Kathopanishad – An Introduction
Divine Life
Society Publication: Kathopanishad – The Science Of The Inner
Life by Swami
Krishnananda
The Kathopanishad may be
regarded as a most appropriate introduction to spiritual life in general. The
story with which the Upanishad begins provides the proper foundation for
commencing a study of the science of the higher life of man. From the exoteric
ritual of the performance of sacrifice and charity by sage Vajasravasa, the
Upanishad takes us to the spiritual longing of the seeker, Nachiketas, which
moves along a definite pattern of development.
The three boons requested for
by Nachiketas from Yama represent the terrestrial, heavenly and spiritual
realms of attainment. In the movement from the outward liturgy of Vajasravasa
in the world to the inner aspiration of Nachiketas for spiritual values, we
have the first step taken towards the higher consciousness. The second step is
the rise from temporal relationships to the universal significance of all
things found in the all-comprehensive Vaisvanara, known also as Hiranyagarbha
in his higher manifestation, and as Virat in his lower universal form,
represented in the second boon granted by Yama. The third step is the ascent
from the universal to the Absolute, which is the third boon asked for by
Nachiketas, but most reluctantly granted by Yama, after subjecting Nachiketas
to a severe test in the form of supernormal temptations of sense and ego, to
which even the best minds cannot but succumb when placed in favorable
circumstances. The Upanishad now leads us on to the theme it intends to
propound.
The path to perfection can be
trodden only after encountering several threats and temptations. The example of
Nachiketas shows that he was even cursed to death and tempted severely in his
attempt at adhering to righteousness and truth of the spirit. In the process of
the search for truth, the subjective propensities and objective tendencies show
their heads in concrete forms and either tempt or threaten the aspirant.
For an aspirant of weak-will,
advanced spiritual practices are very near impossibility. A person believes in
what he sees and experiences and not in what he does not see and does not
experience. He has love for certain things and fear for certain others, because
he has a faith in the value of those things, as they are the objects of his
direct experience. He, however, does not believe in supersensuous realities,
because they are not the objects of direct experience.
Love for comfort and hatred
for pain and sorrow pull the aspirant from two opposite sides, and he is left
at sea. It is here that the strong weapon of will and discrimination should
come to one's help. One has to clear the way in the midst of these oppositions
which are inevitable in one's struggle for transcending one's individuality in
the Absolute. The individual modes try their best to persist in appearing again
and again, and to bar the gate to Truth. It is hard to recognize the faces of
these thieves in the form of friends, who deceive the aspirant every moment and
frustrate all his aspirations. The objects and states of every plane of
consciousness have to be rejected, as they are objective, and one has to resort
to the Infinite Subject which is divisionless fullness.
One should realize that
anything that is achieved as the result of desires and actions shall vanish one
day or the other, and that the only thing ever enduring and worth knowing is
the one Self in all. Nachiketas persisted in his aspiration for Truth, in spite
of the most formidable temptations, and in the teeth of the refusal of Yama to
impart knowledge to him. Finally, Yama initiates him into the mysteries of the
Self.
Excerpts from:
Kathopanishad-An
Introduction - Kathopanishad – The Science Of The Inner
Life by Swami
Krishnananda
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