Bhaja Govindam - Post 22

Verse 21

पुनरपि जननं पुनरपि मरणं पुनरपि जननीजठरे शयनम् ।

 इह संसारे बहुदुस्तारे कृपयाऽपारे पाहि मुरारे ॥ २१॥

punarapi jananaṁ punarapi maraṇaṁ

punarapi jananī jaṭhare śayanam,

iha saṁsāre bahudusāre

kṛpayā’pāre pāhi murāre

Being born again, dying again, and again lying in the mother’s womb; this saṁsāra is extremely difficult to cross over. Save me, O destroyer of Mura, through your infinite compassion.

The topic of Liberation, which popped up its head in the last verse, is here taken up for its full definition and explanation. From “a little of everything” we have leaped “into the Infinite”! 

Punarapi:“again and again; unending”.

This is in the context of a seemingly unending cycle of births and deaths.

In Hindu religion, this is explained through the theory of Karma which bases on the theory of incarnation, i.e., Death-Re birth-Death cycle of human beings.

Without getting into the detail of this Karma theory, Author reproduces the flow of Karma which is given under the theme MBCA (Manas, Buddhi, Chitta, Ahankara) in this blog. 

 

From the second flow, it is seen that after KARMA, the last in the flow, the cycle goes back to where it started, CHITTA and then this cycle keeps continuing in each birth of man.

The escape from such a repetitive, meaningless cycle of existence is called Liberation. 

Jananee Jathare: “in the mother’s womb”. 

The significant event in life called birth referred to here as a symbol of the suffering and pain we encounter in being born as human beings in the world. 

It is a very apt symbol in that it carries with it the sense of all the pain the mother experiences, and the suffocation the child undergoes during the process of birth. 

By describing our imprisonment in this painful manner, the poet implants in our minds the value and desirability of striving for Liberation from it. 

Shayanam: “lying”.

The word strongly suggests the stagnation of the soul’s growth when it is immersed in the repetitive round of births and death, with no end to the cycle in sight. It is as good as “sleeping” all the while. 

Samsaare:

This is a vital line of the verse. All the painfulness, hardships, sufferings, pangs of an existence in ignorance of our real identity is contained in the word, Samsara. 

Samsara has been clearly explained in an earlier verse under the current theme.

Desires bind us to SAMSARA. This is also clearly depicted in the diagram on Karma given above.

There is a story in the Yogavāsiṣṭa, which illustrates this. A man was being chased by a tiger and was running for his life. He found a well and not knowing where to go, plunged into it. Fortunately for him, some roots of a tree had grown through the wall in the middle of the well. 

He grabbed hold of the roots and managed not to fall into the water. As he hung there, he looked up and saw the tiger. He looked down, and below him was a snake in the water, waiting for him. Then he saw that there were two rats among the roots. The rats were gnawing away at the very root from which he was hanging. At that time, there was a honeycomb on a tree above the well, from which honey was dripping slowly.

The story goes, that this person who was hanging for dear life, stretched out to catch a falling drop of honey in his mouth. Thus, even in the midst of tremendous fear, this little drop of honey caused him to go on. Such pessimistic pictures are given only in order to make us understand certain realities of life.

The most important thing to teach one in a situation like this is make him feel that remaining in prison is not acceptable; that one can and has to escape from it somehow. Before one can teach the method of escape to a student, he has to first of all ensure that the student feels the need for it in his very blood. 

The last line  states the two most essential qualities that free us from the cycle of births and death – an intense yearning or calling for God, and the Grace of God. 

i) Paahi Muraare: “Save me, O Lord, through Thy infinite kindness, from this fire of Samsara!” There is a burning desire to be freed or liberated from this perpetual cycle of births and deaths or Samsara, as it is called. This burning desire is named Mumukshutwa. Every spiritual aspirant is driven by Mumukshutwa to continue his Sadhana which culminates in Liberation. 

So, “Paahi” is the most sincere efforts combined with prayers to Murari, the Lord, to kindle the fire of Mumukshatva, intense craving for breaking the clutches/ chain of Samsara and to get free!!!

ii) Kripayaa: “by Thy infinite Grace”. Yearning for God is the fuel; the spark that sets it off is the Lord’s Grace which fires the soul’s search for freedom. Grace often comes in the form of a spiritual Master or Guru whose teaching is the spark that sets us alight. 

Grace provides the motive power which sustains the quest to the very end. 

Thus, we see in this line that a strong faith in the Grace of the Lord, and a strong devotional yearning spirit are both essential for success. 

Earning for grace is not to be construed like a beggar crying out to the lord in desperation, with his bowl extended for the lord to just come and place the morsel of liberation on his bowl.

Let us assume that the “Paahi’ prayer is granted after the lord, satisfied by the sincere efforts of the disciple (in practicing the initial 3 qualifications, Viveka, Vairagya and Shad Sampath) , blesses  the disciple / Spiritual aspirant to bring out the fire of Mumukshatva which is already built up within the disciple after he has succeeded in the earlier 3 qualifications.

Once this is through, then, the student’s sadhana starts in the backdrop of the fire of his mumukshatva.

Grace or Kripaya referred in this verse is then the deservingness of the disciple and not only the alms granted by the Lord. When the disciple / sadhaka has passed years in his intense sadhana and has reached the ripe stage for attaining the liberation, the disciple and the Lord face each other and in the penultimate encounter with the Lord, GRACE does and must flow from the Lord and the Lord holds the disciple with His invisible hands and makes the disciple cross the last step in this samsara to reach the abode of supreme peace, Prashanti,  where the sadhaka is no more a sadhaka but he has seen / experienced the truth, crossed the ocean of samsara and has freed himself from the cycle of "punarapi jananam punarapi maranam".

Lord is there only to shower His grace, the acharya is there only to give all that He has got, to his disciple. It is the disciple who has to reach the stage through his absorption and practice of his Acharya’s instructions sincerely and deserve and earn that Grace which the Lord is eager to grant to such deserving sadhaka!

Love.