In this episode, we’re talking about Nachiketa – a boy who against all the odds cheated death. This story is from the Upanishads.
Just your regular run of the mill prosperity-chasing father
In every typical medieval Indian family there was usually one person who was obsessed with trying to raise the family status several levels above what it was. We go to just such a family in an unnamed village. The patriarch of the family was a scholar. And that already set him apart from the masses, but he wanted more. He wanted his crops from his farm to be brimming with gold and his treasury to be full of vegetables. Or maybe it’s the other way around, he wanted his farm to be full of vegetables and his treasury full of gold. Personally I don’t agree with most people who give much more importance to gold over food. I mean, have you tried eating gold? It’s so metallic tasting and it can hurt your tongue.
Anyway, whatever his motivation the head of the family cared about ensuring prosperity for himself and his family. I’ll call him Bhowtik, because that means material as in material possessions.
Bhowtik had several children here and there that honestly he lost track of, except during tax season when he could claim them as dependents. The responsibility of managing them all fell to his wife, as it often did along with everything else, as you might expect from a patriarchal society.
One of those children was Nachiketa.
The big feast
On the day our story starts, Nachiketa was just a 10 year old boy at that time. He was observing elaborate preparations being made in his house. It was offering day. It’s not a real term but the idea came from what Bhowtik had heard. That Gods who are ultimately responsible for all prosperity, only help those who help others. And by help, specifically that, to him, meant donating stuff. So Bhowtik was engaging in a donate-a-thon
Donations
Bhowtik arranged for a big tent where he had a lot of different things up for sale. There wasn’t much need to do marketing ahead of the event. But he did put up a couple of signs saying “everything must go” and “one-day only”.
Of course, Bhowtik wasn’t really planning on donating everything. This was an earlu example of false advertising. He meant everything in the tent, and visitors assumed he meant everything he possessed.
This was not his first such donate-a-thon so his generosity was a bit dulled by repetition. It would also not be his last.
Nachiketa’s observations
Nachiketa was on the sidelines observing things. He had done that last time too, but maybe back then he wasn’t old enough to appreciate some subtleties in his father’s donation methods. One thing he noticed right away is that his father was making everyone sign a donation receipt. It was just to keep records he said, but he was almost certain Bhowtik would be referring to those receipts during tax season.
Secondly and more importantly there was a pattern in what he was donating. For example, the lamp that had a chip in the corner was included, but a matching lamp that was unbroken was not. Damages and wear and tear seemed to be criteria for being included in the donation pile. This extended to livestock as well.
The vet had said the brown cow was too old and would not live out more than a few months. That same brown cow was in the donation tent now.
The same thing happened to the goats that were old or diseased.
Nachiketa rights a wrong
This according to Nachiketa was wrong. From his reading of the sacred books he was convinced that Bhowtik’s careful selection criteria wouldn’t land him the goodwill and blessings he had hoped for.
Because the Gods would be less pleased than if the donation was of Bhowtik’s most valuable possessions.
He decided he needed to make up for it. To right a wrong. He knew that he had little authority or ownership of the cows and other things that Bhowtik was donating. So he couldn’t very well just march up to the cowshed and give them away.
But there was one thing that was in his control. His own self. Nachiketa had made his mind up.
He walked over to Bhowtik. And asked “To whom will you donate me, father?”
“Eh, what? Oh it’s you Nachiketa. Get me another one of the receipt books will you? We seem to be running out quickly.”
Nachiketa fetched a receipt book and then repeated his question.
“You? No, no, no. That’s not how it works. We only donate Livestock and household goods that we have no use for. We can’t donate people!”
“Why not? Cows too have feelings and stuff”
“Not as much as humans” Bhowtik replied
But Nachiketa wouldn’t accept that as an answer. He insisted. “We’re donating Cows and earning goodwill. Won’t you earn a lot more goodwill by donating me?”
This was about the time that Bhowtik realized he was not going to be able to convince Nachiketa with reason and logic. Maybe it was because he didn’t have reason and logic on his side. But his own ego prevented him from seeing that.
Bhowtik did what most parents do in situations where they are unable to persuade their children. He resorted to authoritarian parenting. “You can’t be donated because I say so” he told the boy.
But Nachiketa did not give up. He persisted. Until finally, Bhowtik, in a fit of rage shouted “Then go, I donate you to Yama”
And pays for it with his life…almost
There was a shocked silence all over the donation tent, which until a moment ago had been bustling with noise. Even the cows stopped mooing to hear this interesting plot twist.
Yama is the God of death. We have encountered him before in Episode 31 in the story of Satyavan and Savitri. There was only one outcome after someone had been given to the God of Death. And that was Death.
Bhowtik realized his mistake right away. He had condemned his innocent 10 year old son to Death. But the boy did not act condemned. Nachiketa was in fact overjoyed. He had a mission and now everything was going to be okay. His father had donated him to Yama, and that would make up for the less than ideal livestock he had donated.
Of course, Bhowtik tried to talk Nachiketa out of going to Yama. But the boy wouldn’t listen. Nachiketa was sure that staying back meant reneging on his word and that would be a lot worse for Bhowtik.
Nachiketa, firmly resolute in his mission got his parents’ reluctant blessings and headed for Yama’s home.
Now in Ancient India, if someone was trying to find Yama, they only had to go visit him. It’s true that Yama made house calls whenever he needed to collect souls. But Nachiketa didn’t know how he could get Yama to visit him. If he just waited, that ran a big risk. What if Nachiketa ended up waiting till he was very old? Yama must be a very busy person. So the boy decided the prudent thing to do was to go to Yama himself.
