Youth And Upanishads - (The Ideal of Shraddha)

Add as a preferred source on Google

The Vedanta Kesary, p.565-569, December 2007

Swamiji used to often quote the story of Nachiketa from the Katha Upanishad. Nachi- keta was a young boy. He was told by his father in a fit of rage to 'go to Yama', the god of death. And he does go. How did he become so fearless? To face death? The Upanishad says that it was because of Shraddha or faith. 'Shraddha or Faith entered into him,' it says. Shraddha is the aggregate of all positive attitudes. Shankaracharya termed it as astikya buddhi. Indeed when one gets this positive frame of mind, he discovers the great potential of strength and enormous possibilities in him. Swami Vivekananda remarked,

'Unfortunately it (Shraddha) has nearly vanished from India and this is why we are in our present state. What makes the difference between man and man is this Shraddha and nothing else. What makes one man great and another low is this Shraddha.'

Cultivating faith in oneself is the best way to overcome emotional problems that many youth face. Whether in school or in college or in professional life, we seem to lose this faith in ourselves. One should not run away from life rather learn to face it with courage and heroism. The Katha Upanishad rouses this inner potential by its well-known statement, 'Uttishtata jagarata praapya varaan nibodhata.' Swami Vivekananda freely translated it as 'Arise! Awake! And stop not till the goal is reached.'

Swami Vivekananda used to recommend reading of Upanishads. He believed that if one could read these great scriptures, one would gain all the basic values and virtues in life. During his wandering days in 1892 Swamiji spent nine days with Sri Sundararama Iyer in Trivandrum. Sri Iyer's 14-year-old son Rama- swami Sastri was deeply impressed by Swamiji's personality. Swamiji told him,

'You are still a young boy, I hope and wish that you will reverentially study the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras, and the Bhagavadgita... as also the Itihasas, the Puranas and the Agamas. You will not find the like of these anywhere in the world. Man alone, of all living creatures, has a hunger in his heart to know the whence and whither, the whys and wherefores of things. There are four key words you must remember: abhaya (fearlessness), ahimsa (non-injury), asanga (non-attachment) and ananda (bliss). These words really sum up the essence of all our sacred books. Remember them. Their implication will become clear to you later on.'

About the author

Swami Shri Bodhamayananda

The author is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order, at Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, T. Nagar, Chennai. He has been actively engaged in conducting workshops, lectures and seminars on Personality Development for the youth