Who Am I? A Boy’s Quest for the Ultimate Truth

There once lived a little boy named Nachiketa. He was the son of Rishi Vājashravasa. Once Rishi Vājashravasa organized a yagya (offering fire sacrifices) to please the Gods and gain heaven. It was a custom in those days to donate cows to Brahmins at the end of the yagna.

Rishi Vājashravasa was a miser and he donated old, barren, blind and lame cows who hardly yielded any milk, to the Brahmins. Our scriptures tell us that one must donate only the very best of one’s possessions. Hence, Nachiketa was puzzled by his father's action. He thought he should be gifting the things which are dear to him since he intends to gain swarg, but he will go to Hell instead through such actions.

Nachiketa asked his father, “Father, to whom will you give me as charity or a gift?” His father ignored the question but Nachiketa repeated the question, Vājashravasa lost his temper and said, “Get away from here. I will give you to Yama, God of Death”.

Being an obedient son Nachiketa set out to Yampuri, the abode of Yamraj. He reached Yama's kingdom but was told by Yama's guards that Yamraj had gone out for three days. Nachiketa decided to wait at his doorstep until he returned. He waited for three days without any food or water. He basically fasted for three days!

Upon his return, Yamraj was sorry to see that a Brahmin guest had been waiting so long without food and water. He told Nachiketa, "You have waited in my house for three days without hospitality, therefore ask three boons from me". Nachiketa first asked for peace for his father and himself. Yamraj agreed. Next, Nachiketa wished to learn the sacred fire sacrifice, which also Yamraj elaborated. For his third boon, Nachiketa wanted to learn the mystery of what comes after death. Yamraj was reluctant on this question. He said that this had been a mystery even to the gods. He asked Nachiketa to ask for some other boon, and offered many material gains.

But Nachiketa replied that material things will last only till death. He who has encountered death personally, how can he desire wealth? No other boon would do. Yamraj was secretly pleased with this disciple, and elaborated on the nature of the true Self, which persists beyond death. The key of the realization is that this soul is inseparable from Brahm, the supreme spirit, the vital force in the universe. Yamraj's explanation is a succinct explication of Hindu metaphysics, and focuses on the following points -
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 The goal of the wise is to know the real self, which is the soul.
 The soul is like a passenger; the horses are the senses, which he guides through the maze of desires.
 At the time of death, the body dies but soul is immortal.
 By mere reading of the scriptures or intellectual learning, one cannot realize the God.  One must discriminate the soul from the body, which is the seat of desire.
 The inability to realize God, results in one being enmeshed in the cycle of rebirths. Understanding God leads to moksha or liberation.

Thus having learned the wisdom of the Brahm from Yamraj, Nachiketa was freed from the cycle of births.

Moral 
​First approach a God-realized saint, with an inquisitive mind, ask him what the goal of life is, then trust his words and finally practice the same principles. Then realization of God would be possible.