bhajagovindam-viditatmananda

7/28/2019 BhajaGovindam-Viditatmananda

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Satsanga with Sri Swami Viditatmananda Saraswati

Arsha Vidya Gurukulam

Bhaja Govindam – Verse 1

Éj gaeivNd<Éj gaeivNd<gaeivNd<Éj mUFmt e,

s<àaÝes iÚihtekal enih nih r] it f uk«Ákr[ e.

bhajagovindaà bhajagovindaà govindaà bhajamüòhamate,

sampräpte sannihi te käle nahi nahi rakñati òukåïkar aëe.

Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, worship Govinda, oh deluded mind!

(Intellectual pursuits such as) rules of grammar will not save you at the

time of your death.

Òukåïkaraëe . In Sanskrit, the vebal root kå, in the sense of karaëe , means to

do. This is an aphorism in the dhätu päta , a list of the verbs provided by Päëini.It is symbolic of all the aphorisms of grammar in the pursuit of the knowledge of

grammar. Here, the knowledge of grammar stands for any intellectual pursuit.

Thus, òukåïkaraëe represents the various intellectual pursuits in life.

Nahi rakñati , does not protect. The accomplishments in various intellectual

fields do not serve to protect you. When?

Sampräpte sannihi te käle . Sampräpte means very well obtained. Käla means

time or death. Sampräpte sannihi te käle is when the appointed time draws near, or

when death arrives. At that time, none of these intellectual accomplishmentswill protect you or save you.

Every pursuit in our life is a pursuit of freedom

What kind of protection is being talked about here? It is protection from

death itself. Everyone wants to be saved or protected from the very idea of

death. No one likes death; death represents all my grief, all my sorrow, all my

sufferings, isolation, and fear. Therefore, what one is seeking is freedom from

death. If we analyze our pursuits in life we will appreciate that we are all

seeking freedom from death. Nobody ever wants to die. One always wants toperpetuate existence, live for a day more. Even though I may be a totally useless

entity in this world, I do not think so. People may say, “The time has come, why

don’t you quit?” But I will not want to quit. Why? Because I have a natural love

for life, a natural love for existence, a desire for immortality.



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We are all seeking freedom from bondage, dependence, and smallness.

Seeking freedom from death is one way of expressing that freedom. It appears as

though everyone is going in different directions, seeking different things. One

wants to be wealthy, another wants to be powerful. What one is looking forward

to, somebody else wants to get rid of; one wants to be famous, another wants torenounce fame, and while one wants power and position, yet another is seeking

to be free from them. What anyone is doing in life seems to be different from

what everyone else is doing, but each one is seeking the same end in life.

Everyone is seeking to be protected, seeking to be saved, seeking to be

free. If everyone wants to be free, how are they doing different things? Different

people have different concepts of freedom and each one pusues freedom

according to his or her notions. That is why in the very pursuit of freedom we

wind up, more often than not, with more bondage and more entanglement.

All our pursuits only create new bondage

Everything that gives me freedom also creates some bondage. I build a

house thinking that I will be free, but then I find that the very house binds me!

The very thing that I pursued in order to gain freedom, does give me some

freedom, but also gives me a certain other kind of bondage. When I do not have

a job, I set about looking for a job. Then I get a job, but find that I have to leave

for work early in the morning every weekday. I lose the freedom of getting up

late in the morning! I have to pay a price for everything. That seems to be the

nature of everything in this world. We are not saying that it should not be this

way. All of these things, a job, a house, or a car, are required in life and do have

a place in our lives. They contribute something to our life, but the point is, do

they have what we are seeking? Are they capable of providing what we are

looking for?

Every happiness is accompanied by some unhappiness, burden, or

responsibilities and every gain is associated with some loss or price. That is the

reason why we do not seem to get what we want. We are pursuing freedom

from death, ignorance, and unhappiness. Through our various pursuits, we areseeking to be saved from something. We are seeking rakñanam or protection from

mortality, ignorance, and pain or suffering. That is why ÇréÇaì karäcärya says

nahi nahi rakñati . He asks us to think about what we are seeking to accomplish,

and then inquire into whether what we are doing can truly enable us to

accomplish our goal.




Suppose you want to go to Chicago, which is west of Pennsylvania, and

you take a highway that goes east, will you ever be able to reach your

destination? Similarly, will these various pursuits enable you to accomplish

what you are seeking in life? The answer is nahi nahi rakñati, all these

accomplishments will not provide you what you are seeking. They will not giveyou the freedom or the immortality or the happiness or the joy that you are

seeking. ÇréÇaì karäcärya is pointing out here that what all human beings are

seeking is universal. Since everybody is seeking freedom, there is one common

solution to the human problem. What is the solution? It is, “bhajagovindaà

bhajagovindaà govindaà bhajamüòhamate ”.

Seeing the impermanent as permanent is delusion

Müòhamate , müòha mati . A müòhamate is one whose mati or perception is

deluded, one who does not know what one is seeking and, therefore, is notaware of the real purpose of life. M oha or delusion is aviveka . Viveka is

discrimination, seeing a thing for what it is. The opposite of discrimnation is

aviveka or moha . It is also called adhyäsa , superimposition, which results in seeing

one thing where it is not, atasmin tad buddhiù . In Vedanta, moha is seeing that

which is not there, or seeing something to be different from what it is in reality,

e.g., taking the rope for a snake, or seeing happiness where it is not. Seeing the

impermanent as permanent is delusion, just as taking the permanent to be

impermanent is also delusion. In the same way, seeing the non-self as the self is

delusion, as surely as seeing the self as non-self is delusion. Therefore, the truepurpose of life is gaining freedom frommoha .

‘I’ consists of the Person and the Personality

Who am I? That which I call ‘I ’ is a complex entity consisting of two

aspects, a person and a personality. In the same way as an actor consists of his

person and his costume, within me, there is a both a person and a personality.

My mind and intellect form the personality. This body is part of the personality.

Associated with the personality is the person, who is a simple, conscious being,

the I. However, I do not discriminate between the person and the personality,and therefore, these two are lumped together. If I do not know the identity of the

actor playing a beggar, I may take him to be a real beggar. What we call ‘beggar'

is really the attribute of the costume and not of the one who is wearing that

costume. When one does not know this, one takes both to be one entity, when, in




fact, they are two. The ignorant person may feel that there is a beggar and may

even go ahead and give him a penny.

The limited personality is mistakenly regarded as ‘I’

As in the example of the actor and his costume, there are two entities inthe ‘I’: the person and the personality. The personality is the costume that the ‘I’,

the person, is wearing. We do not have that viveka or discrimination and,

therefore, take ourselves to be this personality. Each one of us takes ourselves to

be a limited individual. Having taken myself to be a limited being, just this body

or this limited personality, I am constantly struggling to become free from this

limitation, this smallness. This is the story of our life. Therefore, Çré

Çaì karäcärya says müòhamate . It is not only the old paëòita who is müòha or

deluded. Each one of us is deluded.

Taking the person for the personality is delusion

We do not even have to make an effort to be deluded; we are born

deluded. In the Gétä [7-27] Lord Kåñëa says, “Hey Arjuna, all beings, at the time

of birth itself, are deluded about their true nature, sarvabhütäni sammohaà sarge

yänt i parant apa ”.

I do not know what my true nature is. Everything that I do is an attempt

to become free from my sense of limitation. The question is of whether this sense

of limitation is real. Am I really limited? Vedanta says that the ‘I’, the person, is

not limited. It says, tat tvam asi , you are already that free and limitless being, the

whole being that you are seeking to be. Taking the free self to be bound is

delusion and taking the whole being to be small is delusion. This body is a

costume, a dwelling place, and the mind, an instrument given to me. The body

and the mind are given to me to perform various funtions. They are the non-self,

and to take them to be me, the Self, is delusion.

You are a simple conscious being, free, complete, and whole. This is the

true nature of the Self. You take yourself to be bound, to be small, and to be

limited, but it is not the truth about you. It is merely a notion. Why does thatnotion arise? It is because you take the body, the mind, and the personality to be

the Self.

I find that the body is mortal, and, therefore, I take myself also to be

mortal. As a result, I seek to be immortal by perpetuating the existence of this

body. I find that the mind is small, its abilities are limited, its skills are limited,




and its accomplishments are limited. Therefore, I seek to become free from that

sense of limitation by making my mind limitless. I keep accumulating a variety

of information and knowledge thinking that I will become all-knowing. I want

to control more people, I want more strength and more energy so that I may

become omnipotent, all powerful, and I want to become immortal at the level of the personality. This is a futile effort. Regardless of what I do, the body can

never be made immortal. What is born is definitely going to die. Regardless of

what I do, I can never become omniscient. My knowledge is always going to be

limited.

Govinda is the Person, my own Self

What should I do? Bhajagovi ndaà bhajagovindaà govindaà bhajamüòhamate .

Bhaja means worship. Bhajagovindam means worship Govinda. What is

Govinda? Govinda is that freedom, the wholeness, the immortality, and thetotality that I am seeking. In common usage, Govinda means Lord Kåñëa. The

word go means cow. The one who protects the go is Govinda, gam vindati it i

govindaù . The Lord was a cowherd, so he was called Govinda. It seems to be

said here, may you worship Çré Kåñëa, but the word go has several other

meanings as well. When we analyze the meanings of the word Govinda, we

understand that, in this context, Govinda means the limitless Self.

Another meaning of the word go is påthvé or earth. Lord Kåñëa is called

Govinda, the protector of the earth, in his incarnation as a varäha or boar. It is

said that Hiraëyäkña, the asura , took the earth and went into the rasä-t ala or

waters. When the earth disappeared the people were upset and approached the

Lord and asked Him to save the earth. So the Lord appeared as a varäha , battled

Hiraëyäkña, killed him, and brought the earth back from the waters. Lord Kåñëa

is thus Govinda, the retriever of the earth.

Go can also be taken to mean the sense organs. Govindaù, then, is the one

who impels the sense organs, the one who enlivens the sense organs, or the one

who directs the sense organs to perform their appointed functions. For example,

take the fan, which rotates in the presence of electricity. We can see themovement of the blades, but not the electricity which causes it. Similarly, we

observe the functioning of our organs of action and our organs of perception, but

while we may not perceive it, Govinda alone enables the the various faculties to

perform their various functions. The Kenopaniñad [5] says:

yÖaca=n_yuidt <yen vag_yu* t e,




t dev äü Tv<iviÏ ned<yiddmupaste. 5.

yad väcänabhyudi taà yena väg abhyudate

tad eva brahma tvaà vi ddhi nedaà yad idam upäsate

May you understand that Brahman is that (Consciousness) which is not

revealed by speech, but by which (Consciousness) the speech is revealed.

This (deity) which (people) meditate upon is not (Brahman).

The Self that is Govindaù is that which cannot be revealed by speech, but

because of which speech is revealed, that which cannot be seen by the eyes, but

because of which the eyes are able to see, and that which cannot be thought of by

the mind, but because of which the mind thinks.

The word go also means speech. In this sense, it means the one who is

behind all speech. Govindaù is the one because of whom all speech occurs, and

because of whom words have the ability to reveal their meanings.

Thus, the name Govinda is not necessarily limited to ÇréKåñëa. In a broad

sense, it means the Self, the truth or the Consciousness. It is the happiness that is

behind every name and form and, indeed, that which is behind everything in the

creation. That Self is Govindaù. Therefore, ÇréÇaì karäcärya says, bhajagovindaà

bhajagovindaà govindaà bhajamüòhamate , may you worship Govinda, which is

your very Self. It is not only your Self, but the Self of all. May you realize that it

is not what you are seeking at the moment. It is not to be found in the pursuit of

intellectual or material accomplishments. What you are seeking is to be found inthis Govinda alone.

Seeking Govinda is the purpose of life

What is the purpose of life? Bhajagovindam bhajagovindam. Seeking or

knowing Govinda is the purpose of life. Sampräpte sannihi te käle . Why is death

mentioned here? The one to whom this is addressed, the old paëòita who is close

to death, does not undersand the importance of time or of priorities. This is

called pramäda or inadvertance. It is an involvement with something other than

which the situation demands. Of course, this does not mean that grammaticalrules or secular achievements are condemned. Rather, it is their

inappropriateness that is shown here. When you are dying, you should be

preparing for death.

The jéva has come in the human form in order to accomplish a certain

purpose, but we come here and get distracted by so many fascinations and




attractions that we forget the reason why we are here. It is like taking a scenic

route on the way to our destination and getting distracted along the way. A

story is told to illustrate this. Once upon a time, a king made an announcement

to all his subjects that on a given day, he would be available to them throughout

the day. The citizens could come and ask for whatever they wanted, and hewould fulfil their desires. On that day, he was in a house on top of a hill in a

beautiful garden. All the people in the kingdom started coming in the morning

to see him. They had to pass through the great big garden to reach his home. In

the garden, they found shops selling clothing and jewellery, they found

restaurants, games, shows, entertainment etc. The people were distracted by all

these wonderful attractons, and that entire day, not even a single person

managed to reach the king’s house. This is an example of müòhamatiù . They

were all distracted, deluded and lost. They came there in order to see the king

and fulfill their desires, but got lost on account of these other fascinations on theway. They lost sight of their priorities. The Bhajagovindam is a reminder that

your journey has to be in keeping with your objectives.

No other pursuit gives us what we are seeking

Every accomplishment holds a lot of fascination for me, only, when I get

it, I find that it is not what I was looking for. There is another story that shows

what a human being does in the various pursuits of life. It is of a time when

Lord Räma and Sétädevéhad come back from Lanka, having conquered Rävaëa.

One day, they were going for a walk, and Hanumanji was following them. Inreminiscing about the olden days, and how Hanumanji had served them,

Sétädevé was so pleased with Hanumanji that she took off a beautiful pearl

necklace that she was wearing, and gave it to him. After a while, Sétädevéheard

some cracking sounds coming from behind, and when she looked back, she saw

that Hanumanji was cracking open the pearls one by one in his mouth. She was

surprised and asked him what he was doing. “I am looking for my Räma,” he

replied. Hanumanji was cracking open each pearl, looking to see if Lord Räma

was there, and not finding Lord Räma in it, throwing it away. Similarly, we are

also searching for Lord Räma or Govinda in each of our pursuits; searching forthat freedom, that happiness, or that immortality.

Everybody wants all the happiness that one can get. Everybody wants

happiness all the time and in all the places, without any limitation of time and

space. Moreover, we do not want any strings attached to our happiness; we

want unconditional happiness. Also, we do not want to exert ourselves at all in




order to be happy. It is what we call änanda , happiness without any limitation.

The happiness that lasts all the time is called sat . I want to feel happy and also

know that I am happy. That means I want happiness with knowledge. Awareful

happiness is called cit . Therefore, what every man is really seeking in life is this

sat cit änanda . We may not know this. We may perhaps never have giventhought to what we are seeking in life. When we do give thought to what we are

seeking in life, we realize that we are seeking nothing less than sat cit änanda .

The limitation of all our pursuits is pointed out to us. Is there any pursuit that

will give us what we are seeking? No. That is why each one of us, like

Hanumanji, takes a pearl and cracks it open to see whether or not it contains sat

cit änanda .

I work hard for something, I get the result, and I examine it to see whether

what I seek is there. It is not there, and I am not satisfied. I work hard for

another pearl. I crack it open. Again, I am not satisfied. I go for yet another. Thus, there is no end to what one is seeking. How is it that we do not seem to be

satisfied with any accomplishment? Every accomplishment seems to give me

satisfaction for a period of time, no doubt, but then again, I find that I desire

something else. Why is it so? It is because there is no accomplishment that is

capable of providing what I am seeking, that sat cit änanda , that fullness called

God or the Self. This is what ÇréÇaì karäcärya is pointing out here.

Sampräpte sannihi te käle , when the death comes at the appointed time, all of

your accomplishments are there in front of you, but you find that they areinsignificant. That is what is meant by nahi nahi rakñat i òukåïkaraëe . These

secular accomplishments will not protect you, meaning they will not give you a

sense of fulfilment. The worship of Govinda should be the priority of our life.

Dedicate all your actions to Govinda

Does this mean that I should stop all my pursuits? Should I become a

renunciate? Should I give up my job and start repeating the name, Govinda?

What is the meaning of worshipping Govinda? Worshipping Govinda is not

doing any particular thing, but realizing that whatever I do should become ameans for the attainment of the ultimate goal. All the accomplishments in life

have a purpose, alright, but they are a means and not the end. Let all your

accomplishments become a means for the attainment of Govinda, the ultimate

goal. This is what the scriptures teach us.




The Bhagavad Gétä teaches us how to make our life a means for the

attainment of Govinda. Lord Kåñëa says, “Remember me at all times, and

continue to perform your duty, tasmät sarveñu käleñu mäm anusmara yudhya ca ”

[Bhagavadgétä, 8-7]. Here, we are provided with a vision of life. Whatever

action you perform, do it with a particular attitude, as an offering to the Lord. Your whole life, then, becomes a means for attaining Govinda. A river is totally

devoted to reaching the ocean. Whatever the river does is towards that purpose.

