The Secret of the Katha Upanishad : 4. Swami Krishananda.

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Thursday, December 02, 2021. 8:00.PM.

The Secret of the Katha Upanishad : 4.

Chapter -1. 

Discourse No 4.

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Nachiketas was made of a different stuff. He was not an ordinary boy. “Why should I not put this question? What is the trouble about it? You give me all these wonders that you have described to me but will not answer this simple question.” “Not even the gods have been able to answer this question. Not all the celestials put together in all the seven heavens can answer this question that you have put. Therefore, child, please do not pester me with this question. You keep quiet. I have made the mistake of telling you that you can ask for three boons, and now you are putting me in this embarrassing situation with a question which I cannot answer and I am not prepared to answer. You should not put this question. Take anything else. I am ready to give you. Please excuse me. Don’t bother me with this question.” “You say, O Lord, that even the gods cannot answer this question, which means to say, perhaps, that you know the answer to the question, and you want to turn me off with all the glamour of the perishable world, longest life, and all that. But what is longest life in this eternity? In this eternity of existence, what is the life of the whole universe? You say ‘the delight of all the gods’, but what is delight except itching of the senses? What are these pleasures but methods of wearing away the energy of the senses? You want to tempt me with these pleasures and will not answer me the question which you say even the gods cannot understand. You want to make me the ruler of this universe as long as it lasts, but what will happen to me when it does not last? When the universe dies and perishes, and it dissolves, what will happen to this ruler? He also goes! Take back all your pleasures, your offerings, your dance and the music and the chariot and the cattle and the enjoyment and the long life and the rulership of the worlds. O Lord, take back all these gifts that you have offered to me! I am thankful; but Nachiketas will not budge from this place unless this question that he has asked the third time is answered.”

This is the introduction to the Upanishad. Now, the Upanishad really begins. This great sacrifice of Vajasravasa Gautama for the purpose of enjoying the pleasures of heaven is the exoteric multitude of the deeds of humanity. The Upanishad is, as I mentioned to you, an exposition of the secret of the entire life of man, the secret of your life, the secret of my life and the secret of the life of every blessed thing. Vajasravasa represents humanity, as in the Bhagavadgita we say Arjuna represents mankind. The performance of this Vishvajit sacrifice by Vajasravasa Gautama is the performance of deeds by mankind as a whole. Man performs actions for the purpose of the enjoyment of the consequence of his actions. Why do you work from the morning till the evening in the various fields of your duties? To relieve yourself of the tensions of life and to enjoy the pleasures that are consequent upon the release of tension, and these pleasures to be enjoyed for as long a time as possible. You understand the purpose of your works in life. You work in this world because you want to come to a state of affairs when you need not work any more but will only enjoy the pleasures consequent upon your actions.

But what is your conception of happiness and delight? What is your notion of the happiness that may come as a consequence of your actions in life? It is the very same concept that Vajasravasa had. “I shall go to heaven and be with the gods and enjoy life.” But what do you mean by “enjoying life”? Can you describe to me what actually is meant by enjoyment of life? Have you any idea, the faintest notion, of what enjoyment means? If you are pressed to answer this question, you may say, “Logically and scientifically I cannot say anything about this; but it appears to me that my idea of happiness is to be in the possession of all desirable things in the world. Well! That possession is perhaps happiness for me. The greatest amount of physical wealth, the largest amount of pleasurable relations and perhaps the longest life with this body to come in contact with these objects and be in their possession—what else can be my notion of enjoyment?” This was Vajasravasa Gautama’s concept, and is our concept also. Man is man, always. He never changes. What man was when the world was created, he is today, also. He is made of the same stuff. He will never change. You rub any man, you will find the same substance inside. He may be a primitive or the modern cultured, so-called educated man—they are all made of the same substance, same stuff. They have the same weaknesses and their desires are of the same character. So, what Vajasravasa Gautama thought, we also think today, and what was his fate shall be our fate, also.

To be continued ...

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