A dialogue with Death (Based on Kathopanishad)

Death and after-life are definitely two of  the most sensitive but extremely intriguing subjects of interest in both religion and philosophy. Since there are no definite scientific or factual information available about what death is or what may happen after death,  the subject has naturally become a fertile ground for wild speculations and blind assertions. Tapping into this uncertainty, various religions have for many centuries enforced morality and follower-ship in society based on promises of heaven for adherence and punishments of hell for deviance. Epicureans in the West and followers of Chaarvaaka in India had taken to the opposite extreme of living an amoral life because they believed Death is an end in itself. The truth, as usual, lies somewhere in-between. Where exactly? Let's see what the Upanishads have to say about it.

Fundamental to the question about Death is the consideration whether there is a soul that occupies the body during life and leaves it after death. The Hindu religion firmly believes that there is a soul that has an association with the body during life. It also believes that death is the ending of an association of the soul with one body and the beginning of its association with another body. Some texts talk about a period between death and rebirth during which the soul enjoys the merits of its good deeds in heaven or the world of manes and suffers for bad deeds in hell. One thing that has been positivelly asserted across different texts is that the soul, other than that of a liberated person, will have a rebirth at some point of time following death, carrying with it the vaasana (the tendencies or inclinations of the soul based on the impressions left on it by experiences)  and karma (potential for undergoing certain experiences based on past actions) from previous life.

There is an extensive treatment of the subject of Death and after-life, in the texts of the Kathopanishad and Brihadaaranyakopanishad.  In addition to talking  about the soul's journey etc. the Upanishads, more interestingly, also offer  a deeper perspective from an entirely different philosophical plane, discussing the nature of reality.

In the Kathopanishad, we find the story of this young boy Nachiketa who was unintentionally given as an offering to Lord of Death, Yama, by his father during a sacrificial ritual. To fulfill the words of his father, Nachiketa finds his way to the abode of Yama to meet the Lord of Death.  Very pleased with the innocence and commitment of this young boy and also as a compensation for having made him wait for three days without food, Yama offers him three boons to choose. With the first boon, Nachikata seeks favorable disposition with his father on his return to earth. With the  second boon, he seeks instructions of a sacrificial ritual with the potential benefit of near-permanent stay in heaven after death. And, finally with the third boon, he asks the question,

'yeyam prete vichikitsaa manushyai

astityeke naayamastiticheke

etad vidyaam anusishta tvayaaham..'  Kathopanishad Canto 1, Mantra  20

"On the departing of the soul, a doubt arises among the humans whether 'It' exists or does not exist. I would like to be instructed by you (on the truth about this)"

As profound as it is, there is a lack of clarity in the question as Nachiketa does not make it clear whose existence he is inquiring into. Most of the commentators have assumed that the question is about the soul's existence beyond death. That is an easy conclusion to arrive at  but not necessarily very sound one because in the previous boon,  Nachiketa was already seeking the way for soul to reach heaven after death. If he was in doubt of soul's existence after death, he would not have sought that? And, remember that Nachiketa is supposedly speaking to the God of Death whose very duty is to direct the souls to where they should reach based on their actions in past life!  Moreover, Yama warns Nachiketa that this is a question that even the celestial beings of yore are not certain of the answer. So, we will need to assume that the question is much deeper than mere validation for the existence of soul.

I am of the opinion that Nachiketa's question is not whether soul exists after death but whether this world that was left behind by the soul, exists anymore from the perspective of the soul, after death. In other words, how real is this reality that we take for granted while living? At death, did the person die or did this world die to the person, just as a dream world would die to the dreamer at the end of a dream?

After a brief exchange of words with Yama, who fails to compel Nachiketa to back off with promises of all the riches of the world etc., Nachiketa digs in further, offering a clarification to his question:

'anytra dharmaat antra adharmaat

anyatra kritaa akritaat

anytra bhutaascha bhavyasch

yathad pasyati tad vada'  (Kathopanishad Canto 2, Mantra 14)

"Tell me about whatever is that you perceive to be beyond good and evil, transcends what is done and what is not done,  and is apart from whatever is in the past as well as future"

Nachiketa now makes it clear that what he is seeking to know about is what transcends the limitations of the world in terms of cause and effect, time and the considerations of good and evil. The key question, again, is not whether there is life after death but if there is a different and true reality for the soul where both life and death become equally irrelevant. It is quite doubtful if there is any question greater than this asked anywhere in the entire Upanishad literature! The closest parallel I can point to, though an imperfect comparison, is the quest of Neo in the Hollywood movie Matrix. (Not that you should  turn to Hollywood for giving you  life's philosophy  but Matrix was a good one)

Kathopanishad, through Yama, answers the first question about soul's perception of world's reality in these poetic words:

yathaadarso thadaatmani

yathaa swapne thadaa pithru loke

yathaapsu pareeva daddhruse thadaa gandharva loke

chaayaa taporiva brahma loke                       (Kathopanishad Canto 2 Chapter 6 Mantra 4)

"(The soul's experience of reality is ) like a reflection on mirror in the mind (on earth), like a dream in the world of manes, like the reflection in water in the world of Gandharvas and like light and shadow in the world of Brahma"

Depending on the levels of self-awareness, the granularity of distinction perceived by the soul changes. In the day-to-day world where we are highly individualistic, the world is full of divisions and everything is colored by our projections on it. When we broaden the picture and become one with our family or fellow beings (with the view that we are all of same origin), the world is less distinctive as in a dream. When we lose ourselves in music or dance or art or other aesthetics, the world again is lesser distinctive like the reflection of everything in same water. In the highest level of self-awareness as in meditation, the world is like a light and shadow projection, devoid of distinctiveness and specificity. Irrespective, in any state of awareness the world is still a reflection, devoid of true reality!

Sri Aaadi Sankaraachaarya says in the beginning words of the Dakshinaamurthy Stotram:

"viswam darpana drisyamaana nagari tulyam nijaanthargatham

 pasyannaatmani maayayaa bahirivo bhutair yadaa nidrayaa"

"(The soul perceives) the world like a city reflected in a mirror within It, and experiences the illusion of the image projected external to it, as in a dream"

If the world is devoid of true reality, what then is Real? The Lord of Death answers in one brief sentence, "The true Reality is called OM". To understand why Yama says it is 'Om' we will need to look at the symbol of OM.

(picture courtesy: www.in.com)

Here is the way I like to look at this symbol of OM.(Not necessarily the only way). The top semi-circular half of OM (top half of the '3') is the future. The bottom half is the past. And where the future and past meet, i.e., the present, that is where the soul experiences the world. The soul is the curve to the right, meeting the present and curving into itself. The single dot on the top is the Brahman and its effulgence that illuminates consciousness is the crescent below it. The darkness between the crescent and the soul is the Unmanifest, or Avyakta. And to me, this is the briefest depiction of the concept of reality as explained in the entire Vedic philosophy!

So, what is the instruction for Nachiketa?

angushta maatra purushontaraatma

sadaa janaanaam hridaye sannivishta

tam svachariraat pravruhen munchaadive ishikaa dhairyena

tam vidyaat sukram amritam tam vidyaat sukram amritam iti  (Kathopanishad Canto 3 Chapter 3 Mantra 16)

"The indwelling self that is of the size of thumb, is seated all the time in the hearts of beings. Separate Him diligently from rest of the body as one would remove the stalk of Munja grass (from its outer shell). Him you should know as pure and deathless. Him you should know as pure and deathless"

Do not concern yourself with death and after-life and instead of focus on realizing that divinity which is within you and is your true nature. This in a nutshell is the instruction of Kathopanishad.