(Yama teaching Atmavidya to Nachiketa)
Nachiketa, son of Vajasravas, prayed to Lord Yama to teach him Atmavidya . Then, Lord Yama said, ‘Oh, the son of immortality! Listen. First establish your link with the source from which you have come into the world.’ He also advised Nachiketa that since the body was perishable like a water bubble and the mind was fickle and unstable, he should transcend both and realise the fundamental truth.
The Lord of Kailasa has manifested his Divine
form with the crescent moon adorning his head,
the cool water of the Ganga flowing between the
matted locks, with his radiant eye in the middle
of the forehead and the purple neck gleaming
like the sheen of a blackberry. He wears serpent
bracelets and a snake belt, his entire body is
smeared with Vibhuti, his forehead is adorned
with a Kumkum dot, his ruddy lips glow with the
juice of the betel, diamond-studded gold earrings
dangle from his ears and his whole swarthy body
glows with divine effulgence.(Telugu poem)
‘Nachiketa! You need not search for Lord Ishvara, for He is very much present in you’, said Lord Yama.
Lord Yama told Nachiketa, ‘This human body which is like a water bubble is bound to burst one day or the other. Therefore, realise that atmatattwa which is real and eternal’. You can recognise that atmatattwa, not by your charma chakshu (physical eyes) but by Jnana chakshu (eyes of wisdom). Then, the question arises as to what is Jnana (wisdom)? Is it physical knowledge or secular knowledge or knowledge relating to the objects of Nature? No, none of these. Experiencing the principle fo non-dualism is true wisdom (Advaita darsanam Jnanam). Atma transcends the name and form. Lord Yama, therefore, exhorted Nachiketa to attain Atma jnana. (SSS Vol.37, pp. 69-70, 72-73)