KATHOPNISHAD CHAPTER 1- SHLOKA 11

                                                       यथा पुरस्ताद् भविता प्रतीत

                                                         औद्दालकिरारुणिर्मत्प्रसृष्टः ।

                                                      सुखँरात्रीः शयिता वीतमन्युः त्वां

                                                        ददृशिवान्मृत्युमुखात् प्रमुक्तम् ॥ 11

                                         YATHA PURASTAD BHAVITA  PRATIT

                                   AUDDALAKIR ARUNIR MAT PRASRUSTAH

                               SUKHAM  RATRI SHAYITA VITAMANYUHU TVAM

                              DADRSHIVAN MRUTYU MUKHAT PRAMUKTAM II 11

(WITH MY FAVOUR-BOON) AUDDALAKI,THE SON OF ARUNA WILL RECOGNIZE AS BEFORE .HE WILL SLEEP PEACEFULLY AT NIGHT WHEN HE SEES YOU RELEASED FROM THE MOUTH OF DEATH,WILL LOSE HIS ANGER -11

                 This is simple one  and this is a story  and not much to be said on this one . The Yama,the God of death is blessing Nachiket with first boon that he asked for . So as we saw before he had asked for number of things  and so Yam is stating same thing in different way. Your father will sleep well at night knowing that you are safe  and came back from Mouth of death or visiting God of death. He will also not be angry.
         This is typical reaction of any father whose son is missing and then the son comes back. The father forgets that that he was angry with the behaviour of the son  and has a sigh of relief. The only thing different in this one is that the Father Nachiket seems to be addressed with different names. We were told that he was VAJASTAVAH. Since his father was UDDALAKA,he is also addressed as AUDDALAKI and he was also adopted son of ARUNA  and so also called ARUNI . One more name is Gautama . Theses things have not much relation to the story or the message but just to clarify some of the words used in this shloka. 

KATHOPNISHADA CHAPTER 1 SHLOKA -10

                                               शान्तसंकल्पः सुमना यथा

                                        स्याद् वीतमन्युर्गौतमोमाऽभि मृत्यो।

                                             त्वत्प्रसृष्टं माऽभिवदेत्प्रतीत

                                          एतत् त्रयाणां प्रथमं वरं वृणे॥ १0

                          SHANTA SANKALPAH SUMANA YATHA

                    SYADITMANYUR GAUTAMO MABHI MRYUTO

                     TWATPRASUSHATAM MABHIVADET PRATITA

                    ETAT TRAYANAM PRATHAMAMVARAM VRUNE-10

Nachiket said , 'O DEATH,with first of the 3 boons,I choose that my father Gautama be free of anger

             towards me and be kind and peaceful.when you send me away (back to him)
   
        This is straight forward Shloka and sometimes people try to find out deeper meaning in this one . I think Nachiket is smart and wants to please his father and does  not want him to feel angry or guilty of sending the son to God of Death.He is smart and so he is asking number of things in ONE Boon.He wants to go home  and not only see father, but he does  not want him to be mad -for sending him to Death. So he is asking in such a way that he is using only ONE BOON, but he is asking and making sure that he will go back and see his father and the father will not be upset and be happy.

KATHOPANISHAD CHAPTER 1 SHLOKA -9

                                     
                                             तिस्रोरात्रीर्यदवात्सीर्गृहे मे
                                 
                                           अनश्नन् ब्रह्मन्नतिथिर्नमस्यः ।
                                       
                                           नमस्तेऽस्तुब्रह्मन् स्वस्ति मेऽस्तु
 
                                             तस्मात्प्रति त्रीन्वरान्वृणीष्व ॥ ९

                               TISTRO RATRI YAD AVASI GRUHE ME

                           ANASHNAN BRAHMAN ATITHI NAMASYA

                       NAMASTE ASTU BRAHMAN SWASTI ME ASTU

                             TASMAT PRATI TRI VARAN VRUNISHY ||  9

(YAMA )SAID O BRAHMIN YOU STAYED IN MY HOME FOR 3 NIGHTS WITHOUT FOOD 

                          ,SO IN RETURN ASK FOR 3 BOONS  AND LET GOOD FALL ON ME  --9

          In this shloka we have to assume certain things like we did in last few. This is a story. So here we are told that the Yama came home  and realized that the ATITHI -the guest who cam stayed for 3 nights without food or water  and so he is apologizing. He is asking for forgiveness  and also offering him 3 boons . In those days the guest was respected even if he was 'uninvited'. The ATITHI means one who has no fixed day of invitation -TITHI is day in Indian calendar. So the guest has to be respected  and taken care  and in case of Nachiket , he had to wait for 3 days before the Host was home.
        One could imagine that when Nachiket came to Yama 's house his wife may be home  and he did not go in  and he stayed outside till the Man of the house came home. This is not male chauvinistic .but a single unmarried man should not stay in house where there is married women alone without her husband , The same would be true for single woman  and  a man alone in the house .
       In any case the Lord of Death offered the guest 3 boons , one for each day that he was not offered the food . The Guest can get mad  and put a curse . Even if he does not put get mad, he may have thought which may not be Good for the host. So here the Lord of Death is asking the guest a 'favor' ,that he should accept 3 boons  and in 'return/ should bless good luck for the Host.
     One can not even imagine such a thing happening . We do not open doors to strangers . We do not invite them in our house ,if we open door . And we will never ask for forgiveness if we are not home when uninvited guest shows up. So the times have changed and after all this is story,which indicated circumstances  and proper behavior in those days .
        

