मोहमुद्गरम् / भजगोविन्दम्
MALLET FOR THE DELUSION
INTRODUCTION
The original composition
consists of twenty seven verses.
As Shankara is said to have
sung twelve more verses, this composition is also known as
‘DVAADASHA MANJARIKA STOTRAM
- bunch containing twelve verse-blossoms.
The fourteen disciples who
were with their Guru are said to have added one verse each.
These fourteen together are
called ‘CHATURDASHA MANJARIKA STOTRAM’
bunch containing fourteen
verse blossoms.
These verses are easy to recite and remember.
They are simple instructions for the common man who wants to rise to higher
levels of spirituality.
Recital is not enough;
understanding the correct import of the verses and the practice of
Self-Contemplation is a necessary discipline to be followed by the aspirant who
studies these verses.
मोहमुद्गरम् / भजगोविन्दम्
1
भज गोविन्दं भज गोविदं
गोविदं भज मूढमते
सम्प्राप्ते सन्निहिते काले
नहि नहि
रक्षति डुकृङ्करणे ॥
Take shelter in Govinda! Take shelter in
Govinda!
Hey you with stagnant brain!
Take shelter in Govinda (the Supreme
Self)!
When Death arrives and approaches,
the derivation of the ‘Duk’ suffix is
not going to save you!
मूढमते Mooda-Mate:
मूढ Mooda - is a word used for stagnation.
In this verse, Shankara
addresses the minds which are stagnated.
A river flowing freely
towards its goal of joining the ocean becomes a stagnated pool if some un-dissolvable
garbage blocks its path.
Brains become stagnant when
they do not think; when they incessantly are absorbed in the acts of survival
and reproduction and do not rise above the level of the body.
When a child enters the world
arena, what is the goal set before it in this world?
‘Get educated and earn a lot
of money; if money can come without education, even drop the education.’
Next goal presented in the
agenda is ‘marry and reproduce’.
All children, children’s
children, their children are all guided towards the same goal - ‘Make money by
hook or crook and reproduce’.
Every female child now wants
to become a Miss Universe; every male child wants to roll in money and act in
films. Marriage is just a secondary option. Sex is no bar at any age with any
partner.
These brains which are set
for only such goals are called by Shankara as ‘Mooda Mati’s- stagnant brains.
Why does not at least one child want to become an Einstein and discover the
secrets of space and time? Why does not at least one child want to become a
Gaargi or Maitreyi, the intellectual giants of yore? Why Knowledge gaining is
considered as a waste of time?
These body oriented brains
act recklessly at the peak of their youth and indeed are moving towards a rotten
state of mind and body, paving their way to diseases of unknown origins.
Shankara calls out to these ‘ignorance filled minds’ and advises them to pause
a moment in their race for wealth and fame and asks them to ‘Think’.
The only occurrence you can
be certain about in this world is Death. Whatever be the greatness one achieves
in this short period of earthly existence, whatever be the wealth one
accumulates; ‘Death’ ends it all and laughs at the apparent wastage of all
human endeavors.
It seems once Shankara the
Advaitic Master was walking along the banks of River Gangaa with his disciples.
Some Brahmin students of grammar were sitting under the shade of a tree and
were engaged in grammar studies. At that time a small copper vessel happened to
slip out of the hands of an aged Brahmin and rolled along the stone steps with
the noise – duk duk duk…! The students sitting under the tree, instead of picking up the vessel and
helping the old man, started discussing the phonetic principle of the sound
‘duk’ and were trying to find the resultant grammatical formations of the
suffix – ‘duk’. The discussion was never ending. Shankara is supposed to have
addressed these students and uttered these ‘Bhaja Govindam’ verses.
Mastery in any subject
without developing the essential human characters like love, selfless work etc
is futile. Moreover one should understand that language is a tool to exchange
knowledge between each other and is not and end in itself. Mere proficiency in
Scriptures or a recital capacity of Vedas will never save one from the ever
stretching arms of the Death-God.
Either a direct approach to
Self-enquiry or an indirect approach to Self Realization through the guidance
of a Guru or devotion to God is presumed to be a necessary quality one should develop
if one wants to escape the crunching jaws of death.
2
मूढ जहीहि धनागमतृष्णाम्
कुरु सद्बुद्धिं मनसि वितृष्णाम्
यल्लभसे निजकर्मोपात्तम्
वित्तं तेन विनोदय चित्तम् ॥
O you of muddled brain!
Throw afar this thirst for earning
wealth.
Develop interest towards noble things.
Make your mind free of wants.
Whatever you gain by your own actions,
remain contended and happy with that
wealth alone.
Shankara still cannot but
feel pity for the lot of the common man. What else can he comment on those brains
which use all their efficiency only in accumulating more and more wealth?
Not that every man strives
for fulfilling the basic needs of food, clothing, shelter and reproduction
alone. Every male or female has only one goal in this life – that is to have
more wealth than the neighbor.
Not one house, but more; not
one ornament but more; not one clothing but more; not one vehicle but more; the
list is endless.
Desires are infinite; wants
are always increasing; thirst for sense pleasures is never ever on the
decrease; love for the body and the outer appearance has become a religion.
There is no effort the keep
the body free of diseases or the mind free of wants. Ever struggling after the
mirage of desire-fulfillment, these ignorant ones end up in the jaws of death
sooner than the normal course ordained by Nature.
To these lost brains Shankara
gives the advice:
Stop the flow of your
desires.
Do not engage your brains
only in fulfilling the desires of the body and senses.
Turn your intellect towards
higher pursuits.
Do not keep your goal in life
as a struggle to achieve ephemeral wealth alone.
Analyze within.
What is the meaning of having
a lot of material wealth as yours?
Whatever be the amount of
gold or land or any other kind you have managed to acquire, what is it in
reality?
Just a thought; an idea; a
neural pattern in the brain!
Every perception you see,
every part of cognition you experience, every piece of knowledge you gain is
nothing but a thought in your mind or a symbolic representation in the neural
network.
The gold spread out in front
of you is just the gold; a metal valued on this planet for its stable nature.
You waste the whole of your life to possess it but actually you end up with
only an ‘idea’ in your brain – ‘my gold’.
‘The gold’ becomes ‘my gold’;
‘the land’ becomes ‘my land’; ‘the diamond’ becomes ‘my diamond’!
All the effort was just to
change ‘the’ prefix into ‘mine’ prefix.
The whole life is wasted in
filling the brain with ‘my’ ‘my’ ideas.
The rose is a rose and gives
the same pleasure whether it is ‘the’ rose or ‘my’ rose. But the ignorant
brains think that pleasure is million fold on the increase if the ‘mine’ prefix
is added to any object. The foolish ones forego health, peace, family
pleasures, rest etc etc. just trying to add these ‘mines’ to their brains.
They do not even enjoy a good
meal as they struggle continuously till the end of their life to fill the never
ending thirst for wealth.
As a saint rightly proclaims-
the poor lamb bleats ‘mey mey’ (mine mine) continuously and the wolf called
‘Death’ pounces on it, all of a sudden and swallows it up.