But there was a big problem. Yama wasn’t in the phone book. There wasn’t an address for him that he could just go to. And though Nachiketa wandered here and there he didn’t know where he could find the God of Death. He asked a few people, but they all looked at the boy as if he was crazy.
Finally, after much searching, a Rishi in a nearby village told him that he thought Yama’s home was just a few kilometers away. Just go down the road, turn right at the elephant stables, cross the river on the wooden bridge and you’d eventually reach a big door in the mountains. That’s the entrance to yama’s palace the Rishi said.
Nachiketa at Death’s door
Nachiketa made his way there. He was tired and hungry by the time he reached Yama’s door. The door was a magnificent one. It looked like it was made of Gold and studded with precious stones. But there was one problem with the door. It was locked. And there was no doorbell.
There was a knocker on the door, so Nachiketa could have simply knocked. But the knocker was just a few inches out of his reach. It’s not that the door was made for Giants. Rather, Nachiketa was short, as might be expected of a 10 year old child.
There wasn’t a stool or anything either. So Nachiketa sighed and sat down. He could not see a way to get in. He would just have to wait until Yama passed through the gates, and hope to interrupt him then.
A long wait
It was a long wait. No one was going in or out. 3 days passed. Nachiketa was hungrier than ever. He could not give up now. He told himself that he had to fight and survive until Yama got here. Then he stopped. Wait, if he did not survive, that would guarantee that Yama, as the God of Death would arrive here promptly.
Before he could finish the thought, there was a noise and someone arrived on the scene.
Death arrives finally
It was a massive water-buffalo. Nachiketa was amazed at the size of this buffalo. He thought to himself that if his dad had donated an animal this size, he wouldn’t be in this position today.
Then his attention drifted to the top of the water-buffalo. And there was Yama. Yama jumped down from the buffalo and said “What are you doing here, Nachiketa?”
Nachiketa was surprised. “You know who I am?” he asked the God of Death.
Yama replied that in his business he really needed to know everyone. “It’s standard KYC,” he said. “Know your customer. But you haven’t answered what you’re doing here”
So then Nachiketa explained the whole story, starting with the donate-a-thon, his father’s anger, the difficult trek to Death’s door, and then the three whole days of waiting.
Death is a bad host
Yama was appalled. Not by the fact that Bhowtik had cursed Nachiketa to such a fate. Nor by the fact that Nachiketa had to endure such a long and arduous journey. Yama was appalled that Nachiketa had gone hungry at Death’s door.
This might seem odd, but really it’s to be expected if you consider the amount of importance placed to guests in Indian culture. Atithi devo bhava is a common saying. It means guests in your home are a form of God.
Yama was a God himself, but he was not above treating ordinary humans just as he expected Gods to be treated.
Death compensates for his lack of hospitality
Yama immediately tried to make amends. He offered Nachiketa three wishes. “You can have anything within reason,” Yama added.
Straight away he dismissed Nachiketa’s request to be taken. “It’s not your time. I won’t say when your time will be up. But it’s not right now. And I’m not going to harvest your soul”
Nachiketa did not object to being given three wishes. Very selflessly, his first wish was not for himself but for his father. Nachiketa wished that Bhowtik would earn all the goodwill he needed for him to have peace of mind.
Yama nodded and said nothing. You could tell from a quick glance at Yama’s expression that the job was already done!
For his second wish, Nachiketa wanted to know how someone could overcome hunger and thirst.
That’s easy, said Yama. He then taught the boy how to perform the ritual. And from that day in fact that particular ritual is called the Nachiketa ritual.
The final wish
For his final wish, Nachiketa asked Yama to tell him – is there an afterlife?
Yama was shocked. After having talked to the boy, he knew Nachiketa was smart. But this was a different level of knowledge/wisdom.
“Even most of the Gods can’t answer that question” Yama said.
But Nachiketa pointed out that that was all the more reason to spread the knowledge about a little bit.
After more of this back and forth conversations, Yama finally gave in.
He explained that the answer to Nachiketa’s question was both. There was an afterlife for people who weren’t ready to break past the cyclic nature of birth, growth, old age, death and rebirth. But those who had conquered their senses did not have to undergo rebirth. They had attained Moksha, or freedom from the repetitive cycle.
And in answer to Nachiketa’s follow-up question – Yama also explained the science a bit further. Including how the spirit or Atma is different from the body. That the body perishes when someone passes away. But the Atma or soul is preserved, and lives on. It’s the Atma that passes on from the recently deceased to the newly about-to-be-born
Nachiketa returns home
Armed with this knowledge that no one else had, Nachiketa promptly returned home and spread it like wildfire.
He received a hero’s welcome of course. Including by Bhowtik. But the boy was mostly happy about having acquired knowledge that would help him. He taught that to everyone he could in his long life. A life that was not prematurely terminated because of his brush with Death.
That’s all for now
Some notes on the show
Nachiketa’s story and in particular his negotiation with Yama might remind you of Savitri’s negotiation with the very same God of Death. Check out Episode 31 linked in the show notes for that story.
Nachiketa’s father was Vaajshravas. I called him Bhowtik in the story to make it easier to pronounce.
That’s all for now.
Next Time
In the next episode, we’ll continue the story of Chandrakanta. In a couple of previous episodes we covered really just the beginning of this fantasy novel. Now we’ll continue to explore what happens to the Prince, the Princess their aiyaars and the evil minister.