Samayasara

Author(s): A Chakravarti
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith

Page 55

INTRODUCTION
37
Hence he asked the boy to choose an alternative boon. The evasive answer only whetted the curiosity of the boy. Yama himself admitted that the problem was very important and subtle and that it perplexed even the minds of the gods. Certainly such a thing is worth knowing and if knowledge is to be had at all it must be from the Lord of the Great Hereafter. The boy would not loose this golden opportunity. Hence he insisted on getting an answer. But Yamı tempted his disciple's youthful imagination. Like the great te:nptation of another Personality this youth Naciketas had the sovereignty of the world, human and divine, placed at his feet. The whole aggregate wealth was at his disposal. He was pro:nised heavenly damsels. He had the chance of being feasted with their divine music. But none of these things appealed to him. He would not budge. Like Gautama Buddha this boy spurned the pleasure of the world as worthless. He must have that one priceless boon the knowledge of the hereafter from the only person who had an authority to speak on the matter. Man is not to be satisfied with wealth. Wealth we shall obtain ourselves. Tell us about that life that gods themselves do not know. Thus the boy would not have any other boon but would rent the veil which hid Yama. Thus the strength of will exhibited by the boy ultimately succeeded in eliciting the sympathy of Yamı who was willing to offer the truth. Thus there is the revelation of the Upanişadic teaching as to the nature of the soul and its survival after death. The teaching begins with the good and the pleasurable. Both these engige a man though the ends are diverse. Of these it is well with him that takes the good. He that chooses the pleasurable is tied to the wheel of life dwelling in the midst of illusions infatuated by the pleasures of the world. These fools are subject to repeated births and deaths and go round and round like the blind led by the blind. He is even under the subjugation of Yamı. But the path of good leads to the Self. Wonderful is he that teaches and wise is he that attains it. This goal is attained only by renouncing the other path leading to the misery of Samsāra. Thus we notice in this teaching of Yama the emphasis on Self-realization as the goal of life. This goal is to be obtained only by self-renunciation, freedom from the allurement of the environinent. The cult of sacrifice is subordinated to this path of spiritual discipline. Here we notice the movements of great religious thought. Continuing this teaching, Yama describes the nature of the Atinan. The Self is not born and it dies not. It is omniscient. It is not created and it creates nothing. It has no beginning nor end. It perishes not even when death overtakes the body. If the slayer thinks that he slays and the slain thinks that he is slain neither of the:n knoweth the Self for the Self neither slayeth nor is slain. It is bodiless and yet is in all bodies unchanging and yet in all changing