One Tamil saint comments-
‘Not even a needle with a broken eye will accompany you after death’. Yet, the
ignorant never learn the lesson.
In the evolutionary cycle of
million years, a life on earth as a human being is just a little less than a
hundred years; half of it wasted in sleep; half of that is an incapacitated
phase as an old person or a child. The remaining precious years are spent not
in accumulating Knowledge; but in adding the idea of ‘mine’ to all the material
objects or in wasting all the accumulated ‘mine’s of the parent.
However much you can gloat
about the ‘mine’s you have filled in the dark basket of your brain, what use is
all the wealth, if you eat only a restricted diet in a disease ridden body; if
you do not ever enjoy the love and affection of a good family; if you do not
get time to even look up at the sky and smile at the orange hued moon on the
star ridden sky?
As Shankara comments in
another work of his-
Whatever be the achievement,
if one has not realized his own Self, - TATAH KIM TATAH KIM- SO WHAT? SO WHAT?
– What is anything worth gaining in this ephemeral world?
Wealth is necessary; true!
But just earn enough to
fulfill your needs or to help those who are in need.
Be contended with what
minimum requirements you need and become happy, says Shankara.
Enjoy the love of the family;
beauty of Nature; pleasure of intellectual pursuits and ultimately aim for the
realization of the Self and laugh at Death like the Tamil poet Bhaarati who
said:
‘I am no more afraid of
death; O Death, I will kick you with my leg!’
3
नारीस्तनभरनाभीदेशम्
दृष्ट्वा मा गा मोहावेशम्
एतन्माम्सवसादिविकारम्
मनसि विचिन्तय वारं वारम् ॥
Do not raise the level of your passion
looking at the navel-place filled with
huge breasts of a woman!
Analyze again and again in the mind
this ugly mass of flesh filled with
blood and nerves!
Next to wealth the man’s most
cherished desire is to enjoy a woman; for a woman, it is the company of a man.
But usually a female body
alone is considered as an object of enjoyment in all the worlds, be it a heaven
or Earth. So the advice of Sri Shankara is mostly directed at the male category
of the human world.
Let us follow the
instructions of Sri Shankara and analyze well the structure of a female human
body!
What is attractive in a
female body?
It is just a meat piece with
eruptions here and there; all holes stinking and dirty; mouth filled with
smelly saliva and not honey; lips are not fruit pieces but just a decolorized
gateway for the ugly array of bone
pieces; breasts nothing but fleshy eruptions; navel just a left over reminder
of the torture phase called birth; sweat not nectar but extra liquid thrown out
by the body; nails just protective growths, acting as weapons in lower animals;
the sexual pleasure is just a momentary thrill felt by the nerves through the stinking holes which are used for excretory
purposes; hair, not the monsoon clouds but some cellular growths protecting the
skull!
There is a story related by
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa:
There was once a boy who grew
up in the forest with the Sages and was trained in spiritual practices from
childhood. He had never seen a female in his life of fourteen years. Once the
Sages decided to test him and sent him to beg for food in the village.
The boy knocked the door of
the first house he saw. The lady of the house brought a plate of rice to be
given to the young boy. The boy was surprised by the shape of the woman.
He asked innocently:
“You look so different from
the people in the forest. What creature are you? What are those eruptions on
your chest?”
The lady did not feel
offended by the boy’s questions. Understanding that the boy’s mind was as pure
as the Ganges on Shiva’s head, she replied:
“My child! These eruptions are there to feed the little baby of mine who will
be born in the future.”
The boy was amazed by her
reply. He stood there like a statue for a few minutes. Then he threw away his
begging bowl and said: “Oh! What a fool I am! God is so great; God is so kind;
he has already arranged food for the baby which is not yet born; then why won’t
he feed me too? I better spend more time in my studies and contemplative
practices than bother about the stomach!” He returned to his forest home and
engaged himself in enquiring about the Self and succeeded in no time.
Moreover what is the beauty
we perceive in a woman?
Each person develops an idea
of beauty in his mind according to the environment and education he has access
to.
When any person of the
opposite sex is seen, the mind superimposes the idea of beauty in the person
though actually there is nothing beautiful about the human body.
As Shankara rightly says,
what is a female body that provokes all men all over the world? Just a meat
piece with eruptions and stinking holes here and there, which when alive is
preyed upon by men and when lifeless is preyed upon by dogs!
4
नलिनीदलगतजलमतितरलम्
तद्वत्जीवितमतिशयचपलम्
विद्धि व्याध्यभिमानग्रस्तम्
लोकं शोकहतं च समस्तम् ॥
The water drop clinging on to the petal
of the lotus flower is highly unstable; likewise the life is also extremely
unstable!
Know that this entire world held in the
grasp of disease and vanity
is stuck by extreme sorrow!
Suppose it is argued that
that wealth and sense pleasures even if ephemeral, pleasures of all sorts even
if just a magic of chemicals - life is for enjoyment only; there does not arise
the need for Self-realization; Shankara gives the answer.
What life? What enjoyment?
Show one person of the world
without any disease or vanity!
A child is a helpless
dependent; an old person is also a helpless dependent. And uncontrolled enjoyments
in youth are definitely going to obey the laws of science and erupt in the body
as diseases.
Even if one proudly proves
his unblemished health of the body, he is surely stuck by the mental diseases
like envy, jealousy, hatred, vanity, selfishness, anxiety etc.
It may be easier to find a
man free of diseases even, but a man who has no anger, no anxiety, no tension,
no irritation etc. is difficult to find. And if even one such negative emotion
is there, physical ailments are not far off.
There is a very popular story
of Gautama Buddha!
A woman fell at his feet
asking him to revive her dead child; he asked her to get a handful of mustard
seeds from a house where death had not occurred. She searched for a long time
here and there and came back empty handed. Then Buddha explained to her the
ephemeral state of life and taught her the path of wisdom.
Any man or woman who claims
that the material bliss is the true aim of life cannot claim that he or she is
not at all affected by the death and diseases of their close ones; that he or
she is not affected by the selfishness and vanity of the other co-existent
beings.
And how long does one live on
this Earth?
After sixty years one gets
ready to get frightened of the demon called death. Every time his acquaintance
of the same age dies; he sighs with relief- ‘I escaped’ and cries heartily for
the dead one!
A Tamil saint (Pattinattaar)
once was walking on the street. He heard a wailing sound from one house on the
roadside. He peeped in and discovered that there had been a death in the family
and everyone was crying for the dead one. He immediately collapsed on the
ground and started weeping aloud beating his chest repeatedly. The others who
were just crying for the sake of habit stopped their work and said to each
other; “Look at this man; he is so good; he is also crying for the dead man
like us”.
The saint got up and said, “I
am not crying for this dead man; I am crying in advance for you people who are
going to die!”
He laughed aloud and walked
away as the people there watched him wonder-stuck.
Life is more unstable than a water drop
clinging to the tip of the lotus petal.
One will never know when it will fall off; the lotus petal is not going
to support the poor water drop. What value is the land or gold or money worth
in this tiny phase of human life?
