In the Upanishad under discussion there is mention made of three things
only as objects of knowledge--the three standing to one another in the
relation of means, end to be realised by those means, and persons
realising,--and questions are asked as to those three only. There is no
mention of, nor question referring to, the Unevolved.--Nakiketas
desirous of Release having been allowed by Death to choose three boons,
chooses for his first boon that his father should be well disposed
towards him--without which he could not hope for spiritual welfare. For
his second boon he chooses the knowledge of the Nakiketa-fire, which is
a means towards final Release. 'Thou knowest, O Death, the fire-
sacrifice which leads to heaven; tell it to me, full of faith. Those who
live in the heaven-world reach Immortality--this I ask as my second boon.'
The term 'heaven-world' here denotes the highest aim of man, i.e.
Release, as appears from the declaration that those who live there enjoy
freedom from old age and death; from the fact that further on (I, 1, 26)
works leading to perishable results are disparaged; and from what Yama
says in reply to the second demand 'He who thrice performs this Nâkiketa-
rite overcomes birth and death.' As his third boon he, in the form of a
question referring to final release, actually enquires about three
things, viz. 'the nature of the end to be reached, i.e. Release; the
nature of him who wishes to reach that end; and the nature of the means
to reach it, i.e. of meditation assisted by certain works. Yama, having
tested Nakiketas' fitness to receive the desired instruction, thereupon
begins to teach him. 'The Ancient who is difficult to be seen, who has
entered into the dark, who is hidden in the cave, who dwells in the
abyss; having known him as God, by means of meditation on his Self, the
wise one leaves joy and sorrow behind.' Here the clause 'having known
the God,' points to the divine Being that is to be meditated upon; the
clause 'by means of meditation on his Self points to the attaining agent,
i.e. the individual soul as an object of knowledge; and the clause
'having known him the wise ones leave joy and sorrow behind' points to
the meditation through which Brahman is to be reached. Nakiketas,
pleased with the general instruction received, questions again in order
to receive clearer information on those three matters, 'What thou seest
as different from dharma and different from adharma, as different from
that, from that which is done and not done, as different from what is
past or future, tell me that'; a question referring to three things, viz.
an object to be effected, a means to effect it, and an effecting agent--
each of which is to be different from anything else past, present, or
future [FOOTNOTE 362:1]. Yama thereupon at first instructs him as to the
Pranava, 'That word which all the Vedas record, which all penances
proclaim, desiring which men become religious students; that word I tell
thee briefly--it is Om'--an instruction which implies praise of the
Pranava, and in a general way sets forth that which the Pranava
expresses, e.g. the nature of the object to be reached, the nature of
the person reaching it, and the means for reaching it, such means here
consisting in the word 'Om,' which denotes the object to be reached
[FOOTNOTE 362:2]. He then continues to glorify the Pranava (I, a,
16-17), and thereupon gives special information in the first place about
the nature of the attaining subject, i.e., the individual soul, 'The
knowing Self is not born, it dies not,' &c. Next he teaches Nakiketas as
to the true nature of the object to be attained, viz. the highest
Brahman or Vishnu, in the section beginning 'The Self smaller than
small,' and ending 'Who then knows where he is?' (I, 2, 20-25). Part of
this section, viz. 'That Self cannot be gained by the Veda,' &c., at the
same time teaches that the meditation through which Brahman is attained
is of the nature of devotion (bhakti). Next the sloka I, 3, 1 'There are
the two drinking their reward' shows that, as the object of devout
meditation and the devotee abide together, meditation is easily
performed. Then the section beginning 'Know the Self to be him who
drives in the chariot,' and ending 'the wise say the path is hard' (I,
3, 3-14), teaches the true mode of meditation, and how the devotee
reaches the highest abode of Vishnu; and then there is a final reference
to the object to be reached in I, 3,15, 'That which is without sound,
without touch,' &c. It thus appears that there are references and
questions regarding those three matters only; and hence the 'Un-evolved'
cannot mean the Pradhâna of the Sânkhyas.
[FOOTNOTE 362:1. The commentary proposes different ways of finding those
three objects of enquiry in the words of Nakiketas. According to the
first explanation, 'that which is different from dharma' is a means
differing from all ordinary means; 'adharma' 'not-dharma' is what is not
a means, but the result to be reached: hence 'that which is different
from adharma' is a result differing from all ordinary results. 'What is
different from that' is an agent different from 'that'; i.e. an ordinary
agent, and so on. (Sru. Prakâs. p. 1226.)]
[FOOTNOTE 362:2. The syllable 'Om,' which denotes Brahman, is a means
towards meditation (Brahman being meditated upon under this form), and
thus indirectly a means towards reaching Brahman.]