Kathopanishad - Story of Nachiketa Part 7

 Previously:

Knowing this, Nachiketa fearlessly embarks on his journey to meet Yama, the Lord of death.
               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It seems there is a missing link here in the story. 

The author of the Kathopanishad does not tell what happened between the sixth and the seventh shlokas. 

In the previous shloka, Nachiketa decides to embark on his journey to meet the Yama, and in the next - after meeting Nachiketa, Yama, the Lord of death, is scolding his servants.

The same story is also narrated elsewhere in the Vedas, where we find a little more detail.  

When Nachiketa arrived at Lord Yama’s palace, he was told that the Lord was ‘out of town’ and will not be back for three days. 

Nachiketa sat in front of the house and waited for three days and nights – without any food or drink. 

The Kath Upanishad does not mention the above occurrence.

It picks up the story from this point when Lord Yama comes back and finds a pale young boy sitting at the front door of his house – hungry and thirsty. 

However, many questions arise in mind at this point. 

How did Nachiketa arrive at Lord Yama’s place? 

What route and mode of transportation did he take?

Did he meet the Lord of death in the body or in spirit - the Soul? 

The Soul does not need any food or drink. 

Since - according to the story - Nachiketa was very weak from hunger and thirst, it means he must have gone there with his physical body. 

Is it really possible for someone to visit the house of ‘Lord of Death’ in the physical body?

Also, why Lord of death was ‘out of town’… and how could he come back after three days? 

So many people die at every moment in the different parts of the world. And supposedly, the Lord of death takes the souls of everyone to the next world. 

How can he come back to his home and rest even for a second? 

But in this story, he does come back after three days and has all the time in the world to answer Nachiketa’s questions and teach him the ways of spirituality and immortality.   

The Upanishad does not answer any of these questions. 

Many will say, This is just a story and should not be taken literally. That we should simply focus on the lesson it is trying to teach.

Others would say, anything and everything is possible. 

I believe the concept of Yam Raj - also known as Dharam Raj, has been changed and distorted over time. 

According to the Sanskrit dictionary, Yam means self-control and may also be used for ways of achieving self-control. 

Patanjali Yoga Shastra talks about five Yams - five good conducts to acquire, and five ‘Niyams’ (opposite of Yam) or prohibitions to be given up.

Raj means king. Therefore, Yam-Raj means the one who is the king of self-control. 

Since the king is supposed to protect and take care of his subjects, Yam-Raj could also mean the one who teaches and helps others achieve self-control. 

Similarly, Dharam-Raj means the king or the highest authority of the Dharma. 

Both these definitions, in fact, define the personality of The True Guru. 

Who else - other than the Guru - can be the highest authority of Dharma and self-control? 

Guru - not only teaches Dharma and self-control but also takes care and helps each disciple to achieve his or her goal personally - On a ‘one-to-one’ basis - as we will see in Nachiketa’s encounter with Yam-Raj.

Later, it seems, the concept of Lord of death was also added and made synonymous with the words Yam-Raj or Dharam-Raj. Which, in fact, is also another function of the Guru.

Just like Yam Raj or the Lord of Death supposedly takes the souls from this to the other world, the Guru is supposed to take the disciple's mind from this world to the next world...that is - from the physical and materialistic world to the spiritual world.  

Somehow, over time - the picture of ‘Yam-Raj or Dharam-Raj as a kind, gentle and loving Guru got distorted and disappeared. 

And instead, a quite scary picture of Yam Raj as a cruel lord of death became popular - with big teeth and longhorns - who comes riding on a buffalo to pull the Soul out of the body.

As the next part of the story unfolds, we will find out that the Yam-Raj, whom Nachiketa visited, was not really a scary ‘Lord of death’ who cruelly pulls the souls out of bodies.

In fact, Nachiketa must have visited a very gentle, loving, kind, and benevolent but anonymous - unidentified Guru who taught him the ways of spirituality and how to become free from fear of death and achieve immortality.

                                          ‘Rajan Sachdeva’

 To be Continued …….