Sri Ramakrishna says:
Only two times does God smile
at the foolishness of human beings; when some one says –‘this land is mine’;
another time when the doctor says – ‘I have saved this patient’!
5
यावद्वित्तोपार्जनसक्तः
तावन्निजपरिवारो रक्तः
पश्चाज्जीवति जर्जरदेहे
वार्तां कोऽपि न पृच्छति गेहे ॥
As long as a man is capable of earning
wealth,
so long does one’s family show some
interest.
Later one lives in a dilapidated body;
no one even utters a word of enquiry in
one’s home!
If it is argued that it does
not matter that the life is ephemeral; life is worth living for the enjoyment
it offers even in that tiny period; wealth is necessary to maintain a family so
all the run around is done for the family
only ; what is wrong with that?
Sri Shankara says:
What family? Do the family
members really have true affection for the Master of the house?
There was a terrifying dacoit
living in the jungles of Himalayas . He
ruthlessly killed any one who travelled in those jungles and robbed them of
their wealth. There was no compassion in his heart for any other human being
except his family members.
Once, Sage Naarada chanced to
pass that way. The dacoit stopped him and threatened to kill him if he did not
offer him his possessions. Naarada laughed aloud and said that he owned nothing
and slowly engaged the dacoit in a friendly conversation. He asked casually the
reason for the dacoit to rob and kill all travelers.
The dacoit confessed that he
had a large family and had to loot and rob to feed them all. The Sage then
described to him all the hells and the punishments waiting for the dacoit after
his death. The dacoit started sweating and started crying. Naarada consoled him
and told him to tell the family members about all this and request them to
share his punishments too as they shared his earnings. The dacoit was sure that
his family members would help him in this matter and went home. When he related
all that the Sage had said and asked them to share his punishments, they
laughed and said, your earnings alone belong to us, not your sins.
The dacoit was shocked by
their reply; returned to the Sage and related what had happened. The Sage then
advised him that he can get rid of the sins by repeating the Supreme name of
the Lord – Rama!
The dacoit trusted the Sage’s
words and decided to repeat it for a long time till all his sins were
destroyed. He left the family; entered deep jungles; sat under a tree and
started repeating the two letters RA MA.
He was so absorbed in the
recitation that he lost sense of his body. Soon leaves covered his body. Ants
built a mud colony over his immobile body. Snakes made it their home. The
dacoit was unaware of all this. Only two letters were repeatedly heard from
deep inside the ant hill. Again Naarada appeared in the scene. He woke up the
dacoit with his Yogic power. The dacoit immediately came crashing out of the
anthill- the VALMIKA. He is VAALMIKI,
the author of Ramayana; the most compassionate Sage ever known, who cried at the
death of a bird shot by a hunter.
Understand the fact that your
family does not want ‘you’; it wants only your money. When you later live as a
dependent in your body which is shattered by old age, no one has even the
courtesy to exchange a single word. If at all any kindness is shown, it will be
because of a masked politeness or expecting some more wealth or it may akin to
the kindness shown to a dying dog on the roadside!
The day you die, they will be
relieved that at last the old devil is gone!
That is family and world for
you!
6
यावत्पवनो निवसति गेहे
तावन्पृच्छति कुशलं गेहे
गतवति वायौ देहापाये
भार्या बिभ्यति तस्मिन्काये ॥
As long as
the air resides in the body,
till then will any one care for one’s welfare.
When the breathe leaves at the death of
the body
even a wife fears the non-moving corpse!
If it is argued that one does
not care what the family thinks but lives for one’s own sake, then Sri Shankara
says:
What life? What enjoyment?
Some fine day without any
prior information death will snatch your life away!
The body which you pamper by
feeding the most exotic food, the body which you use for enjoying any pleasure
money can buy, will one day lie lifeless. At least an old man breathing still
is permitted to stay in a dark corner of the house like a dying dog; but once
the air circulation in the body stops, people look at the lifeless corpse with
disgust and treat it like loathsome object.
If you could see the inner
feeling of the people sitting around the corpse, you will wonder how you lived
with all of them all through your life!
The wife whom you drowned in
gold and diamonds will refuse to stay with the dead body alone. She will shy
away from that very body which embraced her with all love and affection. Gone
are all the respect, glory and greatness along with the wind which ceased to
enter your nasal holes blocked with cotton pieces!
7
बालस्तावत् क्रीडासक्तः
तरुणस्तावत् तरुणीसक्तः
वृद्धस्तावत् चिन्तासक्तः
परमे ब्रह्मणि कोऽपि न सक्तः ॥
The child is interested only in playing.
The youth is interested only in the
young girl.
The old man is interested in only
worrying.
No one is interested in Para Brahman!
If it is argued that there is
no time to pursue the higher truths because one has to educate himself, earn
for the family, guide the youngsters and so on-
Sri Shankara says: How can
there be no time for nobler things in life?
Yes true; survival is
difficult in a world full of competitions and challenges; but if we analyze
where all one wastes time it will be really surprising.
A child spends more time in
playing than learning; a youth spends more time in seeking the company of
pretty girls than gathering knowledge; an old man suffers that his desires have
not been fulfilled in a short span of life and envies the youngsters!
Who has time for Para
Brahman!
8
का ते कान्ता कस्ते पुत्रः
सम्सारोऽयमतीव विचित्रः
कस्य त्वं कुत आयातः
तत्त्वं चिन्तय तदिह भ्रातः ॥
Who is your beloved wife? Who is your
son?
This worldly existence is very strange!
To whom do you belong?
Who are you?
Where have you come from?
O My Brother!
Think about the true answers for these
enquiries!
Sri Shankara advises the man
to free himself for just a few minutes in his never ending race for money and
enjoyments and think:
Just jump outside your own
identity for a few minutes and look at your surroundings, your family, your own
place in this Universe, like watching the characters moving on a pre-arranged
stage.
Sri Ramana once did like this
when lying on the bed analyzing his own identity. He just wondered what would
happen if he died that very moment. He brought the whole death scenario into
his vision and watched it like a drama watched by an outsider. He saw the dead
body, the people lamenting on his death, the body carried on the pall, and he
even saw his body consumed by fire. He wondered how if the body was no more, he
was not yet dead. He did not imagine the scene; he actually was in the scene.
Death of the body was not imagined by him; but he had gone thorough the death
phase as a reality.
He was observing from within
the body-field itself, the body dying, the body burning etc. He was in the body
when it was set fire to; but he did not feel the fire.
It was a true experience for
him, not an imagined contemplation.
At the moment the body became
ashes, he was in the Self state and was the Para Brahman watching the
projections of a mind labeled as VenkatRaaman in this world. He had no
sensation of the body from that moment. When he opened the so called eyes of
his body, he felt he was in a dream experience. He could not identify with the
body of the boy lying on the bed. But it moved if he willed; the body was just
an ‘It’ for him; so he just moved ‘it’ towards the hill where he felt his
father’s presence would be there.
Father?
AnnaaMalai of the Red Mountain
For Akka Mahadevi it was Sri
Shaila, for Ramana it was Arunaachala.
