The Esoteric Significance of the Kathopanishad : 2-1,

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21/09/2018
Chapter 2: Nachiketas’ First Two Boons -1.

Spiritual practice, which is an adventure of the spirit, is the esoteric significance of the epic story of the Kathopanishad. Nachiketas, the aspiring intelligent lad, is face to face with the great Lord Yama who has sanctioned three boons as a sort of compensation, as it were, for the fast and vigil which the boy observed for three days. The boy could have asked for anything. It was a blank check presented before him; he could write anything on it. Very intelligently the boy chose the three boons step by step, perhaps with deep consideration.

The manner in which the boons were asked by Nachiketas, and the things that were asked, indicate the manner in which every spiritual seeker has to conduct himself in his disciplined career.

In our spiritual living we are expecting something. We are asking for a favour, and this is exactly the choosing of the boon. What for is this spiritual life? What is the outcome of religion? What is our intention? Why are we struggling so hard, running from temple to temple, from Guru to Guru, from library to library, from one place of pilgrimage to another? What is our objective, finally? What are we asking? We cannot ask for more than what Nachiketas asked, nor would it be wisdom on our part to ask for anything different from what he asked.

As I mentioned, the whole story is clothed in an epic language, and the ancient technique of instruction was that truths would not be revealed in naked form. They are always clothed as sugar-coated pills because the human mind cannot immediately absorb naked facts, inasmuch as we are ourselves not naked spirits. We are shrouded intelligences covered over by vestures, well decorated and dressed, hiding the fact of what we really are, for reasons we alone have to understand. This is the reason why the naked truth is not communicated by expert teachers. It is always communicated by means of an image, a colour, a picture, a narration, and an epic contour.

What was the first boon that Nachiketas wished to receive from the great Master? It was exactly what any one of us would expect at the very outset. “When I return, may my father receive me with respect and affection, and may he be blessed with vision to see things which he is unable to see now.” He was evidently a blind person – maybe blind physically as well as spiritually.

Thus, a highly altruistic boon was requested from the great Lord Yama. This is a picture before us of an expectation from our spiritual aspiration. When we achieve spiritual heights and are face to face with Masters and adepts in the cosmos, and when they ask us, “What do you want?” what will we expect?

To be continued ..


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