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      The Story of Nachiketas: Conquest of ?kaama?
through 
     
---------------------------------------------------- 
            redirecting Desire -- ?gnyAna yOga?
            ----------------------------------

There is a famous story in the Katopanishad where a
young lad, Nachiketas engages the god of Death, Yama,
in a rather grim but profound dialogue that takes
place under rather unusual circumstances. It is
recounted below very briefly. The story is a vivid and
dramatic illustration of how Vedantic conquest of
human Desire through ?gnyAna-mArga? may be achieved
i.e. it shows us how human Will, when fortified and
enlightened by ?gnyAna?, can easily "redirect" or
deflect our desires away from what is dross to what is
sublime.

                   ************** 

Nachiketa?s father was performing a ?yagnya?, a ritual
sacrifice. In keeping with the ritual-tradition of
those Vedic times, the father was gifting away some
cattle to indigent Brahmins (?daana?). Unfortunately,
as young Nachiketas was quick to observe, the cows
being given away were all from his father?s old stable
?- old, lean, unwanted and quite useless. So
Nachiketas, with the moral naiveté and directness
typical of one his age, wanted to ask the father, ?Of
what worth is it performing ritual, my father, when
sacrificial offerings are as worthless as these old
cows of ours?? But out of filial respect, Nachiketas
preferred to couch his question in words that were
suitably deferential and yet subtle enough to merely
prick, not shame, the father?s conscience. So the boy
asked softly, ?Father, after you have given away all
these old cows, to whom might you choose to offer me
as sacrificial offering??

His son?s pointed query stung the father to the quick.
Not only was his guilt and shame aroused but his anger
boiled over too. Instantly he flashed back, rather
thoughtlessly, at poor Nachiketas, ?To Yama, the God
of Death, shall I offer you as sacrifice-offering!?

Those harsh and hasty words were spoken at a solemn
ritual even as it was under way, and when so spoken
they immediately assumed a ring of fatal reality. Poor
Nachiketas found himself journeying forthwith to the
Kingdom of Yama, the God of Death.

           ****************

The story further is best told in the words of the
Katopanishad itself (translation of original Sanskrit
text):

(QUOTE):
?Nachiketa went to Yama?s abode, but the king
Of Death was not there. He waited three days and long
nights.
When Yama returned, he heard an ethereal voice say:

?When a spiritual guest enters the house
Like a bright flame, he must be received well
With water to wash his feet. For from wise
Are those who are not hospitable
To such a guest. They will lose all their hopes,
The religious merit they have acquired and
Their sons and cattle too.?

Yama hence hastened to appease Nachiketas and spoke:

?O spiritual guest, I grant you three boons
To atone for the three inhospitable nights
You have spent in my abode!
Ask for three boons, one for each night?.

(UNQUOTE)
             ***************

We must pause a while and dwell on the story at this
interesting point.

Yama wanted to sincerely atone for his guilt and
misdemeanor at having made the young lad wait outside
the House of Death for 3 long, inhospitable nights.
And hence Nachiketa was offered 3 valuable boons that
were simply his for the asking! ?What luck!? the young
Nachiketas must have thought to himself.

As first boon from Yama, Nachiketas asked that his
father?s anger towards him be assuaged and that he
would regain his place in his affections. Yama said
?Granted! Ask for the second boon.?

As second boon, Nachiketas asked Yama to impart to him
the rightful way to conduct the holiest of holy
?yagnya?, i.e. Vedic fire-sacrifices, and which paves
the way for wisdom and well-being in life on earth.
Yama was so impressed by this wish of the lad. It
spoke volumes about the lad?s spiritual ardor and
effulgence (?tEjas?) and the Lord of Death was pleased
to reward him with the second boon. After duly
initiating Nachiketa into the esotericism and practice
of the said ?yagnya?, Yama made it known that the
fire-ritual so taught to Nachiketa would henceforth
become eponymous i.e. it would be known to all the
world as ?nachiketa-yagnya?.