If an obstacle comes in its way the river may change course, but eventually, it

will go back to the pursuit of reaching the ocean. In the same manner, let all

your activities be focused like those of the river. Keep in mind that what you are

seeking in life is Govinda. Therefore, let the purpose of every activity be to reach

Govinda.

There is nothing wrong in serving the world or even acquiring wealth etc.

However, pursue all your activities keeping that goal in mind. Everybody is adevotee. Some are devoted to wealth, and some to their spouse, or children, or

job. Don’t be a devotee of any of these things. “Then how about my spouse, and

children?” Let that devotion also be a means for worship of Govinda. Realize

that the attainment of Govinda is the only true goal of your life1.

1 Transcribed and edited by Krishnakumar (KK) S. Davey and Jayshree Ramakrishnan.



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Even when there is nitya-anitya-vastu viveka or discrimination between theeternal and the ephemeral, there are various internal and external obstacles. Thefollowing verses, therefore, mention some of the important obstacles that wehave to overcome in order that the bhajnam or worship of Govinda can beperformed without difficulty or distractions. One important obstacle ismentioned in the second verse.

mU F jhIih xnagmt&:[a< k…é sÓ‚iÏ< mnis ivt&:[am! ,

y‘Ése injkmae R paÄ< ivÄ< ten ivnaedy icÄm! .

müòha jahéhi dhanägamatåñëäà kuru sadbuddhià manasi vitåñëäm,

yallabhase nijakarmopättaà vittaà tena vinodaya cittam.

Oh deluded one! May you give up your craving for the accumulation of wealth; (and) may you contemplate upon Govinda in your mind. Becontent with whatever wealth is obtained through your honest efforts.

Müòha is the deluded one who is distracted on account of the variousfascinations in life, and therefore, distracted from the path.

Jahéhi is give up. Tåñëäà is thrist. Dhanägamatåñëäà is the thirst or cravingfor the accumulation of wealth.

Human beings are greedy

Greed is a big problem for the human being, and an important obstacle inthe way of worship. He not only wants wealth, but also the accumulation of wealth. There is no grudge against wealth in this observation. We do requirewealth to provide for our basic necessities such as food, shelter, and clothing.Without money, the day-to-day life cannot be sustained. Therefore, it is not

money itself, but dhanägamatåñëäm, the craving for money, that is the problem.The human being has some kind of fascination for money. We can never

be satisfied, regardless of how much we have. The more we acquire, the morewe want. This is called greed, a dissatisfaction with what we have and a need formore. As long as there is greed, all our energy and concentration is going to bedirected towards acquiring more and more wealth. Therefore Çré Çaìkaräcärya




says, ‘May you give up that thirst for wealth’. He does not say give up wealth, because he knows that money is necessary for the sustenance of life.

Only the human being derives joy from possession and accumulation. Wedo not find this tendency elsewhere, in other life forms. We are not satisfied with

the money that is just enough to fulfil our needs. We always want more andmore. When I was a child, I used to fill up a box with my marbles. Every night Iwould shake it, hear the noise, and count the number of marbles. It gave megreat satisfaction to get more marbles. Although I had a hundred marbles, Iwould not part with even one to my younger brother. Why? They were allmine. What satisfaction is that? It is the satisfaction of possession. Weaccumulate not only wealth, but even clothes, shoes etc. We look at these thingswith great satisfaction, even though we may not wear most of our clothes.Similarly, even though we may not use that money, we want more and more of

it. Why? Our satisfaction appears greater with the possession of more wealth.Unfortunately, a man cannot enjoy what he has because his mind is alwayspreoccupied with what he does not have. He continually compares himself withothers and is always trying to keep up with the Joneses. He exhausts himself completely, but will still find no satisfaction at all.

Greed is an obstacle in the worship of Govinda

Tåñëa, or the thirst for accumulating wealth is a destructive thing. Itdestroys the personality and completely exhausts our energy because we willnever be free from this thirst.

inSSvae ýeKztm! ztI dzztm! l]m! shöaxIp>,

l]ezae i]itpaltam! i]itpit> c³ezvt! sMpdm! ,

c³ez> pu nirNÔtm! su rpitäR üSpdm! vaNDit,

äü iv:[u pdm! hirhR rpdm! t&:[avixm! kae gt>.nissvo hyekçatam çaté daçaçatam lakñam sahasrädhépaù,

lakñeço kñitipälatäm kñitipatiù cakreçavat sampadam,

cakreçaù punarindratam surapatirbrahmaspadam vänchati,

brahma viñëupadam harirharapadam tåñëävadhim ko gataù.

The one who has no money wants a 100. The one who has a 100 wants a1000. The one who has a 1000 wants a 100,000. The one who has a 100,000wants to be a king. The king wants to be a sovereign of the earth. Thesovereign of the earth wants to be Indra, the king of the heavens. Indra




wants to be Brahmä. Brahmä wants to be Viñëu. Viñëu wants to be Çiva.Who has ever attained the end of craving?

When a man does not have a single rupee, all he wants is one hundred rupees.Give him a hundred rupees and ask him if he is satisfied. He will want one

thousand, çaté daçaçatam. If he has one thousand, he wants a million. If he has amillion, he wants more, he wants to be a minister, and so on. The thirst is neverending; it merely changes form.

Therefore, Çré Çaìkaräcärya says, ‘May you give up the craving or thirstfor the accumulation of wealth, jahéhi dhanägamatåñëäm’. It is an obstacle in theworship of Govinda. It is not possible for these two objectives to be presenttogether. It is impossible to have that thirst and worship Govinda at the sametime.

People ask this question, “How can I get peace of mind? When I sit downfor prayer, I am not able to concentrate”. Unless we bring about somefundamental changes in our perceptions and values of life it is not possible tocontrol a mind which is under the control of greed. The Éçäväsya Upaniñad [1]also says, ‘May you not have greed for anybody’s wealth,’ “tena tyaktena bhuïjéthä

mä gådhaù kasyasviddhanam”. Be satisfied with what you have.

Focus on Govinda

Kuru sadbuddhià manasi vitåñëäm. Manasi means in your mind, and buddhi

means thought. Sadbuddhi is thoughts about sat, the truth or reality, or aboutGovinda. May you contemplate upon Govinda in your mind, says ÇréÇaìkaräcärya. It is the focus that is important here. People tell me that they havefocus as long as they are in the ashram, but once they go out and start working,the mind gets preoccupied with so many other things that the focus gets lost.

We can maintain the focus on Govinda if we make all our actions revolvearound Govinda. Just as we do pradakñiëa or circumambulation around the Lordfixing him at the center of our focus, so also, in the worship of Govinda, the Lordshould become the focus of whatever we do. How can we make this happen?This will happen when we are alert, when our mind is free from distractions.When would that be? That will come about when the mind is free from tåñëäm orcraving. Vigatä tåñëäm yasmät tat vitåñëäm, that from which the craving or tåñëäm has gone away is vitåñëäm. What makes us dwell upon wealth and money is notthe money itself, but the craving, the greed for more. Çré Çaìkaräcärya is




pointing out that the craving for wealth is an obstacle because the mind can focuseither outwardly or inwardly, not both ways.

Eliminate craving by developing a correct attitude towards wealth

Our mind does not have to be controlled. All we have to do is seek toeliminate those factors which distract the mind. Certain things draw my mindaway from me. If you remove those factors the mind will not be drawn away,and will remain stable and focused. The tåñëa or craving in the mind can beremoved by realizing that the craving does not have any value beyond providingcertain basic necessities in our life. We should have a healthy attitude towardswealth. We should recognize the place wealth has in our life, and assign it thatplace. To say that wealth is useless is wrong. To say that wealth is everything isalso wrong. If you have responsiblities towards the family, you have to provide

for that. At the same time, understand that there is no end to your requirements.You can keep on increasing what you consider to be your necessities and findthat there is never enough money to fulfill them. The same people who livedhappily in an apartment in India with no car, soon learn to live in a six-bedroomhouse with three cars in the USA! As Pujya Swami Dayanandaji says, what wecall progress is merely converting luxuries into necessities.

Spiritiual life requires an understanding of all of our priorities. An austerelife with the minimum necessities is definitely one of the first requirements. Igive only as much importance to wealth as belongs to it, and not beyond. Wegive undue importance to wealth because we are insecure and seek security inwealth. Here, the äcärya is saying that money cannot provide security.

Where is security to be found? Can an insecure thing give you security?Somebody can take your money away, and the money will go with him; it willnot protest. Therefore, neither money nor wealth or anything else can give yousecurity. Security is that which you discover from within yourself. Money hasno role to play besides satisfying your basic necessities. If you have more, mayyou give it to the people who need it, deyaà dénajanäya ca vittam [Bhajagovindam,

27]. Bhajanam or worship of Govinda is possible only in a mind that is free fromtåñëa or the craving. What is the attitude required to become free from thiscraving?

Develop contentment

Yallabhase nijakarmopättaà vittaà tena vinodaya cittam. Yat vittaà labhase,whatever money that you get, nijakarmopättam, earned as a result of your honest




karma or effort, tena vinodaya cittam, makes your mind happy or cheerful. Here,Çré Çaìkaräcärya is teaching us the value of santoña or contentment. This is called pratipakña bhävanä in yoga çästra. Pakña means standpoint. Pratipakña means anopposite standpoint or opposite point of view. In this, whenever a given point of

view disturbs your mind, you replace it with the opposite point of view and thuscalm the mind. For example, you get agitated or excited when you are angry. If you replace that anger by kindness or compassion for the person who is causingit, your anger will get diffused.

What is the standpoint that is opposed to tåñëa or craving or greed?Yallabhase nijakarmopättaà vittaà tena vinodaya cittam. Satisfaction or contentmentis the antidote for this craving. May you have contentment or santoña in your life.It is not said here that you stop acting or working, and be content with air orwater. Do make the required effort, perform your duty, but be satisfied with

whatever results you get for your actions. Generally speaking, we are notsatisfied with the reward that we get and, therefore, find ourselves running orchasing after wealth. So contentment is the pratipakña of tåñëa or craving.

Contentment is important for spiritual growth

Whenever we talk of contentment, I am immediately asked the question,“Swamiji, if everybody is content, how will there be progress in our life? I willnever exert myself if I am satistfied. I am inspired to do something only whenthere is discontentment.” It is perhaps true that as far as material progress isconcerned, discontent will help. However, what we are seeking is true progress,an inner growth in life in which contentment has great value.

Contentment does not mean not acting. It does not mean remainingpassive. It means being satisfied with the rewards of your action. If we are notcontented, we will never be happy. When we are contented, at least we have anopportunity to enjoy what we have. I often tell the story of the poor man whowent to see a saint and said, “Revered Sir, I do not have anything. Please showme how I can become rich.” “Alright. I will give you one million dollars if you

give me your two eyes.” “I can’t do that.” “Ok, I will give you a million dollarsfor your arms.” “I can’t do that.” “What about a million dollars for your legs?”“Sir, don’t be ridiculous.” In a few minutes, the saint showed the man that whathe already had was worth a few million dollars!

There is never any satisfaction in our lives. We think that we will makemore progress if we have dissatisfaction, but while we may or may not make




progress, we will always be miserable if we are dissatisfied. It is true that theremay be a long list of what we do not have. However, if we were to make a list of what we do have, we will find that we have quite a lot of things also. This issatisfaction or santoña.

Let us learn to enjoy what we have

Contentment is not restricted to wealth. It applies to every other aspect of life in which dissatisfaction deprives you of the joy that you might otherwisehave. Learn to enjoy what you have. If you find that you really need something,go ahead and work for it. Make sure, however, that it is a genuine need and notan imagined need. You don’t need to do what somebody else does. We are allinfluenced by the world or by the society. We don’t have to always follow thevalues that others follow. We should have our own priorities and our own

values. In short, kuru sadbuddhià manasi vitåñëäm, may you make your mind freefrom tåñëäm, the craving or the greed.

In the Kaöhopaniñad, the eight-year old Naciketas goes to Yamaräja, theLord of Death. Yamaräja is so pleased with Naciketas that he offers him three boons. As the first boon, Naciketas asks for the welfare of his father. As thesecond boon, Naciketas asks for the welfare of the society, and as the third boon,Naciketas asks for the knowledge of the Self. Yamaräja is surprised at such ayoung boy asking for knowledge of the Self. Not knowing whether the boyknew the value of what he was asking for, he decides to test him. He offers himall sorts of attractive gifts in place of self-knowledge. He offers wealth,kingdoms, horses, elephants, gold etc. Naciketas does not even consider theoffer. Yamaräja then makes his offer more attractive. “I will give you allpleasures that are available only in the heavens and not to human beings. Comeon, take them. Take these musicians, take this chariot. Take them all. ”Naciketas is clear what he wants, and replies that a man can never be satisified by wealth, “na vittena tarpaëéyo manuñyaù” [Kaöhopaniñad, 1-1-27]. It is true thatregardless of how much wealth you offer, it can never satisfy man. Therefore,what is mentioned here is the tåñëa or craving. Çré Çaìkaräcärya talks some moreabout wealth in ‘arthamanarthaà bhävaya nityam’ [29]. We will see that later.

The first line of this verse, ‘kuru sadbuddhià manasi vitåñëäm’ is important.May you entertain thoughts of sat, thoughts of Govinda. May you maintain thefocus on the goal of life by giving up the tåñëa for artha, wealth. People say tome that they cannot worship God because he or she is has so many other




commitments. That is not really the obstacle. The obstacle is their order of priorities in life1.




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The third verse points out another obstacle to the worship of Govinda.The human being’s infatuation or craving for käma, sense gratification, is anotherobstacle to the spiritual life.

narIStnÉr naÉIdez< †:qœva magamaehavezm! ,

@tNma<savsaid ivkar< mnis ivicNty var< varm! .

näréstanabhara näbhédeçaà dåñövä mägämohäveçam,

etanmäàsävasädi vikäraà manasi vicintaya väraà väram.

Do not fall prey to infatuation upon seeing a woman’s bosom or navel.These are nothing but the modification of flesh, etc. Deliberate on thisrepeatedly in your mind.

Näréstanabhara näbhédeçaà dåñövä mägämohäveçam means do not fall prey toinfatuation upon seeing the bosom or navel of a woman. This verse is addressedto both sexes. What should I do in order to make my mind free from thisinfatuation?

‘Etanmäàsävasädi vikäraà manasi vicintaya väraà väram’, may you dwell

upon the truth that the object of infatuation is nothing but a bundle of flesh, bones, and marrow. It is beautifully packaged and, therefore, attractive. The pratipakña bhävanä or opposite standpoint to one’s general view is provided here.Man does not think about what he is attracted to. He does not look beyond thesuperficial attribute of that which attracts him so much. It is the nature of themind to superimpose on objects, a value that they do not have. We superimposea veil of fascination or a veil of pleasantness over them and then desire them. ÇréÇaìkaräcärya, therefore, proposes a pratipakña bhävanä.

Give up unnecessary preoccupations that distort priorities

Some people feel that there is a condemnation of money, pleasure etc. inthese verses. We must keep in mind that there is no such condemnation here.There is only a condemnation of an unnecessary preoccupation with these thingsthat leads to distraction and a waste of precious time, and a distortion of one’spriorities. These little things assume a great importance in our mind and take upour energy because we do not appreciate them for what they are. Whenever the




mind is unduly distracted, the rule is to apply the pratipakña bhävanä to release itfrom the disturbance.

Çré Çaìkaräcärya does not recommend that you should suppress yourfeelings. Suppression will only result in a distortion of the mind. Sense

gratification is a tremendous waste of energy that should be conserved andredirected towards something positive, towards one’s own self-development.

Etanmäàsävasädi vikäram. He proposes a harsh but realistic way to look atthe realities of life. The human body towards which the mind is attracted isnothing but a vikära, a modification of flesh and bones, a packet of filth that iswell packaged. It certainly appears very attractive on the outside, but when welook at the content, it is nothing but filth. The second line says, manasi vicintaya

väraà väram. Vicintaya means by deliberation. Väram means repeatedly. Çré

Çaìkaräcärya says, may you contemplate the true nature of this attraction, väraàväram, over and over again. This pratipakña bhävanä is a way of releasing themind from the fascination with the human body.

Most of humanity pursues two of the four puruñärthas

Animals merely follow their instincts. If human beings also merely followtheir instincts, they are not much different from animals. In this context it is said,‘ähära-nidrä-bhaya-maithunaà ca sämänyam etat paçubhir-naräëam.’ It means thathuman beings and animals have these things in common: ähära, the need to

appease hunger, nidrä, the need for sleep, bhaya, the need to protect oneself, andmaithunam, the need for self-gratification. These are the natural instincts that arepresent in animals as well as human beings. Animals exhaust their lives insimply fulfilling these basic instincts. These are the values that are glorifiedtoday; a person who is intense about the fulfilment of these basic instincts isconsidered to be more successful than others. Here, however, we are saying thatthis is the life of animals.

