Q1.
Stage a small play with Yama, god of death, surrounded by several Nachiketas asking him questions about life.
Answer
The idea is clever: the Kaṭha Upaniṣhad has one boy asking; the play gives you several, so a whole class can join and the questions can be different.
How to put it together.
| Element | Suggestion |
|---|---|
| Cast | One Yama; five to eight Nachiketas; one narrator; optionally the father, for a short opening scene |
| Set | A single chair on one side for Yama and an empty floor for the boys and girls. Nothing else is needed |
| Costume | A dark shawl for Yama; plain clothes for everyone else. Do not make Yama frightening — in the story he is stern at first and then pleased |
| Length | Eight to ten minutes. One question per Nachiketa, one answer per question |
| Rule of the play | Yama may refuse the first two or three questions, exactly as he does in the Upaniṣhad. Only when the children keep asking does he begin to answer. The refusal is the point |
Sample opening (adapt it freely):
Narrator: A man was giving away everything he owned. His son Nachiketa asked, again and again, to whom his father would give him.
Father (angry): I give you to Yama!
Narrator: And so the children went to the house of Death, and waited three days.
Yama: You have waited long, and no one has offered you water. Ask me anything.
First Nachiketa: Then tell us — what happens after the death of the body?
Yama: Ask something else. Ask for wealth, for long life, for horses and elephants.
Second Nachiketa: Horses die. Elephants die. We will keep the question.
Third Nachiketa: What happens after the death of the body?
Yama (after a pause, pleased): Then listen. The Self is hidden within all creatures. It is neither born, nor does it die. It is immortal.
Fourth Nachiketa: If it is not born, what is it that we call ‘I’?
Fifth Nachiketa: And what is worth doing, with the years we do have?
Yama: That question, child, is the whole of the answer to the first.
Narrator: A man was giving away everything he owned. His son Nachiketa asked, again and again, to whom his father would give him.
Father (angry): I give you to Yama!
Narrator: And so the children went to the house of Death, and waited three days.
Yama: You have waited long, and no one has offered you water. Ask me anything.
First Nachiketa: Then tell us — what happens after the death of the body?
Yama: Ask something else. Ask for wealth, for long life, for horses and elephants.
Second Nachiketa: Horses die. Elephants die. We will keep the question.
Third Nachiketa: What happens after the death of the body?
Yama (after a pause, pleased): Then listen. The Self is hidden within all creatures. It is neither born, nor does it die. It is immortal.
Fourth Nachiketa: If it is not born, what is it that we call ‘I’?
Fifth Nachiketa: And what is worth doing, with the years we do have?
Yama: That question, child, is the whole of the answer to the first.
Questions the other Nachiketas can ask — give each actor one, and let them choose it themselves so they mean it: Does anything of our actions follow us? Why are people so afraid of you? What do people most regret when they reach you? Is anyone ever glad to see you? What should we not waste our time on?
What makes this play work rather than fall flat: resist the temptation to make Yama a villain in a scary mask. In the Upaniṣhad he is a teacher who first tests the boy and then respects him. The dramatic energy comes entirely from persistence — children who will not be bought off with an easier subject. Rehearse that stubbornness and the play will hold the audience.
Follow-up for the class: after the performance, ask the audience to write down the one question from the play they would most like answered. Collect them anonymously and read them out. You will have made your own small Upaniṣhad — a set of questions asked by children, which is exactly what the original is.