He just lived as Ramana till
the perceptions ceased at the so called death of the body. Otherwise his state
was like space, having no identity with anything; everything was just a dream
like experience for him; a play of Para Brahman!
He was a supreme Yogi; yes, a
Maha Rishi of the Yore appearing in a body structure in this modern age. He
died ‘once when alive’ and remained as his true Self the rest of the life here
in a ‘Ramana perceived world’; as Para Brahman playing the role of Ramana!
Any one, who realizes the
Self is in the state of Para Brahman, perceives the ‘mind projected world’ as a
dream; Para Brahman as Mahadevi; Para Brahman as Ramakrishna; Para Brahman as
Shankara and so on.
That Para Brahman can see the
world as you and me too. That Para Brahman alone is the Self of all! Once you
realize the true Self of yours, you can also be blissful like Ramana or
Ramakrishna or any such great ones.
Realization does not mean
that you have to walk out of the family and stop enjoying the world; but it is
seeing the world as a projection of the mind from the state of Para Brahman.
The same world; but different
knowledge!
Same blue sky; you know that
it is the play of atmosphere in the colorless space; you know in your inner eye
that there is infinite space beyond this blue color.
But by your Knowledge, blue
color does not disappear.
Same blue sky; an ignorant
one sees nothing beyond the blue color; for him it is a canopy provided by some
God!
That is why Shankara advices
you to just hold back yourself for a few minutes and analyze the world and
people around you.
“Who am I? Who is this person
called wife? Who is this son of mine?
Are the things perceived real
or are they the projections of my own mind?
Where was I before getting
born? What will happen after death?
What will happen to all these
family members when they die?
Will we all meet again after
death? Will we become ghosts and wander aimlessly in crematoriums? What is a
soul? Who am I?”
Thus one should enquire and
find the answers for these questions. These questions are not the quiz contest
questions; but questions that will tear of the lies around you and free you
from the limited existence you have inadvertently stuck with!
9
सत्सङ्गत्वे निस्सङ्गत्वम्
निस्सङ्गत्वे निर्मोहत्वम्
निर्मोहत्वे निश्चलतत्त्वम्
निश्चलतत्त्वे जीवन्मुक्तिः ॥
In the company of the noble lies
detachment.
In detachment lies dispassion.
In dispassion lies the Non-moving Truth.
In the Non-moving Truth lies ‘liberation
while living’.
Well, you listened to
Shankara’s advice and asked these questions to yourself; of course not all can
find the correct answers; may be you did not find too.
Most people think Self
Realization is some state you have to reach by countless hours of contemplation
and meditation.
Some think that they will see
color lights; some think that they will see Shiva or Brahma or Vishnu; some
think that a golden colored Brahma as HiranyaGarbha will be there; some think
that they will be transported to heavenly worlds and will have wonderful
experiences; some think that they will be able to know all the three time
phases past, present and future of everybody; some think that they will float
in the air; some think that they will be like Gods having all the world at
their feet; some think that they will become Gods!
Or else, they all pretend to
do all this and mislead their students towards these goals and make
Self-realization sound like some far off state high above the sky; most of all,
these religious freaks think that realized state is a weapon against scientific
reasoning.
Little do they know what the
Scriptures advocate actually!
Scriptures like
YogaVaasishta, Tripura Rahasya, and Upadesha Saahasri etc. explain the Universe
as it is presented in the modern theories of Physics.
Anyhow Self-realization is
not a magical turning point in your life. You will not become super human by
realizing your own Self.
You are thinking you are a
limited Self; after Self realization you will understand that you are Para
Brahman. That is all. It is just the true understanding of your own identity.
We have heard of the story
where some child left to the care of the wolves in the forest grows up like a
wolf imitating the cries and behavior of the wolves. When that child who was
behaving like a wolf was brought to the city and trained to become human, he
realized his human nature. From the misperception that he is an animal, he
understood that he was human.
That is Self realization for
him.
Swami Vivekananda quotes the
story of a lion cub which grew up in the midst of sheep. It ate grass like the
sheep, it bleated like the sheep; it was happy to be a sheep. Then once there
came a lion hunting for food. He was surprised to see the lion cub acting like a
sheep. He caught it in his huge mouth and brought it away from the other sheep.
The lion cub trembled in fear. The lion roared and said-“Hmm! Roar like me”.
The sheep struggled a little; but when it roared, immediately all its
sheep-ness was gone. It knew it was the lion all the time. The cub roared again
and pounced on the sheep as the Master did. That is realization for the lion.
When the teacher roars –I AM
THAT, the disciple also roars I AM THAT and realizes the same state as the
Guru.
Seek a Master who is not a
magician; seek a Master who exactly tells you what the Scriptures say without
his own version; seek a Master who has no interest in advertising himself as a
Super Guru. If you do not find such a one in the present world, seek the books
and get the company of the past saints. Learn from them how to develop
detachment; the worldly patterns will stop affecting you; slowly you will
develop a disinterest in all the worldly pleasures; you will develop
equanimity; you will understand the One Reality which is the support of this
multifarious perceptions; with the Vision of the Self you will become liberated
while living!
10
वयसि गते कः कामविकारः
शुष्के नीरे कः कासारः
क्षीणे वित्ते कः सम्सारः
ज्ञ्नाते तत्त्वे कः सम्सारः ॥
When youth
is gone, where remains the lascivious desire?
When the
water has dried up, where remains the lake?
When the
wealth is gone, where remains the surrounding crowd?
When the
Truth is known, where remains the worldly existence?
If there is a doubt as to the
efficacy of Self-realization, Shankara explains how the world loses its solid
nature, once the Truth is known.
When a person becomes old,
his senses surely lose their power to satisfy his desires. Desires are not
there, you cannot say; but capacity to fulfill the desires surely is not there.
This is a well-known truth.
There was a King named
Yayaati. He became an old man by the curse of Sage Shukraachaarya. He exchanged
his old age with his youngest son Puru and enjoyed all the sense pleasures. Old
age indeed is a cursed age where desires are alive and the body is almost dead!
When water dries up, it is
not a lake but dry land!
When experiences dry up, the
human body is just a worthless collection of atoms which move in and out and
nothing more!
Another sure thing that
everyone knows but do not understand is that the love and affection of all the
family and friends is based only on the wealth one owns; if ever it
becomes less or is completely gone, not
one single person will even recognize the poor man’s existence.
If all these things are
certain occurrences in the world, then the disappearance of the limitations of
the worldly existence at the time of realization is also true.
How can the Samsaara remain
when the Truth is known?
11
मा कुरु धनजनयौवनगर्वम्
हरति निमेषात्कालः सर्वम्
मायामयमिदमखिलम् बुद्ध्वा
ब्रह्मपदं त्वं प्रविश विदित्वा ॥
Do not be vain headed about wealth,
people and youth.
Time snatches away everything within a
minute!
Understanding the entire world to be of
illusory nature,
knowing the TRUTH you enter the ‘State
of Brahman
Shankara addresses those who
ignore his advice and walk away unbothered. The wealthy, the youth and people
surrounded by the affectionate members of the family surely do not go after the
realization of the Truth. They are so happy with their present status; they
seem to think that the same state will continue forever! They never can imagine
any thing can change and upset their happy lives.
