Nachiketas

courtesy: srivaishnavism e-magazine & THE HINDU
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Ivargal Tiruvakku
Story with many lessons
The story of Nachiketas is one that is full of moral lessons for
everyone, said Adur Asuri Madhavachari. Vajasravas, father of
Nachiketas, performs a yaga, and donates cows. But the cows he gifts
away are sickly ones.
Nachiketas, aware of the sin of gifting sickly cows, wonders how this
sin can be atoned for. He asks Vajasravas to whom he would donate his
son. Vajasravas, angered by the question, says that he will gift
Nachiketas to the God of death - Yama. Immediately, Nachiketas goes to
Yama loka. Yama is away, and Nachiketas is made to wait outside for
three days. When Yama returns, he is upset that the child has been
without food and water for three days. So he offers him food and
water, and apologises for not being there to welcome him.
To compensate for having kept the child waiting for three days, Yama
says he will grant him three boons. The child's first request is that
his father should not shun him. His second request is that Yama should
teach him what yaga to perform to reach Heaven. But the third request
is the surprise one, considering Nachiketas' age.
Nachiketas asks Yama what happens to the atma, when a person dies.
Yama tells him that this is a question that isn't easy to answer.
Instead, he suggests that Nachiketas ask for something else, like
wealth or long life. But Nachiketas answers that all of these things
will vanish one day. The atma, which is indestructible, is what he
wants to learn about. Because of the child's persistence, Yama tells
him about the atma.
The story of Nachiketas is rendered in the Kathopanishad, and it has
many lessons for us. First, it becomes obvious that one should not
gift something that is useless or that one does not want, as
Vajasravas did. Second, every guest must be honoured.
When a scholar comes home it is as if an embodiment of the Vaisvanara
agni is visiting. That is why water is offered to a guest, to wash his
feet, in order to cool down the heat of the fire. Third and the most
important of all is the wisdom of Nachiketas, who seeks atma gnana,
instead of worldly possessions. We must discard attachment to worldly
pleasures and seek liberation.

knr
--
If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.
Happy moments, praise God.
Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God.
Painful moments, trust God.

  Every moment, thank God