Three who asked questions

Many stories in the Upaniṣhads show how important it is to ask questions, whether they come from men, women or children. In the three stories below, the askers are a young man, a boy and a woman.

Śhvetaketu and the seed of reality (from the Chhāndogya Upaniṣhad). Rishi Uddālaka Āruṇi sent his son Śhvetaketu to a gurukula to learn the Vedas. When Śhvetaketu came back 12 years later, his father saw that he had become very proud of his learning. So Uddālaka tested him with questions about brahman, which Śhvetaketu could not answer.

Uddālaka explained that brahman, though invisible, is everywhere. Open the seed of a banyan fruit and it looks empty, yet it already holds the future banyan tree. And all kinds of different pots can be made from the same clay. In the same way, everything around us comes from the same essence, brahman. He ended: 'Everything consists of this subtle essence. ... You are That, Śhvetaketu.'

Nachiketa and his quest (from the Kaṭha Upaniṣhad). A man was giving away all his possessions in a ritual. His son Nachiketa kept asking him to which god he himself would be given. The father became angry and said, 'I give you to Yama', the god of death.

So Nachiketa went to Yama's world and, after a long wait, met the mighty god. One question was on his mind: 'What happens after the death of the body?' Yama tried to avoid answering, but the boy kept asking. Pleased, Yama explained that the ātman, the Self, is hidden in all creatures; it is neither born, nor does it die; it is immortal. With this deep knowledge, Nachiketa returned to his father, who welcomed him joyfully.

The debate of Gārgī and Yājñavalkya (from the Bṛihadāraṇyaka Upaniṣhad). The wise king Janaka announced a prize for the winner of a debate on big questions. Yājñavalkya, a famous rishi, came to his court and beat many scholars, until Gārgī, a rishika, asked him a series of questions about the nature of the world, and finally about brahman.

At that point Yājñavalkya asked her to stop asking. But later Gārgī took up her questions again, and Yājñavalkya went on to explain how brahman is what makes the world, the seasons, the rivers and everything else possible. Three stories, one shape: the one who keeps asking is the one who learns. Twelve years of study did not teach Śhvetaketu what one question did.