Shankara warns these ignorant
fools:
Wealth is not a permanent
feature of life. Even Rama lived his youthful years in a forest; Paandavas
never ever enjoyed any royal status; Nala did not even have a cloth to cover
his body; even Gods lose their powers and suffer! Who can say what will happen
the next moment?
Youth just stays in a man’s
life as long as a lightning flash. Rest of the life is just a struggle to live
in a competitive society. Just because one becomes attractive to other youthful
members of the opposite sex, it does not mean that it will be the ‘be all and
end all’ in life. A few intoxicated years and one is back again in the
whirlpool of Samsaara.
That is the age also where a
man commits the maximum mistakes and ends up as an unhealthy scarecrow after
the youthful years are gone!
And as far as the family and
friends who surround you, they might be there for the wealth you possess and
enjoy the material benefits bestowed by your generous nature.
They will leave you once you
lose the wealth. Suppose you proudly announce that your family members and
friends are pure and loving, with hearts equal to gold, then be assured that
death or diseases will snatch them away and leave you lost in the world.
Time like a cruel demon eats
up all your years, possessions and people.
Do not waste time; do not
procrastinate; do not trust the stable nature of anything in the world.
Understand the delusory nature of the world, quickly realize your own Self and
enter the state of Para Brahman and be blissful.
12
दिनयामिन्यौ सायं प्रातः
शिशिरवसन्तौ पुनरायातः
कालः क्रीडति गच्छत्यायुः
तदपि न मुञ्चति आशावायुः ॥
Day and night, dusk and dawn,
winter and spring again arrive!
Time plays its game; life ebbs away.
Even then, the winds of desires never
leave one!
Observe the world, says
Shankara:
What is permanent in this
impermanent world?
Night follows day; day
follows night; seasons keep on repeating; year after year you struggle to
achieve the fulfillment of your countless desires.
At the fag end of you life,
as you lie on the death bed breathing heavily, when the body has lost control
of even the excretory systems, when your loved ones avoid coming close to you
unable to bear the stink; when your eyes do not see, when your ears do not
hear, when death is slowly eating you up; even then your mind is alive thinking
about all unfulfilled wants of yours!
What a pity!
13
का ते कान्ता धनगतचिन्ता
वातुल किं तव नास्ति नियन्ता
त्रिजगति सज्जनसङ्गतिरेका
भवति भवार्णवतरणे नौका ॥
Who is your wife?
Wherefore is this anxiety for
accumulation of wealth?
O Ignorant
one!
Is there not
a Controller for you?
In all the
three worlds, only the company of the noble
becomes the ship taking you across the
ocean of mundane existence!
O man! Why are you so much
after accumulating wealth? Why are you so much attached to the pleasures got by
your wife and children?
O man! Be serious! Is there
no one to guide you in the correct way?
Come on; do not waste time;
seek the company of the noble ones!
Can’t you see that you are in
a stormy ocean of suffering? Are you blind to everything around you? Don’t you
know that the happiness you enjoy at the present moment will last only for a
flickering second and you will be drowned soon in endless physical and mental
anguish?
Imagine this scene:
A man walking in the forest
has slipped and is falling into a deep pit. He somehow manages to grab a long
root of the tree which was hanging from the above ground. Inside the pit, at
the deep bottom roars a hungry tiger and is jumping at him repeatedly to snap at
his legs. A rat is slowly nibbling the root he is hanging on to. A huge mad
elephant is ready to smash him to bits if he ever climbs out of the pit. A
deadly snake is slowly climbing down the root to put its fangs on him. The man
can never escape his death; he knows it too. At that time a drop of honey drips
from a honeycomb from a tall branch of the tree. The man sees it falling and
immediately puts his tongue out to lick that drop of the sweet honey!
The enjoyment of a human
being in this world is equal to the drop of honey with many forms of death
lurking all around.
So quickly wake up to the
dangers of this worldly existence, seek the guidance of the noble and get
yourself safely deposited on the blissful shores of Self-realization.
14
जटिलो मुण्डी लुञ्चितकेशः
काषायाम्बरबहुकृतवेषः
पश्यन्नपि न पश्यति मूडो
ह्युदरनिमित्तं बहुकृतवेषः ॥
Matted locks; clean-shaven heads;
plucked out hairs;
saffron cloths; many are the disguises
worn!
Though seeing, the fool does not see;
all types of disguises worn only to fill
the belly!
Be careful of the Gurus of
this world.
Do not get fooled by their
flowery speeches and God-like acts.
Matted locks do not signify
hard penance; hair plucked out torturously does not signify sainthood; saffron
cloth does not mean renunciation.
All these are disguises worn
by the cheats to fill their belly with sweets made of pure ghee and tasty rice
balls.
These ignorant ones are
surely in a position to really sit and contemplate on the Self; but they
consume intoxicating roots and leaves and pretend to be in the trance of the
Samadhi state. Beware of these lazy idiots!
15
अङं गलितं पलितं मुण्डम्
दशनविहीनं जातं तुण्डम्
वृद्धो याति गॄहीत्वा दण्डम्
तदपि न मुञ्चति आशापिण्डम् ॥
The limbs are worn out; the head has
turned bald;
the gums have become teeth less;
the old man moves with the support of
the stick;
even then he does not leave the morsel
of desires!
Look at the old man who
wasted his youthful years in the pursuit of wealth and women. He would have
been the most handsome man in his youth; girls would have swooned at his very
sight; he might have been the wealthiest man at those times. He would have
lavishly spent his money on all those who licked his feet in adoration. He
might have worked day and night continuously to accumulate the wealth. He might
have spent sleepless nights in worrying about how to increase his wealth.
But now look at him!
His whole body shivers with
weakened nerves; he can not eat any thing much because of the diseases he has
incurred by his worries and unhealthy habits of youth; all the black hair which
he admired every day standing in front of the mirror has fallen gradually
somewhere in his life’s long journey; his teeth are gone and he can not even
speak clearly; even to walk a few steps he needs a stick to support him.
His family members give more
respect to their pet dogs than him. Everyone is waiting for him to die and
leave his wealth to them; even servants do not bother about him; his wife, if
still alive has no time to enquire about his welfare even once a day; she has
to butter up the next heir by her services so
that her position is stabilized in the future; most of his friends are
dead or in the same state suffering innumerable ailments; he is alone and truly
alone fearing the death lurking in the
corner; but look at him eyeing the left over sweets on a child’s plate and
trying to pick up the crumbs with his trembling hands for the tiny pleasure
sensation that may arise in his tongue for a second!
What a pity! What a pity!
If only he had listened to
the voice of the saints and sought self-control in his youth, he would now be
the Master of his body, mind and situation! He missed the train, so to say! He
missed the golden opportunity of realizing the Self in his youth and now
suffering the consequences!
16
अग्रे वह्निः पृष्टे भानुः
रात्रौ चुबकसमर्पितजानुः
करतलभिक्षस्तरुतलवासः
तदपि न मुञ्चत्याशापाशः ॥
Fire in the front and sun at the back;
at night cuddling up with the chin
buried in the knees;
palm as the begging bowl; and residence under
a tree;
even then the rope of desires does not
loosen up!