Dharmo hi tesäm adhi ko visesaù. Dharmena hénaù pasubhis-samänaù. Thehuman being has something that sets him apart from the animals. He has an

intellect, a discriminative faculty, with which he can think and assign the place tothese things that is justifiably theirs; no more and no less. Today, we see that allof humanity is exhausting itself in the pursuit of artha, security, and käma, sensegratification. When they become the predominant impulses in life, dharma or thevalue for virtue is bound to suffer.



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The fourth verse talks about the unsteadiness or unpredictibility of life.

nilnIdlgt jlmittrl< tÖ¾Iivtmitzycplm! ,

iviÏ VyaXyiÉman¢St< laek< zaekht< c smStm! .

nalinédalagata jalamatitaralaà tadvajjévitamatiçaya-capalam, viddhi

vyädhyabhimänagrastaà lokaà çokahataà ca samastam.

The life of a person is as unsteady as rain drops trembling on a lotus leaf.May you understand that the whole world remains a prey to disease, pride,

and grief.Tadvajjévitamatiçayacapalam . Jévitam means life, and capalam, unsteady.

Atiçaya capalam is extremely unsteady. Çré Çaìkaräcärya gives an excellentexample here, to illustrate the unsteadiness of life. Nalinédalagata jalamatitaralam.Naliné is the lotus, dala means leaf, and jalam is a drop of water. Nalinédalagata

jalam is a drop of water resting on a lotus leaf. Atitaralam, how unsteady it is!Tadvat, in the same manner, our life also is extremely unsteady or extremelyunpredictable.

Life is unsteady and unpredictable

A very important fact about human life and things that we generally takefor granted is brought to our attention. Life is as unsteady and unpredictable asthe droplet of water, which rests on the lotus leaf. Interestingly enough, thisdrop of water does not touch the leaf itself. It is therefore so unsteady that eventhe slightest breeze will cause it to slide off. Life departs in much the same wayas the droplet, with the blowing of a breeze. We just do not know what the nextmoment is going to bring. It could be anything, a stroke, a heart condition, acancer detected, or an accident. Çré Çaìkaräcärya points out that we cannot takethis life for granted.

People generally plan for the future. When the young are advised to readthe Bhagavad Gétä, they commonly say that they will do it when they retire.However, the young man who takes up a job and gets married, goes ahead and buys an insurance policy. “Who knows what will happen to me? I am providingfor my wife,” he says. The fellow understands that life is unpredictable;




otherwise, a life insurance policy would not have any place in it. While on theone hand, life is unpredictable when it concerns security, on the other hand,when it comes to reading the Bhagavad Gétä, it is predictable. He expects to livelong and decides that the time to study the Bhagavad Gétä is later. The

complacency of the human mind is amazing. We take it for granted that we havea long time ahead of us, but we do not know when the ‘lub’ of the heart will not be followed by the ‘dub’. This clock is ticking away and nobody knows when itwill stop ticking.

Unfortunately, in India, people never want to talk about death. It isconsidered inauspicious, açubha. Vinobabhave, a saint, used to say that peoplewant to close their eyes to death, like the deer does when it is chased by the tiger.The deer runs very hard, but the tiger is much more poweful and, ultimately, thedeer gets tired. It knows that the end is coming near. It then buries its head in

the earth because it does not want to face the reality of life. Similarly, we don’twant to talk about mortality and somehow avoid facing the reality of life as being unsteady and unpredictable. When it comes to such things, we think thateverybody else’s life may be unpredictable, but we ourselves are fine. The mind just wants to avoid facing up to the facts of life.

Do not waste your time

In certain unsympathetic ways, Çré Çaìkaräcärya says, life is atiçaya

capalam. What does it mean? It means that there is no time to waste. Do notpostpone what must be done, to the future. We procrastinate that which isunpleasant or difficult; when I start reading the Gétä, I get a headache and put itoff for later; I start doing japa, my mind wanders and, again, I decide to do it laterwhen I am free from worries and anxieties. However, it is when there are toomany tensions and anxieties in life that you should do japa. It is meant to relieveus from the pressures that we ourselves unnecessarily create. While there may be some genuine reasons why we may have tensions, many are self created because we follow some wrong values or wrong priorities in life. ÇréÇaìkaräcärya says, be alert to this and start utilizing your time properly.

The time to start studying Vedanta as well as implement it in our lives isnow. Vedanta talks about our life and tells us how to be happy. How can wepostpone being happy to some time in the future? If we do, we do notunderstand the value of it. Therefore, Çré Çaìkaräcärya says, start worshippingGovinda now.




Keep Govinda as your primary objective

The worship of Govinda could be in the temple by way of archana, or byway of prayer, or japa; all are necessary. At the same time, in performing allactions with the best of intentions, our lives also can be turned into a worship of

Lord. Let this awareness be there in my mind.

In the Gétä [8-7], bhagavän says, “tasmätsarveñu käleñu mämanusmara yudhya

ca,” remember me all the time, and perform your duty. That is why japa or näma

smaranam, repetion in the mind, has great value. Repetition of a name is aconstant reminder to us about our objectives. Whatever you do, always keep thisas an objective. Do not have artha or käma as an objective in your mind, mayGovinda or mokña always be your objective. Life is very short even though wemay think that we have 100 years to live. When Yamaräja offered long life to

Naciketas, he replied, “With reference to infinite time, whatever life you offer is bound to be limited.”

ñaeÉava mTyR Sy ydNtkEtt! sve R <iÔya[a< jryiNt tej>,

Aip sv¡ jIivtmLpmev tvEv vahaStv n&TygIte.

çvobhävä martyasya yadantakaitat sarvendriyäëäà jarayanti tejaù, api sarvaà

jévitamalpameva tavaiva vähästava nåtyagéte.

Oh Yama! All these ephemeral (things) weaken the power of all the senseorgans of the mortal (human being). Moreover, every form of life is short

only. Let all your vehicles, dance, and music be yours only [Kaöhopaniñad,1-1-26].

We have to remember that life is momentary and, therefore, the task that is before us requires all our attention and all our effort.

All other pursuits lead to disease, pride, and sorrow

The second line of this verse says, viddhi vyädhyabhimänagrastaà lokaà

çokahataà ca samastam. Viddhi is may you further understand.

Vyädhyabhimänagrastaà lokam means that this loka or the whole world is grastam or grasped, from the jaws of vyädhi, disease, and abhimänam, pride. Whatever lifewe do have is stricken by vyädhi and abhimänam, arrogance and conceit. At thelevel of the body, there is always some kind of disease present. The body isnever completely healthy, though it may be healthy for periods of time. At thelevel of the mind, there is abhimänam or conceit. Therefore, the life that you are




spending away in the pursuit of artha and käma, only appears to bring you vyädhi and abhimänam.

Lokaà çokahataà ca samastam The world is çokahatam, afflicted by sorrow.Çré Çaìkaräcärya points out that besides vyädhi and abhimänam, this is another

thing that dominates our life. People are always under the spell of sorrow; thisworld is always grief-stricken. Therefore, what is it that you are working for orwaiting for? Why does the bhajanam of Govinda not seem to find priority in life?If you think that there are pursuits in life more worthwhile than the worship of God, know that those pursuits only serve to bring pride, arrogance and disease,resulting in sorrow or sadness. Therefore, realize the true nature of life andutilize whatever time you have, properly.

Set proper priorities

In the Bhagavad Gétä [13-9], Lord Kåñëa asks us to reflect constantly uponthe fact that there is pain of different kinds all the time; in janma or birth, in måtyu or death, in jara, old age, and in vyädhi, disease, janma-måtyu-jarä-vyädhi-duùkha-

doñänu-darçanam. Çré Çaìkaräcärya says, remember that there is only pain allalong and, therefore, utilize whatever opportunity you have, for a worthwhilecause. Even elsewhere, in talking about life, he points out:

Aayu nR Zyit pZyta< àitidn< yait ]y< yaEvn

àTyayaiNt gta> pu nnR idvsa> kalae jgÑ]k>,

äyurnaçyati paçyatäà pratidinaà yäti kñayaà yauvana,

pratyä-yänti gatäù punar-na divasäù kälo jagad-bhakñakaù.

Day by day, a man comes nearer to death; his youth wears away; the daythat is gone never returns; time, the almighty, swallows up everything[Çiväparädhakñamäpaëa Stotram, 13].

Life is ebbing away with the passing of each day, pratidinam äyurnaçyati.Even as we watch, yauvanam or our youthfulness is also slowly gettingexhausted. Pratyä-yänti gatäù punar-na divasäù, the days that have passed by,

never return. Kälo jagad-bhakñakaù. Käla or time devours the entire creation.What Çré Çaìkaräcärya means is that we should keep in mind that time isconstantly devouring our days, eroding our life, and we should, therefore, do




what is necessary. In his teachings, Çré Çaìkaräcärya always reiterates theimportance of setting priorities in our life and utilizing our time properly1.




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The nature of relationships and the attachment that people have to theirfamilies and friends is brought to our attention in this verse.

yaviÖÄaepajRn s´> StaviÚj pirvarae r´>,

pía¾Ivit jjR r dehe vata¡ kae=ip n p&CDit gehe.

yävadvittopärjana saktaù stävannija pariväro raktaù,

paçcäjjévati jarjara dehe värtäà ko'pi na påcchati gehe.

So long as a man is fit and able to support his family, see what affections all

those around him show. But no one at home cares to even have a wordwith him when his body totters due to old age.

Man seeks security in relationships such as those of family, husband, wife, brothers, sisters or children, in the hope that they will always be with him.Those who sit all around you are called parivära. Paritaù means surround you.Çré Çaìkaräcärya again points out a very crude fact of life here. You are soattached to your parivära, your family, your friends and retinue, but only so longas you are capable of earning and making money, yävad vitto pärjana saktaù, is this parivära committed to you, tävad nija pariväro raktaù.

Typically people respect what you have, not what you are

Çré Çaìkaräcärya then goes on to say, paçcäjjévati jarjara dehe. Paçcät is lateron. Jarjara dehe, when you become old and infirm, and are no more capable of earning any money or commanding any respect, what happens to you? Värtäà

ko'pi na påcchati, nobody will ask after your welfare, gehe, even in your ownhome.

Today, you are receiving a lot of respect from people because you are

capable of earning money. Here, money implies all potential; you may be a goodmusician, or lawyer, or even a svämi for that matter, and you may talk, teach, andgive good lectures. Whatever you may be, as long as you have this capabilityyou find that people are committed to you, that people are attached to you.

It is unfortunate that often, people respect me not for what I am, but forwhat I have. When they grow old, even very powerful people who dominated




everybody in their lives find themselves ignored. Earlier, everybody would askfor advice, but now nobody wants to even stop and listen to them. That is whypeople who retire have a lot of problems once they lose the power they areaccustomed to having. Çré Çaìkaräcärya says that this will happen to you one

day.These verses bring to our attention, the facts that we prefer to ignore. Like

the deer at the end of the chase, we turn our face away from these realities andlike to think that everything is fine and wonderful. But then, that is not the case.

Wealth begets respect from friends and family

There is an old saying in Sanskrit, sarve guëäù känchanam äçrayante. Theperson who has känchana, gold, is the best in the world. Anything he does iswonderful because he has wealth. Everybody praises him. People will remark

upon how handsome he is or how he comes from a noble family, and seewonderful qualities in this person. However, when a person does not have anymoney, others see no value in him. If you are not smart and do not have theability to earn money, nobody, not even your own family, will have value foryou. Even within a family, if there are many sons, the one who who earns themost money gets the best treatment. The fellow who gets the worst treatment isthe one who does not make much money. The truth is that all the children arenot equal even in the eyes of the parents. The one who earns the most moneygets their respect or love. The others are supported, but they do not get respect.

There is an interesting story from Gujarat. It is about a poor man calledRamlal who would be derogatorily addressed by various names as he walkeddown the street. Once, it so happened that he bought a lottery ticket and, as luckwould have it, hit the jackpot. He became a millionaire. After that, whenever hewalked in the streets, people would salute him and call him ‘Rambhai’ ingreeting. One day he was walking with a friend, when some one saluted him.To that, Ramlal muttered, “Ok, I will tell him.” Another person passed by andgreeted him. Again Ramlal muttered, “Ok, I will tell him.” His friend then

asked, “Why do you mutter, ‘I will tell him’?” In reply, Ramlal took his friendhome. He went into an inner chamber and opened his vault. There was a lot of money in it. He told his friend, “Nobody salutes me. They are all saluting mymoney. So every evening I dutifully come here and tell this money who andhow many saluted it.” As the story shows, it is a person’s wealth or a person’spower that receives the salute.




When he loses an election, even the President becomes an ordinary man,and nobody cares for him either. This is how it is. We might perhaps deceiveourselves into thinking that we enjoy a lot of respect and support from a lot of people, but in this world, relationships are always like this. You get something

because you give something. When you are not capable of giving anything inreturn, a simple fact of life is that you will slowly also stop getting.

Depend on the Self for security

We don’t say that there is anything right or wrong about it. This is theway of the world and the nature of relationships. As the world becomes morematerialistic, relationships are corrupted or polluted. Today, the equation hasaltered even in such a relationship as between husband and a wife. You cannotdepend upon the parivära any more for your security. “Swamiji, does this mean

that I should have a separate bank account for my own security and not dependupon anybody?” We are not saying that. No bank account can give you anysecurity. The only thing that can give you security is that which is discoveredfrom your own Self.

Nothing in the world can give you security, because everything is sosmall and insignificant. You can only get a false sense of security from suchthings as power or wealth. As we are told in a later verse, even these can goaway in a moment. You cannot seek security in the people who are around youor from the people who you think are dependable. The only place where youcan seek security is within your own Self. Do not wait for a day when you arerejected by people. That day will surely come; be prepared for that. Therefore,seek security in yourself right now. Discover from within your own Self, aninner freedom or inner security so that you do not depend upon the acceptanceof the people. That does not mean that you have to abandon friends or relativesor whatever you are now doing. Go ahead and live your life, but bear in mindthat as far as security of life is concerned, you cannot depend on any of this1.




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The sixth verse is somewhat similar to the earlier verse. It talks about thetremendous attraction or fascination that people have for their body. ÇréÇaìkaräcärya points out that the preoccupation with the body is another obstacleto attaining the goal of life.

yavTpvnae invsit dehe tavTp&CDit k…zl< gehe,

gtvit vayaE dehapaye ÉayaR ib_yit tiSmNkaye.

yävatpavano nivasati dehe tävatpåcchati kuçalaà gehe,

gatavati väyau dehäpäye bhäryä bibhyati tasminkäye.

When one is alive, his family members enquire kindly about his welfare.But when the soul departs from the body, even his wife runs away in fearof the corpse.

Yävat means as long as, and pavana means air, breath or life. As long asthere is life in the body, påcchati kuçalaà gehe, so long do your loved ones andothers enquire after your welfare. You think that people love you; yes they do, but only as long as you are alive.

Gatavati väyau, when this väyu or life departs from the body, dehäpäye, the body slowly starts decaying. Then what happens? Bhäryä bibhyati tasminkäye.Bhäryä means wife. Even the wife that loved the body so dearly is afraid of it.Once life is no more, the body, which has been an object of adoration and love of other people starts decaying or degenerating and becomes an object of fear andcontempt.

Use the body properly to worship Govinda

Again, Çré Çaìkaräcärya brings to our attention the inevitable fact of life

that a day will come, when life will depart from this body. The body has a placein our life. It is a means for the accomplishment or achievement of our goal, andto that extent, we should give it the importance that is its due, and care for it.However, there are people who spend their whole lives simply looking after the body, feeding, polishing, and decorating it; it is their preoccupation. The body isnot everything in life. How long is this body going to remain an object of the




love of others? Only until the day that life departs from the body, and then, nomore will it attract anyone. In fact, it then becomes an object of dread.

The body may be kept preserved for a few days with the use of chemicals.However, in India, the body is not kept in the house for more than a few hours.

Once the person dies, the next thing that they think of is cremation. That iswhere the body belongs. Çré Çaìkaräcärya points out that there is love for aperson only as long as the person is alive. The body is a means provided to you,and therefore, use it properly. Use it as an instrument for the worship of Govinda1.




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Now we come to the seventh verse where, again, the life of a commonman is recounted. There is a sense of regret at the way in which man spends hislife, or squanders away the opportunity to achieve his goal.

balStavT³Ifas´> té[StavÄé[Is´>,

v& ÏStavi½Ntas´> prme äüi[ kae=ip n s´>.

bälastävatkréòäsaktaù taruëastävattaruëésaktaù,

våddhastävaccintäsaktaù parame brahmaëi ko'pi na saktaù.

