Week 9 Reading Diary: Nachiketa

Reading: Nachiketa: A Collection Of Stories From The Upanishads, Amar Chitra Katha (Volume 702)

I enjoyed the minimalistic style of these stories. Each story is quite short, but it never feels too short. They did a really good job of conveying the needed information clearly, and they left out anything that didn't serve the story.

The story of Nachiketa learning about the Hindu life cycle was a little unexpected. There were Brahmin in the story who didn't believe in the concept of the self going beyond the body (or enlightenment). This is really weird since it's one of the core concepts of Hinduism. There wasn't too much context around it (There might be more in the original Upanishads.) I'm guessing it's sort of an origin story for the concept which might be cool to do my own spin on.

Yama greeting Nachiketa
Edited by me (Original)

The portrayal of Yama in this comic is a lot like the one in my storybook. He looks almost exactly like the Asuras in the last story, but he has a kinder face and attitude. He is also with his water buffalo. I'll have to look into that creature. It might be useful for my storybook.

The last two stories dealt with concepts important to living a satisfied life. The second talks about being truthful and seeing the presence of god all around us, and the last details the three cardinal virtures, self-control, charity, and compassion. I think these might be good themes for my stories.