Bhaja Govindam - Post 3

मूढ जहीहि धनागमतृष्णां कुरु सद्बुद्धिं मनसि वितृष्णाम् ।

यल्लभसे निजकर्मोपात्तं वित्तं तेन विनोदय चित्तम् ॥ २ ॥

MŪḌHA JAHĪHI DHANĀGAMATṚṢṆĀṀ

KURU SADBUDDHIṀ MANASI VITṚṢṆĀM

YALLABHASE NIJAKARMOPĀTTAṀ

VITTAṀ TENA VINODAYA CITTAM

 [O Fool, give up the thirst to possess wealth, create in your mind, devoid of passions, thoughts of the reality. From your actions, whatever you get as wealth, entertain your mind (be content)]

MŪḌHA – One who comes to suffer from one’s own ignorance/delusion.

JAHĪHI DHANĀGAMATṚṢṆĀṀ - Give up the thirst to acquire wealth. Wealth here includes all worldly objects of possessions that provide temporary satisfaction. (Desire for wealth needs to be given up. It does not mean to renounce all wealth.

KURU SADBUDDHIṀ MANASI VITṚṢṆĀM - When the mind is cleansed of passions, with a passionless mind one must meditate upon the Reality. Once the mind is cleared with no lust for objects, greed for possessions, and covetousness for wealth; mediate & contemplate upon the Real, the Enduring and the Eternal.

YALLABHASE NIJAKARMOPĀTTAṀ VITTAṀ TENA VINODAYA CITTAM - While wealth is required to live in this world, Sankara indicates us to live joyously in the contentment and satisfaction with what we get ‘as a result of our actions’.

Man due to their lack of understanding of how to achieve unlimited happiness, seeks wealth of the worldly objects to get their happiness. 

Sankara in this sloka indicates to us, that while wealth is required to function in the materialistic world, give up the thirst to acquire wealth, be content with what we get.

When the mind is cleared of these thoughts of possessing wealth, channel the thoughts to contemplate on Reality – (Brahman). 

Does wealth provide fundamental security? 

Once, a fellow Sai devotee brother was discussing on the “financial security” aspect with the author.

Qn. Am I wrong in providing security to my family by buying more houses, by saving more money for them?

Answer. It is absolutely necessary to save, to invest in real estate etc. but one must have a clear vision of “How much I need to save, for the security of my family”. Once that level of saving is reached, then planning for accumulating wealth, for buying more and more properties etc. should be abandoned. After that, whatever gets saved is ok and one must then aspire fully (not that one has not been aspiring till then, but now, it must be whole soul aspiration / craving) for amassing the real wealth, "LOVE OF GOD'.

Any finite article, being and circumstance cannot provide us what we need. It is a sad belief for this same pattern of thinking believes we can buy sound sleep, peace of mind, Love, etc. 

If livelihood is meant for living, then what is living meant for? What are we going to do with so much wealth? Let us not make the means into an end. Everything has its proper time and limits. Is the wealth going to come with us when we go? 

There is this story of Alexander the Great who had instructed that at the time of his funeral, his hands should be positioned to hang out of the coffin with the palms open, to indicate that after all his conquests he is not taking anything with him! 

The most fundamental security is understanding and appreciating one is Infinite. This is most fundamental, for, the possibility of threat is not possible in Oneness. 

Replacing Evil Thoughts with Good Ones: 

What happens when we give away our excess wealth? The passions in our mind are cooled down. In a mind free from passions, we are able to entertain thoughts of the Reality. Note that the pursuits themselves are not being criticized; only their effect of making us forget God is criticized. Knowledge and wealth are both needed, but not at the expense of losing our spiritual identity. When they are in excess of our need, they tend to make us forget God. By giving this excess away in charity, we can be safe from this danger. 

Remaining Contented: 

What is occupying our mind? What should be occupying it? Is a Sattwic pursuit such as the quest for knowledge going to be of more use than the Rajasic one of earning more wealth? Knowledge also has its dangers. It may make one swollen-headed. One can become great in a particular field. Then there will be welcome receptions everywhere, one will be a speaker at every function, etc. Will this be help to realize one’s spiritual goal? 

Vinodaya Chittam 

“give joy to the mind”. When we use our excess wealth for the welfare of others, it helps to build a noble mind; such a mind is always pleasant and joyful. 

The total message in this verse is therefore to be understood clearly: 

Anything that takes us away from the spiritual goal is to be considered as a wasted effort. 

Those who attended the October month sadan talk would / need to refresh their mind and heart with what we shared during the talk on property. It truly applies to each and every step in our life when it comes to practical steps / actions for providing family security.

