NACIKETĀ’S QUEST FOR THE SELF-KNOWLEDGE

Freedom is available only to those who want it not merely more than anything else,
but to the exclusion of everything else. ~ H. W. L. Poonja ji1

It is said that Self-knowledge is discovered by those who want it single-mindedly to the

exclusion of everything else. To explain this, sages often give the example of a person whose
clothes are on fire, who is running towards a river so that he could jump in and quench the
flames. Or a person whose head is held under water and who wants to come out of water to
breath. There should be a sincere and intense longing in the heart of the seeker to realize the Self
and to such seeker only The Self reveals Itself.
My Vedānta teacher once told me: “As soon as the thought comes in the mind of the student, that
I want to be an ātma-vit—knower of the Self, the Divinity equips him/her with all the necessary
knowledge to realize the Self. The only requirement is the “earnest thirst” for the Vastu—the
Self. The Lord calls this earnestness अव्यभभिचचारणण भिभक in the Bhagavad Gītā (13.10).

If this earnest thirst is not there, my teacher cautioned, you will never get the right teacher. This
is the law.
This is the Divine Law: One gets the teacher that one deserves. If one is looking for spiritual
entertainment, one will get a spiritual entertainer as a guru.
When one’s search reaches a certain intensity and one longs to know one’s true svarupa, the
Divinity makes sure that a true teacher crosses path with such student.
When the Lord Yama offered Naciketā all the attractions of the world--wealth, pleasures, fame
etc.—and Naciketā rejected them all, one by one.
At that time, Yama said, Naciketā, I take that you are after the real knowledge. You have the
earnest thirst for real jñāna, Self-knowledge. Based on this qualification alone, Yama taught
Naciketā the knowledge of the Self:
भविदचाभिणभपप्सिनन भविदचाभरर्थिनन नभचकके तप्सिन त्विचामहन मन्यके [Shankara' commentary on Kaṭhopaniṣad 1.2.4.]

I consider you, Naciketā, as desirous of Knowledge.

Hence, it was the intense longing on the part of the student that got him the real teacher. When
the student has this thirst, all other qualifications are added unto the student. In absence of this

1 Poonjaji would say, ‘You are running towards the river with your clothes on fire. You have only one goal: to get to
the water as quickly as possible. If you meet a friend on the way who invites you in for a coffee, do you accept his
invitation, or do you keep on running?’
thirst, try whatever one may, the Divinity will not grace the seeker with the true teacher. So, by
all thy getting, get the longing.
Qualifications to realize Brahman:
The mantra 1-2-23 from Kaṭha Upaniṣad (also Muṇḍaka Up. 3.2.3) reiterates the same fact as
follows:
नचायमचात्मचा प्रवचननेन लभ्यय न मनेधयय न बहहनय शशतनेन।
यमकेविवैष विवणतण के तकेन लभ्यय तस्यवैष आत्मय भविविवणतण के तनन स्विचाम॥म २३॥

nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyo

 na medhayā na bahunā śrutena /
yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyas
 tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanūṁ svām //
The Self cannot be known through much study, nor through the intellect, nor through much
hearing. It can be known through the Self alone that the seeker longs to know. To that seeker the
Self reveals Its own nature. 2
Śaṅkara’s commentary on this mantra is illuminating. The essence of the commentary is this:
there should be a sincere and intense longing in the heart of the seeker to realize Atman and to
such seeker only The Self reveals His Svarupa. The Self does not reveal His svarupa to every
Tom, Dick and Harry, who do not long for IT.
The KEY WORD IS “vṛṇute,” SINCERE AND INTENSE LONGING. This is the only
qualification a sincere seeker should possess right from the beginning and all the other necessary
qualifications will be added unto it. My teacher finally said, the real meaning of the word vṛṇute
is that one needs to BEG for IT! Such should be the intensity of one’s thirst! Nothing short of
this level of intensity will do. Only by the one who seeks to know ONLY the Self, the Self
reveals Its own nature [as his own self]. Therefore, यमकेविवैष विवणतण के is begging for it. Only s/he who begs
for the Self, i.e., s/he who has an intense longing for It, the Self reveals Itself.
Rekindling the Fire in the Heart: A Parable!
The following elaborate parable taken from the book The Fire of Freedom illustrates this
fundamental point:
There was once a king who had no children. Since he was getting old and had no heir to succeed
him, he decided to adopt one who would be the ruler of the kingdom when he died.
He thought to himself, ‘If I don’t have an established heir in place when I die, there will be a lot
of trouble in the kingdom after I die’.
He called one of his guards and asked him to make an announcement that he would open the
gates of his palace the following day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and that all the people of the kingdom

2 Translation adapted from Gambhirananda, Eight Upanisads, p. 157, and V. Panoli, trans., Prasthanathraya
Volume-II, p. 212.
could come in and be interviewed for the job of being the next ruler. No one would be prohibited
from coming in.
The next morning crowds of people assembled at the gate, each of them hoping that he or she
would be the next ruler. They were greeted by the guards and the courtiers.
One of the courtiers announced, ‘You are about to meet the king and be received by him. You
must look good when this happens. Look at you all! Some of you are just dressed in rags. We
will clean you all up, give you a nice bath, feed you and give you some nice new clothes, and
then you will be presentable to the king. Come with us.’
Everyone was taken into the palace and offered all the facilities that the king enjoyed. For this
one day all the visitors had the run of the palace, which meant that they could take and consume
whatever they wanted. Those who were interested in perfumes collected bottles of perfume;
those who were interested in clothes collected many items of clothing. Other people luxuriated in
the king’s baths, ate his food, and watched his dancers and singers perform. This went on all day
and everyone forgot what he or she had come to the palace for.
The king waited in his throne room, but no one went there to see him because all the candidates
were too preoccupied with enjoying themselves with the king’s luxuries. At the end of the day, at
6 p.m., when no one had shown up to claim the throne and the kingdom, the king withdrew his
offer and asked everyone to return home.
This story is full of great implications for the spiritual seekers. If anyone had gone to the king
immediately, without getting sidetracked, all these treasures would have been his or hers
permanently, not just for a few hours. But everyone forgot the purpose for which he or she had
come to the palace. The throne of the kingdom of liberation is waiting for anyone who wants to
walk in and claim it, but these jivās all get sidetracked into enjoying pleasures and accumulating
possessions. In this instant look at your own Self. Reject transient pleasures and run inside to
meet your inner king. Once you have done that, the whole kingdom will be yours.3

Be thirsty. Be hungry!

3 Excerpted from David Godman, Mostly about Books: Recording the Lives and Teachings of India’s Gurus, 50-53.
E-book retrieved August 24, 2016: http://davidgodman.org/interviews/mostly-about-books.version-2-b.pdf