Bhaja Govindam - Post 23

Verse 21

रथ्याचर्पटविरचितकन्थः पुण्यापुण्यविवर्जितपन्थः ।

योगी योगनियोजितचित्तो रमते बालोन्मत्तवदेव ॥ २२॥

rathyā carpaṭa viracita kanthaḥ

puṇyāpuṇya vivarjita panthaḥ,

yogī yoganiyojita

citto ramate bālonmattavadeva

The yogi who wears but a quilt made of rags, who walks the path that is beyond merit and demerit, whose mind is joined in perfect yoga with its goal, revels in God consciousness, and lives thereafter as a child or as a madman.

The previous verse ended with the two essential qualities an aspirant has to possess to tread this path - Mumukshatva and God’s grace.

This verse, though appearing quite simple, goes very deep, indeed, and sets apart the goal of Liberation from other goals offered by various religious practices. 

i) The Path of Renunciation 

The Vedas are a body which provides the knowledge by which one may achieve his desired goal. 

That goal may be different, for different beings who read and practice vedas.

Some of them may desire worldly prosperity,

Some others may desire to attain a heavenly existence and,

Very few may desire Liberation from Samsara itself. This is the highest goal beyond which there is nothing further to attain. They renounce this world and intensely pursue sadhana so as to attain Liberation.

The first and second goals have desire as their basis. The third is unique in that its basis is renunciation. This is depicted in the first line by the simile of a Godadi. 

Such men of renunciation radiate peace and love in the world. In return, they do not expect anything from the world. Though they dedicate their whole life for the world, they do not demand / expect even a single piece of cloth in return, to protect themselves. 

So long as there are rags thrown on roadside by someone, they are satisfied wearing such discarded rags, stitch them together and wear them, that too, for protecting their body from vagaries of nature on one side and to maintain the social norms and accordingly, not roam around naked, though they have no body consciousness and hence, they do not even need that piece of cloth.

The spirit of Renunciation is the first essential feature of the Sadhana that leads one to Liberation. This path is to be trod by one who has the sole desire for God alone, not for anything created by Him such as available on earth or in heaven.

ii) The Path Beyond Dharma 

Good deeds bind a man with a golden chain whereas evil deeds bind him with an iron chain. In essence, both are chains only and both bind a man. He has to enjoy for his good deeds and suffer for his bad deeds. 

A man of renunciation has no desire for any outer object and so there is no need for earning merits in its case. Hence, it does not require any actions to be performed to attain it. It needs only knowledge of the Lord’s nature to “attain” it. 

Karma earned as a result of merits demerits in previous births is called prarabdha karma or Praptam in Tamil.

In Ashtavakra Gita, Janaka roars and says, “I have no prarabdha Karma”. 

It is not that a man of realization does not have prarabdha karma to exhaust. Sages like Ramana or Ramakrishna have suffered from cancer even after Self-realization. If that be the case, how Janaka can say, I do not have any prarabdha karma??

It means, "Janaka  has  gone beyond the prarabdha karma caused / left over, as a result of his karmas upto the moment of my realization".

So, whatever effects of merits / demerits left over is not cognized by a man of realization as He flies  higher and higher in Brahma Ananda, with no mind to suffer for past demerits and to enjoy for past merits, though, physically, the body might be undergoing suffering.

And, after realization, he exists only for the welfare of the world and hence, there is no way that his actions can fetch him any merits or demerits. 

iii) Abidance in the Self: 

The spiritual practice resorted to by the aspirant of the third goal, i.e. Liberation, is also very different from that of aspirants of the other two goals. The seeker of Liberation devotes himself to meditation on the Supreme Lord. This is called Nidhidhyasana in Vedanta. 

The Attainment of the Goal 

The reference to a child or a madman is to reflect the mental state of the realized sage. 

The sage becomes egoless. The closest example of such a state we can understand is seen in a little child or baby, in whom the ego-consciousness has not yet manifested. Such is the state of the saint of God – he becomes innocent and guileless. A child acts spontaneously, without any interference from any ego. 

A verse from Jivanmukhtananda lahari explains the child like nature of a realized yogi thus:-

"He may at times play with innocent children who smile and dance, clapping their hands in unison in devotional rejoicing; sometimes he may be with grown up men and women in the prime of youth, participating in their gay talks and sports; sometimes he may be wailing and lamenting along with the old and the decrepit given to their habitual brooding and agitation. Although he accepts all of them alike for his company, his mind, illumined and naturally peaceful as it is, will not be the least duped or disturbed on any account due to the blessing of his benign Teacher."

Another example is that of a madman. A madman acts contrary to all social norms or expectations; hence he is called “mad”. The sage also acts from standards that are not accepted by people! His actions appear to ordinary men to be similar to a “mad-man”. An example will help to clarify what is meant here: 

Our concept of enjoyment is wealth, woman and fame. But the saint’s joys are of a different kind. Hence, he appears to us as a child or a madman. 

A madman is merely one who sees what you don’t and you see what he does not – that is the only difference. We do not have a visa into his world; nor does he have one into our world! 

Sri Rama Krishna appeared to be such a mad man to many existing during his time. 

Also, in the Avadhutha Gita, such nature of an Avadhutha (the one who has cast off everything in the world) is described.

The irony is that, whereas world looks at them as mad, for them, all others in the world appear to be mad (mad after money, mad after power, mad after woman, even mad / fanatic over God / religion etc. etc.)

A Brahma Jnani thus moves around in the world, beyond sins and virtues, beyond good and bad, beyond liberation and bondage, beyond all possible duality which a human mind can comprehend or imagine.

He exists verily as God!

Love.

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.

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.