A Comprehensive Collection - Swami Vivekananda

"""286 REALIZATION.men. Let these, which I will give to you, serve you, ONachiketas, but do not ask me about dying."Vachiketas said : These are merely things of a day,Death, they bear away the energy of all the sense-organs.The longest life even is very short. These horses, chariotsdance and song may remain with Thee. Man cannot bewealth. Shall we retain wealth when we besatisfied byhold Thee ? We shall live only so long as Thou Mesirest.the boon which I have asked is to be chosenOnlyby me."Yama is pleased now, and he says,Perfection is onething and enjoyment another, these two having differentends bind a man. He who chooses perfection becomespure. He who chooses enjoyment ^nisses his true end. Bothperfection and enjo} r ment present themselves to man ;thewise man having examined both distinguishes one from theother. He chooses perfection as being superior to enjoyment, but the foolish chooses enjoyment for the benefit ofhis body. Nachiketas, having thought upon the thingswhich are desirable or apparently so, thou hast abandonedthem." Death then proceeds to teach Nachiketas.Now we get a very developed idea of renunciations andVedic morality, that until one has conquered the desire forenjoyment the truth will not shine in him. So long as thesevain desires of our senses are making this clamour, as itwere, dragging us every moment outward, making us slavesto everything outside, a little bit of colour, a little bit oftaste, a little bit of totfch, dragging the human soul out,notwithstanding all our pretensions,how can the truthitselfexpressin our hearts ?That which is to follow never rises before the^mind ofA thoughtless child deluded by the folly of riches. This