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

Bälastävatkréòäsaktaù. As a bälaù or child, he is engaged in sport and play.Childhood slips away in this. Taruëastävattaruëésaktaù. As a young man, hisattention is totally taken up by the taruëi or young woman. Youth also passes,thus, in the enjoyment of sensuous pleasures. Våddhastävaccintäsaktaù . When theman becomes old, his mind is full of worries and anxieties. Parame brahmaëi ko'pi

na saktaù. Alas, at no stage of life is he parame brahamaëi saktaù, devoted to the parabrahman, Govinda. People have time for all kinds of things, but not for parambrahman.

We fail to think of the Lord at all stages of our life

In one of his famous stotras, Çré Çaìkaräcärya seeks the pardon of LordÇiva for having failed to do what he should have done at every stage of his life.He says:

AadaE kmR às¼aTklyit klu ;< mat&k…]aE iSwt< ma<

iv{mU ÇameXymXye kwyit intra< jaQrae jatveda>,

y*ÖE tÇ Ê>o< Vywyit intra< zKyte ken v´… <

]NtVyae me=prax> izv izv izv Éae ïI mhadev zMÉae. 1.ädau karma-prasaìgät-kalayati kaluñaà mätå-kukñau sthitaà mäà vië-müträ-

medhya-madhye kathayati nitaräà jäöharo jätavedäù, yad-yadvai tatra duùkhaà




vyatha-yati nitaräà çakyate kena vaktuà kñantavyo me'parädhaù çiva çiva çiva bho

çré mahädeva çambho.

Even before I saw the light of this world, my sins from previous births,through which I passed because of desire for the fruit of my deeds,

punished me as I lay in my mother’s womb. There I was boiled in themidst of unclean things. Who can describe the pain that afflicts the child inits mother’s womb? Therefore, Oh Çiva! Oh Mahädeva! Oh Çambuù!Forgive me, I pray for my transgressions [Çiväparädhakñamäpaëa Stotram,1].

This aparädhaù, this fault of omission on my part, should be pardoned, kñantavyaù.

There was a time when I was in the womb of my mother because of my pastkarma or actions. I could have worshipped you when I was there, Oh Lord, but I

could not remember you because I was preoccupied with all the pain that I wasgoing through. I was being tortured by the heat and the filth of that miserableplace as I was growing. Jäöharo jätavedäù, the stomach fire was scorching me allthe time. The scriptures say that when the jéva is in the womb of the mother he iscrying and praying to the Lord to release him from that prison, that hell. At thattime, he promises that he will never forget to worship the Lord. “The only thingI could think of when I was in the womb of my mother was when I would bereleased from that. I did not think of you then, or even after I was born.Therefore, kñantavyo me'parädhaù.”

baLye Ê>oaitrekae mllu iltvpu > StNypane ippasanae z´íeiNÔye_yae Évgu [jinta> jNtvae ma< tudiNt,

nanaraegaidÊ>oaÔ‚dnprvz> z»r< n Smraim

]NtVyae me=prax> izv izv izv Éae ïI mhadev zMÉae.bälye duùkhätireko malalulitavapuù stanyapäne pipäsä, no çaktaçcendriyebhyo

bhavaguëajanitäù jantavo mäà tudanti, nänärogädi-duùkhädrudanaparavaçaù

çaìkaraà na smarämi, kñantavyo me'parädhaù çiva çiva çiva bho çré mahädeva

çambho.In childhood my suffering never came to an end. My body was coveredwith filth and I craved for my mother’s bosom. Over my body and limbs, Ihad no control. I was pursued by troublesome flies and mosquitoes. Dayand night I cried with the pain of many an ailment, forgetting Thee, Oh




Çaìkara! Therefore, Oh Çiva! Oh Mahädeva! Oh Çambuù! Forgive me, Ipray for my transgressions [Çiväparädhakñamäpaëa Stotram, 2].

When I was bälaù, a small child, duùkhätirekaù, I underwent all kinds of pain.Stanyapäne pipäsä, I suffered hunger and thirst. No çaktaçcendriyebhyo

bhavaguëajanitäù jantavo mäà tudanti, I was incapable, I could not move my handsand legs. Nänärogädi-duùkhädrudanaparavaçaù , all kinds of rogäs or diseases cameto me one by one. Rudanaparavaçaù, it was a period of crying and weeping. Icould not remember you, çaìkaraà na smarämi, because I was suffering fromsome pain or the other.

Oh Lord, as a young child I was suffering pangs of hunger and thirst, andfeeling the pain of being bothered by all kinds of insects and all kinds of diseases.It was a period of sorrow and therefore, I could not pray to you or even think of

you. Please forgive me, kñantavyo me'parädhaù.àaEFae=h< yaEvnSwae iv;yiv;xrE> pÂiÉmR mR sNxaE

dòae nòae=ivvek> sutxnyu vitSvaÊsaEOye in;{[>,

zEvIicNtaivhIn< mm ùdymhae mangvaR ixêF<

]NtVyae me=prax> izv izv izv Éae ïI mhadev zMÉae. prauòho'haà yauvanastho viñaya-viñadharaiù païcabhir-marmasandhau, dañöo

nañöo'vivekaù suta-dhana-yuvati-svädu-saukhye niñaëëaù, çaivécintävihénaà mama

hådayamaho mänagarvädhirüòhaà kñantavyo me'parädhaù çiva çiva çiva bho çré mahädeva çambho.

In youth, the venomous snakes of sound and sight, of taste, touch, andsmell, fastened upon my vitals and slew my discrimination. I wasengrossed in the pleasures of wealth and sons and a youthful wife. Alas!My heart, bereft of the thought of Çiva swelled with arrogance and pride.Therefore, Oh Çiva! Oh Mahädeva! Oh Çambuù! Forgive me, I pray for mytransgressions [Çiväparädhakñamäpaëa Stotram, 3].

Prauòho'haà yauvanastho, when I became a young man, viñaya-viñadharaiù

païcabhir-marmasandhau dañöo, all the various objects of this world and these fivesense objects became like poisonous snakes and kept on stinging me. As a youngman I experienced the various objects of the world through my sense organs.They would enter through my five-fold organs of perception, and attack mymind. Just as when a snake stings we lose consciousness, so also, when theattraction of these objects stung my mind, nañöo'vivekaù, my viveka or sense of




discrimination was lost. I lost control over myself. How could I help it? It is youwho have created this world of objects, as well this mind.

Suta-dhana-yuvati-svädu-saukhye niñaëëaù. I could only think of my suta,son or child, dhana, wealth, yuvati, woman, svädu, all kinds of taste, and saukhyam,

all kinds of comforts. Mama hådayamaho mänagarvädhirüòham, my heart was filledwith mäna and garvä, pride, honor, and arrogance. Therefore, Oh, Lord,çaivécintävihénam, I had no time to think of you. My youth was wasted in thismanner, and therefore, please forgive me, kñantavyo me'parädhaù.

vaxR Kye ceiNÔya[a< ivgtgitmitíaixdEvaidtapE>

papE raegEivR yaegESTvnvistvpu > àaEFhIn< c dInm! ,

imWyamaehaiÉla;EæR mit mm mnae xU jR qeXyaR nzU Ny<

]NtVyae me=prax> izv izv izv Éae ïI mha dev zMÉae.värdhakye cendriyäëäà vigata-gatimatiçcädhidaiväditäpaiù päpai rogair-

viyogaistvanavasitavapuù prauòhahénaà ca dénam, mithyämohäbhiläñair-bhramati

mama mano dhürjaöerdhyäna-çünyaà kñantavyo me'parädhaù çiva çiva çiva bho çré

mahädeva çambho.

Now in old age, my senses have lost the power of proper judging andacting. My body, though still not wholly bereft of life, is weak and senilefrom many afflictions, from sins and illnesses and bereavements. But even

now my mind, instead of meditating on Çiva, runs after vain desires andhollow delusions. Therefore, Oh Çiva! Oh Mahädeva! Oh Çambuù!Forgive me, I pray for my transgressions [Çiväparädhakñamäpaëa Stotram,4].

Värdhakye cendriyäëäm. Värdhakye, when I became old, my body and my senseorgans also grew weak. In my younger years, my mind was so powerful that itwas not in my control. In my old age, my mind became so old and weak that Ifound that I could not make it do what I wished to do. I was suffering because of all my past misdeeds. There was only a sense of regret, a sense of hurt and guilt

for all the wrongs I had committed, and the wrongs that were done to me. Icould not think of anything else. There was viyoga, I was separated from myfriends and others because I had grown old, and I was worried at what wouldhappen to me and who would take care of me. Thus all the time, my mind wasoccupied with thinking and worrying, and filled with anxieties. Therefore, Oh,Lord, I could not worship you or think of you even in my old age. Please




forgive me, kñantavyo me'parädhaù. In this manner, Çré Çaìkaräcärya seeks theforgiveness of Lord in the Çiväparädhakñamäpaëa Stotram.

We do not have the inner leisure for spiritual pursuits

There is an account of how man spends his life in this verse as well.Bälastävatkréòäsaktaù, as long as he is a little boy, all he can think of is play.Taruëastävattaruëésaktaù, as a youth he is preoccupied with the sensuouspleasures. Våddhastävaccintäsaktaù , once he grows old, he has nothing else butcinta, worries and anxieties. Therefore, parame brahmaëi ko'pi na saktaù, no one isto be found here, who is attached or committed to Brahman.

This is a beautiful observation so that we may reflect upon our prioritiesin life. Unfortunately, at no time in our life, do we seem to have viveka ordiscrimination. It requires a certain leisure of mind to think about life. At no

time do we seem to have that leisure. It is said that people in India are sopreoccupied with fulfilling their basic needs and neccessities, that they have notime to think about life. When they come to the US and their needs are morethan satisfied, you would presume that they have lot of time here. On thecontrary, it is people in India who seem to be able to manage their time betterand attend to the requirements of a spiritual life also. People here in the US arenot always able to do this. The mind is so tricky that it always finds someexcuses. It always has some justification that there are more important things todo.

As Çré Çaìkaräcärya says, everybody is constantly busy worshippingsomething or the other whether as a child, a youth, or an old man. Therefore,bhajagovindaà bhajagovindaà govindaà bhajamüòhamate. Lord Kåñëa also says thisin the Bhagavad Gétä:

vedah< smtItain vtR manain caju R n,

Éiv:yai[ c ÉU tain ma< tu ved n kín.vedähaà samatétäni vartamänäni cärjuna,

bhaviñyäëi ca bhütäni mäà tu veda na kaçcana.

I know all things that have gone before, that exist now and will exist in thefuture, Arjuna. But no one at all knows Me [Bhagavadgétä, 7-26].

Though we have time for everything else in the world, we have no time orleisure for our own Self. We can never be with ourselves. Parame brahmaëi ko'pi

na saktaù, no one is attached to parabrahma, to the Self, to Govinda. We are




therefore told, bhajagovindaà bhajagovindaà govindaà bhajamüòhamate. Rememberwhy you have come here. Do not be diverted from your goal like the peoplewere, in the story of the king and his distracted subjects that we discussedearlier1.




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Now in the eigth verse, the äcärya addresses people who are totallyengrossed in this worldly life.

kate kaNta kSte pu Ç> s<sarae=ymtIv ivicÇ>,

kSy Tv< k> k…t Aayat> tÅv< icNty tidh æat>.

käte käntä kaste putraù saàsäro'yamatéva vicitraù,

kasya tvaà kaù kuta äyätaù tattvaà cintaya tadiha bhrätaù.

Who is your wife? Who is your son? Extremely strange is this saàsära.

Who are you? Of whom are you? Where have you come from? Oh brother, may you dwell upon these truths.

In the course of life, we are preoccupied with ideas of our wife andchildren. This is either because we are totally infatuated with them due to strongattachment, or because of worry about our responsibilities, duties, and concernsregarding them. The teacher agrees that there is such a thing as a family, and allthe relationships such as husband, wife, son or daughter are valid. Addressingthe person who is totally attached to his wife or children, whose life centersaround them to the exclusion of all else, he asks, ”What is the purpose of this

family life? Is this relationship between a husband and wife merely meant forpleasure?”

Relationships help discover oneness

The man and woman come together in a particular association, but this isnot restricted to seeking pleasures in life. In this alliance, each becomes acomplement to the other. The relationship helps discover the inherent onenessand harmony that obtains between them inspite of their obvious duality at thelevel of the body, their individual personalities etc. This is meant to achieveanother goal in life; the worship of Govinda.

Relationships are nothing but ‘roles’

Çré Çaìkaräcärya asks, “Käte käntä kaste putraù”. Käntä means wife. Käte

käntä, who is your wife? Kaste putraù, who is your son? Who are they that you




call wife or son? Being wife or son is only a role. Therefore, do not exhaustyourself in these attachments.

At the wedding ceremony the priest declared both of you as husband andwife, and you became husband and wife. This is called saàskära, an idea put in

the mind. There is no entity called ‘husband’, or ‘wife’. That is a notion that yousuperimpose upon a person who has an independent existence. The roles arerelative and only exist in our mind.

Relationships are transformations of one fundamental substance

The son was in the womb of the mother, before birth. Before that, he wasthere in your own body as an energy. Before that it was nothing but food, theplants and vegetables in the fields, which, even before that, was nothing butearth. What we call earth transformed into food, and later into energy in my

body, and then became a foetus, a child in the mother’s womb. Therefore, whenwe look at the whole process of transformation, what we call wife, son andhusband are nothing but transformations of a fundamental substance called thefive elements. We should be aware of this truth.

We come together in relationships by chance

Each individual is on a journey. It is only by chance or fate that thesepeople have presently come together in the relationship of husband, wife, son ordaughter. There is a verse in Sanskrit which likens this coming together, to the journey of logs of wood along a stream. These pieces of wood come together andtravel together for some time, and again separate. Similarly, in this life, thesesouls come together by a stroke of luck or stroke of fate, live together for a periodof time, and again depart or separate to go their own way.

In India, the mahätmäs always explain that the relationship among themembers of the family is similar to that of passengers traveling together on atrain journey of one or two days. In the course of that journey they share aparticular compartment, talk to each other, share their food and develop

friendships and affection. However, when their destinations arrive, onepassenger after another departs. At that time, do we cry and weep becausesomeone goes away? We do not, because we know that each has come from hisown place and each will get down at his own destination. In the same way,every individual soul has his own journey to perform.




Remain free from attachment

The soul does not have any gender. Gender exists only at the level of thegross body. Within the gross body there is a subtle body, which is what we callthe jéva. That subtle body travels from one gross body to another, from one life

to another. In a given life, it has its own prärabdha, or fate. Therefore, he comestogether with other people in the relationship of family and friends. He remainsin that relationship for some time, and when the prärabdha is exhausted he goeshis own way.

The institution of the family is an arrangement that we have accepted forharmonious living. Here, we are told about the kind of attitude we should havein our relationships as members of the family. We should realize that differentmembers of the family are there only for a period of time. Therefore, let there be

love, let there be charity, let there be compassion, and let there be service. Letthis be the spirit obtaining between the different members of the family.

As far as possible, remain free from attachment. We become so attachedand become so dependent that we cannot do without the other members. As aresult, when we are left alone by fate, we are unable to function. Therelationships take away a lot of our time and energy. They also get polluted withall kinds of demands and attachments. So let there be a relationship of givingand of love, as much as possible, free from demands or attachments.

Don’t get entangled in relationshipsSaàsäraù ayam atéva vicitraù. What you call saàsäraù is extremely strange,

atéva vicitraù. We imagine this is real, but the reality is something that we haveassigned to it. Children often play the game of make-believe and assume roles of parent and child, or teacher and student. We may laugh at them, but this gameis a very serious business. Be aware that as grown-ups we are also playingsimilar games. How long can this game go on? It can endure only as long as themembers playing the game decide to follow the rules. All these sets of relationships are atéva, very strange. Saàsäraù ayam atéva vicitraù, they are merely

a figment of our imagination.

Life has a greater purpose, beyond the performing of mundane functions.We get so entangled in the various relationships that we forget the purpose of our life. Each person is a seeker in search of his own individual ends. Therefore,bhajagovindaà bhajagovindam.




