Nachiketa and Death - The Boy Who Asked the Right Questions (Jnana Yoga)

Dadi**: "Guddu, what would you ask if you could question Death itself?"

Guddu**: "Um... why do people have to die?"

Dadi**: "A brave young boy named Nachiketa asked exactly that. He went to Death's door and demanded answers."

Guddu**: "He went to Death's house?!"

Dadi**: "Let me tell you how. Nachiketa's father was performing a great sacrifice, giving away all his possessions to gain spiritual merit. But Nachiketa noticed something wrong."

Guddu**: "What was wrong?"

Dadi**: "His father was giving away only old, useless cows - blind, barren, unable to give milk. He was trying to look generous while keeping everything valuable!"

Guddu**: "That's cheating!"

Dadi**: "Nachiketa thought so too. He asked his father: 'If you're giving away everything, to whom will you give ME?' He asked three times. Finally, his father, annoyed, snapped: 'I give you to Death!'"

Guddu**: "He said that to his own son?"

Dadi**: "In anger, yes. But Nachiketa took it seriously. He traveled to the house of Yama, the Lord of Death. But Yama was away."

Guddu**: "Death wasn't home?"

Dadi**: "Nachiketa waited at the threshold for three days without eating or drinking. When Yama returned, he was horrified - a brahmin guest waiting without hospitality was a terrible breach!"

Guddu**: "Yama felt bad?"

Dadi**: "Very! To make up for his rudeness, Yama offered Nachiketa three boons - any three wishes."

Guddu**: "What did Nachiketa ask for?"

Dadi**: "First, he asked that his father's anger cool and that he recognize Nachiketa when he returned. Granted!"

Guddu**: "And the second?"

Dadi**: "He asked to learn the fire sacrifice that leads to heaven. Yama taught him gladly and even named it after Nachiketa."

Guddu**: "And the third?"

Dadi**: "Here's where it gets deep. Nachiketa asked: 'What happens after death? Some say the soul exists, some say it doesn't. Teach me the truth.'"

Guddu**: "That's a big question!"

Dadi**: "Yama tried to refuse. 'Ask for something else! Long life, wealth, beautiful maidens, kingdoms - anything but this!' But Nachiketa wouldn't budge."

Guddu**: "Why wouldn't he accept the other gifts?"

Dadi**: "He said: 'These things end. They wear out. Even a hundred years is nothing compared to eternity. I want only the knowledge you're hiding.'"

Guddu**: "He was wise!"

Dadi**: "Yama smiled. Nachiketa had passed the test. He had chosen the 'good' over the 'pleasant.' And so Yama taught him the greatest secrets."

Guddu**: "What did Yama teach?"

Dadi**: "That the Self - the soul - is never born and never dies. It's not killed when the body dies. Smaller than the smallest, greater than the greatest, it lives in every heart."

Guddu**: "So we don't really die?"

Dadi**: "The body dies. But what we truly are continues. That's what Nachiketa learned. He returned home with the knowledge that no wealth could buy."

Guddu**: "He got the best gift."

Dadi**: "The best question, asked to the best teacher, with the best attitude - not wanting easy rewards but deep truth. That's the path of knowledge, beta. Ask the right questions and refuse the easy answers."