The Esoteric Significance of the Kathopanishad -1.5.

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15/04/2018

The Esoteric Significance of the Kathopanishad -1.5

Chapter 1: The World is an Arena of Sacrifice-5.

No sane person in moods of sobriety and sanity would agree with the definition of man as a wholly self-centred beast, though we cannot argue against the discoveries of psychoanalysts. There are things which we cannot argue against nor argue for, yet there may be facts which cannot come within the purview of arguments. As I mentioned, argumentative logic and scientific observations do not exhaust the truths of the universe. There are facts, there are truths, there are realities which logic cannot fathom and science cannot observe. One of such mysteries is man himself, the human character.

The Kathopanishad, to which I made reference, is the story of man as he is located in the context of creation, a theme which I would like to dilate upon on this occasion of the Sadhana Saptaha, inasmuch as it appears, to me at least, that the Kathopanishad is the story of spiritual ascent. It is the sadhana, the spiritual endeavour of the human individual towards the achievement of ultimate perfection that is narrated to us in epic form in the Kathopanishad.

The word ‘sacrifice’ is familiar to you all. We perform sacrifices everywhere – yajnas, havanas as they are called. We hear of great sacrifices which the ancients performed – rajasuya, asavameda, somayajna, etc. Large altars are constructed, mantras are recited, and oblations are offered to the deities. Sacrifices of a ritualistic type are not unknown, especially in this country. They are prevalent in some measure even in this day. So when we speak of yajna or sacrifice, we are likely to think of pouring sacred objects into the fire in a yajna kunda or an altar. Maybe. This is one form of sacrifice. But this is a ritual expression of sacrifice which life seems to be. Life does not appear to get exhausted by rituals or gestures or activities of any kind.

To be continued ...


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