Death in Hinduism
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Nachiketas’ Tryst With Death
A: Mind control
John Hierl, February 23, 2022: The Times of India
Moksha consists in realising Brahmn as the transcendent essence of everything. Before seeking contemplation on the Supreme Truth, the control of mind is of utmost importance. We may understand what is at stake by taking to heart Yama’s teaching to Nachiketa in the Katha Upanishad 3. 5: ‘When a man lacks understanding and his mind is never controlled, his senses do not obey him – just as wild horses do not obey a charioteer. But when a man has understanding and his mind is ever controlled, his senses obey him. ’ But how are we to face and overcome the problem of a never-ceasing thought stream within the mind in order to realise Truth? Advaita Vedanta text ‘Drig-Drishya-Viveka’, shloka 23, provides us with a hands-on practice: We should meditate and become aware of the Universal Consciousness behind every thought.
‘Thoughts arising in the mind such as desires are the seen. As their witness one should meditate on Consciousness. This is the meditation with duality associated with the seen. ’
The verse provides guidance on how to calm the mind within the initial sadhana stages: We must seek and become identified with the drig, seer, of drishya, all that is seen. The seer is not our ego expressing itself in ‘I’-thoughts but the Atman as our True Self. Non-dual and without any attributes, it can only be found by going within.
The seen is the world of names and objects. It is manifest within us as our thoughts, emotions and sense perceptions. As maya, it is the cause of our samsara. Being of relative appearance, we should never let ourselves become entangled and bound by it. Therefore, the shloka urges the seeker to become the observer of the dreamlike and illusory quality of maya.
Allow thoughts to arise in your mind, but without any mental involvement let them pass. Observe them solely as an event taking place in the mind and it will automatically slow down. You will learn that each thought has a beginning and an end – it is only composed of finite subtle matter. As a consequence, a stillness will arise from within, which is of the Atman. The next step is to expand the moments of quietude and inner contemplation. Keeping your distance to thoughts as they come and go, you will reach a state in which the mind is non-existent. The experience will be of universal timelessness. After all, time is a mental construct experienced as the space between two thoughts. Slowly, you will begin to experience the Atman. With your intuition try to perceive the Eternal Witness to all. Become identified with it.
The benefit of practising this meditation is viveka. In this sadhana, one constantly differentiates between the seen as maya and Truth-Consciousness as its subject and originator. Its effects are purification and control of mind. Even in our daily activities we can willingly take on the position of sakshi, silent witness, at any moment.
Having become adept in viveka, one should eventually let go of duality and aim to transcend the mind altogether. Ultimately, it is the Infinite Self that leads to the experience of Brahmn as the Universal Principle expounded in the Upanishads. God is the purpose of life and it is the experience of this Truth that frees the mind.
B
Pranav Khullar, August 10, 2022: The Times of India
The dialogue between Nachiketas and Yama in the ‘Katha Upanishad’ takes one directly into an awareness of the mystery of life and death, and the compelling need to search for the inner Self while we are alive in this body. The reality of death awaits us all and we have to prioritise our choices quickly. The Upanishad states that our failure to realise our essential nature now may result in a long cycle of rebirths. The dialogue is amongst the earliest expositions of the theory of transmigration and rebirth.
The reflections of the Upanishad are woven into the story of a ten-year-old boy, Nachiketas, who is wished away to Yama, god of death, in a fit of rage by his father Gautam, while in the middle of a sacrificial ceremony.
Nachiketas gets determined to go meet death itself. He waits for Yama for three days and three nights at his abode. On his return, Yama apologises for having kept him waiting and decides to grant him three boons.
Nachiketas thinks of his father, and asks Yama to relieve his father of his emotional distress at having had to lose his son in his fit of anger. Nachiketas then asks Yama to impart him knowledge of the lokas, heavenly worlds, where life is free from all the sorrows of the Earth. Yama is happy to grant him both these boons. Nachiketas then startles Yama with his third boon, asking him the secret of death, is there life after death? Is there an eternal Spirit behind the body? Yama is taken aback at these questions and tells Nachiketas not to ask for this boon, as gods themselves have not grasped this secret fully. Yama tries hard to distract the young boy by offering him the boon of heavenly and material powers and temptations. But Nachiketas is adamant.
Yama finally relents and maps the path to understand this secret, stating how each human has to first choose between the path of Preyas, which is pleasurable, and the path of Shreyas, the path of reflection, which is constantly challenging us. And we all are the outcome of our choices. The Upanishad exhorts us to follow the Shreyas path, even though it is ‘like a sharp edge of a razor, difficult to pass over’.
Yama tells Nachiketas how our karma, deeds and our knowledge, experience, get imprinted in our Consciousness, the witness of all our actions and thoughts, and how both these values will decide which womb or body we will take, to continue on the unfinished journey towards the Self.
The Katha Upanishad asks us to reflect whether we are using this present body for this uplifting purpose it was meant for, or are we using this body-machine to entertain ourselves with the world of senses and the mind.
Freedom from suffering, from the cycle of birth and death is possible, in this birth now, if we are willing. If we choose to postpone the decision, we will remain entangled in the workings of karma. ‘Uttishta, Jagrata’ – Arise, Awake – is the clarion call of the Katha, to choose wisely and come home to the Self in this rare human birth itself.
