12." NACIKETAS IS PREPARING HIMSELF TO ASK HIS SECOND BOON"

-

Chapter-1

Section-1.

Mantram-12.



1. In order to ask the second boon promised here, Naciketas is glorifying theb life in the higher plane of Consciousness, called the Heavens.


2. In establishing the greatness of Heaven, Naciketas adopts the method of comparing it with the sorrows of the world.


3. Heaven is comparatively without fears, since life in that plane of Conscious-existence is longer, compared to the fleeting span of existence in this mortal plane.


4. Hence Naciketas declares to Lord  of Death, "You are not there."


5. This is not an absolute truth; even for those who live in the Heavens there is mortality: their career ends when they exhaust the merits they had gained while they were living in the mortal plane during their previous embodiments.


6. Man has five stages to live through in life : birth, childhood, youth, old age, and death.


7. But the Devas have only the first three stages.


8. And hence Naciketas says: "Nor, do they fear old age in there,"


9. Not only, have they none of the pains of old age or death but also, they have neither the agonies of hunger and thirst under which the ordinary mortals suffer through their span of existence here.


10. In olden days Death was not considered so ferocious and threatening  a Lord of Bereavement, as in the later period.


11. In earlier portions of the Vedas, Lord Death is considered as a guide who takes men to the doors of Heaven! By the time of the Katha ( Kathopanisad), this bright and joyous faith has passed away.     






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Esoteric Significance of the Kathopanishad : 2-3

-
Image
30/10/2018 The Esoteric Significance of the Kathopanishad : 2-3 Chapter 2: Nachiketas’ First Two Boons : 3. In a reverse process, we can dissolve everything into space. Earth can become water, water can become fire, fire can become air, and air can become space. So space, which is apparent emptiness before us, is capable of containing within itself the entire physical cosmos. Therefore, space is not non-material. It is nothing but material substance. For one reason, it is an object of perception. We can see space. Anything that is visualised or capable of being contacted by any sense organ is physical, and space is such. Hence, the final condition of the world seems to be only space-time. We are using two words, ‘space’ and ‘time’, for want of better expression. Actually, space and time are not two things. It is one peculiar, indescribable something which is, for want of better words, called a space-time complex. It is better to call it a compound because it is an indivisible
Read more
-
Image
Chapter-1. Section-1. Mantram-13. 1. In this mantram Nachiketas is asking Lord of Death, the second of his boons. 2. Naciketas is now asking Lord of Death, to give the secret knowledge regarding the karma that is to be done by a mortal in the world, 3. So that, as a result of its reactions he would come come to gain the Elysian pleasures of the Heavans. 4. Naciketas is requesting Lord of Death, to initiate him into the secret of the rituals by which the performer can reach immortality.  
Read more

The Secret of the Katha Upanishad : 4.3. Swami Krishnananda.

-
Image
======================================================================= Wednesday, February  01, 2023. 06:00 Discourse - 4.3. Post -22. ======================================================================== Our soul within may be compared to the Lord seated in a chariot. This body of ours, this individuality, this personality, may be regarded as a chariot in which is seated the soul- consciousness. The chariot is driven by a charioteer, a driver. The intellect in us is the charioteer. The reins are the operations of the mind. The horses which pull or drag this chariot are the senses—the eyes, ears, etc. The roads along which this chariot is driven by the charioteer with the help of the horses are the objects of the senses. All this is made possible by a joint activity of the Atman, the senses and the mind. This is a very concise and beautiful description, symbolic, dramatic, full of meaning and profundity. This chariot is to be driven right to the Abode of Vishnu—tad vishnoh paramam
Read more