Kasya tvaà kaù kuta äyätaù. Kaù, who are you? Kasya tvam, to whom doyou belong? The husband thinks that he belongs to the wife and vice versa. Wecannot think beyond the relationships that seem to define our life. How longdoes this belonging go on? It exists only as long as you are together in this

particular span of life. There are stories about this in the puräëas, like theMahäbhärata. In one such story, a childless king performs a penance to the sagesin order to beget a son. His wish is granted and a son is born. Unfortunately forthe king, the son dies at the young age of six or seven years. He is left grievingand unable to overcome that pain. Sage Närada happens to pass by and askshim what happened. “Why is my son taken away? I want him back.” “Whatwill you do with him?” “I just want him back. That is all.” Sage Närada invokeshis powers and brings the son back to life. The king calls out, “Oh son, pleasecome back to me”. The son asks, “Who is the son? Who is the father? Do you

know how many lives I have passed through? I have been your son many timesand you have been my son many times too!” This story provides a much widerperspective on life. Living within our little shells, we are entangled in our meshof relationships. The teacher is addressing this deluded or distracted person.

Kuta äyätaù, where have you come from? What is the purpose of your life?Tattvaà cintaya tadiha bhrätaù. Brätaù is brother. Oh brother, he says, may youdwell upon or think of the tattvam or the truth, the reality of life. Ask yourself some fundamental questions. What is the purpose of life? Why am I joined orunited with other members of my family? Why am I where I am? What exactly

is the role that I have to perform? What is the destination that I have to reach?We don’t have the time to contemplate this because we are so preoccupied withour mundane duties of life. Koham, who am I? There is no time or opportunityto think about who I am. Käte käntä? Kaste putraù? May you think of that. Thus,focus your attention on the more essential aspects of life1.




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We seem to be swept away by the current of life and in the process, loseour focus on the true goal. The ninth verse tells us how to maintain that focus.In a very short verse, the whole ladder of self-development or self-unfoldment ispresented here by Çré Çaìkaräcärya.

sTs¼Tve inSS¼Tv< inSs¼Tve inmae R hTvm! ,

inmae R hTve iníltÅv< iníltÅve jIvNmu i´>.

satsaìgatve nissìgatvaà nissaìgatve nirmohatvam,

nirmohatve niçcalatattvaà niçcalatattve jévanmuktiù.

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

Satsaìgatve nissìgatvam. Satäm saìgaù, satsaìgaù. The saìga or company of the wise, or of good people is called satsaìgaù. The importance of satsaìga istalked about thrice in this text because their company is extremely important.Our mind often comes under the influence of our environment and it is

necessary that we create a conducive environment that will have an agreeableinfluence on us.

Our mind requires a conducive environment to grow

The mind requires a suitable atmosphere to grow, in much the same wayas a little plant does. As a sprout, it is very delicate and requires a lot of care andnurturing. It has to be provided the right fertilizer, manure, water etc. and alsoprotection from animals. As it slowly grows it needs less and less care and whenit is fully grown it is free and self-sufficient, and is then able to care for others. Itis able to provide flowers, fruits, and shade. Before it acquires that kind of status, however, it begins as just a little sprout. Our mind is also like this sprout.It has to be taught and trained to follow certain values and priorities so that weget a proper perception of life.




Satsaìga is important for assimilation

Satsaìgaù, or the company of those who are good and have wisdom andinsight exerts a positive influence upon us. We need an inspiring atmosphere inorder to maintain our enthusiasm in a conducive and positive manner. Saint

Tulsidas compared the mind to a beautiful garden of plants and fruits. The mindis a garden in which we hope to cultivate good atitudes and thoughts. Thisgarden has a protective fence around it but there are five gaps in the fencethrough which animals may enter and destroy it. The five openings are the fiveorgans of perception: the eyes, the ears, and the faculties of taste, touch, andsmell. The influence of a myriad fascinating objects enters through these senseorgans as we interact with the external world. This can become so compellingthat whatever little good thinking we have developed, can be easilyoverpowered.

For example, when people attend classes and public discourses someinspiring values and ideas are generated in their mind. However, even as theygo out, they come across some friend who asks them what they were listening to.“Swamiji said God is all powerful, omniscient etc.” “Who is this God? Has yourSwamiji seen God? Where is God? If there is a God, why would the world belike this?” In ten minutes, the friend manages to shake up the çraddhä of thisperson despite his listening to the discourse for one and half hours! We are verygullible and can be easily influenced both ways. It is therefore necessary to

choose our company carefully because bad company will definitely have a badinfluence on us.

The influence of satsaìga can completely change a person. Ashrams, gurukulams, temples etc. provide a suitable atmosphere and conduciveenvironment that have a good influence on us. It is true that we are all bornwith our own peculiarities and saàskäras or personalities, yet, both the placewhere we are born and the company that we keep have a tremendous influenceupon us.

The mind should be carefully nurtured in satsaìga There is no better satsaìga than the direct exposure to the teaching. An

indirect exposure to the scriptures such as listening to tapes, studying the booksor participating in a study group are also valuable and provide ways to be incompany of like-minded people. That is how a new family grows, one thatentertains the same kind of values and respects and reveres the same kind of




scriptures, and one in which our çraddhä is slowly enhanced. The most importantstrength that we have is çraddhä, faith in the scriptures, faith in the wise, faith inthe Lord, and faith in ourselves. This is the most important thing. At any cost,we must avoid the company of the bad and the company of non-believers or

those who can shake our çraddhä. We should avoid discussion with others; thereis no need for you to go around convincing others, or preaching to them. Moreoften than not, they will convince you otherwise. What is necessary is that wemust grow and realize how important this self-growth is.

The mind is very delicate and is like a fine instrument that must be treatedwith care. Therefore, be careful about what you are exposed to. We should keepourselves away from undesirable influences, not only people, but even certaintelevision shows, literature etc. I have nothing against them, but it is best to stayaway from that which influences the mind in an unfavorable way. Be careful

about what you read, the thoughts that you entertain, and the kind of things youdo. Even your social company should become some sort of spiritual gathering insome ways, and become a means for self-growth. Thus, company at differentlevels is very important.

Satsaìga creates detachment

Satsaìgatve nissìgatvam. Saìga means company or attachment.Nissìgatvam is detachment or non-attachment. What does satsaìga do? It createsnissìgatvam, the lack of attachment. Where there is attachment with the good,there is a detachment from the bad. Thus, when I keep the company of the good,I slowly grow out of the influence of the bad. We always hear in Vedanta thatwe should give up attachment, but what is attachment?

Attachment is dependence upon the world. Very often, people think thatgiving up attachment means giving up contact with the family, or running awayfrom the world. In fact, you cannot run away from the world because it ispresent everywhere in some form or the other. Therefore, it is not the physicalobjects of the world, but your dependence on them that has to be given up.

To have love for your family, your wife or children, is not attachment. Weshould be able to discriminate between love and attachment. Love is somethingwe should always have; attachment is that which pollutes this love.

People mistakenly interpret detachment as being an aversion to the senseobjects or to the world. The teachers do not ask not to have any contact with theworld. The world is meant for our enjoyment. They are only teaching us how to




enjoy things. Enjoyment is having a relationship which is free from eitherdependence or demand, either attachment or aversion. Aversion is but adistorted form of attachment. Therefore, attachment and aversion, räga anddveña, are the two sides of the same coin. Both represent bondage and

dependence. They lead to an unhealthy relationship in which I lose myobjectivity to the situations of the world; I allow my happiness to be determined by the situations and objects around me.

In being attached, I superimpose a greater value on something than it has,and in having aversion, I see less value in it than it deserves. Thus, when it issaid that we should become free from attachment, it also means that we shouldseek to become free from aversion. It is satsaìga, the company of the good, thatenables us to slowly become free from both attachment and aversion.

Becoming more objective is detachment

We do not really see the world as it is. We interpret it in the light of ourown notions and superimpositions. In not being able to appreciate the thing forwhat it is, we find ourselves attracted to something or repelled by somethingelse. What is meant by satsaìgatve nissìgatvam is that in the company of the wise,I slowly become objective. I learn to deveop an objective perception of the worldand deal with the realities of life, rather than living in a world defined by how Isee it. For example, when I call something mine, or say that it is yours, it ispurely a notion in my mind. When I call something good or bad, or beautiful orugly, it is, again, because of a certain notion in my mind. These notions areentirely subjective for the very simple reason that, what to me is beautiful mayseem ugly to another, or what I think is delicious may not appear so to anotherperson. Then again, even these notions are not constant because we are asthough riding a fence in the mind all the time. Our whims are so fanciful thatwhat appears to be appealing or beautiful today, may not seem so desirable thevery next day and the mind does not want it anymore.

In satsaìga, we are not only in the physical company of the wise, but also

learn from their words and their actions. We see how they conduct themselves,how they relate to people and situations, and how they are able to remain freefrom reactions. We see that they are able to maintain their composure in varioussituations and realize that it is really the way of their life. This is how we alsoslowly develop a composure of the mind and a freedom from the reactions of likes and dislikes. This is satsaìgatve nissìgatvam.




Detachment purifies the mind

Nissaìgatve nirmohatvam. As the mind becomes clear, it slowly becomesfree from moha or delusion. A deluded mind superimposes an unjustified valueupon the things of the world. As the mind slowly becomes free from this moha it

becomes free from räga and dveña. This is called purification of the mind. Whatis meant by purification of the mind? When do I know that my mind is pure?

Räga-dveñas or attachments and aversions are the impurities of the mind.A mind under the influence of räga-dveñas is a reactive mind. When somethingconfirms my attachment I get elated and when something contradicts it I getdepressed. Elation is the product of räga and depression is the product of dveña.While I cannot see my räga-dveñas directly, when I find myself reacting I can seethe product of these räga-dveñas. These reactions could be anger, greed,

resentment, repression, sadness etc. A reactive mind is an impure mind. As mymind becomes free from these reactions, I know that my mind is pure.

To the extent that the mind is free from räga-dveñas, it is pure. To theextent that the mind is pure, it enjoys peace, serenity, and composure, and to theextent that the mind is composed, it enjoys balance or equipoise. Just as water becomes transparent and pure when you remove the dirt from it, so also, as theräga-dveñas are removed from the mind, it becomes pure and serene, and weenjoy tranquility of the mind.

A pure mind can understand the TruthNirmohatve niçcalatattvam. When the mind becomes tranquil, it becomes

objective. It is then able to understand the purport of the scriptures. Until then,whatever we hear is processed by a mind which is distorted by räga-dveñas.When those distortions are not there, the mind is able to truly appreciate theunfoldment of the vision of the scriptures. When the saìga, or räga-dveñas go, themoha or delusion goes; when the delusion goes, the mind is able to understandclearly what the scriptures reveal. That is how the knowledge takes place andone slowly gains an abidance in that knowledge.

Understanding the Truth leads to liberation while living

Niçcalatattve jévanmuktiù. When this abidance in the knowledge happens,there is freedom even while one is alive. This is the growth that the scripturespresent before us, the goal presented by Vedanta. The goal is jévanmuktiù, becoming free even when we are in this body. It is not the mukti or liberation




after death, but the liberation or the freedom even while I am here. Vedanta saysvery clearly that liberation or freedom has to come even when I am alive. Thenalone can I be liberated after this body falls. It is satsaìgaù, the company of thewise or the company of the good, which ultimately leads to jévanmuktiù.

A tree does not require any water or manure; it is free and itself a sourceof shade, flowers, and fruits. Similarly, the jivanmukta does not require anything.He becomes a source of love and inspiration for others1.




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Some questions are asked in the tenth verse, showing us the relationship between cause and effect.

vyisgte k> kamivkar> zu :ke nIre k> kasar>,

]I[eivÄe k> pirvar> }ate tÅve k> s<sar>.

vayasigate kaù kämavikäraù çuñke nére kaù käsäraù,kñéëevitte kaù pariväraù jïäte tattve kaù saàsäraù.

What good is lust when youth has fled? Where is the lake when the water

has dried up? Where is the retinue when the wealth is gone? When theTruth is realized, where is saàsära?

When we remove the cause, the effect goes away

Vayasigate kaù kämavikäraù. Vayas is age, and vayasigate means the passageof youth. Kämavikäraù is the expression of lust in the human body. How canthere be an expression of lust in the body when youthfulness is no more? Therecannot be lust when youthfulness is spent because youthfulness is a cause, andthe expression of lust, an effect. The idea is that when the cause is gone, the

effect cannot remain.Çuñke nére kaù käsäraù. Käsäraù is a body of water, a pond or a lake. We call

it a pond or lake only when it is filled with water. When the water has dried up,çuñke nére, where is the pond or the lake, kaù käsäraù? You can see this happen inIndia where, in the heat of summer, the water in the rivers and lakes is reducedto a trickle. The Säbarmati, for instance, is a flowing river only for a couple of months in the year. At other times, there is no water in that river.

Kñéëevitte kaù pariväraù. Vitta is wealth. Kñéëevitte, after the wealth is

exhausted, kaù pariväraù, where is the family or retinue? There are people aroundyou only when you have something to offer them or when they have somethingto gain from you. When your wealth is no more where are the followers?Wealth here means money or power, position, or some skill. Only as long asthese things are there will people look upto you or follow you. When the causeis no more, the effect is no longer there as well.




Once, when my eyes were closed, I was bitten by an ant. I brushed itaway. There came another ant, and then another. I opened my eyes and sawthat there was a whole line of ants. I swept them away. After a while I saw thatthey had come back and I swept them away again. Soon the ants returned and I

had to sweep them away yet again. When this had happened a few times, Iexamined why the ants were coming and found some small sugar crystals lyingon the ground. The ants were coming there to get them. I then removed thesugar cystals and the ants went away. What we have to learn from this is that if you remove the cause the effect goes away by itself.

Anger is an effect

Very often people ask me how they can get rid of anger. Most peopleknow that anger hurts them, and they take a vow that they will not get angry

anymore, except that anger comes anyway. You try to sweep away anger bychanging the situation or doing something temporarily, but some other situationis created, and anger comes. Pujya Swami Dayanandaji tells the story of someone who came to him and said, “Swamiji, I have given up anger. I have not been angry at all for the past four months.” Swamiji told him, “Well, it is just amatter of situation. Maybe a situation has not arisen that would make youangry.” “No Swamiji, I have given up anger.” “No, no. I am sure that asituation has not been created to make you angry.” “Swamiji, I have not gottenangry,” he bangs on the table. Swamiji tells him, “No, but I am telling you that it

is just a matter of the situation being created.” And the person gets angry.Anger waits to come out. All that it calls for is a certain situation. This is atypical example of how the effect cannot be removed when the cause is notremoved.

Binding desires and demands lead to anger

Our attempts to get rid of anger are not successful because anger is asymptom or an effect, and has a cause. Arjuna asked Lord Kåñëa, “What is it thatmakes me sin or make me do things that are unbecoming of me?” Lord Kåñëa

says, “käma eña krodha eña [Bhagavadgétä, 3-37].” It is käma, or strong desire, that becomes anger. Why do I get angry? It is because some demand of mine has not been fulfilled. Therefore, anger invariably springs from some desire or somedemand. We are very demanding people and we demand things from the wholeworld. We demand a certain behavior from our family, friends, and everybodyaround. We demand that they act in a certain way, talk in a certain way etc. At




the moment that my demand is not fulfilled, I get angry. The more demanding aperson I am, and the stronger the demands I make, the more likely it is that I amgoing to be angry. Anger springs from strong desires and demands.

To get rid of anger, become less demanding

Every time that you have been angry, sit quietly when the anger has goneaway and ask yourself this question, “Is it necessary for me to maintain thatdemand or hang on to that demand, or can I give up that demand?” If you cangive up the demand, one cause of anger is given up. I want people andsituations to function according to my requirement. As I learn to accept theworld as it is, and as I gradually become less demanding, the occasions for angerwill also be fewer. Thus, the effect can go only when the cause goes. If the causeremains, the effect will spring up some time or the other. As the rains come, the

grass and the weeds start growing because the seeds are there in their potentialform. When they get an opportunity, they sprout. Remove the seed and thesprout goes away. This verse tells us how to deal with the effect by eliminatingthe cause.

Saàsära arises out of self non-acceptance

Jïäte tattve kaù saàsäraù. This is the most important segment of the verse.We are all interested in becoming free from saàsäraù. What is saàsära? Samyaksarati asmin iti saàsäraù. The word saàsära is made up of sam and sära. The word

sära is derived from så, to move. Sarati is the one who moves. Sam comes fromsamyak, meaning constant. Saàsäraù is samyak sära, that in which there is constantmovement. What kind of motion is this? It is motion from one birth to another,from one situation to another, one accomplishment to another, and one becomingto another. Man is always trying to become something. This life of becoming iscalled saàsäraù.

The problem of saàsära is the constant sense of self-rejection or self non-acceptance. There is a constant current of self non-acceptance in me. I am notsatisfied with the way I am now. On the one hand I do not accept myself as I am,and on the other, I cannot tolerate this self non-acceptance either. Therefore,there is an immediate impulse or urge to become acceptable to myself. Thusarises an effort or action on my part to become acceptable; a poor man wants to become rich, a weak man wants to become strong, a strong man wants to becomestronger, a man who is not educated wants to get educated, a man in the east




what I do with it. Am I this mind? This mind is also a limited equipment and Ican never be fully satisified with this mind either. Am I, then, this intellect? Thisintellect is also a limited entity, and therefore, I can never be satisified even withthis intellect. I am never fully satisified with my knowledge, with my wisdom,

or with my understanding. Therefore, as long as I take myself to be this body orupädhi, I can only see myself as a limited being suffering from all kinds of limitations and deficiencies.