Look at those fake Gurus and
saints filling up every nook and corner of temples and holy places! They also
do not have any home or family; true! They too own no property. They wander
here and there all through the day; fill their stomach by begging in holy
places.
As the sun sets, they collect
sticks and make a warm fire; sleep on the ground with their bodies so much
cuddled up that the chin touches their knees; they do not have much clothes also
to call their own; they do not even possess begging bowls; they use their palms
to hold the food given as charity; they live under trees; they look like true
saints; they look like Sages who have renounced everything; they live under the
tree and eat what they get daily as charity.
But are they true Gurus? Are
they great Sages? Are they fit to be your guides?
It is just a lazy life they
lead; they did not attend schools in their childhood because they thought
acquiring Knowledge was a waste of time; they renounced the family because of
laziness, for family meant responsibilities; a family would force them to earn
regularly; so they ran away from home; they discovered that acting a saint got
them easy food; they live addicted to herbal drugs too.
These saffron attired men are
not the true Knowers; they are just lazy beggars and cheats. Beware of these
fake saints!
17
कुरुते गङ्गासगरगमनम्
व्रतपरिपालनमथवा दानम्
ज्ञानविहीनः सर्वमतेन
मुक्तिं न भजति जन्मशतेन ॥
One journeys
up to GangaaSaagar;
performs
austerities or charities;
a person
without Knowledge – in the opinion of one and all,
does not
attain Liberation even in hundred births!
How do you start your
spiritual journey- by travelling to sacred places like
GangaaSaagar, Kaashi,
Rameshvaram, etc etc.?
How do you plan to get
liberation- by performing severe austerities like starving, rolling on the
temple floor, eating food from the muddy ground, piercing the tongue and
back-side with spears?
What are you going to do
become a saint – give charity and smile at the downtrodden like a savior?
You can try all these in
every birth; even after hundred births you will never be near the goal of
liberation you want to achieve; as long as you have not gained the true
Knowledge of your Self!
18
सुरमन्दिरतरुमूलनिवासः
शय्या भूतलमजिनं वासः
सर्वपरिग्रहभोगत्यागः
कस्य सुखं न करोति विरागः ॥
Living in temples and under the trees;
bare ground as bed and deer-skin as a cover for the
body;
complete renunciation of all attachments and
pleasures;
to whom does such a dispassion not bestow bliss!
What is true dispassion like?
This Yogi also has no home or
family; he has renounced everything with the only purpose of realizing the
Truth; he continuously travels to meet great saints who might guide him in his
life and help achieve his goal; he does not care what he eats or where he
sleeps; it may be a ruined temple on the roadside or just a tree in the middle
of the forest; he does not care. Even a tree is a God given home to him. Any
ground is enough to serve him as a bed. Some discarded animal skin is enough
for him to cover his body; to such a man of dispassion, dispassion is not an
advertisement to attract crowds but the real bliss of freedom.
Once a Tamil saint was
sleeping on the stone pedestal in front of a house. He had kept his palm to
support his head as he rested; a lady who passed that way commented to her
friend; “Look at this man; he calls himself a Sannyasin and needs the comfort
of his palm to support his head”
The saint removed his hand
immediately and rested his head on the hard stone. Then the same lady returning
that way commented: “Look at this fake Sannyasin; he changes his ways to please
every passer by.”
The saint felt ashamed and
sat up. He heard the charming laughter of his child deity Kumara in his heart
and heard him say: “My dear saint! Just remain quiet!”
The saint understood the
simple instruction of God and immediately quietened all his thoughts and
contemplated on his Self. He realized his true state and became blissful. Later
he never cared whether he slept on the finest cotton bed or on hard rocks.
Every experience was the same to his stabilized mind.
Once, Swami Vivekananda was
passing through a jungle. He felt extremely hungry. It was already late night. He was too tired
to enter a village and beg for food. He left everything to his Mother Kaali to
take care of and sat off in contemplation. A few hours later he found a
villager approaching him with a lantern and a basket full of food.
Swami was surprised. The
villager confessed that he was sleeping soundly when Mother Kaali appeared in
his dream and ordered him to give food to a great saint who was in the forest.
So he had searched everywhere and brought this food to the Yogi Maharaj.
Vivekananda was amazed by the divine act of the compassionate Mother Kaali!
Dispassion is a unique state
of bliss! Only those who have developed it will know the bliss arising out of
it! What is more pleasurable- the sweetness of the sweet or the sweetness of
not having the desire to eat it at all?
Real bliss is not in obliging
the senses but in controlling them!
19
योगरतो वा भोगरतो वा
सङ्गरतो वा सङ्गविहीनः
यस्य ब्रह्मणि रमते
चित्तम्
नन्दति नन्दति नन्दत्येव
॥
Engaged in
Yoga or engaged in pleasures;
with company or without company;
he whose higher intellect is always in
the bliss of Brahman;
he is happy; happy; happy indeed!
For a man of true dispassion
there is no outward show of renunciation. He need not even wear saffron robes
and advertize his saintly nature. After realization, he may continue to live
the same way as he lived before; or he may walk out of the family and become a
recluse like Shuka or he may sit like an idiot like Jada Bharata or he may
become the most charming personality in the society like Krishna, or he may
become a good administrator like King Janaka. It does not matter how he makes
the narrative of his life! It is his random wish, what he chooses to do.
Whatever he is doing,
wherever he is, he is always in the blissful state of his Self and enjoys any
pattern of life that happens to be around him. His bliss never diminishes. He
is of the nature of bliss itself and the pleasures of the world even if he
chances to enjoy do not affect him at all. He is like the ocean which never
increases or decreases by the amount of waters by rivers entering it or
evaporating to form clouds.
20
भगवद्गीता किञ्चिदधीता
गङ्गाजललवकणिका पीता
सकृदपि येन मुरारि
समर्चा
क्रियते तस्य यमेन
न चर्चा ॥
If
Bhagavad-Gita is read even just a little;
if even a droplet of the Ganges water is drunk;
if one has worshipped the Killer of Mura
even once;
he has nothing to discuss with Yama!
Of course it is not easy to
realize the Self so easily as a Shuka or Janaka.
In millions of births, human
birth is a very rare occurrence; to desire liberation in human attire, you need
the collection of merits of countless births.
So begin your spiritual
journey by doing virtuous acts; read now and then Gita a little; do not recite
it like a parrot, but read one verse a day at least and contemplate on its
meaning the whole day; soon you will know what Krishna tells you about your Self!
Visit holy places; not to see
the stone idols and watch the color liquids bathing the taintless God; but
maybe in such visits you will chance to see a true Yogi somewhere and he may
guide you in the spiritual path!
Worship some deity with love;
it does not matter which divine form happens to be your chosen deity; all forms
of Gods are nothing but the variously shaped sugar cakes with Para Brahman
acting as the sugar in all of them! But do not ask these Gods for wealth,
health and solutions to family troubles; do not ask for anything, but cry at
the lotus feet of the Lord “Oh when will I realize my Self and have dispassion
towards the worldly objects?” Pray only for Knowledge.