Any such action must be taken in the back-drop of the following:

·         willingness to give up fear, 

·          willingness to give up desire, 

· Invoking Swami’s presence within us as pure  energy/consciousness which is available everywhere around us.

And, having taken an action with the above factors in the background, willingness to effortlessly surrender the fruits of such action at His lotus feet, then and there, even before the fruits of actions are to manifest!!!

How wonderfully this lesson fits / aligns with the last expression in this verse - VINODAYA CHITTAM, which is explained above.

Love.

Dear All,

Please take out some peaceful time and go through the link given below, which deals with the 4 Purushartha- Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha in great detail. This has been dealt in " Karma" theme post and the post number under Karma is 9.

4 Purusharthas

Love.

Bhaja Govindam - Post 2

Dear All,

Today's post is in continuation with the last post on the verse 1.

Para and Apara Vidya

Life is a travel from here to beyond.

Whatever man is, it is the outcome of his past. So, he can only make a bright future for himself by his conduct in the present.

The secular development (out of Apara Vidya) goes to help only in external development.

However, self-conquest and spiritual evolvement are most necessary for a peaceful life and for achieving a wholesome, integrated personality.

Even a king, if he has not conquered his mind, will be a slave at the hands of his desires.

On the other hand, even a beggar, who has conquered his mind and is into the spiritual path, experiences that he is the king of all kings, emperor of emperor!!

This is not to undermine the need for secular knowledge. One does have to acquire secular knowledge to earn for his family, for maintaining a decent family and to be respected in society etc. But all the while, one must be aware of the limitation of secular knowledge and must take to the adhyatmic path, the spiritual path, even when one is young.

A big misapprehension in the minds of most human beings is that taking to spiritual path while one is young, may result in dispassion for life, for family, for aesthetic enjoyments etc.

This is only a misapprehension. Being spiritual only helps one to lead life in a better manner, to love one's family and all others more, to be able to forgive anybody for their mistakes easily and in nutshell, to spread happiness in both, family as well in the society.

Nahi Nahi Rakshati

On the face of it, the last 2 lines of the 1^st verse suggests that when the call of yama comes, when the death approaches, except for one's incessant remembrance of Govinda (God / Self knowledge), any other knowledge, any other attainment in material world will not save him.

On listening to this, one may say, "I shall enjoy my whole life and when death approaches me, I shall chant Govinda, I shall chant God's name and attain salvation".

We often hear a story about a rich businessman who was fully involved in his business, in making money.

He had 4 sons and going by the logic given above, he named all his sons as Govinda, Gopala, Narayana etc.  He thought, when his death approaches, he shall but call out name of his sons and thereby, with Lord's name on his tongue, he shall die and attain mukthi.

The last day does come in his life, he does call out his sons names, all of them rush to him and he says, "Foolish fellows, if all of you leave the shop and come, who will take care of the shop", and, with this thought, he dies!!!

In Tamil, there is a saying, “what does not blossom in 5 (when one is 5 year old or when one is a child), will not blossom in 50 (or when one gets older)".

We have to learn that the seeds for Godly path have to be sowed when one is a child so that when he grows up, this seed blossoms to a magnificent tree!!

Without that, if one thinks that one can suddenly take to spiritual path when one is tired, when one is in sick bed, it just does not happen. His physical body will not have strength to take up prayers, meditation etc.

Krishna says to Arjuna, 

"tasmaat servesu khalesu maam anusmaraa"

(Therefore, at all times, constantly remember me)

So, with this clarity, let us go back from where we started

"Bhaja Govindam"!!!

Love.

Bhaja Govindam - Post 1

भज गोविन्दं भज गोविन्दं गोविन्दं भज मूढमते ।

सम्प्राप्ते सन्निहिते काले नहि नहि रक्षति डुकृङ्करणे ॥ १॥

BHAJA GOVINDAṀ BHAJA GOVINDAṀ GOVINDAṀ BHAJAMŪḌHAMaATE

SAMPRĀPTE SANNIHITE KAĀLE NAHI NAHI RAKŚATI ḌUKṚÑ KARAṆE

[Seek Govinda, Seek Govinda, Seek Govinda, O Fool! When the appointed time (death) comes grammar-rules surely will not save you.]

Govinda – Govinda is to be understood as:-

One who realized the substratum, or the very essence –   the Truth. 

One, who protects the cattle, or the very essence behind all living things. 

He who confers speech – or one who enlivens all sense organs 

He who is known through the Vedas – the supreme reality indicated by the Maha Vakyas 

In short, Govinda is the supreme Brahman or the Atman. 