You are different from this upädhi; the body is your dwelling and the mindand sense organs are the various instruments with which you perform differenttasks. You are essentially the witness of all this. The body, the sense organs, andthe mind form the personality comparable to the costume that an actor wears. Just as an actor is different from the costume, so also, the person wearing thispersonality is different from it. It is aviveka or non-discrimination that associates

the person with the personality. The personality is always limited, and when Isee myself from the standpoint of the personality I can only be a limited being.

Jïäte tattve. What is the tattva or truth of my Self? The truth is that I am aa person, a conscious being without any attributes, strengths or limitationsattached, simple, pure, and beautiful. When can that truth be known?Nirmohatve niçcalatattvam, the truth can be known only when the mind is freefrom räga-dveñas and has the clear perception that enables it to see the truth. Thisclarity comes as a result of worship of God, and therefore, the worship of God

becomes a means for gaining the knowledge of the Self.Self-knowledge leads to self-acceptance

Self non-acceptance comes about because I have a misapprehension aboutmyself as being limited in every way. Jïäte tattve, when I see the truth of myself as a whole and complete being, this self non-acceptance or self-rejection remainsno more. There is, instead, a total self-acceptance. I then abide in myself. WhenI am happy with myself, I find myself happy with everyone else. When I findmyself rejecting things in the outer world, I must know that it is a result of a

rejection of myself, a discomfort with myself. That discomfort with myself goeswhen I discover my own beauty.

When the tattva or truth of life is known, where is saàsära? Where is thislife of birth and death? Where is the struggle of this life of becoming? Where isthat compulsion of self non-acceptance? Those conflicts are no more. Thus, to become free from saàsära, you should eliminate ignorance, the cause of saàsära.




When the ignorance is gone, saàsära can no longer be there. The Upaniñadsdeclare that you already are that which you are trying to be. As the 10th man1 istold, you already are the 10th man. The fullness which you are seeking is yourvery own nature2.

1 According to the ‘10th Man story’, ten young disciples of a guru wanted to make a trip to the

next village. The guru cautioned their leader to be careful in crossing the rain-swollen river. Infact, at the river it was too deep to wade and they all had to swim across. On the other side theleader counted to make certain all had made it across safely. To his enormous distress he foundout that only nine had reached the other shore. For a long time they all searched for the missingtenth man until a wise old man who happened to come to the scene pointed out that the leaderhad forgotten to count himself.




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In verse 11, the teacher again points out the proper order of priorities inour life. He talks of becoming free from false pride and deceit.

ma k…é xn jn yaEvn gv¡ hrit inme;aTkal> svR m! ,

mayamyimdmiol< ihTva äüpd< Tv< àivz ividTva.

mä kuru dhana jana yauvana garvaà harati nimeñätkälaù sarvam,

mäyämayamidamakhilaà hitvä brahmapadaà tvaà praviça viditvä.

Do not take pride in wealth, friends, and youth. Time takes away all these

in the blink of an eye. Free yourself from the illusion of the world of mäyä and may you know the abode of Brahman and enter it.

Mä kuru dhana jana yauvana garvam, do not take pride in dhana jana

yauvana. Garva is pride. Jana means people and yauvana is youthfulness. Dhana is wealth or possessions. Dhana includes power, position, name, and fame. Donot have pride that you have followers, or that you command the respect of people or control some people. Do not take pride in your youth. Do not haveany pride in your life because these things are not yours.

Wealth is fleeting

I can be proud only of something that I have created or something that Iown, or control. I have not created either this jana or yauvana. I cannot claimeven dhana or wealth as mine. It is only by chance that the wealth is with me.Elsewhere, Çré Çaìkaräcärya describes the fleeting nature of wealth. He says thatwealth is as unstable or unpredictable as a bubble or a wave in the water,lakñméstoyataraìgabhaìgacapalä [Çiväparädhakñamäpaëa Stotram, 13]. Wealth cannever be yours. Dhanam or Lakñmé is the consort of Lord Näräyaëa. As SwamiDayanandaji always says, if Lakñmé devé comes to your home and you want toclaim possession or ownership of her, naturally, Lord Näräyaëa cannot tolerateit. You never know when he will ask Lakñmé devé to go away with him!Therefore, you can lose her in a moment.




Our earning power has been given to us

There is no reason to take pride in having wealth. How is it that I havewealth? I have either inherited it or earned it. If I have earned wealth, it is because I possess certain abilities by God’s grace. These abilities or skills that I

possess because of which I am a wealthy man are not something that I havecreated. We know very well that we have not created this body; it is a gift givento me. Along with the body, all the intelligence and knowledge and skill that Ihave are also given to me. Whatever I possess is a gift. This is because when Iwas born, I had nothing and was totally ignorant. In the course of these years somany teachers and so many other people have actually worked hard in order toimpart this knowledge and skills to me. Now, I feel that I possess thisknowledge and claim to be smart or intelligent or skillful. I claim to be anengineer, a doctor or a lawyer and when I earn money on the strength of that

knowledge, I think that the money also is my private property.

We have been ‘favored’

Lord Kåñëa says that there is no private property at all. Even your own body is not personal property. He says the one who enjoys objects given by thegods without offering to them in return is indeed a thief, tairdattänapradäyaibhyo

yo bhuìkte stena eva saù [Bhagavadgétä, 3-12]. All the favor is constantly done toyou. It is on account of this favor alone that you are what you are and enjoy thiswhole universe. If you do not acknowledge that favor, and consume everythingthat comes to you thinking that it is on account of your own personal effort, youare a thief. I have to appreciate the amount of favor that I have received from thewhole universe. That is why they talk of åñi åëa, our debts to the sages, pitå åëa, our debts to our forefathers, and deva åëa, our debts to the gods.

We are indebted to the sages, to our ancestors, and to the gods

Åñi åëa is our debt to the åñis, the sages and thinkers, because they havededicated their whole life to the pursuit of knowledge and made this vaststorehouse of knowledge available to us. We draw from this freely, and then callourselves very knowledgeable people. Pitå åëa is our debt to our parents andancestors for having given us the gift of this body, and for having raised it andnourished it. Deva åëa is our debt to the many devatäs, meaning cosmic forces,which are constantly functioning in order to support us. The sun, the moon, theearth, the fire and the waters, all these elements are working constantly in orderto support us. Without their favor, we could not survive or even exist.




The dhana, jana, and yauvana which you think are real and will alwaysremain with you do not possess that which you seek. The objects of this worldmanifest happiness like a brass object that shines like a piece of gold, or a piece of mirrorred glass that may shine like a diamond. Just as this glitter does not mean

that the objects are what they appear to be, so also, the glitter of security andhappiness etc. in the objects of the world is not real.

Renunciation is a certain attitude towards the worldly objects

Idam mäyämayam akhilaà hitvä. Realize that happiness is not to be found inany of this and renounce it. In Vedanta, renunciation is not an action; it is a stateof mind, a certain atitude towards the things of the world. In renouncing, I donot do something or discard something outwardly. When I give up somethingand yet feel its loss, it only means that I have not really given it up inwardly.

Therefore, while we recognize that the world and all its achievements are thereand have a certain value, what we call renunciation is nothing but seeing it forwhat it is and knowing the true worth of things.

Worldly objects can solve only certain problems

As we saw earlier, there are two kinds of problems in life. One is centredupon the self and relates to the subject. The other is centered upon the non-self and relates to the objects around us. For instance, the problems of hunger,poverty, or illiteracy are centered upon the object or the non-self. You need the

object, wealth, in order to solve these problems. However, the problems of sadness or sorrow, fear, inadequacy or incompleteness, limitation, or bondageare centered upon the self. We cannot find solutions to these problems in thenon-self. Thus, we should understand the nature of the problem and applysolutions that are appropriate to those problems. The recital of the BhajaGovindam will not remove illiteracy or poverty; it will not appease the hunger inmy stomach either. The appropriate solution for hunger is to eat food. If I amsuffering from a disease, I have to take medicine. We can see that the solution tothe various problems centered upon the non-self lies only in the non-self itself.

Therefore, what we call the world, and perceive as its objects, is definitely usefuland required for solving those problems.

However, the worldly objects can’t solve problems centered on the Self

Unfortunately, we look to the world for a solution to problems thatpertain to the self, such as sadness, fear, or insecurity. These cannot be solved by



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In the 12th

verse, we find that he is drawing our attention to the play of time.

idnyaimNyaE say< àat> izizrvsNtaE pu nrayat>,

kal> ³Ifit gCDTyayu > tdip n mu ÂTyazavayu >.

dinayäminyau säyaà prätaù çiçiravasantau punaräyätaù,

kälaù kréòati gacchatyäyuù tadapi na muïcatyäçäväyuù.

Day and night, dusk and dawn, winter and spring come and go again.

Time sports and life ebbs away, and yet the gust of desire never leaves (us).Dina means day, and yämini means night. Dinayäminyau is in the dual,

meaning day and night. Säyam is evening, prätaù is morning, çiçira is winter, andvasanta is spring. Punaräyätaù means they come again and again. A very beautiful picture of time is portrayed here. Referring to the inexorable passage of time, Çré Çaìkaräcärya says, kälaù kréòati, time is constantly sporting. The wheelof time is constantly moving ahead and waits for no one. Signifying the passageof time, the cycles of day and night, morning and evening, and spring and wintercome and go over and over again. Gacchatyäyuù, life ebbs away. The inevitable

truth of life is that with the passage of time, life is also slowly ebbing. Tadapi na

muïcatyäçäväyuù. Açäväyuù is the gust of desire. The problem is that even as lifeis slipping away, the äçäväyuù or gust of desire, tadapi na muïcati, does not leavethe person.

Our life is steadily ebbing away

Bhartåhari, the great sage-poet, also makes a similar observation on life.He says that the rising of the sun each morning marks the passing of one moreday of our life.

AaidTySy gtagtErhrh> s'œ]Iyte jIivt< VyaparEbR ÷kayR ÉarguéiÉ> kalae=ip n }ayte,

†:qœva jNmjraivpiÄmr[< Çasí naeTp*te pITva maehmyI— àmadmidramu NmÄÉU t< jgt! .ädityasya gatägatairaharahaù saìkñéyate jévitaà vyäpärairbahukäryabhäragurubhiù

kälo'pi na jïäyate, dåñövä janmajarävipattimaraëaà träsaçca notpadyate pétvä

mohamayéà pramädamadirämunmattabhütaà jagat.




Daily, with the rising and setting of the sun, life shortens and time is not felton account of affairs heavily burdened with manifold activities. Neither isfear produced at beholding birth, death, old age, and sufferings. Alas, theworld is become mad by drinking the stupefying wine of delusion

[Vairägya Çatakam, 43]. Ädityasya gatägatairaharahaù, every day that Aditya rises, saìkñéyate jévitam, ourlife is slowly exhausted. Every day looks like every other day, especially in atropical country like India where there is no significant change of weather.However, while we think that it is the same sun that has risen, and the same daythat has returned, our life is slowly getting depleted. The days that have gone by never return. The days are passing us by, one after another, but what do wedo during the day? We do not even know how the whole day passes, kälo api na

jïäyate. The morning comes, and because we are so busy and preoccupied

during the day, it is night even before we realize it.Vyäpärairbahukäryabhäragurubhiù , there is such a big burden of work to beaccomplished. We are so engrossed in one activity or the other that we do noteven heed the passing of each day. Man constantly looks around, and what doeshe find? He sees janmajarävipattimaraëam, the phenomenon of birth and death,and old age and disease. However, in spite of seeing this constant suffering andpain everyday, träsaçca notpadyate, there is no fear in this heart at all. How is itthat man feels no urgency inspite of observing all this? Why is it that he doesnot strive to bring about the real fulfilment of life? Pétvä mohamayéà

pramädamadirämunmattabhütaà jagat. The poet says that man does not knowwhat is happening because he is intoxicated with pramädamadirä, the wine of inadvertance. That is why he does not know what is happening and nobodyseems to take note of the realities of life.

Desires, however, grow with time

Many poets and teachers have referred to the play of time with referenceto our life. Kälaù kréòati gacchatyäyuù, with every moment, as time marches on,our life is also slowly but steadily ebbing. It is said that everything getsexhausted, grows old, or perishes under the influence of time. However, if thereis one thing that does not diminish with time, it is desire. Tadapi na

muïcatyäçäväyuù. Äçäväyuù or desire is something that only grows with time.

It is not we who enjoy them, but the pleasures that enjoy us

Bhartåhari offers another interesting observation on life. He says:




Éaega n Éu a vymev Éu a> tpae n tÝ< vymev tÝa>,

kalae n yatae vymev yataSt&:[a n jI[aR vymev jI[aR >.bhogä na bhuktä vayameva bhuktäù tapo na taptaà vayameva taptäù, kälo na yäto

vayameva yätäståñëä na jérëä vayameva jérëäù.The worldly pleasures have not been enjoyed by us, but we ourselves have been devoured; no religious austerities have been gone through, but weourselves have become scorched; time is not gone (being ever-present andinfinite), but it is we who are gone (because of approaching death). Desireis not reduced in force, though we ourselves are reduced to senility[Vairägya Çatakam, 7]

What the poet means here is that it is not as if we have enjoyed the variouspleasures of life. Instead, we discover that it the pleasures that have enjoyed us.For instance, I might think that I am drinking tea, but, in reality, the tea isdrinking me. How is it so? This is because without realizing it, I soon becomeaddicted to drinking tea, and from then on, it is not I who am drinking tea, butthe tea that demands or commands that I should drink it. The act of eating foodis another example. The primary purpose of food is merely to appease hunger, but more often than not, food is eaten to satisfy the palate. I think that I ameating the food, but I am a compulsive eater, or require a certain kind of foodalone. Therefore, it is really the food that commands that I should eat. The wordfor food, annam, is derived from the root ad, which means to eat. It is defined inthe Taittréya Upaniñad [2-2] as adyate iti ca bhütäni, that which is eaten by peopleand which simultaneously eats the people. We think that we are eating food, butit is food that is constantly consuming us. Like this, we are addicted to so manythings in life. Bhartåhari says that on account of having made us dependantupon them, it is the objects and pleasures of the world that are enjoying us andnot we who enjoy them.

In fulfilling desires, more desires arise

It is not as if we have performed penance, but the penance that seems tohave performed us, tapo na taptaà vayameva taptäù. It is not time that hasperished, but we who have perished in time, kälo na yäto vayameva yätäù. It is notour craving that has subsided, or become old or exhausted, tåñëä na jérëä

vayameva jérëäù. It is we who have become dilapitated and decrepit in theprocess of fulfilling our cravings; the craving has only become stronger and




stronger. The unfortunate truth of life is that in the process of the fulfilment of desires, more desires arise.

Desires arise because of inner inadequacy

Every desire is the inner manifestation of the inadequacy or theincompleteness that I am feeling. Unless I address that inner incompleteness, thedesires will keep on springing up and I will always keep on exerting myself tofulfill them. You may ask, “But Swamiji, if we do not have desires, how canthere be any progress?” There is nothing wrong with desire. It is something thatis naturally there and we can go ahead and fulfil these desires in legitimate ways.However, there is no end to these desires. They arise in the mind and we fulfillthem thinking that no new desire will arise, except that the fulfilment of onedesire only brings about ten more desires. Has it ever happened that somebody

has fulfilled all his desires and can claim that all his desires are fulfilled? That iswhy Çré Çaìkaräcärya says, jïäte tattve kaù saàsäraù. Vedanta addresses theproblem of the inner inadequacy or incompleteness, which is the cause of desires.

Desires exploit the weakness in our mind

Desires keep on propelling us from one situation to the other. Once theyknow our weakness, they will arise in our mind. We may resist them at first, butwe are vulnerable and soon they get the better of us. I am reminded of an

incident in this context. In Ahmedabad, there were many children in thehutments in our neighborhood. I would see them when I returned from classand decided to give them some prasäd. I would ask them to chant ‘ Hari om’, andgive them some candy. Soon, even as they saw me coming, they would startchanting, “ Hari om! Hari om!” and line up for prasad. Slowly, they began toconsider that getting the prasäd was their right. What in the beginning was aprivilege or favor became a right, and they began to demand candy even for their brothers and sisters who could not come on that day. That also was ok with me.However, one afternoon at 2:30 pm, when I was resting, there was a knock on my

door. Nobody would disturb me at that time, but whoever it was obviously didnot know that practice. I did not respond to that knock, but they continued toknock. I got up a bit irritated and opened the door and found a six-year old boythere. Naturally, my irritation went away. I asked him, “What do you want?”He said, “ Maharäj, prasäd”. I told him, “I have distributed the prasäd already thismorning.” “I was not there this morning.” “Where were you?” “I had gone to




happy with some kind of a radio. Then the transistor came. Then followed thetape recorders and stereos, the TV, the video, the DVD, the mp3 player and soon. In fact, not many people are interested in the radio these days. Everyonemust have cable TV and video! Similarly, there was a time when even simple

food would suffice, and having some ‘kichdi’ or rice was considered a luxury.Now we have to have rice and ‘chapati’ and two or three vegetables everyday.Today, there are 123 flavors of ice cream available in Ahmedabad, and a newflavor is launched almost everyday.

