Bhaja Govindam - Post 27

Verse 26

कामं क्रोधं लोभं मोहं त्यक्त्वाऽऽत्मानं पश्यति सोऽहम् । आत्मज्ञानविहीना मूढा स्ते पच्यन्ते नरकनिगूढाः ॥२6॥

Kāmaṁ krodhaṁ lobhaṁ mohaṁ

tyaktvā’tmānaṁ paśyati so’ham,

ātmajñāna vihīnā mūḍhāḥ te

pacyante narakanigūḍhāḥ.

Having given up lust, anger, greed and delusion, the seeker sees in the Self, ‘He am I’. They are fools who have no Self-knowledge, and they, as captives in hell, are tortured.

Bhaja Govindam is unparalleled in the vision it presents before mankind. The culmination of the beautiful philosophy of Vedanta is the experience of a Reality that is All- pervading, All-encompassing, Omnipresent. 

We have already seen an implication of this in the previous verse – the even-mindedness towards others. Now we see how the same principle transforms our inner personality. 

Transformation of Our Personality

Our personality is constituted by our virtues and vices. The stereotype we see in the world is of people who are shaped by their desire, anger, greed and delusion. These are all constructions of our ego or individual consciousness, which sees itself as different from others, and therefore always feels a sense of threat when moving about with others. 

This has been elaborately explained with manifestation / coloring of Ego in previous verse as Avidya, Asmita, Raga, Dvesha and Abhnivesha.

We have not arrived  on earth as complete, Wholesome or Purnam, but we are  being slowly beaten to shape by the experiences in this world.

A vision of God, a glimpse of THE TRUTH never comes to us until our mind is pure. Perfection and impurities can never co-exist. All the undesirable tendencies   (outlined in this verse - desire, anger, greed and delusion) in our character keeps us in bondage and consequently in misery.

Vedanta proclaims that a genuine change in such a personality is possible. How? 

The solution is to expand our consciousness through intense sadhana and experience for ourselves the Oneness of I and HE (God / SELF). 

“He am I” is not just a feeling one has temporarily; it is experienced as the Truth of our being. One living in this elevated consciousness cannot possibly bear ill-will towards others, because he sees them as himself. 

We are not the small, shallow and petty self. Infinity is our real nature. When the disturbing conditions of agitation and restlessness caused by the evil propensities of mind given in the initial line of this verse are removed, the self whose nature is peace, Joy and perfect tranquility, shines in all its glory!

The Fate of the Un-Transformed Personality 

The prior condition for Self-knowledge is renunciation of these six vices. This is what the sincere Vedantin commits himself to. Those who cling on to these vices cannot expect anything other than the pain and suffering we see prevalent in people. 

Moodhaah: “fools”. Firstly, they are considered foolish or, rather, deluded not to take the spiritual teaching seriously. Ignoring what the scriptures proclaim to be the solution, they are doomed to remain as people who are in essence not different from animals. That is their “foolishness” in the eyes of Sri Sankara.

Naraka Nigoodhaah: “captives in hell”. Not only foolish, but such people have to live a life that is as good as living in Hell. They open themselves up to the whole gamut of human experience in ignorance – which is hellish to say the least, according to the wise sage. 

Pachyante: They are “tortured”. By what and by whom? By their own personalities, by their own vicious qualities; and this is a self-imposed torture. No one else is to blame! Hell is not seen in Vedanta as a punishment for sins; rather, it is sin itself that tortures the sinner. 

Those who turn a deaf ear to words of wise counsel leading to the dawn of divine wisdom, they choose to live a life of woe and misery.

They become victims of fears, anxieties, worries, wants and needs, hits and knocks of life. 

Love.