Chapter 2
Beyond death
🌻 Day 11 🌻
देवैरत्रापि विचिकित्सितं पुरा
न हि सुविग्येयमणुरेष धर्मः ।
अन्यं वरं नचिकेतो वृणीष्व
मा मोपरोत्सीरति मा सृजैनम् ॥
Yama said, “Don’t ask me this. Please release me from this promise. This doubt has haunted so many people. They haven’t known it. Please ask for anything else. I will give you any other boon, but don’t ask me the secret of death.” There are five great secrets. The secret of death and the secret of birth are among them. The Lord of Death said, “Ask anything else. Ask for pleasure, ask for lovely women. Whatever is your desire – you want a kingdom, I will grant it to you. Leave me with this. Since I have promised, I have to fulfill my promise. But please don’t ask me the secret of death.”
श्वोभावा मर्त्यस्य यदन्तकैतत्
सर्वेन्द्रियाणां जरयन्ति तेजः ।
अपि सर्वं जीवितमल्पमेव
तवैव वाहास्तव नृत्यगीते ॥
न वित्तेन तर्पणीयो मनुष्यो
लप्स्यामहे वित्तमद्राक्ष्म चेत्तवा ।
जीविष्यामो ञअवदीशिष्यसि त्वं
वरस्तु मे वरणीयः स एव ॥
Nachiketa said, “When I see death, it is imminent in life. It is unavoidable in life. What do I do with all that you are offering? You keep your chariot; you keep your horses, your beautiful women for yourself. When you (death) are staring at my face, how can I enjoy all this? What use is it? They are there for a moment and then they are not there; so momentary. They wear out vital powers of life.” There is difference between bliss and pleasure. Bliss energises you, pleasure depletes you. Pleasure is momentary and drain prana; energy goes out. The capacity of the five senses is limited. However tasty the food is, you can’t take more than what your system can take. You can’t enjoy sex more than your body can respond to. You cannot listen to music forever. You can enjoy only to some degree. The five senses have limited capacity but the mind has unlimited desires. There is an imbalance between the desire to enjoy and capability of the senses to enjoy. Then conflict arises. You feel miserable. He is not saying it is wrong to enjoy the five senses, to enjoy pleasures of life. There is nothing wrong, but giving it more importance than life itself is disastrous.
देवैरत्रापि विचिकित्सितं पुरा
न हि सुविग्येयमणुरेष धर्मः ।
अन्यं वरं नचिकेतो वृणीष्व
मा मोपरोत्सीरति मा सृजैनम् ॥
There has always been this conflict in the world. The believers say there is life beyond death. Non-believers say there is nothing. It is all made up of chemistry, just combination of matter, which gives life. Once the matter dies, everything dies, there is nothing; no life after this. This is what atheists say. Atheists are not new to the planet. They are there from the time of inception of this mankind. They have been there from the beginning. Real seekers want to know, what the truth is. They don’t dismiss the believer and they don’t dismiss the atheists as well. The beauty of spirituality is: you don’t condemn the atheists, nor do you condemn the believer. It is people in extremes who keep condemning each other. Believers condemn the non-believers and non-believers condemn the believers. Spiritually elevated persons are very scientific in their temper and Upanishads are utterly scientific. There is nothing that refutes logic in any of the Upanishads. That is the greatness and beauty of it. It doesn’t limit itself to reason, nor does it condemn reason. It walks the steps of reason to reach the Ultimate truth. This is fantastic. That’s why when Albert Einstein read the Upanishads he said, “My life has changed. My whole perception has changed.”
Nachiketa, as a true seeker, said, “Some people say that nobody exists after death and some say there is life after death. But who else can tell me other than the Lord of Death himself.” Experience is the best educator. When you are encountering
death, what else can be more powerful than death itself educating you?
