Epic Characters of Vedas & Upanishads

Nachiketa was the son of Vajashravas, a poor but very ambitious Brahmin. Wanting to be famous as a daani, Vajashravas performed a great yajna in which he planned to give away many cows in daana. Unfortunately, all the cows were completely useless and emaciated. Noticing that anything given in daana must be of use to the receiver, Nachiketa was upset and asked his father to whom he planned to give his son away in daana. In anger, the father said that he would gift him to Yama. Taking his father's words as gospel, Nachiketa left for Yama's abode immediately, something that was unheard of. The father repented his anger and felt helpless. Finding that Lord Yama wasn't there, he waited for him outside for three days without eating or drinking water. After Yama returned, he and his wife felt guilty for a brahmachari guest had been left unattended. In lieu of it, Yama asked the boy to ask for three boons. Nachiketa asked him to ensure that his father would not worry about him and would welcome him when he returned home. Next, Yama taught him Agnividya , which was the second boon. As the third boon, Nachiketa wanted to know about the Ultimate Truth – whether man exists after death. Yama was dumbfounded because this was a secret even the Devas were not aware of. How could a young boy be let into it? Yama tried to attract him with other gifts but the boy was very firm. Finally, Yama explained to him what Atma Vidya meant and was pleased to give him jnana deeksha. Nachiketa acquired Brahmavidya from the Lord of Death and then returned to his father who became his son's disciple. This is the story of Nachiketa as it appears in the Kathopanishad.

Dattatreya was an incarnation of SriHari, born to sage Atri and his wife Anasuya. Along with him were born in the same family, Soma, an incarnation of Brahma and Durvasa, an incarnation of Shiva. Dattatreya desired to live in isolation and once hid himself in a lake through his yogic power. When Karthveeryarjuna wasn't prepared to take over kingship, a minister, Garga, advised him to worship Dattatreya and get the power that he needed. Sage Brihaspathi also advised the Devas to take the help of Dattatreya if they wanted to regain all that they had lost to the asuras. Accordingly, Dattatreya advised them to somehow bring the asuras to him. The Devas started a battle with the asuras and came running to Dattatreya who was sitting with the beautiful Lakshmi. Naturally, this distracted the asuras who forgot their purpose of coming and carried away the beautiful goddess. The Devas were asked to follow them and again engage them in battle as now, they had lost their merit by indulging in the heinous crime of carrying away Lakshmi. Yadu, an emperor , once asked Dattatreya how he managed to remain untouched by desires. Dattatreya's answer was very interesting – he said he had 24 preceptors ranging from the Sun to the tiny spider. At the request of the Devas and sadhus, he spoke to them at length on peace, truth, courage, righteousness and so on. There was no one who came in contact with him and didn't derive something of value. He touched everyone with his great understanding of things.

Bharadwaja was sage Valmiki's disciple, son of Uthathya and Mamatha. Drona was his son. He was one of the Saptharishis who belonged to the Vedic Age. He lived through the first three yugas and was the originator of the Bharadwaja gotra. He was the first person to listen to the Ramayana from his guru. He had a major role to play in many events in the Ramayana. He was extremely intelligent. Unfortunately, he was deserted as a child by his parents. The Maruth Devas found the abandoned child and took him under their care. Later he was asked to do severe tapas to get more knowledge from Devendra. Bharadwaja had an insatiable thirst for knowledge. However, Indra felt that all that would go waste if his lineage was not taken care of. Indra advised him to become a gruhastha . Though he wasn't interested, he realized that it was a responsibility and hence sought Indra's blessings for the purpose. The Maruth Devas found that none of Bharatha's children survived to succeed him. So they asked him to adopt Bharadwaja. Thus the sage got married to Susheela and got entitled to ascend the throne. But as he was interested in spreading the message of the Vedas, he prayed to AgniDeva to bless Bharatha with a son. He anointed him king and left to perform the duty that was close to his heart. He established an ashram on the banks of the river Saraswathi and it came to be one of the most sought after centers for the study of the Vedas. Later, when there was a dreadful epidemic, he learnt Ayurveda from Devendra and used his knowledge to give relief to multitudes of people. He distributed a huge number of royal gifts that he had received from two royal disciples, Divodasa and Abhyavarthi. He had no use for them! He was a true patriot and did everything to preserve and protect dharma.

Sage Bhrigu was a great tapasvi, one of the saptharishis who helped the Lord in the task of creation. He had mastered yoga and the art of Sanjivini Vidya. He belonged to the first manvanthara. He came out of Lord Brahma's heart and was called Brahmamanasaputra. He established the clan that came to be known as Bhargava gotra. The sage came out of fire after Varuna performed a great yajna. Brahma, Agni and Varuna vied for him but the Devas supported Varuna's claim. As a young boy, he mastered Brahmavidya through severe penance. Once he conducted a yaaga to find out which among the Trinity was the greatest. He cursed Vishnu for killing his wife, and so, in his incarnation as Rama, Vishnu suffered from separation pangs. Later when Bhrigu was able to bring back his wife to life, he repented the curse and started worshipping Vishnu. In fact, it's interesting that Narayana became Bhrigu's son-in-law as he got married to Sridevi who was none other than Lakshmi and the sage's daughter. While Bhrigu was known to be short tempered, he was also merciful when the situation demanded. He brought back Jamadagni to life and later helped Parasurama to give up the Kshatra way of life. Bhrigu released heaven from the arrogant rule of Nahusha and restored it rightfully to Devendra. The sage did everything to preserve dharma and didn't spare even Agnideva once as he went against it. Brahmadeva had to intervene to ease the situation. Thus, Bhrigu led a full and useful life preaching the righteous way of life to the world.

Agni is one of the ashtadikpalakas who protects the South-east direction (Agneya). He occupies the second position after Devendra and is the chief deity of the Rig Veda. The Maruth devas are born out of Agni. Agni is present in every living being or thing and is the energy that causes movement. He is Varuna's brother and is influenced by Vayu Deva. According to Vishnu Purana, he is the eldest son of Brahmadeva. Agnideva was once cursed by sage Bhrigu because of which he entered the ocean and performed tapas. The world was on the brink of disaster without Agni. Brahmadeva had to implore Agni to go back to the world and resume his duties. Agnideva once lost his immense power of digestion when King Swethaki performed a great yajna lasting a hundred years. As suggested by Brahmadeva, he had to burn the Khandava forest in order to regain his power. In spite of burning down a large part of Sahadeva's army, Agni stopped his burning spree on Sahadeva's plea and helped the Pandavas to complete the rajasuyayajna. Devendra had once committed a sin of killing a Brahmin. When Brahma divided the sin into four parts, Agni accepted one of the parts in order to free Devendra. Agni appears in the Ramayana when he himself offered a pot of payasam to the childless Dasharatha. Later, when Sita was put through a test of fidelity, he announced to the world that she was the most faithful woman of her time. Parameswara blessed Agni saying that he would never have to fear death. Agni Deva is all powerful, present in all, sustaining and protecting all the time.

The Vedas and Upanishads are part of the Indian literary and cultural heritage. This series of books is a revelation of how one must lead life and what skills are to be acquired in order to live meaningfully with courage and fortitude. The stories that you would be reading are those of well known great sages, of our protectors such as Indra, Agni and Varuna as well as of lesser known personalities such as Naabhaaga and Satyakama Jaabaala. All these as well the story of Nachiketa's perseverance are truly inspirational.