Bhaja Govindam - Post 29

Verse 28

सुखतः क्रियते रामाभोगः पश्चाद्धन्त शरीरे रोगः ।

यद्यपि लोके मरणं शरणं तदपि न मुञ्चति पापाचरणम् ॥२८॥

Sukhataḥ kriyate rāmābhogaḥ

paścāddhanta śarīre rogaḥ,

yadyapi loke maraṇaṁ śaraṇaṁ

tadapi na muñcati pāpācaraṇam.

Very readily one indulges in carnal pleasures; thereafter, alas, come diseases of the body. Even though the ultimate end is death in this world, man does not give up his sinful behavior.

The worldly man wants to seize with all his might, every pleasure that the world might offer him and he readily chooses to revel in the frivolous, driven by the animal instincts in him.

He stoops lower than an animal in his mad rush for sense gratification. 

Pleasures of the senses do not bring real happiness. In fact, they only bring misery and ruin. 

Those who indulge in such excessive self-dissipating acts are unwillingly marching towards a bitter end. With the draining of all vitality and energy, the body becomes a prey to all sorts of illness, diseases, afflictions and sufferings.

The temporary nature of all sense objects, and therefore all sensual pleasures, is brought out in this verse. 

Sankara points out that even though man sees so many death all around him and is well aware that he has to die one day, still, he is not willing to give up worldly pleasures and hold on to the feet of Vishnu!!

If we do take the warning about approaching death serious enough, we will use every moment of our life carefully. We will prioritize our daily routine, do that which has to be done and leave out the unnecessary things. There will be no time to spend in sensual indulgence. 

Therefore, Sankara advises, 

“Resist the temptation of the senses, overcome their attractions and realize the truth. Conquer the mind and the sense lures and be a heroic soul. ”

“Aim only at immortality. Live for it. Exert yourself ceaselessly to reach and exist as IMMORTAL SELF”. 

“Let divine thoughts alone flood your heart at all times.”

Dear readers,

Bhakti yoga is not as ancient as the path of Jnana which is the subject matter of our vedantic treatise, our Upanishads.

Much after the Upanishads came into existence, sages and saints later on discovered man’s despair for sense gratification, for earning love, to love and be loved.

This despair, this hunger for love which takes him to lower sensual cravings, was beautifully channelized to Love for God. 

 

Saints like Meera bai, Jayadev, Tyagaraja, Kabir, Tulsidas, Tukaram etc. give to this world, through their own life, the message that all the love one has for this world, for sensual pleasures can be channelized wholly. Towards love for God and man can liberate himself through this PREMA YOGA.

Love.

Bhaja Govindam - Post 28

Verse 27

गेयं गीतानामसहस्रं ध्येयं श्रीपतिरूपमजस्रम् ।

नेयं सज्जनसङ्गे चित्तं देयं दीनजनाय च वित्तम् ॥२७॥

Geyaṁ gītā nāma sahasraṁ

dhyeyaṁ śrīpati rūpamajasram,

Neyaṁ sajjana sange cittaṁ

deyaṁ dīnajanāya ca vittam.

The Bhagavad gītā should be sung, and the Sahasranāma should be chanted; always the form of the Lord Nārāyaṇā is to be meditated upon; the mind is to be led towards the company of the good; wealth is to be distributed to the needy.

The verse lays out a 4-point program of Sadhana.

Beginners on the spiritual path would receive this as some solace and assurance to them. Just by doing these four simple spiritual exercises, our negative qualities like anger, lust and greed, can get dissolved. Dedication can win God, not greatness. We are called upon to say to God, “I seek You alone, nothing else!” 

The Four Starting Sadhanas: 

In these simple instructions we see that he is asking the beginner to practice the basic Sadhanas. There is no bigotry in these instructions. They are for all aspirants, from any cultural background. 

The Bhava of the heart is more important than the outer actions or the words uttered in prayer. The Sadhanas given in this verse: 

1 Scriptural Study or Recitation:

2 Worship of one’s Deity or meditation on the Lord;

3 Satsang or good company;

4 Charity to the poor and needy. 

He prescribes the sadhaka, Bhagavad Gita in hand, the Name of Hari on his lips, surrounds him with good company, and fills his heart with compassion and generosity towards the

needy. 

In this verse, as though, Sankara has brought in the essence of all the three path for God realization.

While worship of deity and satsang form part of Bhakti Yoga, Scriptural study indicates the path of Jnana yoga and charity to the poor indicates Karma yoga. 

While these may just be treated as indicators / pointers, the essence is far beyond the simple indicators like worship, satsangh etc.

Sankara brings in a beautiful blend of all the three paths towards God realization.

The sequence often is to start with Karma or selfless action so as to reduce our ego, move towards upasana or devotion to intensify our focus or concentration and then to finally take up Jnana marga for meditation, contemplation, absorption and ultimately to realize the divinity within.

Endowments of good qualities in life have to be treasured. The human birth, a good family, a Guru – these are blessed conditions; we must not waste them. If we use all these well, liberation cannot be too far. 

Let our heart have charity and compassion. Let our hands be engaged in acts of charity and service. Let our mind always meditate upon the form of the Lord. Let our thoughts always be in the company of the wise, and good and thinking people. 

May we always recite the scriptures and the name of God. Thus, your entire being or the entire personality is engaged or focused upon God, which is the goal that you are seeking.

This is a process of tuning-up. When we observe a very small particle under a microscope, I tune the microscope to focus on the particle. Or when I want to look at a distant object through a telescope, I tune the telescope in order to focus on that object. 

Similarly, our entire life is an attempt to focus on God or Brahman, the Self, which is what I want to attain or know. Thus, all the aspects of my personality are aimed in that direction. This verse tells us beautifully how to do that. Your speech, your mind, your intellect, and your actions, let all of these be focused upon the Lord.

In most people achievement is linked with some action. So they do not take easily to Vedanta, which asks of us nothing in the field of action but everything in the field of BEING. This is not easily understood by many people. 

The simple, inner life of silence and contemplation appears very difficult to practice because the average person’s mind is highly strung with activity. Therefore, Sankara suggests in this verse some simple things which the man of the world can DO, and thereby get started on the path. 

Love.

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.