Today is Mahalaya, the great dissolution, an occassion to provide fuel to our departed ancestors, the journeymen, by way of oilseeds and water (til-sesame and Ganga jal) en route to eternity.
That brings me to an interesting tale of the wayfarer, a long long time ago, that my father once told me when I was still in knickerbokers. Recently, I read that story in the Upanisad, addendum to the world's oldest recorded spiritual scriptures, the Veda.
Read on to learn more...
Once upon a time, a great sage-king Vajasrava decided to donate all his possessions to earn merit through the world conquering sacrifice, Visvajit.
Seeing his father giving away his cattle, Nachiketa, the one who did not know, wondered, "What use these emaciated cows to those they are gifted, denied of water, deprived of grass, their udders dry, their strength spent?
What joy do they bring?"
And so, Nachiketa asked his father if he would gift him away as well.
To whom? For profit?
Irritated by such cheeky query in the middle of his great offerings, the king hit back: "Unto Death I gift you. Now"
Taking his father's cue for given, Nachiketa, gladly departed for Death's door, feeling blessed that he was the first of his group to follow the wayfarers into the unknown... happy to bring home the profits of sacrifice to his father, wondering how it must have been with the ancestors, and how must it be with those who follow, to go knocking at Death's gate.
There, Nachiketa waited three nights before being allowed for a sit-in.
Sorry to have kept the kid waiting unfed so long, Death, Yama, the great disciplinarian, offered Nachiketa three boons for choosing.
"Ask, and you shall have them," he said. All!
Come, choose.
"May Gautama, my tormented father, get calm, may he be gracious to me... O Death! May he recognise me and greet me back when you set me free.This I choose as my first gift," said Nachiketa.
"Given. He, son of Arun, your father, will recognise you as before and sleep peacefully through the nights, his anger gone, when he sees you released from the jaws of Death," said Yama.
"There is no fear ... not even the fear of ageing... in heaven.
One rejoices there, crossing over hunger and thirst, leaving sorrow behind.
O Death, the pyre of sacrifice, the ship to heaven, tell me, then, how dwellers in heaven live on forever.
Be honest.
Let this be my second boon," said Nachiketa.
"Knowing well as I do that fire is the chariot to heaven, let me describe it to you, my child. Learn!" said Death.
Know, fire, that rests in the cave of the heart, and supports this universe, is the pathmaker to a boundless world."
And so Yama revealed to Nachiketa the secrets of lighting the funeral pyre.
Nachiketa repeated the instruction, so Death, happy, spoke once more...
"I grant you a special favour today...
I name this sacrificial pyre after you, that is how it will be renowned.
Go, shine this light on the road to glory. For, he who lights the Nachiketa fire thrice, will cross over the cycle of birth and death in three acts...
And obtain everlasting peace, knowing the fire, son of Brahma, and realising him, the omniscient, resplendent and the adorable one.
And that wise person who gets to know, meditates on fire, and throws off the first bonds of death. And so, he overcomes sorrow, and rejoices in heaven.
This is your fire that leads to heaven, O Nachiketa, that you have chosen for your second boon.
"A dead man leaves behind the rest in doubt. Some believe he lives, others think he has gone for good.
Teach me now, O Death! what happens when we die," Nachiketa asked.
Let this, then, be my third boon.
"Even the gods of old had doubts on this, Nachiketa. It is difficult to understand this subtle truth. Choose another boon," said Yama.
"If that be so," said Nachiketa, "and you find it hard to teach, get me another teacher like you, for no other boon compares with this."
"Choose offsprings and their offsprings who live to be hundred, ask for cattle aplenty, elephants, gold and horses. Choose vast expanses of land, and wish for as long as you desire to live," said Death. "What could be more for asking than long life and wealth. Prosper, then, on this vast earth. Become the enjoyer of your enjoyments.
Ask for all those wishes that are hard to gain in this world, and they shall all be yours -- pretty young girls who sing and dance and race, the likes of whom young men crave for. Let them all whom I gift be of use to you."
Nachiketa thought, then said, O Yama! All these too shall pass away, and so too will the vigour of men. For, life, full life, just moves on, forever. Short.
To you your chariots, to you all your song and dance.
Man is never contented with riches. Who will enjoy wealth when meeting you itself is pleasure.
Shall we live as long as you? That alone is the boon I choose.
Who in his senses, who understands undecaying immortality, and the pleasures of beauty and love at your gate, will delight over long low life among the mortals on earth?
Teach me about that which everyone doubts, O Death, what comes after the great passover.
The boon I seek alone is to know the secret that comes hereafter."
Then, listen-in, said Death.
To the blind one, good and pleasant serve different ends.
Choose the good, not the pleasant.
To be good it is not necessary to be pleasant.
The one who chooses good succeeds.
The one who chooses pleasant fails.
So shared Death its little secret with Nachiketa.
When both the good and the pleasant approach a traveller, the wise man ponders and discriminates, choosing the good over the pleasant.
The easy going opts for the pleasant to settle scores where he belongs.
The paths to wisdom and ignorance diverge for the seeker to choose the way forward.
And you, Nachiketa, have rejected pleasant desires, avoiding the road that ruins mortals in the quest for wealth.
Abiding in ignorance, wise in their own esteem, thinking themselves to be learned, fools tread the tortuous path on which the blind leads the blind to follow, lured by dazzle where darkness prevails.
...
To know the beyond, and the riches it holds, dive deep within to know your self. For the light within is the light without, that dazzles forever without gloss and glam.
...
There, deep inside, Death revealed his greatest secret to Nachiketa: What happens when we Die
A long, long time ago, when I was stlll in knickerbokers, staring at the star-spangled night sky, my father once told me the tale of Nachiketa. I can't quite remember how that story ended. But today, while offering fuel to my ancestors, with sesame seeds and Ganga water, I remembered my father telling me:
Be a good citizen, son. Be a good human.
Be good.
Period.
I chose not to be pleasant.
Now that Baba has ventured into the great beyond, I don't know if Death revealed to him the answer to Nachiketa's Big Question...
What happens when we Die?
But should you wish to know more, read: Katha Upanisad, Yajur Ved.
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