In thus granting the first and second boons to
Nachiketa, Yama virtually handed the young hero back
into the living arms of the human world, restoring to
Nachiketa all the happiness of past circumstances. 

Next, it was the moment for Nachiketa to ask Yama the
third and last boon.

               **************

Up to this point in the Katopanishad, the story is
told with a dry, matter-of-fact terseness that
conceals, however, several important moral lessons for
Man ("dharma-sookshma"). 

The first is this: It is always perilous to go about
conducting sacred rituals without requisite ?shraddha?
--- earnestness, diligence and conscientiousness. An
attitude of laxity, inadvertence or a cavalier
approach to performance of Vedic ?samskArAs? or
?karma? can have extremely unfortunate consequences,
as Nachiketa?s father, in the grip of momentary anger,
found out at very great personal cost.

Secondly, Charity ("daana") must always involve an
element of real, not token, sacrifice. Gifting away
old clothes and unwanted stuff that, over time, have
probably piled up in the basement or attic in your
house is really more home spring-cleaning, not genuine
charity. It is no different than Nachiketa?s father
giving away old, wobbly cattle from his stable as holy
sacrificial offering (?daana?), even while the poor
animals were on their last legs. 

Thirdly, never should one be inhospitable, callous or
unkind to a house-guest. (?atithi dEvO bhava? says the
TaittirIya Upanishad). Do not keep people waiting
endlessly, unattended or feeling cold and unwelcome at
your doorsteps (as Nachiketas must have surely felt
waiting outside Yama?s doorsteps for 3 long nights).
The consequences of showing such blatant discourtesy
are something which let alone human beings, no less a
person (or god) than Yama himself fears terribly.
Death himself abhors lack of graciousness in a host
towards a house guest. 

"Limbo" --- that state of suspended or indeterminate
existence in which a human soul finds itself while
waiting at the doorsteps of Death, prior to it being
decided whether it is to Heaven that the soul shall
ascend or to Hell that it must be consigned --- that
state called "limbo" is a purely Christian belief.
There is no place for it in the Vedic system of faith
where even the God of Death is obliged to deal
business with utmost courtesy and efficiency. 

Besides all the above, the story of Nachiketas
contains one other great moral lesson --- on the
subject of ?kaama?. But to know that one we must
continue with the rest of the story.

                *************

(QUOTE):
Yama said, ?Ask now, Nachiketa, for the third boon

Nachiketa said: When a person dies, there arises this
doubt:
?He still exists?, say some, ?he does not?, say
others.
I want you to teach me the truth.
This is my third boon.

At this Yama replied with a sigh:
?This doubt haunted even the gods of old;
For the secret of death is hard to know.
Nachiketa, ask for some other boon
And please release me from my promise made to you.?

But Nachiketa insisted:
?This doubt haunted even the gods of old;
For it is indeed hard to know, O Death, as you say.
But I can have no greater teacher than you to teach me
this,
And there is no boon too equal to this?.

Then Yama spoke:
?Ask for sons and grandsons who live
A hundred years. Ask for herds of cattle,
Elephants and horses, gold and vast land,
And ask to live as long as you desire.
Or, if you think of anything more
Desirable, ask for that too with wealth and 
Long life as well! Nachiketa, be the ruler
Of a great kingdom, and I will give you
The utmost capacity to enjoy
The Pleasures of life. Ask for beautiful
Women of loveliness rarely seen on earth,
Riding in chariots, skilled in music and dance
To attend to you. But Nachiketa, please,
Don?t ever ask me about the one thing that is
Forbidden to Men and that is the Secret of Death?.

The young Nachiketa, undaunted and unconvinced, spoke
again unto Yama, the Lord of Death:

?These pleasures last but until tomorrow,
And they wear out the vital powers of life too;
How fleeting is all life on earth! Therefore
Keep your horses and chariots, dancing women and
Music for yourself. Never can mortals
Be made happy with these. How can we be
Desirous of wealth when we see your face,
And know we cannot live while you 
O Death, are here?

