Bhaja Govindam - Post 10

Verse-9

सत्सङ्गत्वे निस्सङ्गत्वं निस्सङ्गत्वे निर्मोहत्वम् ।

निर्मोहत्वे निश्चलतत्त्वं निश्चलतत्त्वे जीवन्मुक्तिः ॥९॥

Satsangatve nissangatvaṁ

nissangatve nirmohatvam,

nirmohatve niścalatattvaṁ

niścalatattve jīvanmuktiḥ.

(Through the company of the wise or the good arises non-attachment; from non-attachment comes freedom from delusion; where there is freedom from delusion, there is abidance in self-knowledge, which leads to freedom while alive.)

Adi Sankaracharya says, philosophers should come up with methods by which the seeker is able to “walk this path”.  How does one who is enjoying all worldly pleasures all of sudden go to living a recommended life? For this, Sankaracharya gives a simple ‘ladder of progress’ by which the climber can comfortably reach the highest reaches of perfection.

The first eight verses come as a great force to blast one out of his comfortable anchors in life. That is the first phase of spiritual transformation. Now we come to the first of the verses that extend a positive helping hand to the seeker of Truth. 

First Step in the ladder - Satsang- In the company of the good.

 Our very existence is full of temptations. Let us compare our lust and passion to a fort. We can build a good one in our intellect. But how good is the fort, can it protect you against all the worldly pleasures which are like the enemy waiting outside the fort to attack you. Shankaracharya says the object fascination and enchantment is so powerful that an individual seeker cannot by himself fight it. 

In order to give him more strength and courage he recommends Satsang. Company of the good with good thoughts. Those who are devotees of the Lord and are themselves seekers of the highest. This is to protect him from the rising waves of passion. Now with such a congregation of good people he can build a fortress that can protect him from the magic world outside.

The start to spiritual life is Satsang. Satsang brings light into one’s life, faint at first, but with time becoming brighter and brighter, until all the dark corners of one’s life are touched by its radiance. The story of Ratnakar’s stunning transformation through Satsang with Rishi Narada was given as an example. 

The company we keep determines the thoughts we cherish. Satsang is being in contact with the Sat that a Mahatma or saint represents, not being physically close to him. 

Author rendered a talk in Kenya where, while mentioning about how Bharatha treated / followed / remembered Sri Rama while Rama was in exile for 14 years, he said, “The paduka of Sri Rama for Bharatha or for that matter, of one’s Guru for every disciple is not only a pair of padukas but they are verily to be considered as Rama / Guru’s teachings”. 

This is the real Satsangh, to be in constant companionship of SATH, TRUTH, the instructions of God / Guru!

Second Step in the ladder - Nissangatvam - Detachment.

The first fruit of Satsang is seen when we become a little detached to things we once clung onto with intense attachment. The light of Satsang lifts the veil of delusion that clouds our intellect. From that point onwards, spiritual life begins in earnest. 

With the influence of good people, the mind develops a secret of detachment. We all know it is   mind that puts value to the objects. Once the mind realizes that one needs to develop detachment to the objects, the person is at the second step in the ladder.

Third Step – Nirmohatvam - Rising above delusion.

Once you are detached, Because of detachment you attain a state of Nirmohatvam which is delusion of the mind. When the mind realizes that these inert objects are all part of moha (delusion), then these objects don’t exist anymore in the mind.

Moha or delusion arises only when you are attached to some object/human being.

When detachment has set in due to association with Sat, then it is but natural that one is relieved of Moha/Delusion about any object.

Fourth step: Nischalatattvam - Immutable reality. 

When you extinguish your vasanas, then your mind starts seeing the Immutable reality.

When the all powerful delusion is gone, the waves of passion and desires that have been incessantly battering on man and persecuting him,  become powerless and only then, the man stands unaffected by external influence  of any kind.

Final culmination - Jivan Mukti - Liberation while alive

When the above state is reached, the mind which has been the seat of trouble all along vanishes, leaving one in his natural state of equanimity and absolute bliss.

When such experience of immutable reality is more established in one, then he is said to have attained Jivan Mukti or liberated in life.

Swami Sivananda says,

“Jivanmukti is that state in which the sage gets established in Satchidananda Brahman. He becomes the Brahman. The phenomenal universe does not vanish from his vision. 

Just as the man who was duped in the beginning by the water in the mirage knows that it is only illusion after careful examination, so also the liberated sage fully knows that this world is mere illusion though it appears to him. Freedom from the Kleshas or afflictions is Jivanmukti. 

The liberated sage is not affected by pleasure and pain. He knows fully well that pleasure and pain, action and enjoyment are the attributes or Dharma of the Antahkarana. He has now separated himself from the mind. He now stands as a spectator or witness of the mind.”

Love.

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.

Bhaja Govindam - Post 8

Verse 7

बालस्तावत्क्रीडासक्तः तरुणस्तावत्तरुणीसक्तः । वृद्धस्तावच्चिन्तासक्तः परमे ब्रह्मणि कोऽपि न सक्तः ॥ ७॥

Bālastāvatkrīḍāsaktaḥ

taruṇastāvattaruṇīsaktaḥ,

Vr̥ddhastāvaccintāsaktaḥ

parame brahmaṇi ko’pi na saktaḥ.

The childhood slips away in attachment to playfulness. Youth passes away in attachment to woman. Old age passes away in worrying about many things. Alas, there is hardly anyone who wants to be lost in parabrahman.

The dangers that face us throughout Life. Throughout life, there is something or other that always distracts us from the essential purpose of life. We take a look at these distractions. 

The overall point of this verse is, “When do we find time for God in our life?” A broad look at life shows us that three stereotypes predominate in our lives: 

 

Childhood

The boy is usually engrossed in his playful activities.  In childhood, play and games take away all his time. Nothing but play delights him then. 

Youth

The days of dolls and play disappear and the days of youth come with its pressing passions. The youth’s mind is diverted, one may even dare to say captured, by thoughts of his beloved.  

Old age

With the wasting of energies and power, the dreaded old age gains admittance forcing man to bend upon others for support. The old man is preoccupied with concerns over his health and the possibility of being lonely. 

Even then, when so much of sorrow, suffering and misery batters him like the waves of the turbulent sea, he does not wholeheartedly turn to God. His fickle mind does not take delight in the thoughts of God. 

Instead, his poor health, advancing age and fear of death, all these haunt a man and in fact, take him nearer to his death, with no peace of mind!

In some cases, repentance does set in old age, man does feel the need to get inwards, turn towards God, but his physical health, his dependence physically and otherwise on others in that age-all these things shatter his confidence and he is left high and dry, without any courage and conviction to turn towards God.

Sankara has covered 3 stages- childhood, youth and old age and related these 3 stages with the desires / state in these 3 stages which haunt a man.

There are few desires / craving which haunts a man which are in between the 3 stages covered in this verse.

Once man settles for marriage, the physical attraction and affection for wife haunts man.

Then, to provide security for himself and his family and to glorify his ego, power, wealth and fame haunts a man.

Simultaneously, affection for his children, then his children’s family…, and the list is endless.

If one examines the basis / underlying factor for whatever has been given by Sankara in 3 stages in this verse, one can realize that it is EGO of a man, ignorance that he is verily divine!!!

The onus is on each one of us to make definite arrangements to bring God into our life at the earliest possible age. If this can be done before we begin to get knocked about by desires in life, then it would save us a lot of bitter experiences in life. 

Love.