In a tale the epic tells only briefly and differently, and which later tradition in the Upanishads tells in full: given away to Death in his father's flash of anger, the boy Nachiketa keeps the careless word and journeys to the house of Yama. Waiting three days at Death's door, he is granted three boons - and spends the last not on wealth or long life, all of which he refuses as fleeting, but on the deepest question of all: what survives death. Yama teaches him the secret of the deathless Self.

On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna faces his own family in war and despairs. Krishna, his charioteer, reveals the eternal truths of dharma, karma, and devotion that have illuminated humanity for millennia.