?This is the boon I choose and ask you for:
Dispel this doubt of mine, O King of Death.
Does a person live after death, or does he not?
Nachiketa asks for no other boon
Than the secret of this great mystery.?

(UNQUOTE)
             ****************
    
Anyone who has seriously studied the above passage in
the Katopanishad will relish this classic dialogue
between Yama and Nachiketa as one of the most
profoundly moving  masterpieces of Vedantic thought.
Seated upon the very doorsteps of the Abode of Death,
a little boy asks Yama to reveal to him the ultimate
knowledge that Man aspires for: the Secret of Life
after Death, the Way to everlasting liberation of the
soul after it has shed its mortal coils. 

Yama is unwilling to offer that Knowledge so easily to
a mere boy, fearing that he is unripe and unready for
it and that it may simply overwhelm and overawe a
spirit as young as Nachiketa's. So Yama prevaricates
by offering Nachiketas the greatest of life's sop as
an alternative --- "kaama". He offers Nachiketas the
rich temptations and sensuous pleasures of the world
that any youthful heart, inflamed by passions of
?kaama?, would naturally yearn. Death taunts and
teases Nachiketas, ?Forget this desire for knowledge
about life after death. Re-direct it instead to the
enjoyment of the pleasures of life which I shall grant
you in more than full measure!?

The alternatives posed by Death are alluring no doubt.
But at a deeper level, if you contemplate deeply upon
them, they are frighteningly mind-boggling, aren't
they? 

While reading and re-reading this passage in the
Upanishad several times in my life, I have imagined
myself to be Nachiketa and often wondered what exactly
I would myself do in the situation. If in my last
moments on earth, Death Himself were to appear before
me and tell me, ?Choose now between the two: ?gnyAna?
or ?kaama?. I promise you another fresh and long lease
of life. No death for you now. You can go back now to
the world and lead a life full of enjoyment and
pleasure, where all your deepest desires of the heart
shall come true. However, if you want instead, you can
give up all the pleasures of ?kaama? that is on offer
now, and become my student and I shall teach you all
about true ?gnyAna?, the secret Knowledge of Life and
Death. You can have one but not the other. Choose. You
have one minute to make up your mind. And the clock
ticks.... Now!? 

?What would I do in the situation??, I ask myself,
again and yet again. And after all these years of
studying the Katopanishad and trying to understand it,
I must honestly admit, I have never been able to get
anywhere even remotely close to making up my mind.

                 ****************

Not so, however, is the case with young Nachiketas of
the Katopanishad. 

The Upanishad tells us that the lad weighed the pros
and cons of Yama?s choice, and firmly and quickly made
up his mind through an act of deliberate Will: ?How
can I live and seek Pleasure and Desire while you, O
Death, are here?? Between the strong pulls of ?kaama?
and the soft calls of ?gnyAna? stood the great and
looming dilemma of Nachiketa, threatening his very
soul, as it stood teetering on the very edge of a
moral precipice, with claims and counter-claims on
behalf of life and on behalf of death. By what must
have been a superhuman effort of Will-power,
Nachiketas simply "re-directed" his youthful desire
--- away from "kaama" towards "gnyAna"... away from
fleeting Pleasure towards everlasting Truth.

                 ****************

In the end ?GnyAna? won. ?Kaama? lost... It is the end
that has made the legend of Nachiketa one of the
priceless gems of Upanishadic parables held to be a
treasure-house of Truth by generations of
truth-seekers ("gnyAnis") in the ancient land of
India. In the cry of the TiruppavAi, in the 29th
Stanza, in that unforgettable expression: ?maRRai nam
kaamangaL maaRRu?, a generation indeed of young
?aaypAdi? maidens --- perhaps as young as Nachiketas
of the Katopanishad --- the young girls prayed to the
Almighty that in the battle between "gnyAna? and
?kaama?, between Truth and Desire, they too should
emerge as victorious as the Upanishadic hero.

                     (to be continued)

Regards,
dAsan,

Sudarshan    
     






                
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