Nachiketas & The Light Mantra

Na tatra suryo bhati na
Long ago, probably 5 thousand years ago or more,
chandra-tarakam
the Upanisads say a young boy called Nachiketas,
n’ema vidyuto bhanti
journeyed to the abode of Yama, the god of death. Death
kuto’yam agnih
was away for three days and thus Nachiketas sat without
tam-eva bhantam-anubhati
food or water during that time patiently waiting to see him.
sarvam When Yama returned, he wanted to reward the young boy
tasya bhasa sarvam-idam for his patience and forbearance as well as apologize for
vibhatih such inhospitable treatment. Yama gave him 3 boons. For
Om shanti, shanti, shantih! his first 2 boons, Nachiketas asked for his father’s
happiness and to learn a special fire sacrifice that leads to
heaven. For his third boon, Nachiketas asked to know
what was beyond Yama, Death. Now, he did not mean the
heavens or patalas that Yama guided souls to. He meant,
what was beyond Death’s realms.
Yama was taken aback, and said, “Oh, that’s too
hard to understand, even the gods are bewildered by this.
Ask for something else.” But Nachiketas responded, “No,
There, within the innermost you are certainly the best teacher for this. I don’t care if it
is hard. I want to learn this from you.” Then Yama tried
Consciousness of all living beings,
harder to dissuade the boy. “You really don’t want to know
the sun shines not, nor the moon, nor stars, this difficult knowledge. Look, I’ll give you long life,
nor lightning, what to speak of children and grandchildren, and wealth as much as you
this tiny mortal flame! like.” Nachiketas was not interested. Yama tried again, “I
That one Infinite Light shining, can give you a life as long as the celestials, and pleasures
all else shines after It. such as only the gods enjoy – celestial musical
instruments, horses and chariots, beautiful maidens. You
By Its Light, all else is lighted.
may have them as much as you like.”
May all beings see this Light. To this Nachiketas replied, “these pleasures are
May the hearts and minds transient, O Death. They only wear out the vigor of the
of all beings become illumined! senses and one soon tires of them. Keep them for yourself.
Om Peace, Peace, Peace! When I have seen you, O Death, certainly I will live as long
as you. But the whole span of life is short. I do not want Story:
any other boon but the knowledge of what lies beyond you.” Sri Ramakrishna once described Om like the sound of a
Yama was pleased and impressed with Nachiketas bell: T-O-M. In His meditations He traveled higher and
and agreed to teach him the highest Truth. Rare is that higher in his mind and came at last to AUM where He saw
person who is ready to give up the things of the world and countless worlds emerging and returning into it.
even heaven in order to seek the highest Truth. Yama had
tested him to see if he was qualified for this knowledge, and Contemplation:
he passed. This “Light Mantra” is one of the final teachings Choose one of the teachings on AUM to contemplate.
Yama gave Nachiketas.
Activity:





 Create an AUM sign using dominoes. Draw or paint AUMs.
Lesson One: Create another domino AUM in front of Babaji’s asana
before arati
AUM
Sanskrit: AUM, OM, the Word of God, the unstruck sound;
the First Cause, Primal Vibration






Lesson Two:
Discussion: Tatra
i The three letters of AUM signifies everything contained in There, (within the innermost consciousness of all
past, present, and future; the shvara signifies all that is
living beings)....
beyond those
Sanskrit: Tatra = There
i Waking, dream, and deep sleep, and shvara represents
That which sees all three.
Discussion:
i Creation, preservation, and dissolution, and shvara
i What is consciousness? What is Consciousness?
represents That which never changes.
i Explain “innermost.”
i Gross, subtle, and causal, and That which is beyond
i Read and discuss the booklet, “How to make a human
form and formlessness
being.”

Riddle: The greatest question ever asked ~

Riddle: The secret teaching of the hand ~
What is that one thing, knowing which, everything else is
What do you have to know first before you see the hand?
known?
(Or anything else) (Congratulations, you are now a member
of the SRV Kids Philosophical Sampradaya)
Sanskrit supplement: Pratibodhaviditam = to intuit the Story:
Atman in and through every modification of the mind. Once there was a firefly floating
on the evening breeze over a
Contemplation: cool, sweet-smelling pond that
Close your eyes and think about each of the five koshas. was reflecting the stars above.
With your mind and imagination, dissolve the food sheath He thought to himself, “see how
into the energy sheath, the energy sheath into the mind bright I am! I shine like the stars
sheath, the mind sheath into the intelligence sheath, the in the sky. He hovered over the
intelligence sheath into the bliss sheath. Then dissolve the little pond admiring himself
bliss sheath into Atman. shining in reflection along with all the stars. As he did so,
~Then contemplate the secret teaching of the hand the moon came out and all the stars disappeared and he
could no longer see his reflection. (Why?) He flew away
Activity: feeling so small. But far above the Earth, the moon looked
Using the plastic book, draw and layer the five koshas. down upon the ocean and thought, “Oh, I am so radiant! I
light the waves, the hills, the trees, and all the waters and