KATHOPNISHAD CHAPTER 1 - SHLOKA -8

                                                आशाप्रतीक्षेसंगतँसूनृतां

                                                चेष्टापूर्ते पुत्रपशूँश्च सर्वान् ।

                                            एतद्वृङ्क्ते पुरुषस्याल्पमेधसो

                                             यस्यानश्नन्वसति ब्राह्मणोगृहे॥ 8
                               ASHAPRATIKSHE SANGATAM SUNRUTAM CHA

                                  ISHTA PURTE PUTRA PASHUNCHA SARVAN

                             YETAD VRUKATE PURUSHASYA ALPA MEDHASO

                              YASYA ANASANAM VASATI BRAHMYANO GRUHE -8

ALL THE HOPES AND EXPECTATIONS ABOUT CHILDREN,HAVING CATTLE, AND PIOUS GIFTS ARE DESTROYED IN CASE OF IGNORANT MAN WHEN THE GUEST HAS NOT                                                                     RECEIVED FOOD -8




       In this Shloka we are told about the ancient tradition of treating a guest. The Host or so called Gruhasthi- One who is doing regular married life  and is not Sanyasi, is suppose to behave in certain way. This is true even today. When a guest comes to our house , we ask them about their travel , offer them a seat - ASANA , then offer them water  and may be food . We do have some expectations when we do it . What we expect depends upon who he is. If he is s saint, we expect that he will bless us , or help us in spiritual activity. If he is rich  and influential we expect he will help us in out job, money, success etc.
      In past people considered having children and having more castles as the blessed life. So more cattle one had ,he was rich . So in this Shloka, we are told that when one does not take care of guest, he will have damaged the chances of having children and having more castles .
    The ASHA is hope  and PRATIKSHA is expectation. So we are told that when we do not take care of the guest,we can forget about our hopes  and expectations.
    One more thing that I would like to clear is there are guests that come when invited  and there are some who show up uninvited or expected . But irrespective of the manner in which show we have to treat them well and also welcome them.
  There are couple of stories that I will share .These are from Mahabharata. Karna who was son of SUN, was on the opposite side of Arjuna , who was the son of INDRA, in the epic war of Kurukshetra. The Karna's body was covered with a shield  which he was born with and the Indra knew that Arjuna- his son will have difficulty defeating Karna.as long as he has shield. Karna had reputation that he will not not send any guest without a gift. So when Indra came in as a guest, and asked for his shield, Karna knew that this was not ordinary guest and he was the King of Gods and father of his enemy Arjuna , he still gave him the shield knowing it fully well that that will cause his demise and defeat in war.
    The second story is that of Otter. One day the Pandawas were sitting together after doing a major Yadnya in which they had offered lots of gifts to all the Brahmins  and people. Thew were not only proud of what they had accomplished but also felt that they were the greatest in doing charity. The lord Krishna was sitting with them  and realized that they were thinking too much of them self. An otter appeared out of nowhere  and went straight to the ashes that had accumulated with the Yadnya. His one half of the body was golden color and other half was black. He rolled in the ashes  and looked at his body and stated in disappointment that there is no one greater than KAPOTI. The Pandawas were surprised  and asked him as who was this Kapoti  and how come he is greater than GREAT PANDAWAS . who have done so much charity.So the otter told them the story. There was brahmin called Kapoti and he had a wife  and a son and a daughter in law.There was drought and there was not much food . So one day Kapoti git some grains  and they cooked  and were about to start eating, a guest came in. He was hungry and so the Kapoti offered his share to him and he was still hungry and so the wife  and then the son and then the daughter  -all offered their share  and the guest was happy  and blessed them  and left . The whole family dies of hunger , but went to heaven . The Otter cam in the house  and there were small amount of gran powder lying on floor . He just rolled in it and his body that touched the grains spilled over , became golden in color. So that tiny amount of grain - which was sacrifice by hungry family was  better than any other charity and was worth GOLD.

KATHOPNISHAD CHAPTER 1 SHLOKA-7

                                              वैश्वानरः प्रविशति अतिथिः ब्राहम्हणों गृहान

                                               तस्यैताम शान्ति कुर्वन्ति हर वैवसयतोदकं -7

              

                WHEN ATITHI -GUEST-ENTERS HOUSE OF A BRAHMAN,HE IS LIKE FIRE 

                                    AND THE HOST OFFERS HIM WATER -7

     This Shloka we are told the usual custom in Ancient India . The guest is like God  and when he comes to the home of GRUHASTHI or the host - a Brahman -has to honor him  and offer him water  and food and satisfy his thirst and hunger etc. So we are told that there is a proper way of behavior bay house holder.We are responsible for treating him with dignity and if WE do not do it , that is a sin  and we are deviating from out duties . 

    This is the beginning of the Nachiket's visit to Yama the God of death. Since the father although in anger stated that he was going to give the Son -Nachiket to the Yama , the boy decided that he must have some reason to do so or say so. So he does go to the God of Death Yama.The God of death is BRAHMAN and he follows all the laws that apply to the behavior of Good host. So Nachiket goes to him and he is not there. So the guest -Nachiket is not offered the water or food etc . 

    One has to understand that many things  are not described in detail and some of the things are left out imagination . When there is mention of the proper behavior of the host, we are to understand that the Yama did not do it as he was not there  and one can not ask a question as to how did a mortal -Nachiket went to the home of Yama.
     One additional understanding is that the Yama is not the supreme GOD. This is a position just like in our life there is a Mayor  and Governor and President , these are positions or authority and function. They are 'better' than ordinary person but not ultimate God.So they have to follow the usual laws of behavior and they do and they also have limitations. The God does not need to MOVE or go from one place to other as he is THERE ALL OVER - ALL PERVADING.So when it is stated that the Yama was not at home -he has home  and he was out to the JOB  and he came back - indicates that he is a God with power but he is still limited.So he has to follow the binding rules  and regulations of the proper behavior.