The significance of repetition of Bhaja Govindam

This line conveys the remedy for all our ills, whether physical, mental or spiritual. The line is a refrain sung at the end of each verse. It therefore underlines the central message of the entire poem. Bhaja “Worship!” says the poet. Worship whom? – Govinda, the Lord!!!

Devotees, here, when we extend the expression “Bhaja” to our singing “Bhajans”, then what does it convey??

The true Bhajan is total subjective surrender in love and devotion at the altar of the Lord.  Every week when sit in the hall and the Bhajan starts, our entire identity must dissolve at the lotus feet of our Lord and we have to merge with our Lord, at least during that one hour duration!!

We sometimes end up praising our own bhajan rendering and lose sight of the very essence, very object of worship - BHAGAWAN!!!!

Govinda is gone, only interesting bhajans remains!!!!

Govindam Bhaja

To ensure that the message reaches to one and all, Sankara repeats the instruction, this time switching the words around so that the emphasis is on God.

To ensure that the devotee does not get caught up with the nuances of Bhaja and Bhajans and in the process, lose cognizance of the Lord, the poet repeats, placing the Lord’s name first and sings - GOVINDAM BHAJA!!

Exactly as a bhajan starts with “SAI OM SAI OM SAI OM” instead of starting with OM SAI or OM SAINATHA or OM IS SAI!!!

The purpose as though is, “NEVER LOSE SIGHT / REMEMBRANCE OF GOD, EVEN FOR A FRACTION OF A SECOND.”

Moodhamate:

If we are not turning towards God, then we are fools, says the poet. It is not time to be too polite. This is a wake-up call to sleeping mankind. We are so immersed in forgetfulness of God that only a harsh means can turn our minds Godward. 

In the language of Sankaracharya, Moodha has a Vedantic connotation. It does not mean “foolish” as we usually understand the word. It is referring to one who is spiritually ignorant. 

One may be highly intelligent, be successful in all his endeavor in his life, may be rich, powerful, influential etc., but may still be ignorant of the purpose of his life, may be ignorant of spiritual teachings and may be ignorant of need for Spiritual Sadhana.

 Kaale

“The appointed time”, also has an implied meaning. It stands for “death”. At the time of our birth, our death has already been decided. 

A reminder of death is appropriate to the awakening call of the poet. Only death has the power to knock some sense into our deluded minds. It has a sobering effect on us to curb our unbridled romp with indulgence. 

Man's life is but a short period and before the dissolution of his body, he has to find out the technique by which eternal freedom can be attained. 

He should not dissipate his energies in diverse mundane pursuits but should devote himself to God realization / Self Realization.

He has to pay only minimum required attention as is enough to lead a simple and decent life and devote the rest of his time in Spiritual sadhana

Dukrin karane

“Grammar rules”. The word comes from the ‘Kru’ Dhatu and is the root for Karma or action. It has to be taken to represent all secular forms of knowledge – i.e. Apara Vidya. 

The difference between secular and spiritual knowledge will be taken up in greater detail when we study the Upanishads, but here it is enough to know that ‘Apara’ Vidya is knowledge that will assist us only in getting on in the world. 

The higher ‘Para’ Vidya deals with knowledge of Brahman or the Self, and is of a totally different nature and purpose from the former. 

Not only that, but there is a suggestion that taking recourse solely to actions (from the root ‘Krn’, “to do”) will not help us spiritually; knowledge is what is needed. There is no escape from knowledge on the path to liberation. 

We may start with “doing”, but we have to end in our quest by “being”. 

Only actions cannot lead to moksha is perhaps the essence of the line “nahi nahi rakshati Dukrin Karane”. (A detailed explanation is given in Step 6 of this post Step 6: Avidya-Kama-Karma….)

Actions or, let us say, ritualistic actions / prayers / study of spiritual texts / monotonous chanting of Lord’s names etc.- all these may have some impact for some time but will definitely not help us when the call of death comes to us!!!

So, for moving from death to deathlessness, from mrtyu to amrtam, what is needed?

“BHAJA GOVINDAM”

(Engage in incessant prayers / worship of God / Self)

i.e., attaining Govinda, the chosen Lord in form, and dissolving ourselves in our Love for God in the path of devotion;

or 

Through sravanam, mananam and nidhidhyasanam, experiencing the inner subjective experience of   SELF / ATMAN in the path of Jnana.

Sankara's call through this verse, as though, is:-

"Seek, Seek, Seek the Self,

Seek, Seek, Seek the Self alone".

Love.