Sunday, November 18, 2012[jbox color=”white”][mp3t track=”2012-11-18-Shankara-NachiketasLegacy.mp3″ play=”Listen Now -” stop=”Pause -” title=”"Nachiketa’s Legacy" – Br. Shankara”] Or download the MP3 to your computer, and listen offline.
[/jbox] A discussion of the Katha Upanishad and its ‘hero,’ the young boy Nachiketa.
Br. Shankara’s talk focuses on the great truths Nachiketa learned from Yama, and their implications for our practice of Raja Yoga. NB: The Katha Upanishad was Swami Vivekananda’s favorite. |
“(The rishi) Vājashrava, desiring a gift from the gods, began a ritual to offer all his possessions. Yet, his son Nachiketa noticed that the rishi was sacrificing only cows that were old, barren, blind, or lame — not such as might procure the worshiper a place in Heaven. Nachiketa, wanting the best result for his father’s ritual sacrifice, asked, “I too am yours, to which god will you offer me?” Believing that his son was being insolent, Vājashrava angrily cursed Nachiketa: “You I give to Death (Yama).” — Adapted from Wikipedia