When NarendraNaath first met
Ramakrishna, his family was in dire financial crisis. There was not even enough
food to feed all the family members. Many a times Narendra would go without
food for many a days, till Mother Shaarada finding out about his starvation fed
him whenever he visited Dakshineshvar. Once Narendra argued with his Master and
begged him to tell Mother Kaali about his family problems and get them removed
by her power. Ramakrishna smiled and asked him to go to the temple of Kaali
21
पुनरपि जननं पुनरपि मरणम्
पुनरपि जननीजटरे शयनम्
इह सम्सारे बहुदुस्तारे
कृपयापारे पाहि मुरारे
॥
Once again a
birth once again a death;
once again a
sleep inside the womb of the mother!
O Muraari! Save me with extreme
compassion
in this
worldly existence which is very difficult to cross over!
Birth follows death; death
follows birth; again and again a residence reserved in a mother’s womb! Who
else can save you from this never ending cycle other than the Supreme Godhead
Naaraayana! Pray to him; hold on to his lotus feet; cry out your inability to
grasp the subtle truths; do not lose faith in him; he will surely guide you in
your spiritual journey; he is the most compassionate of all Gods!
MURAARI means the enemy of
the demon MURA; MUR also means to envelop, to
encircle; one who destroys the encircling delusion around us is also MURAARI.
22
रथ्याचर्पटविरचितकन्थः
पुण्यापुण्यविवर्जितपन्थः
योगी योगनियोजितचित्तः
रमते बालोन्मत्तवदेव ॥
Some ragged cloth made out of torn pieces fallen on
the chariot driven road
to cover the body;
the path of life free of merits and demerits;
the Yogi with his pure intellect fully merged
in the union of
his Self with the Supreme Self;
is gleeful like a child or a mad person!
How will
you identify a realized person? Very difficult!
He may be living right next
to you and you won’t know him.
He may be that idiot looking
guy who collects thrown way pieces of rags from the road and stitches a
clothing for himself; or he may be that mad person who is laughing aloud for no
apparent reason; or he may be that saffron robed saint playing with children
like a child; or he might be the most decently dressed rich man in the most
expensive car passing by!
A realized person has no
merits to gain; nor any sins to collect! Whatever he does has no connection to
him. He is free to live as he likes; he has no duties ordained for him; he is
just happy anywhere, anytime, doing anything, and not doing anything also.
23
कस्त्वं कोऽहं कुत आयातः
का मे जननी को मे तातः
इति परिभावय सर्वमसारम्
विश्वं त्यक्त्वा स्वप्नविचारम्
॥
Who are you?
Who am I?
From where
have I come from?
Who is this
mother of mine?
Who is this
father of mine?
Thus
contemplate on everything as of no essence;
rejecting the
entire Universe as belonging to a dream world!
Those great Yogis of yore
followed the path of Self enquiry.
You can also reach the same
blissful state by asking the same questions to yourself.
Who am I? Who are you? Where
did I come from? Who is this mother who gave birth to my body? Who is the
father? Did I have parents in my last birth? Where are they? I might have
parents of many births too! Maybe this donkey standing in front of my house
might have been a mother to me in some birth! Why do I not love this mother of
my past birth? What is the meaning of this all? Is it all just a dream from
which I will wake up one day and laugh at the whole thing?
(VISHVA means the ever
changing world of perceptions.)
24
त्वयि मयि चान्यत्रैको
विष्णुः
व्यर्थं कुप्स्यसि
मय्यसहिष्णुः
भव समचित्तः सर्वत्र
त्वम्
वाञ्छस्यचिराद्यदि
विष्णुत्वम् ॥
In you, in me, and in others too, there
is only that One Vishnu existing!
You are getting angry with me being
impatient with me!
You just be equal minded everywhere
if you wish to attain the state of
Vishnu very soon!
Shankara consoles the eager
student who asks for the quickest means for realizing the Self:
You want to attain the state
of the all pervading Vishnu, is it not so?
That Vishnu or Para Brahman
or Self is the same Self in everyone: know that first.
When you lose all
differentiations between every one, the next simplest thing to do is just be
equal minded everywhere.
Do not get excited by good
things; do not get depressed by tragedies.
Do not love a person or hate
a person. Do not have likes and dislikes.
Do not get angry or overly
happy.
Remain always in the same
state of thoughtless quietness.
You will soon be in the
Supreme state of Self!
(VISHNU means one who
pervades everything.)
25
शत्रौ मित्रे पुत्रे
बन्धौ
मा कुरु यत्नं विग्रहसन्धौ
सर्वस्मिन्नपि पश्यात्मानम्
सर्वत्रोत्सृज भेदाज्ञानम्
॥
Do not make efforts in separating from
or joining
with a foe or friend or son or relative.
See Thine own Self everywhere.
Completely get rid of
the ignorant conception of
differentiation everywhere!
Do not waste your time in
setting right the family narratives.
It is a useless effort and
wastes your precious time too.
Everyone gets provoked by the
chemicals acting in their brain and body.
There is no meaning in their
anger, joy, love or hatred. They just react to outer circumstances and have no
purpose in life. Their very existence is to feel anxious and suffer.
If you have the goal of
realizing your Self, then stop worrying about the life narratives. Watch every
event like a witness. Do not feel anxious about everything. See everything as a
projection of your own Self. See it as a dream concocted by your mind.
26
कामं क्रोधं लोभं
मोहम्
त्यक्त्वात्मानं
भावय कोऽहम्
आत्मज्ञानविहीना
मूढाः
ते पच्यन्ते
नरकनिगूढाः ॥
Renouncing
completely the emotions of desire, anger, greed, and delusion
contemplate
on the Self and enquire –Who am I?
Those of
dullened intellects bereft of Self-Knowledge
will bake in
the hell fires forever.
Have perfect control over
your emotions.
Do not have desires for any
worldly object.
Do not feel annoyed when you
do not get what you strived for.
Do not try to earn more than
your limited needs.
Do not give into the deluding
nature of the world.
Look at the whole world as a
picture drawn on space.
Always be in the witness
state.
Every moment observe your own
actions as an outsider.
Practice watching the
continuous array of thoughts.
Concentrate on the state of
witness and remain as the Pure Consciousness alone!
Do not bother about
convincing others about the greatness of Self realization.
Those ignorant ones, whose
idea of ‘I’ can never go beyond the form and name will never be able to grasp
the subtle Knowledge of the Self.
They are bound for hells
because of their ignorance.
They do not need hells after
death; their very existence here is hell like.
They are all like blind
persons probing through the dark forests of life. They will dash against trees,
bleed by hitting rocks, get pricked by thorns; fall into pits and so on. Their
suffering never ends; they never attain what they want also. They will wander
round and round the same thorny paths and suffer. That itself becomes their
ordained hell.
But you with the Sun of Self
Knowledge shining in you can see everything on the path clearly. You will avoid
thorns; go round tress, jump over pits, cross over the rocks and soon attain
the Supreme Goal of oneness with Brahman.
