Yama Gītā

The Yama Gītā is the teaching that Yama, the deva of death and dharma, gave to Naciketas. It is told in the Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 382. Agni Deva tells it to the ṛshi Vasishṭha. In it, Yama shares the words of eight great ṛshis on the paramaśreyas (the highest good for a human being). Then he gives his own teaching: knowledge of the ātman is the best path to moksha (liberation).

How the teaching begins

Agni Deva tells Vasishṭha what Yama taught Naciketas. Naciketas comes to the abode of Yama, the dharmarāja, and receives the highest teaching on the ātman and moksha. He asks sincerely what is truly the paramaśreyas for a human being.

Yama first points to a strange fact about people. A human being is anitya (not lasting) and aśāśvata (passing). Yet he is moha-āvishṭa, overpowered by delusion. He wants his seat, his bed, his vehicle, his clothes and his house to stay with him for ever and to stay his own. This clinging is the root of saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death).

The eight teachings on the highest good

To answer Naciketas, Yama gives the teachings of eight great ṛshis. Each one shows the highest good from a different side.

Kapila. Having no attachment to pleasures (bhoga-anāsakti), and seeing the ātman at all times. This is the highest good for human beings.

Pañcaśikha. Seeing all with equal eyes (sama-darśana) in every situation. Having no mamakāra (the feeling “this is mine”). Not clinging (asaṅgatva). This is the highest good.

Gāṅgāvishṇu. Understanding the stages of life from garbha-vāsa (living in the womb) through birth, childhood and all the later avasthās (stages), and seeing that suffering belongs to each stage. This is the highest good.

Janaka. Understanding the beginning (ādi) and the end (anta) of the three kinds of duḥkha (suffering), and answering them rightly (pratikriyā). The three are:

• ādhyātmika, which comes from one’s own body and mind
• ādhibhautika, which comes from other beings
• ādhidaivika, which comes from the forces of nature and the devas

This is the highest good.

Brahmā. The tattva (truth) is one and without a second. What ends (śamana) the idea of difference (bheda) in it is the best good (uttama-śreyas). Seeing no difference in what looks different is the teaching of Brahmā, the creator.

Jaigīshavya. Doing the duties set by the Ṛg, Yajus and Sāma Vedas only as duty (kartavya-buddhi), with no attachment (saṅga) to their fruits. This is the highest good. Vedic duty done without attachment is liberation in action.

Devala. Giving up every undertaking (sarva-kāryārambha-parityāga) is itself the path to happiness. This full giving up of effort is the highest good.

Sanaka. Giving up kāma (desire) brings vijñāna (clear knowledge), sukha (lasting happiness) and the paramapada (the highest state). Those who keep kāma cannot gain vijñāna.

Yama’s own teaching

After the eight views, Yama gives his own words. Actions of pravṛtti (going out into the world) and nivṛtti (turning away from it) must be done. But naishkarmya, the ātman’s own freedom from action, is the highest good. This naishkarmya is the very nature of Hari. The true jñānī (knower) never feels apart from the highest, unchanging Brahman, who is Vishṇu.

Yama then says that through tapas a person gains jñāna (knowledge). Through jñāna he gains vijñāna. Through vijñāna come good fortune (saubhāgya) and the best form (uttama-rūpa). Then the mind gains all that it wants. Yama says:

• There is nothing to meditate on that equals Vishṇu.
• There is no tapas that equals fasting (upavāsa).
• There is nothing better than health (ārogya).
• There is no river that equals the Gaṅgā.
• There is no relative (bāndhava) except Vishṇu.

A person may remember Hari at the time of death as filling everything: below, above and in front, and in the body (deha), the senses (indriyas) and the mind (manas). If he leaves the body holding this remembrance (smaraṇa), he becomes Hari himself.

Yama then speaks of para-brahman. All things have come from it and all things rest in it. It cannot be grasped (agrāhya). It cannot be pointed out (anirdeśya). It is fully established (supratishṭhita). Vishṇu lives in the heart of every being, in his higher (parā) and lower (aparā) forms. Some call him yajña-purusha. Others call him Vishṇu, others Śiva, others Brahmā. Different ṛshis use different names for the one Paramātmā, such as Indra, Sūrya, Soma and Kāla-purusha. The whole world, from Brahmā down to a blade of grass, is the form of Vishṇu. Those who reach his pada (state) do not return (na punarāvṛtti).

The ātman and liberation

Yama’s last teaching to Naciketas is about the journey of the ātman. The body is the chariot (ratha). The buddhi (understanding) is the sārathi (charioteer). The manas (mind) is the reins. The senses are the horses. The objects of the senses are the places the horses run towards. The ātman, the senses and the mind together are called the bhoktā (the one who experiences) by the wise (paṇḍitas).

A person who has not mastered the mind and has not gained vijñāna cannot reach the paramapada. He stays in saṃsāra. But a person who has mastered the mind rides with vijñāna as charioteer and the mind as controlled reins. He crosses the road of saṃsāra and reaches the highest place of Vishṇu (Vishṇu-pada).

Yama gives the order of fineness: the senses, then manas, then buddhi, then mahat, then avyakta, then purusha. Nothing is beyond purusha. Purusha is the last limit (parākāshṭhā) and the highest goal (parāgati). The ātman is hidden in all beings. The outer eye does not see it. Those of fine sight see it through the fine buddhi. The wise person should fix speech (vāk) in the mind, the mind in jñāna, jñāna in the great ātman (mahad-ātman), and the great ātman in the peaceful ātman (śānta ātman). This is the path of merging into Brahman.

When ajñāna (ignorance) and all that comes from it have dissolved, the jīva becomes ajara (ageless) and amara (deathless). When a pot (ghaṭa) is broken, the space inside it (ghaṭākāśa) becomes one with the great space (mahākāśa). In the same way the freed jīva becomes one with Brahman. The jīva thought itself apart from Brahman only through ajñāna. When ajñāna and its effects are removed, the jīva is of the nature of sat-brahman (true Brahman).

The fruit of hearing

Agni Deva speaks to Vasishṭha after finishing: “I have now taught you the Yama Gītā. It gives bhukti (enjoyment) and mukti (liberation) to those who read it (paṭhita) or hear it (śravaṇa). To gain the knowledge of Brahman everywhere through Vedānta-jñāna is the final dissolution (ātyantika-pralaya) of saṃsāra.”

Sources

• Agni Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 382