Bhaja Govindam - Post 21

Verse 20

भगवद्गीता किञ्चिदधीता गङ्गाजललवकणिका पीता ।

सकृदपि येन मुरारिसमर्चा क्रियते तस्य यमेन न चर्चा ॥ २०॥

bhagavad gītā kiñcidadhītā

gaṅgā jalalava kaṇikāpītā,

sakṛdapi yena murāri samarcā

kriyate tasya yamena na carcā

To the one who has studied the Bhagavad gītā even a little, who has sipped at least a drop of Ganges water, who has worshipped Lord Murāri at least once, there is no discussion with Yama, the Lord of Death.

In this verse, Sankara gives us a three-fold exercise for the spiritual unfoldment  of the soul, so that one may discover the true Joy / Bliss, which is the subject of the previous verse.

Reading Bhagavad Gita

The sweet essence of all spiritual knowledge has been given by Krishna in the sacred text - Bhagavad Gita.

Sir E. Arnold wrote, “The central teaching of the Bhagavad Gita is the attainment of freedom and final release from bondage”.

Bhagavad Gita is the contemporary supplement to our ancient Upanishads. If properly understood and meditated upon, one would realize that it is the essence of Vedanta.

Thus, a little but in depth study of Bhagavad Gita can link a spiritual seeker with all other treatise and can take him to great spiritual heights

Take a dip in Ganges

River Ganges is sacred not only because it flows from the Jata or the hair lock of Lord Shiva but because, it symbolically points to and stands for the unbroken flow of spiritual wisdom handed over by the Master to his disciple, generation by generation.

A national flag, for example, is only a piece of cloth with three colors in it. But when hoisted, it becomes the symbol of a nation and the entire nation salutes it with a feeling which is far beyond the appearance of that simple flag.

Similarly, Ganges, which may appear to be just a river, elevates a sincere spiritual seeker to an elevated state when he takes a dip and sips the sacred Ganges.

Worship Murari

It is man’s ego which arouses desires in him, making him ignorant of his divine nature, causing him to act as per the prompting of his ego filled desires. 

With such acts, man accumulates Karma and is born, he dies and he is born and thus he goes through this never ending cycle of birth and death. Man is thus caught in Samsara and is ultimately filled with a little happiness and lot of pain and sorrows.

What else can save a man from this transmigration, except his surrender at the feet of Murari, the Lord??

Who else but Murari, the slayer of demon mura, can slay the devil mura in each one of us, which is our ego??

As explained in a recent session by the author, such a man who has undertaken this threefold path, is free from fear of death, for, he has realized that the body is indeed perishable and it must die one day.  

He has realized the secret of the line “Mrutyor ma amrutam gamaya” and bows to Murari / Sai who has listened to his prayer flowing from his heart thus:-

Sathya sanathana antaryami

Sakala charachara (ke) tum  ho swami

Janam maran se paar karo

Bhava bandhan se uddhaar karo ..........

Araj suno mere parama kripalo

Pathiswara Sai deva!!!!, 

and...  has in fact taken him beyond the fear of death (of his body) and elevated him to exist as SELF, which has no death, as it never had any birth. 

What discussion will such a yogi have with Yama, when the moment of his (physical) death comes?? It is then Yama, who would prostrate to such a noble saint and take his body with reverence!

Love.