As our requirements and demands keep on growing, newer and newerproducts are created everyday and older models and designs are constantly becoming obsolete. All the while, we think that we are making progress, but weare only becoming more and more dependent. This is a game, and we don’trealize that we are being exploited constantly. The entire marketing industry

would not be there, unless they knew that we were gullible and could beexploited. Present a new product, and some fellow will want it. Somebodywears a new sari, and I want it, somebody wears a new ornament, and I want it,somebody has a new car, and I want it. We keep comparing ourselves with otherpeople, find ourselves inadequate in something or the other, and thus, whetherin our wardrobe or elsewhere, there is a growing collection of possessions. Wemust keep on acquiring more and more. This is a game in which, as the timeebbs away, my energy also slowly gets exhausted. The capability of the senseorgans, even to derive enjoyment, slowly diminishes, but my mind continues to

demand more and more. I may be suffering from diabetes, but my demand forsweets only grows. I cannot do without sweets. I will take insulin, but sweets Ishould have. How we become slaves to these things!

The gust of desire grows even in old age

Bhogä na bhuktä vayameva bhuktäù, it is not we who enjoy pleasures, but thepleasures that are enjoying us. Tåñëä na jérëä vayameva jérëäù. Our tåñëäm, thirstor seeking has not become old. It is we who have become old while the craving becomes more and more powerful. Unfortunately, the person who has more isconsidered to be more successful. In the US, even at the age of 65 or 70 a personcan enjoy life as though he were only 25! That means he has not grown in allthese years. At the age of 70, the fellow gets married, for the third time. Whatfor? These are the misplaced values of life. People in India are also beginning tofollow this lifestyle thinking that we are civilized and modern, not realizing that




as the body grows old the mind should also grow in maturity. That is what theäcärya means when he says tadapi na muïcatyäçäväyuù.

The gust of desire and craving does not leave the individual even as in hisold age. He becomes infirm and incapable of fulfilling his desires, and is

incapable of even eating the food that he has cooked because his stomach orhealth does not permit it. These people are doing tapas, but not out of choice!With all the food that is available, they are not able to eat anything. If thesepeople were fasting for the sake of god or something like that and not for thesake of the body, they would atleast derive some puëya from it.

The poet Bhartåhari says, throughout my life I have done all that the great yogis do, but have not derived any benefit from it. The yogis leave their home, Ialso left my home. For what? For the sake of earning money. The yogis wander

in the sun, in the heat, and the cold, and I also wandered in the heat and the cold.For what? Again, for the sake of making money. The yogis are constantly incontemplation. They contemplate upon the feet of Lord Çiva. I also did that. Idid everything that the yogis do, but did not get anything in return. Whether welike it or not, we do all this. Like the poet, we also exert ourselves and undergomuch trouble and suffering, but it is all in vain. This is being pointed out here in,kälaù kréòati gacchatyäyuù tadapi na muïcatyäçäväyuù. Time does not spareanybody; as it sports, life ebbs away.

Growing out of desires is living intelligently

As we grow older, the mark of maturity is that we become more and morefree. There is a greater sense of satisfaction, and fulfilment within. Maturitymeans that my requirements reduce as I grow. In our tradition, we have the fouräçramas - bramacarya, gåhstha, vänaprastha, and sannyäsa. Who is a vänaprastha?He is the one who lives a life of austerity in the forest. When can you do that? Itcan happen only when you have the satisfaction of having lived your lifeproperly in gåhsthäçrama. At some age, whether 55 or 60 or 65, we should retire.This means retiring from needs and necessities, not merely sitting idle.

Otherwise where is the retirement? If my needs and necessities have not goneaway, and I retire and am idle, there is a terrible problem because outwardly Icannot do anything, but inwardly all my needs have remained. When peopletalk to me about retirement, I always wonder whether they have retired in theirmind. Retirement should begin in the mind. It implies a withdrawal from needsand necessities and the developing of self-sufficiency. A mature man is a manwho is self-sufficient.




The experience of the life of a householder is called growth only when we become self-sufficient. At the end of gåhsthäçrama, then, I have the satisifactionthat I have enjoyed enough. My mind is free from any cravings. Then alone canI apply the mind or focus that mind on penance, austerities, or worship, in

leading the life of vänaprastha. If that does not happen, it can only mean that wehave not grown. Thus, the burden of desires or burden of cravings alwaysremains in my head, tadapi na muïcatyäçäväyuù. This is a pitiable situation and isoutlined further in subsequent verses, as to how the person has become old, buthis desires and cravings are as young as ever.

This verse is cautioning us and telling us to lead our life intelligently.May you drink, but not let the drink consume you. May you eat the food, butnot let the food eat you. May you enjoy the objects doubtless, but not let theobjects enjoy you. We should enjoy our life in such a manner that we retain our

freedom and, in course of time, discover an inner self-sufficiency so that we become free from the dependence upon the world for our enjoyment1.




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In the 13th

verse, again, a piece of advice is offered.

kate kaNta xn gticNta vatu l ik< tv naiSt inyNta,

iÇjgit s¾ns< gitrEka Évit Éva[R vtr[e naEka.

käte käntä dhana gatacintä vätula kià tava nästi niyantä,

trijagati sajjanasaà gatiraikä bhavati bhavärëavataraëe naukä.

O distracted one, why worry about wife, wealth etc. Isn’t there an ordainerfor you? The association with the wise or the good is the only one boat

available to cross this ocean of becoming.The question asked earlier was, käte käntä kaste putraù [8]. Käte käntä, who

is your wife? She is a woman, and is married to you, but do you think your wifeis merely this body or is there something more to her than that? Kaste putraù,who is your putraù or son? Again, is it merely this body, the individual, or isthere something else? Know that there is a different dimension to life, we aretold. Have you ever thought that in your silly relationship of pleasure and pain,and likes and dislikes with the individual who you call your wife, there is aperson behind that personality? Have you ever thought about who you are

dealing with? Similarly, you have various expectations of your son alright, butdo you think that the outer form that appears is all there is to him? Kaù, who areyou? Kastvam, are you merely this body, this personality experiencing pleasureand pain, or is there something more to you?

Käte käntä dhana gatacintä, why do you have this cintä? The word cintä means cintanam, thinking. How it is that you are constantly preoccupied withthe thoughts of käntä, dhana etc.? Käntä is wife or the beloved. Dhana meanswealth, possession, name, fame, and power. Väta is the wind. Vätula is one

whose mind is under the spell of väyu or the wind, meaning one who is deludedor distracted. Here, Çré Çaìkaräcärya says, Vätula, oh disracted one, kià tava

nästi niyantä, do you not have anything else to think about other than thoughts of money and wealth?




creation. Therefore, Çré Çaìkaräcärya says here, vätula kià tava nästi niyantä?Isn’t there a substratum which sustains this entire creation as you understand it?Have you ever taken that into account when you make calculations in your life,that you are going to do this, you are going to achieve that etc.? In all of these

calculations, schemes, and planning, have you ever taken into account the factthat there is something that sustains all this? Çré Çaìkaräcärya is pointing outhow you permit yourself to be completely preoccupied with just the concerns,worries, anxieties, and thoughts about this gross perceptible creation, which iscalled käntä and dhana, without looking beyond it.

Alternative interpretation: The Ordainer, not you, sustains the creation

Another way of interpreting this statement would be to see käte käntä

dhana gatacintä to mean, why are you worried about your wife and wealth and

everything else. Vätula, kià tava nästi niyantä? Oh distracted one, isn’t there aniyantä, the ordainer who actually sustains the creation? Do you imagine that itis you who support and sustain this family, your wife and child and everythingelse? Do you not realize that there is some principle, niyantä, who has createdthis world and is supporting it? Do you not know, that when you think that youare sustaining, or supporting, or accomplishing, in fact you are able to do all thison account of this very niyantä?

Each of us is but an instrument

In the Bhagavad Gétä, this lesson was very vividly given to Arjuna. WhenArjuna requested Lord Kåñëa to reveal his cosmic form, Çré Kåñëa showed himhis cosmic form. Arjuna soon saw that this cosmic form was nothing but theembodiment of death; Lord Kåñëa manifested himself as the very death,devouring the creation. Arjuna saw that death was in front of him, devouringthe whole creation. All the great warriors were entering the mouth of the Lord,and he was chewing them up, masticating them, and enjoying the wholeexercise, licking his lips. Arjuna was shaken up, “Lord, what are you doing?Who are you? How are you visible in this form?” “I am death and I am here to

devour everything.” “If you are devouring everything, what am I doing here?”“You are doing nothing. Whether you are in this battlefield or not, nobody hereis going to survive. All these people who appear to be alive and fighting withyou are, in fact, already taken care of. Nobody is really alive. I have alreadyconsumed them.” “Then what is my role?” “Your role is to stand up and dowhat you have to do, and take all the credit. I have chosen you to win this battle




and get the credit. Thus, history will say that Arjuna won this battle andconquered the unconquerable ones such as Bhéñma and Droëäcärya. While youare doing this, however, realize that you are just the nimitta or instrument in myhands.”

This is the truth of life. Each one of us is only an instrument, but then wehave the arrogance or pride to think that we are doing all of this. I should realizethat I am merely an instrument, and that things are being done through me; thatI am doing this because there is a grace or favor. Therefore, when I think that Ihave built the house, I have earned this money, and I have accomplished this, orthink that this is my family, or this is my responsibility, I am always anxious.There is an anxiety and fear of what will happen to my wife, or to my childrenetc. Çré Çaìkaräcärya says, why do you concern yourself with these worries andanxieties? Do you think that you have taken care of them so far? Do you think

that you have supported and sustained them? Isn’t there a niyantä or ordainer?Do you not realize that there is a creator, one who sustains this creation? He isthe one who actually supports them.

Don’t be unnecessarily proud

There is a story told, of Chatrapathi Shivaji. He was a great man and agreat king. It seems that during his reign there was a famine brought on by adrought. So Shivaji initiated many social work projects, such as the digging of wells, digging of ponds etc. to keep the people engaged, and to give them foodand support them. When such projects were going on, Shivaji was onceobserving them, inspecting things with a certain pride. A certain thoughtapparently arose in his mind, “Oh, look at what I am doing. If I were not there,what would have happened to these people?” It seems that his teacher SamarthaRämadas was with him at that time. He was really samartha, endowed withvarious powers. He realized what was happening in the mind of Shivaji, andsaw that he had pride that he was doing these things. He ordered Shivaji to bring a hammer, and then asked him to split open a big rock. Shivaji hit the rockseveral times till it split apart. Inside the rock, he found a small cavity in whichthere was a small insect, and there was one little particle of grain. Rämadasasked Shivaji, “Who is the one supporting the little insect inside this stone? Areyou providing that grain to the insect?” “No, sir.” Rämadas then explained, “Itis God who is taking care of that insect. It is God who has created that creature,and therefore, God also provides for him. When he gives you teeth, he also givesyou food. This is the scheme of life.” Shivaji then realized that he had been




unnecessarily proud in thinking that he was responsible for supporting all thosepeople.

Pride breeds all kinds of anxieties

If pride gave me a sense of happiness then it would have been alright. Buteven as I feel proud that I am the one who has accomplished or achievedsomething, the pride gets transformed into worry about how to achieve furtheror what will happen to my achievement. Similarly, there are anxieties regardingwhat will happen to my wife, or my children, my wealth or my position. BillClinton has just won the election, and do you know what they are alreadythinking about? His re-election is the concern now! They are wondering how togo about engineering the economic policies, so that at the end of four years theeconomy appears improved and he can get re-elected.

All that we are concerned about is how to maintain what we have, yoga and kñema. Yoga here is acquiring what I do not have, and kñema is protectingwhat I have. This consumes my life, and I think that I am responsible for doingall of this. This is the kind of a pride that is pointed out in kià tava nästi niyantä.Don’t you realize that there is a niyantä, an ordainer, who as creator, sustainer,governor and controller who is doing all of this? You are only an instrument inhis hands. This is the second interpretation.

In my opinion, the first interpretation is perhaps better. How is it that you

are so completely preoccupied with the thoughts of wife, children, wealth,possessions, power and position? Don’t you have anything else to think about?Don’t you realize that there is a higher principle, something superior that reallyfills up this life? Why don’t you think about that?

Saàsära is like an ocean

Trijagati sajjanasaà gatiraikä bhavati bhavärëavataraëe naukä. Jagat meanscreation or the world. Trijagat is the three-fold world. We look upon theuniverse as consisting of three worlds, the påthivé or bhü loka or this world, the

antarikña or bhuvar loka, the intermediate world, and svaù or svarga loka, theheavens. In all these three worlds, sajjana samgatiù eka bhavati bhavärëavataraëe

naukä. Arnava is ocean. Bhava is saàsära or the life of becoming, this life of birthand death, the life of struggles. This bhava or saàsära is comparable to the arnava or ocean because there is no end to it at all. It is just as endless as the search of the 10th man. When will he ever discover the 10th man? Never. As long as he issearching for the 10th man, he can never find the 10th man. Why is it that he




cannot ever find the 10th man? Because he himself is the 10th man. So also, aslong as I am searching for the fulfilment of my life elsewhere in the world, solong can I never find it, because what I am searching for is my own nature. Thatis why this life of becoming, this life of struggles, this life of gaining a sense of

fulfilment is saàsära and is compared to the ocean.Bhu means to be. Bhava means becoming; a life of becoming. Bhava also

means birth. There is also change, there is constant modification, constantmovement, a becoming from one state to the other, from one life to the other.Lord Çiva is also called Bhava, because he is the creator. As the creator he iscalled Bhava, when he is the destroyer he is called Hara, and when he is thesustainer he is called Måda. When he is beyond all these three, he is called Çivaù.Bhava means this life of becoming. We have been struggling in this arnava, thisocean. As Pujya Swami Dayanandaji would say, we are neither completely

floating nor completely drowning; now and then we come to the surface, breathefresh air, and are again pulled down, suffocated and struggling. This is the storyof our lives, one that has been going on from time beginingless, perpetuatedfrom one embodiment to another, and therefore, called arnava or ocean.

The company of the wise will help us cross the ocean

How is one to cross this ocean? With the help of a naukä, which means boat. What is that boat? It is sajjana samgatiù. Sangati is company, and sajjana,good or wise people. As we saw earlier, this satsaìga or sajjana samgatiù, theassociation with the wise or the good is the eka naukä, the one boat available to usto cross this ocean of saàsära in all the three worlds. Even if you go to heaven,you will not find another boat. The idea of a boat is a very beautiful upama orcomparison, because while riding a boat we are protected and safe from theassaults of waves and other aquatic creatures. Similarly, when in the company of good people or wise people, we are protected from any assaults of the worldwhich we would otherwise constantly experience such as honor and dishonor, orthe sense of hurt and guilt. It is not as if these experiences will not be there, but being with the wise people give us a viveka or discrimination because of whichwe slowly discover a poise in spite of the experiences of life. Today, everyexperience seems to disturb me. I am upset, I am worried, and I am anxious.The association with the good shows us that all these worries and anxieties, andall the hurts and problems arise not because there is a reason for those problems, but because we do not have a proper perception of life. This right perception,viveka or discrimination, protects us from the assults of the world, and therefore,




Çré Çaìkaräcärya says that in all the three worlds, sajjana samgatiù is the only boat that can enable us to cross this ocean of saàsära1.




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Now the disciples are presenting their observations, and each one hassomething interesting to say.

jiqlae mu{fI lu iÁDtkez> ka;ayaMbrb÷k«tve;>,

pZyÚip cn pZyit mU F> %drinimÄ< b÷k«tve;>.

jaöilo muëòé luïchitakeçaù käñäyämbarabahukåtaveñaù,

paçyannapi cana paçyati müòhaù udaranimittaà bahukåtaveñaù.

One ascetic with matted hair, one with shaven head, one with hair plucked

out one by one, one in ocre robes – all these are distracted ones who,though seeing, do not see. These are different disguises are only for theirliving.

