth can be found. I will bring them all to you. I will provide you with beautiful women, like Apsaras, for your care, just like the beautiful women who are in my service. You can live as long as you want, enjoying this luxurious life. My messengers will not disturb you.”
Hearing such a tempting boon, any other child would have agreed and followed the principle of “यावत् जीवेत सुखं जीवेत्” (gratify your desires as long as you are alive) and quietly went home. However, Nachiketa was the son of a great god-realized saint like Uddalak. Hence, he did not get distracted by any of these temptations and kept asking questions about the ultimate truth with his steady conscience. - Seeing this, Yamraj used his final trick and said – “O child! You have been given to me as a gift. So support my point and ask for any of these but do not pressurise me by asking the question of knowing the ultimate truth again and again! You return the third boon to me!”
Having said this, Yamraj ‘Antak’ became silent and started waiting with a smile for Nachiketa’s decisive reply.
In fact, by testing Nachiketa’s curiosity, Yamraj has revealed the glory of the ultimate truth that how strong detachment and strong faith a seeker who has set out to attain God should have.
Nachiketa’s steadfastness in his boon with faith and knowledge
When Yamraj spoke of returning the third boon, Nachiketa expressed his opinion very politely and said –
“O Lord, the controller of death! You are the god of death itself. Therefore, who will be able to explain the continuity of the soul after death better than you? It is very rare and difficult to find an authentic speaker like you in my mortal world, Mrityulok!”
“The ‘soul-element’ which celestial gods could not know even after being seated in heaven, will definitely be more difficult to attain than even heaven. Therefore, now I do not want to attain ‘heaven’ at all.”
Saying this, Nachiketa gave four main reasons for rejecting all the temptations offered by Yamraj. It is clear from these four reasons that the seed of his Paramhansata had started sprouting within Nachiketa!
These four reasons are very suitable for empowering every human being on the path of attaining God.
Nachiketa said –
1. “O Antakadev! All these pleasures described by you will end tomorrow itself. These pleasures weaken the powerful Ojas (spiritual brilliance of mind and body) of the inner being of a person. And then, no matter how long the life is, it is short due to being mortal. Therefore, this vehicle of yours and dancers and songs should remain yours. (तवैव वाहास्तव नृत्यगीते।)”
Nachiketa meant by saying that no pleasure can be enjoyed without depleting the energy of the inner being. Therefore, all these pleasures will ultimately destroy the spiritual abilities we have earned over many births in a very short time. So what of benefit are they to us?
2. “O Lord of Death! Even abundant wealth cannot satisfy a man, nor can it replace his Tarpan-rite. And when I have seen you, then I will definitely get wealth. I will anyway remain alive due to your grace. Therefore, the boon of self-knowledge is the only boon I can ask for.”
Wealth cannot replace Tarpan-rite. This means that the luxuries obtained from wealth cannot bring salvation to a man.
Because, greed is not ended by wealth, but it only multiplies it. Ultimately, at the time of death, a man leaves his body with innumerable unsatisfied desires. If a man dies with unsatisfied desires, then not only can he not get a human body, but he cannot even get the birth of a gross animal or bird. Such a creature full of intense desires keeps wandering in the ghost world for hundreds or thousands of human years. And during those years he also remains in pain due to the mental fire of the anguish of his unfulfilled desires.
So, the splendor of wealth which seemed very pleasant to the pleasure-seeker in his life becomes the cause of attaining the dreadful ghostly form after death.
3. “O Yamraj! This human body is decrepit and mortal – who will be that person knowing this fact who, even after getting the company of great souls like you who are eternally young and immortal, will want to live for a long time and enjoy the pleasure of the beauty and love of a woman?”
In fact, Yamraj being a ‘demi-god’ remains young as long as he rules this post of ‘Yamdev’!
Here Nachiketa has also called him ‘immortal’. This does not mean that Yamraj is immortal. Because, later in the third section (Valli) of this chapter, Yamraj himself will say that during the time of Pralaya, even Yamraj who is the embodiment of death gets destroyed.
Then, why was Yamraj called ‘Amritroop’? That is because the Mahatma who reminds us of our 'Amrit' Anshi (अमृतस्य पुत्राः) God and revels to us the knowledge of His attainment, is that Mahatma who is 'Amritroop' i.e. in the form of God!
4. “O controller of death! Please tell me the real decision about the great and amazing knowledge of the soul related to the afterlife, about which people make amendments whether the soul exists after death or not. This donated Nachiketa does not ask for anything other than this boon which is full of profound knowledge.”
Since Yamraj is the god of death, who else other than him can clearly say about the existence of the soul after death! Therefore, if Yamraj says that the souls who are being dragged to Yampuri are the same souls who have died in their bodies, then Charvak’s words will be proven wrong. And, by refuting materialism, spiritualism will be proven automatically. Therefore, this question asked by Nachiketa is very important for the travellers of the spiritual path.
In this dialogue, we see that Nachiketa is not asking the question to Yamraj out of fear. Rather, he is asking questions with a humble attitude and curiosity as if he is asking questions to his father or to some revered person or to some knowledgeable Mahatma or to demi-god.
We also have to learn from the learned boy Nachiketa that we should remove all the fears created towards Yamraj, the lord of death, by having a respectful attitude, a fatherly sentiment, a guru-like sentiment or a demi-god-like sentiment towards him. He is not a demon or a devil who comes to kill us. Rather, he comes to complete our tired journey smoothly according to the rules. So that, we as souls can take our journey of attaining God forward.
Having such a humble attitude towards the controller of death 'Antakdev' is the real respect for Yamraj as 'God's representative'.
Summary: JKYog India Online Class- Upanishad Sarita [English]- 27th August 2024
