extraction.upanishads.nachiketas_death_teacher
---
record_id: extraction.upanishads.nachiketas_death_teacher
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/upanishads-paramananda.md
passage_locator:
label: Katha-Upanishad, Part First VII-Part Second IV
start: Katha-Upanishad, Part First VII
end: Katha-Upanishad, Part Second IV
translation: Swami Paramananda, Project Gutenberg eBook
notes: Selected from the Nachiketas episode, including the three-night wait, boons,
refusal of temptations, and Yama's opening instruction.
canonical_text:
summary: Nachiketas waits in Death's house, receives three boons from Yama, asks
for knowledge of what happens after death, refuses wealth and pleasure, and is
praised as one who longs for wisdom.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Nachiketas goes to the abode of Death and waits three nights without food
or drink.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Yama offers three boons because Nachiketas remained as an unfed guest.
category: sacred_exchange
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Nachiketas asks Death for knowledge concerning what becomes of a person after
death.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Yama tests Nachiketas with long life, wealth, rulership, and pleasures.
category: test
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: Nachiketas refuses the temptations and asks for no other boon than the hidden
secret.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: obs:6
text: Yama distinguishes the good from the pleasant and says Nachiketas longs for
wisdom.
category: teaching
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Nachiketas
description: Young seeker who enters Death's abode, receives boons, rejects temptations,
and asks about the great Hereafter.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Yama
description: Ruler of Death who grants boons, tests Nachiketas, and begins instruction.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:7
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: threshold seeker
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Nachiketas enters the abode of Death and asks about the Hereafter.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: death teacher
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Yama, as Death, tests Nachiketas and instructs him on the good, the pleasant,
ignorance, and wisdom.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:3
label: renouncer of temptations
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Nachiketas rejects chariots, dance, music, wealth, and long life in favor
of the hidden secret.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: abode of Death
literal_form: abode of Death
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: three boons
literal_form: three boons
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: hidden secret
literal_form: hidden secret
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:4
label: good and pleasant
literal_form: good; pleasant
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Guest in the house of Death
summary: Nachiketas waits in Death's abode without food or drink, and Yama grants
him three boons in response.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Refusal of Death's temptations
summary: Nachiketas asks about the after-death question, refuses Yama's offered
wealth and pleasures, and asks only for the hidden secret.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: initiation by death teacher
taxonomy_refs:
- initiation
- wisdom
basis: Nachiketas crosses into Death's abode, passes a test of temptations, and
receives instruction from Yama.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: Death Teacher is a text tag but not a current taxonomy ID; mapped here
to initiation and wisdom.
- id: motif:2
label: sacred guest exchange
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_exchange
basis: Yama grants three boons because the Brahmana guest has remained three nights
without food.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: Exchange is direct, though it occurs through guest hospitality rather
than covenant.
- id: motif:3
label: death-question wisdom
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
- death_rebirth
basis: The desired knowledge concerns what becomes of a person after death, and
Yama praises Nachiketas as one who longs for wisdom.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:6
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: Death_rebirth is used for the death-threshold and afterlife question,
not for a narrated resurrection.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: This passage is a strong atlas candidate for a threshold initiation in which
a seeker rejects ordinary rewards and gains wisdom from a death-associated teacher.
claim_level: same_function
target: 'pattern atlas: death-threshold wisdom initiation'
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:8
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: low
limitations: Functional comparison only; no claim of textual dependence is made.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: Katha-Upanishad, Part First VII
quote_or_summary: Nachiketas went to Death's abode and waited without food or drink
for three days.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/upanishads-paramananda.md
rights_note: Public-domain Project Gutenberg source text.
- id: ev:2
type: quote
locator: Katha-Upanishad, Part First IX
quote_or_summary: Yama says Nachiketas remained three nights without food and may
choose three boons.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/upanishads-paramananda.md
rights_note: Public-domain Project Gutenberg source text.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: Katha-Upanishad, Part First XX
quote_or_summary: Nachiketas asks what becomes of a man after death.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/upanishads-paramananda.md
rights_note: Public-domain Project Gutenberg source text.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: Katha-Upanishad, Part First XXIII-XXV
quote_or_summary: Yama offers long life, wealth, rulership, chariots, music, and
other difficult-to-obtain desires.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/upanishads-paramananda.md
rights_note: Public-domain Project Gutenberg source text.
- id: ev:5
type: quote
locator: Katha-Upanishad, Part First XXVI
quote_or_summary: Nachiketas calls these pleasures fleeting and tells Death to keep
chariots, dance, and music.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/upanishads-paramananda.md
rights_note: Public-domain Project Gutenberg source text.
- id: ev:6
type: quote
locator: Katha-Upanishad, Part First XXIX
quote_or_summary: Nachiketas asks for no other boon than the hidden secret of the
great Hereafter.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/upanishads-paramananda.md
rights_note: Public-domain Project Gutenberg source text.
- id: ev:7
type: quote
locator: Katha-Upanishad, Part Second I-II
quote_or_summary: Yama teaches that the good and pleasant differ, and the wise prefer
the good.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/upanishads-paramananda.md
rights_note: Public-domain Project Gutenberg source text.
- id: ev:8
type: quote
locator: Katha-Upanishad, Part Second IV
quote_or_summary: Yama says ignorance and wisdom lead in opposite directions and
Nachiketas longs for wisdom.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/upanishads-paramananda.md
rights_note: Public-domain Project Gutenberg source text.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: low
notes: Core sequence is explicit; broader motif comparison remains provisional.
reviewer_status:
status: draft
notes: Draft extraction; needs scholarly/human review before being treated as final.
extracted_by: Codex
extracted_at: '2026-04-27'
notes: Worker A extraction focused on Nachiketas, Yama, death-threshold initiation,
and wisdom.