27
गेयं गीतानामसहस्रम्
ध्येयं श्रीपतिरूपमजस्रम्
नेयं सज्जनसङ्गे चित्तम्
देयम् दीनजनाय च वित्तम्
॥
Bhagavad-Gita
and the thousand names of Vishnu have to be recited.
The form of
Sri Hari should be meditated upon a million times.
The mind has
to be guided towards the company of the noble.
The wealth
has to be given off to the poor!
Perform virtuous acts.
Study and understand
scriptures like Gita and Upanishads.
Worship any chosen Godhead
with love and devotion. Pray for Knowledge.
Seek the company of learned
men and clear your doubts.
Keep that much wealth alone
to fulfill your minimum needs and give away rest of the wealth in charity. By
such acts only a desire for liberation will arise in you.
28
सुखतः क्रियते रामाभोगः
पश्चात् हन्त शरीरे रोगः
यद्यपि लोके मरणं शरणम्
तदपि न मुञ्चति पापाचरणम्
॥
Alas!
One completely gives himself up to
enjoyments when in good health;
later the body is ridden with diseases.
When surely death alone is the final
refuge for one and all,
the man does not ever cease from his
sinful actions!
No one is aware of the instability
of life. They just believe that life goes on forever in the same way. The first
half of their life is spent in accumulating wealth and fulfilling all the
sensuous desires. They do not have the least control over their minds. A desire
arises and they do all that they can to
fulfill it immediately. Life just ebbs away satisfying one desire after the
other. The later half of their life is filled with innumerable ailments and
anxieties. They slowly tread their way towards death and vanish off like dust
blown away by the winds. But the lesson is never learnt.
Once a Yaksha asked
Yudhishtira – “What is the most amazing thing in life?”
The eldest of the Paandavas
answered:
“A man sees some one or other
dying every day. Yet he thinks he will live forever. That is the most amazing
thing in life!”
29
अर्थमनर्थं भावय नित्यम्
नास्ति सुखलेशः सत्यम्
पुत्रादपि धनभाजां
भीतिः
सर्वत्रैषा विहिता
रीतिः ॥
Reflect always that wealth is just a
calamity.
There is not an iota of joy present in
it; this is indeed true.
There is fear of it getting snatched
away even from one’s own sons.
This is an ordained way everywhere in
the world.
Know the true character of
wealth. The more you own the more you will suffer. Every coin you earn brings
along with it a curse of untold suffering. Wealth is just a means to fulfill
your basic needs and comforts. Accumulating wealth should not become the sole
goal in life. One should not slave away his life just to increase his
possessions. When you own a lot of wealth you are surrounded by people who have
no iota of love or affection for you. Their love is pretentious and only intent
on gaining favors from you. They wait for opportunities to cheat you and use
you for their selfish gains. Your wealth slowly diminishes like sand from a sack
filled with holes. You become the store house of all sorts of physical and
mental ailments. You forget even what a good peaceful sleep is. There is no
time to enjoy even the possessions you have accumulated. As you slowly tread
towards the inevitable cessation of life, the sons impatiently wait for your
departure to the other world, so they can put their hands on the hard earned
money of yours.
There is a saying in
Sanskrit:
‘The wealth not spent for
oneself, nor given to others becomes wasted away for sure.’
Money was invented to
indicate the value of goods getting exchanged in the barter system. The
currency you possess denotes your purchasing power of goods. Hoarding this
power in lockers leads only to the destruction of the country’s economy.
Ornaments of gold worn on
your body must enhance your beauty, no doubt; but your body should not become
an ugly stand used by the gold ornament to exhibit its beauty.
Keeping the body clean and
pleasant is a duty ordained even by the Scriptures; but trying to look young by
the use of harmful chemicals will only help in the deterioration of your body
cells.
Each age in a man’s life is
beautiful and worth its value.
The childhood should abound
in innocence and pursuit of knowledge.
Youth is the time to develop
physical fitness and accumulate more specialized Knowledge. The next stage is
given to the joy of experiencing love and affection from wife and children and
caring for them.
Old age, with the white hair
proclaiming the experiences and knowledge thereof is not a thing to be ashamed
off.
Material wealth harms you;
but the wealth of Knowledge leads you to eternal life and freedom.
30
प्राणायामं
प्रत्याहारम्
नित्यानित्यविवेकविचारं
जाप्यसमेतसमाधिविधानम्
कुर्ववधानं
महदवधानम् ॥
The regular practice of breath-control;
keeping the mind withdrawn from sense
pleasures;
the discriminative analysis between
permanent and impermanent things;
contemplative practices accompanied by
the recitation
(of Upanishad Mantras);
perform all these with care, extreme
care!
Practice the Yoga of breath
control regularly. The main purpose of Yoga is Cessation of thoughts
(Chitta-Vrtti- Nirodha). Breath and mind are interconnected. You stop the
function of one the other automatically becomes still. Those who cannot control
the thoughts by Will, must take recourse to Praanaayaama and control the
vibrations in the mind.
This practice should be
accompanied by control of desires; one should stop hankering after sense
pleasures and withdraw the mind from external objects.
One should continuously
discriminate about the impermanence of the objects in the world.
One should practice
differentiating all the ‘mine’ objects from ‘I’; the non-Self from the Self.
One should turn the mind
inwards and contemplate on the great statements of the Upanishads. Recitation
of Mantras without the comprehension of the meaning is useless. Knowledge is
the only means to liberation and not actions done by mind, body or intellect.
One should be very careful
not to slip in the path of spirituality. Never give in to temptations even a
little. Do not think that one small mistake will do no harm. The spiritual path
is akin to walking on the sword’s edge. A smallest slip and the body would
bleed to death.
If even the least of desires
gets satisfied thinking it to be trivial, it leads to greatest harms. A desire
when satisfied does not end there. It leaves behind a Vaasanaa- a latent desire
as a seed which will again sprout at some unexpected time and lead you towards
your downfall. So be careful; do not suppress the desires; but eliminate them
through proper intellectual process. Take the mind towards nobler things in
life like guiding a child towards proper actions with kind and caressing words.
Do not force the mind towards sense control. It will burst out breaking the dam
with hundred fold force and destroy you. Gradually bring it under control
through intellectual prowess. Be careful. Very careful!
31
गुरुचरणाम्भुजनिर्भरभक्तः
सम्सारादचिराद्भव मुक्तः
सेन्द्रियमानसनियमादेवम्
द्रक्ष्यसि निजहृदयस्थं देवम्
॥
O Devotee holding on to the lotus feet
of the Guru!
Be liberated from this worldly existence
soon!
By the discipline of the mind
accompanied by sense control in this manner
you will visualize the Lord seated in
your own heart!
समाप्तम्
May anyone who reads the instructions of
the Great Guru Shankara with devotion
attain liberation while living, soon.
By treading the path lighted by the kind words of the
great Guru,
one is sure to gain control over his mind and attain
Self-Realization.
One will surely get established in the Supreme state
of Para Brahman
by the grace of
Sri Shankara the Great Guru.
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