Bhaja Govindam - Post 9

One cannot stop wondering at the sequence in which Sankara takes readers through the path of enquiry.

After describing the impermanence  and futility of all relations, wealth, woman, etc., in all the initial verses, Sankara almost takes a sincere reader to a stage where he is bound to ask himself, “If all these things which I have been pursuing endlessly in my life so far are worthless, then what is that I have to pursue in my life, if the relation I have with all others and have been cherishing all my life , my wife, my son, my parents, my children, my friends, my enemies - all these are temporary, then , actually WHO AM I?”.

This verse gives a kick start to that enquiry.

A Chinmaya mission monk explains this verse thus:-

Obstacles to Transcend the Family Unit 

1. What are the main obstacles that bind us to family life beyond its legitimate purpose? – the wife and the children. Thus, without intending to disrupt the family as a social institution, the poet asks the earnest seeker to do some soul-searching here. When one has played his or her role within the family, family life has to be transcended. That is all that is being said here. 

There comes a time in an aspirant’s quest for Truth when he has to forego the comforts of home and take to a secluded lifestyle. This is built into the Indian way of life. There is nothing abnormal about it. 

2. When he does this, he sees the true perspective of family life from the outside. The true nature of worldly existence or Samsara is understood. When we are in a whirlpool, we do not know in which direction we are going. Only when we step out of it, can we see that we were being spun around in never-ending circles. So, it is with Samsara. 

Swami quotes Sankara's verses in a discourse, which aligns with the essence of this verse, the fact about Samsara, thus:-

Quote

Mata Nasti, Pita Nasti, Nasti Bandhu Sahodara,

Artham Nasti, Griham Nasti, Thasmath Jagrata Jagrata.

(Relationships like mother, father, brothers, sisters and friends are not real. House and wealth are also illusory. Hence, beware! beware!)

Embodiments of Love!

I am not asking all of you to become renunciants. Do your duty and keep your focus on God. Realize that there is one fundamental basis for everything. Once you recognize this truth, you will develop detachment automatically. It is not possible to develop a sense of detachment by force. As you develop love for God more and more, detachment will go on increasing in you.

So, beware! beware!"

Unquote

(Extract from divine discourse delivered on 10.9.1996)

3. The answers to “Where have you come from?” come from a deeper level of his personality and that level is reached only under the condition when he has come out of the ‘family’ life. 

4. This whole verse can be answered in two totally different ways, depending on whether one is still family bound or has transcended the family. From the latter perspective, when one is unattached to the family, the answer comes that the real relationship to nurture is the one that links us to the whole of creation, not just to the family of one’s birth. Family relationships are in the realm of unreality; the Self goes beyond such narrow confines and links one to the Pure Consciousness pervading this universe. 

Our true relationship with the world is only understood when we have renounced family ties. The broader picture then comes into focus. 

The line “WHOSE ARE YOU OR TO WHOM YOU REALLY BELONG AND THEN WHERE HAVE YOU COME FROM” is the real enquiry of one’s own self which then leads one to the real spiritual path of SELF ENQUIRY and MEDITATION ON THE REAL SELF (Atman that one really is…)

Love.