 clouds with my beautiful silvery light.” As she traveled the
dome of the sky she felt so proud. But as she approached
Lesson Three:
the horizon, a bright yellow-
Na tatra suryo bhati na chandra-tarakam orange-pink glow appeared
n’ema vidyuto bhanti kuto’yam agnih behind her. This light grew
(There)...the sun shines not, nor the moon, nor stars, brighter and brighter until her
nor lightning, nor fire, much less this tiny mortal silvery light seemed only a faded
echo. Then the sun rose above
flame of prana
the water and no more could the
Sanskrit:
moon be seen. Now the sun
na = no, not
lighted the entire landscape, and traveled across a clear
tatra = there
blue sky, his brilliance reflecting off of all waters, glass,
suryo = sun
leaves, and rocks, infusing plants and animals with energy.
na bhati = does not shine
“No one is brighter than me, he thought.” Is that true?
chandra = moon
tarakam = stars
Riddle:
n’ema = nor these
To see the sunrise where do you need to stand? To see the
vidyuto = lightning
sun rise and set where do you need to stand? To see the
agni = fire
sun rise over the whole Earth, where do you need to stand?
To see the moon circle the Earth, where do you need to these objects do not show clearly until the lampshade is
stand? To see the planets of our solar system circle the placed over a lamp and the light is turned on. The light
Sun, where do you need to stand? To see the galaxies represents the Self/Atman, whose light illumines all else.
expand and contract where do you need to be? To see the
entire universe projected and dissolved, where do you need





to “be”?
Lesson Four:
Discussion: tam-eva bhantam-anubhati sarvam
i Where does the sun’s light go on a cloudy day? Where That one Infinite Light shining,
does it go at night? Where does it go when you are asleep? all else shines after It.
Where does the sun’s light go when the sun is Sanskrit:
extinguished? tam = that
i If everyone in the entire world was in deep sleep at the eva = verily
same time, would the sun be shining? Who would see it? bhantam = shining
i Do you use a flash light to see the sun? What happens sarvam = all
if you try? anubhati = shines after
i What is prana? Where does it come from?
i Where does prana go when it leaves the body (at death)? Discussion:
i Who sees the prana? i What does infinite mean? Can there be more than one
Contemplation: infinite thing? Explain.
Close your eyes and think about i Where does the moon’s light come from?
all these different lights: prana, i Where does the sun’s light come from?
fire, lightning, moon, stars, and i What is the source of all light?
sun. How long do these lights
last? Who sees all these lights Riddle & Story:
come and go over time? Can The sage and the king ~
these lights be seen without a Sage: By what light do you see?
seer? King: I see by the light of the sun.
Sage: At night, by what light do you see?
Activity: King: I see by the light of the moon.
Take a used lampshade, exacto knife, tissue paper of Sage: It is the new moon night, by what light do you see?
different colors, Yes! glue, a brush, and begin to remake the King: I see by the light of the stars.
lampshade with pictures of the sun, moon, stars, lightning, Sage: It is overcast. By what light do you see?
and fire. Create this new/remodeled lampshade so that
King: I see by the light of the fire. i How do you tell the difference between the consciousness
Sage: Suppose you are blind, by what light do you see? of your small self (unripe ego) and Consciousness?
King: I see by the light of my senses.
Sage: Your outer senses are turned off in sleep, by what Riddle: What is so big it cannot move?
light do you see?
King: I see by the light of my mind.





Sage: By what light does your mind see?
Lesson Six:
What did the king say?
May all beings see this Light.
Contemplation: May the hearts and minds
Sit with eyes closed. Think about the conversation of the of all beings become illumined!
sage and the king. Carefully think about each question Sanskrit:
and answer in your mind. Daya = Compassion

Activity: Discussion:
Continue working on the lampshade project. i How do beings see this Light?
i Why do we pray for others to see this Light?





 i Can we help others to see this Light?
Lesson Five:
Riddle:
tasya bhasa sarvam-idam vibhatih
In the airplane the stewards tell us to “put your own mask
By Its Light, all else is lighted. on first before helping someone else.” Why do they say
Sanskrit: that? How does it apply to spiritual life?
tasya = its
bhasa = by light Story:
sarvam = all From the Ramayana ~
idam = this After Hanuman found Sita imprisoned in Lanka by
vibhatih - shines the evil Ravana, he flew over the ocean to tell Sri
Ramachandra. Sri Ram then ordered a bridge over the
Discussion: ocean to be built. The giant bears and monkeys all helped
i Why did Yama teach this Light Mantra to Nachiketas? by tossing small mountains and huge boulders into the
i What is the difference between the sun’s light and the ocean to form the bridge. Everyone wanted to help even
light of Consciousness? the little chipmunks.
 One day, Sri Ram was watching all the activity and "Spiritual knowledge is the only thing that can
noticed a family of chipmunks running to and fro between destroy our miseries forever; any other knowledge
the sandy beach and the big rocks of the new bridge. First satisfies wants only for a time"
Sw. Vivekananda
they rolled in the sand and then they would all dash to the
bridge and do a little dance on the rocks. Then they were
racing back to the beach. Leaning down close to these tiny,
earnest creatures, Sri Ram asked them what they were
doing. They all gathered round His Feet and made pranam,
“Oh, Lord Ram, everyone is helping you to save the beloved
Sita from Ravana. We are helping too. But we are so small
and we must use all our paws for walking. Therefore we
are catching the sand in our fur as we roll on the beach
and shaking it off over the rocks to make them more steady
for You and Your army.” Sri Ram was moved with great
love and compassion for their valiant spirits and effort. He
reached out and blessed them by stroking their backs with
two fingers, leaving behind two beautiful black stripes.
Ever since, all chipmunks show the marks of Sri Ram’s
Grace.

Contemplation:
Sit with eyes closed
and think about this
statement from a
great Buddhist
Master. “All the
suffering in the world
comes from wanting
happiness for oneself.
All the happiness in Setting the feet of humanity solidly
the world comes from wanting happiness for others.” - on the path of universal Truth
Shantideva
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Activity: Lampshade project