The Kathopanishad - 2: Swami Krishnananda.

Chinmaya Mission is with Chinmaya Yuva Kendra and Chyk Noida.

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Swami Chidrupananda ji inspired over 1,000 students at Invertis University, Bareilly, addressing the crucial topic of Challenges Faced by Today's Youth. 

It was a powerful session filled with wisdom, guidance, and practical tools to help navigate the complexities of modern life.

Swamiji beautifully explained three types of people: 

1.Advanced Planners, 2. Last-Minute Managers, and 3. Procrastinators, 

while highlighting the common challenges young people face today, including distractions, addictions, and conflicting viewpoints. 

His message encouraged the youth to stop comparing themselves to others, reminding them that true uniqueness lies within. 

The only real disability in life? A negative attitude. Let’s uplift ourselves, embrace our strengths, and bring positive change to our lives.

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Sunday 27, October 2024, 06:10.
Article: 
Scriptures:
The Kathopanishad: 
Swami Krishnananda
Post-2.

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“Now ask for the third boon.” This was a crucial issue that Nachiketas raised when he asked for the third boon. “What happens to the soul after death – after the death of this body, or it may be after the death of the individuality itself – in either case, what happens to the soul?“ While Yama, the Lord, was very eager and quick in the response to the questions of Nachiketas, in the case of the third question he was not willing to say anything. He said, “You should not ask this question. Nobody can understand what it is. The gods themselves have doubts about this matter. Therefore a young boy like you should not raise a question of this kind. Ask for better things – gold and silver, long life, health. The emperorship of the whole world, and a long life, as long as this world lasts, all the wealth of the world, all the glory, all the majesty and magnificence of an emperor of the world I shall grant you. Do not ask this question.”

Nachiketas said, “What good is this, what is the use of this long life? What do you mean by 'long life'? How long will it be? One day it has to end. So anything that has to end is to be considered as short. It may be long from one point of view, but it has to end one day. Even if it is millions of years – after millions of years, what happens? It stops. Then why do you call it 'long life'? It is short. All the life put together is purile and petty. I do not want long life. And what is the good of all the glory and majesty and the beauty and the enjoyments to which you have made reference? What is enjoyment to a person whose sense organs have worn out? As long as the sense organs are vigorous, things look beautiful, tasty and worthwhile. When the senses wither away, who will enjoy the world? So why do you tempt me with these offerings? 'Ask for better things,' you said. What can be better than the knowledge of this mystery of the soul after its departure from this body, this tabernacle? “

Yama was cornered like this from all sides, and he found that there is an impossible student in front of him. Yama might have been testing him, the mettle of the student; whatever be the case, it is also an indication as to the difficulty in knowing what the soul is. The answer, however, does not come abruptly from Yama, though he finally agreed to give the answer.

What he says is, there are two ways available for every person in this world – the way of the good and the way of the pleasant. The good is called sreyas, the pleasant is called preyas. There are two roads along which we can tread. We can choose what is good, or we can choose what is pleasant. It is proper for a person to choose the good. It is improper for any person to choose the pleasant, because the good does not always look pleasant, and the pleasant is certainly not always good. That which is pleasant is nothing but the reaction of the sense organs in respect of objects outside. The pleasantness is only in the sensations. If we scratch our body there is a little sensation of pleasure, but itching is necessary in order that the scratching sensation may be pleasant. Unless there is itching, there will be no sensation of pleasure when scratching. If we are not hungry, no lunch can be delicious. If we are not healthy, the world looks stupid and meaningless. If the senses are not vigorous, nothing looks beautiful – everything is ugly and black.

So, what do we mean by pleasant experiences? There is no such thing as a pleasant experience as such, by itself. It is only a relative condition created under the circumstances of an action and reaction process taking place between the sense organs, the mind and the objects outside. Would anybody pursue this path which is utter foolishness? He who pursues the path of the pleasant will fall short of his aim. It is good that we follow the good. We understand to some extent that the pleasant is not actually something existent in the objects outside – it is only a sensation, a reaction of the sense organs, and therefore unreliable to the hilt. Will an old person, in a dying condition, have a pleasant experience of anything in this world? The senses are dying completely; there is no appetite of any kind. If pleasant things are really pleasant, they should be pleasant even at the last moment of our departure. Where is the pleasantness at that time? The condition of our body and mind and sense organs determines what we call pleasant; and also, what is pleasant to us need not be pleasant to another person. If there is real pleasantness in things, there should be pleasantness for all people equally. Why should it be attractive to us and not attractive to another person? Why is it that what we like is not liked by somebody else? This shows there is no such thing as pleasantness in anything. The pursuit of the pleasant, therefore, is a folly on the part of any individual.

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Continued

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