Yama - Nachiketa (Katha Upanishad) Vajasravas desired that he would give away all he had. He had a son named Nachiketas. As the boy saw the gifts being given, his heart was filled with respect and devotion, and he pondered: "The realm of undelight is his portion who makes a gift offering of kine that have drunk their last drop of water and eaten the last herb, have been sucked to the last drop of milk and have worn out their organs." So the boy said to his father, "To whom are you going to give me, father?" The father did not give an answer to the senseless question of his ignorant son. But the boy was insistent. He asked the same questio

Narada - Sanatkumara (Chhandogya Upanishad) Rishi Sanatkumara was once approached by Narada (evidently not yet become a Rishi), who said, "Lord, I desire to be taught by you. Please teach me." The Rishi replied, "Very well, but first tell me how much you know; then I shall tell you if you need more." Narada thereupon made out an inventory of his learning; it was a formidable list. "My Lord, this is what I have learnt: Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, Atharvaveda, the Fifth Veda comprising History and Mythology; next, Grammar, Mathematics, Logic and Politics, the Science of Computing Time, Theology, Fine Arts and the Ritual Lore; Demonology, Astrology, and t

The Story of Rishi Yajnavalkya (I) Yajnavalkya was one of the great Brahmins and a supreme master of the Knowledge of Reality during the Upanishadic age. But it was not that he was only a man of Knowledge, deep and serious; he was also a fine humorist. That is, he combined his Knowledge with a keen sense of irony and fun. Here are some stories about him. King Janaka was his contemporary. That would seem to place his story in the Upanishads about the time of the Ramayana although Rama or Sita does not figure anywhere there. King Janaka too was a man of Knowledge, a sage-king, rājarṣi. But he had not taken any disciples. The seekers would

Indra - Virochana and Prajapati (Chhandogya Upanishad) Prajapati, the Lord and Creator, once declared himself thus: "The Self is the sinless, ageless and deathless One; it has no sorrow nor hunger and thirst. The goal of all its desire is the Truth, Truth is the one thing worthy of its resolve. It is this Self that has to be sought after, it alone one should seek to know. And one who seeks after the Self and knows it, gains possession of all the worlds, wins all that is desirable." The message of the Lord reached both the gods and the demons. They discussed it among themselves. "If the Self is such a thing as can win all the worl

The Story of Fabala-Satyakama (I) I think I told you once of the story in the Upanishada bout a seeker of spiritual knowledge who had been given by his teacher as a first assignment the task of looking after his kine. This was meant to serve both as an initiation and a training; it was to be his work and also his test. But the student had had to pass through another, perhaps somewhat minor, ordeal of a preliminary nature. Tagore has a well-known poem based on this episode. I begin my story with that narrative, giving it almost verbatim as it appears in the Upanishad (Chhandogya, IV.4). Jabala Satyakama, says the Upanishad, approached h

Ushasti Chakrayana (Chhandogya Upanishad) This is the story of Ushasti Chakrayana, Ushasti the son of Chakra. But could it be that the name means one who drives a wheel, like Shakatayana,the driver of śakaṭa, the bullock cart? Or is it something similar to Kamalayana, one who tends or enjoys a kamala, the lotus, lotus-eater? The Chakra or wheel here might be the potter's wheel, or it might as well be the spinner's wheel or Charkha. Does the name then mean something like one who owns or plies a Charkha, just as we term Kamliwalla an ascetic with a Kambal or blanket ? However that may be, here is the story. The Kuru country where Ushasti had h

Satyakama and Upakoshala (I) Satyakama was now a Rishi, a brahmarṣi, a sage and seer who had realised the Truth. He was himself a teacher now, had his own Ashrama where the seekers and aspirants came to receive his instruction and guidance. Today I shall tell you something of the aim and method of Satyakama's work as teacher. Upakoshala Kamalayana, the son of Kamala, resided with Satyakama as a student of sacred lore for twelve years, tending his fires. What this tending of the fires really meant we shall learn as we proceed. There were other resident pupils along with Upakoshala; and after they had finished their twelve-year course, they wer

Parables from the Upanishads Nolini Kanta Gupta SRINVANTU 63, College Street, CALCUTTA - 700 073 Translated from the original Bengali by Sanat Kumar Banerjee 15 August 1979 Rs. 3.00 © Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 1979 Published by Srinvantu, 63 College Street, Calcutta-700 073 Printed at Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press, Pondicherry-605 002, India