Many different traditions

There are different traditions in India, and a variety of sädhus orrenunciates and ascetics such as Jains or Bauddhäs. Jaöilaù are those who havematted locks. Muëòé are those who shave their head. Luïchitakeçaù are thosewho, like the Jain monks, pluck out their hair one by one. Jain monks are known

for their severe austerties and penances because that is their belief.The kind of sädhana or penance that a person follows will always depend

upon how they perceive life, how they perceive bondage and, therefore, howthey perceive liberation. The Jain monks believe that the self or ätmä is under theweight of the dust of karma. Past actions result in a very subtle dust-like thing,which sticks to the ätmä or the self, and therefore the self, under the weight of thekarma, is under this world, the lowest world. What you have to do is release theself from the dust of karma and, therefore, these monks are constantly performingvery severe penances.

Käñäyämbara are those that wear ocre robes. In India, the sädhus weardifferent kinds of robes. There are those who wear white robes, those who wearocre robes, others who wear yellow, and yet others, who wear red. There arealso those who wear some other colors. There is a large variety of paramparäs,each with a different variety of robes. Ocre is not the predominant color.Bahukåtaveñaù refers to these ascetics who wear a variety of costumes or robes.




Symbolism of orange, shaving off the head, and matted locks

Why do some wear these orange robes? Orange is the color of fire, andfire stands for renunciation. We invoke different dieties in the fire when weperform the yäga, and make offerings or oblations. Fire is where we renounce

things or offer things, and so fire stands for renunciation. Therefore, the one whohas renounced the pleasures of the world wears robes of this color.

Why do we shave our head? It is because hair represents attachment and beauty. Generally, a person is highly attached to hair, and we spend significantamounts of time over our hair during the day. Shaving off the hair is, again, amanner of renouncing the various attachments. Then why do some have mattedlocks? Keeping one’s hair groomed represents attachment and they have giventhat up. What about those who pluck the hair as a mark of austerity? This

denotes a deliberate form of suffering pain.Why do we find forms of self-mortification in India? It is not self-

mortification, but self-purification. There is a deliberate self-denial called vrata ortapas, austerity, that is performed to increase one’s will power and alsodeliberately deny oneself pleasures, in order to grow out of them. Thus peoplewear these robes and undertake to perform these various things.

These symbols signify the renunciate’s commitment

It may be argued that if you are an ascetic, the renuciation is in the mind

and not present outwardly. That is true. It is the mind which should wear theorange color. Yet, the robes always act as a reminder that I am a renunciate.Therefore, they signify a commitment to certain values of life: renunciation,commitment to austerity, and commitment to the pursuit of knowledge. Everytime I see the robe, I am reminded of it. That is why young children around theage of eight are given the yajïopavéta, which has three threads. The three threadsstand for the three deities, Brahmä, Viñëu, and Çiva. You are the worshipper of these dieties, and it stands for the commitment to worship, it stands for thecommitment to certain rituals that they perform.

Renunciates are respected for their commitment

In India, sometimes, there is a fascination for becoming a sädhu, becausesädhus are respected. They are respected not for their dress, but for what theyare. But based on the robes that he is wearing, we give him the benefit of thedoubt, and respect the costume. Ultimately, the respect for the person gets




translated into a respect for the costume. Thus, whoever wears the costume alsoearns our respect. We prostrate to him, serve him, and do all kinds of things.This is part of the tradition. The Munòakopaniñad [3-1-10] says, tasmädätmajïaà

hyarcayet bhütikämaù, one who is desirious of bhüti or vibhüti, prosperity, may he

worship the wise man. One who is desirious of knowledge should worship him,of course, but even one who is desirious of prosperity or wealth should servehim.

The reason why the mahätmäs or ascetics are served by the society is because the society looks up to them. Behind that service, there is also a littledesire that I may gain their favor and, therefore, my problem will be solved. Sowe touch the feet of the learned people, because we get some grace. That is whysome sädhus are hesitant to let people touch their feet because every timesomeone touches their feet, a little bit of puëya goes away. These are all beliefs.

When people have grown in this belief, these things are ingrained in thepersonality. When we see a sädhu, habitually, we will always offer a salutation.Thus, the robes are put on because they represent a certain commitment.

Some take up renunciation for physical sustenance

In this verse, however, the teacher is presenting the observation of anunfortunate fact that some people don these robes not because they arecommitted to what the robe stands for, but merely for the sake of the belly,udaranimittaà bahukåtaveñaù. Udaram is the belly. Udaranimittam is for the sake of the belly. Bahukåtaveñaù means the many disguises that are taken up for the sakeof physical sustenance.

In India, you can be assured of food if you wear these robes. Whereveryou go, bhikña will definitely be given to you. It is the privilege of the sädhu to goand beg for alms. It is not called begging; it is called bhikña. The householderswho live a life of activity and of pleasures, know how difficult it is to renouncethe pleasures, understand the value of renunciation, and consider it theirprivilege to support sädhus because there is a value for knowledge, there is a

value for austerity, and there is a value for renunciation. There is great respectfor the one who has renounced.

Today, in India, there are hundreds of refugees from Bangladesh and theyfind it very convenient to wear this kind of clothes. In Rishikesh, we find somany sädhus because of the anna-kñetras, or the public feeding places. The sädhus have the privilege of going there and getting their bhikña. To get the food, all you




have to do is wear these clothes. Many people do that. It is very difficult to tell atrue sädhu from one who is merely wearing these clothes for the sake of food.Thus, udaranimittaà bahukåtaveñaù. For the sake of the belly, so many disguisesare taken up. How sad it is!

Sometimes, one finds it very convenient to wear this kind of a robe as ameans of escaping life also, and be assured of sustenance without having toassume responsibility. It is possible, though not very common.

Even though some may know the value of renunciation, they do not follow it

Paçyannapi cana paçyati müòhaù. Look at this müòhaù, the deluded fellow.Paçyannapi, even though he sees, na paçyati, he does not see. He sees himself wearing the robes, and he also understands what the robes stand for. Very often,when people prostrate to him or serve him, he realizes why people are doing

that. Again and again, he realizes or sees exactly what his commitment should be, or exactly what the values of his life should be. Even then, he does not followthem, paçyannapi cana paçyati müòhaù udaranimittaà bahukåtaveñaù. The other daysomeone told me, “Swamiji, look at all these sädhus. This sädhu in Indiacommitted a theft!” I said, “A sädhu will never commit a theft. A thief canappear as a sädhu, but a real sädhu will never commit theft.”

Some sincere renunciates are distracted

It may also be possible that one may sincerely take up renunciation, butafter having taken up the robe find it rather difficult to sustain those values, andtherefore, get distracted agian. When that happens, his life and the values thathe is living are not compatible with the robes that he is wearing. Therefore, thereis a split between what he appears to be and what he is. Then he should reallygive up wearing the robes. If he does not, it follows that it is merely for hissustenance that he remains a sädhu. This kind of sädhu must have been there.Imagine, if they were there at that time, then, what to talk of today?

This may even be an observation about a seeker who sincerely took up

these robes, but may have become distracted along the way because he did notprepare himself. You should understand that before we enter any äçrama, or before we take up any commitment, there must be some preparation or maturityto accompany that. Even entering the role of a householder is a bigresponsibility, and calls for a great deal of maturity. We believe that just becausea boy has grown to the age of 25 or so, or a girl is of the age of 22 or so, that theyshould be married. Mere age should not be the criterion. When a person gets




married, one should realize that it signifies a commitment and comes with aresponsibility. A lot of maturity is called for. Similarly, when you become avänaprastha, another level of maturity is called for. When you become a sannyäsé ,yet another level of maturity is called for.

Sannyäsa means samyak nyäsaù or proper renunciation. You mayoutwardly give up things, but if you have not given them up inwardly, theyremain with you and continue to bother you. They continue to harrass you.Sometimes, out of some kind of a fascination or some kind of an ävega orimpulse, somebody may take up sannyäsa. But then, adequate inner maturity isnot acquired and then he is harrassed by his past saàskäras. It is possible that onthe way he may get distracted. Therefore, he may not be capable of living thevalues that he wanted to live. Such a person is perhaps addressed in this verse. Müòhaù, oh lost one, or oh distracted one, understand why you have put on these

clothes. How do you fail to see the values by which you should be living, or theobjectives with which you have taken up this life? Otherwise, wearing theseclothes continue to be merely for the sake of the belly, udaram1.





have enjoyed this life, that I have gained the pleasures and don’t need them

anymore. This is because as I enjoy, I keep discovering an inner satisfaction, an

inner maturity. So we would say that a man has become mature when at the end

of his life as a householder, he is ready to retire. He is ready to give up the

pleasures of the householder. He is now ready to take up a life of austerity,prayer, and worship. This is what we call vänaprastha äçrama, or going to the

vanam or forest.

Going to a forest may not take place literally, because it is very

inconvenient to live in the forest. In the US, nobody will allow you to live in the

forest either. You perhaps won’t even survive. So one does not have to literally

go to the forest, but going to the forest means retiring from daily involvement.

The parents would hand over all the household affairs to the eldest son, and then

retire.

Today, people don’t retire. If he is in business or industry, this man does

not hand over control to his children. Nobody really retires these days. I may

not go to work, but all decisions must be made with my concurrence. Control is

difficult to give up because I am seeking security from that. I feel I will be

nowhere once I give up my position of power. I will be nothing and will not be

respected. Therefore, I am seeking security from the respect, regard, and power

that comes from controlling people. This shows my inner insecurity. So

maturity is to discover an inner security as we go along in life.

Renunciation should be the goal of life

When I am past living the life of a householder, I am ready to give up my

inner insecurity, I am ready to give up those crutches to which I was holding on

so far for my happiness and security. I am ready to retire to a forest because the

need for those crutches is no more, and I can now dedicate myself to prayers and

worship, meditation and austerities. Then one matures from vänaprastha äçrama

to completely renounce even that, and the fourth äçrama becomes the life of a

renunciate. So sannyäsa or renunciation is the goal of life as presented by our

scriptures. The life of a householder is, therefore, nothing but a preparation forrenunciation.

As we will see later, in the 18th verse, kasya sukhaà na karoti virägaù, there is

real happiness only in renunciation. As I discover that renunciation, a little inner

fulfilment, I become freer. It does not matter if my body grows old. That is a

biological phenomenon. I cannot stop it. It would be nice if I keep my body in fit




condition, but a day will come when my teeth will fall, when my hair will turn

grey, regardless of what I do. There is nothing wrong in it. I need not feel bad

about it or ashamed of it. Today, we don’t even want to accept the fact of old

age. I can’t stand this grey hair, and I do whatever I can to color them black. If

the teeth have fallen, I put in some false teeth. There is nothing wrong in lookinggood, but why do I have such hesitation or shame in appearing as I am?

Because, again, I do not accept myself as I am. Maturity lies in all of these

respects. These are the facts of life and I learn to live happily with them.

Mature with age

The observation here is that this old man has not achieved this maturity

that comes with age. Not that every old man is like that, or that every sädhu is

like the one described in the previous verse, but this observation is presented for

people who are not yet old and are growing old. Tadapi na muïcatyäçäpiëòam,this man, who is leaning on a staff because he cannot carry his own weight, still

has a tremendous burden on his head of a variety of desires, expectations, hopes,

and cravings. Bhogä na bhuktä vayameva bhuktäù; this man has spent his entire life

seeking pleasures and fulfilling his cravings. Therefore, the cravings have grown

more and more powerful even though the fellow has become weak and is

incapable of even enjoying what he has, or incapable of giving expression to his

cravings. This is a very miserable state of affairs. Therefore, here is a warning:

lead your life intelligently and do not put yourself in a situation where inwardly

all your powerful cravings are there, and outwardly you are incapable of fulfilling those cravings1.




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This verse presents a picture of various ascetics. The other verses thus farhave talked of householders, showing how they have been distracted and not

lived intelligently, and have therefore, not accomplished or even attempted to

accomplish the purpose of their life. A similar observation is made in verse 16

about an ascetic.

A¢e viû> p&óeÉanu > raÇaE cu buksmipR tjanu >,

krtliÉ]Stétlvas> tdip n mu ÂTyazapaz>.

agre vahniù påñöhebhänuù rätrau cubukasamarpitajänuù,

karatalabhikñastarutalaväsaù tadapi na muïcatyäçäpäçaù.

Behold there is the man who sits warming up his body with the fire in front

and the sun at the back, at night he curls up the body to keep himself warm;

he receives his alms in the bowl of his hands and lives under the shelter of

trees. Even then he has not been released from the noose of desires.

Here is the picture of a renunciate who has renounced everything, who

has nothing with him. Agre vahniù påñöhebhänuù. Agre means in front. Vahnih is

fire. There is fire in front of him, and påñöhebhänuù, at his back is the sun. Rätrau

cubukasamarpitajänuù , at night he sits curled up against the cold. This is a person

who has no possessions at all, not even a blanket to cover himself with. During

the day, he sits in the sun and gets some warmth. When it gets cold at night, he

lights up a fire, and when the fire goes out, cubukasamarpitajänuù , he sits with his

knees folded and his chin touching his knees in order to ward off the cold.

Karatala is the palm of the hand. He receives his bhikña, his alms, in his palms,

karatalabhikñaù. He does not even have a begging bowl. He is satisfied with

whatever bhikña he is able to receive in the palms of his hands. Where does he

live? Tarutalaväsaù, he lives under a tree. Imagine an ascetic has no dwelling

place, who does not have a begging bowl, and who does not even have a blanket

to protect himself from the inclement weather. This is a great renunciate who

has renounced everything, and still, the observation is, tadapi na muïcatyäçäpäçaù.

Päçaù is the noose, and äçäpäçaù is the noose of desire. In spite of having

renounced every possession, and every form of pleasure or enjoyment in his life,

he is still entangled in the noose of cravings and desire. The noose of desire does




not leave this ascetic also. It is not that all ascetics are like that. This is only an

observation, and the idea is that the desires or cravings do not leave you,

regardless of where you go.

Renunciation is in the mind

You cannot escape desires merely by creating a distance between yourself

and these cravings and desires. They do not go away by any kind of action on

your part. It is not that you if leave home or wear certain clothes or lead a certain

way of life you become a renunciate.

Renunciation is in the mind. The robes that you wear are nothing but the

manifestation of your state of mind. It is in the mind that desires are to be

renounced. What is to be renounced in life? Who is a renunciate? A renunciate

is one who has renounced all cravings and desires.

Desires are to be grown out of, not given up

It looks as though, again, Vedanta seems to be against desires and

cravings. Every time we listen to Vedanta we seem to hear, “Give up your

desires and cravings.” But we don’t actually say that. We don’t ask you to give

up your desires, but ask you to grow out of your desires. We have already seen

the mechanism of desires. What is it that brings about a desire in my mind. A

desire arises when I don’t feel good about myself, because there is a sense of

incompleteness or inadequacy in my mind. I cannot accept myself to be

incomplete or inadequate, and therefore, there is a basic urge to be complete, to

be adequate.

The desire behind all desires

The desire behind all the desires is to become complete or become

adequate. Depending upon my perception of adequacy, I seek to fulfil desires in

different ways. Thus, one may seek to become wealthy, thinking that he will

become adequate that way. Another may want to become a powerful person,

while someone else seeks name and fame. People are searching for different

kinds of powers such as powers at the physical level, including inner powers at

the mental level. People are searching for all kinds of different things, hoping

that by acquiring those things, they can become adequate. There is one quest

that man has and that is to become adequate. Therefore, desire is an expression

of the inner inadequacy that I am feeling and my attempt to fulfill the desire is

nothing but an attempt to become adequate. You can’t grudge anybody for




having a desire. It is not possible to give up desire, even if somebody preaches to

us to renounce our desires. They are asking us to do something which we cannot

do, because desiring is not under my control, it just arises. As long as there is

inadequacy inside, nobody can give up desire. When there is a pressure cooker

on the stove, as long as there is fire, there will be steam forming and blowing outof that cooker. You may pour some cold water on it and the steam may cool

down for some time, but it will come out eventually and continue until you

remove the cause namely fire. Similarly, we may only suppress our desires by

trying to forget about them, or even trying to fulfil them, but unless the basic

inadequacy goes away, the desire will not go away. All that we can do is

perhaps understand our desires.

Desires cannot be satisfied by conventional pursuits

We have to understand what it is that we desire. What I seek is to becomea complete being, an acceptable being. What is required next is the

discriminative power to understand what it is that can make me complete. That

is where maturity or understanding is required. Are these pursuits going to

make me complete? Does my experience show that I have become a more

adequate person having achieved all these things in my life? Do I find myself to

be a more adequate person than I was earlier? I was born a wanting person, but I

continue to remain a wanting person. I go on wanting, except that while what I

ask for keeps on changing, the demanding self ever remains there. I want this or

I want that. The want does not go away; only its appearance changes. Thus,when I think about the experiences in my life, I realize that my want cannot be

satisified by these conventional pursuits. That is where Vedanta comes to our

help and tells us that there is no reason to feel the inadequacy that we are feeling

because you are the adequate self. Therefore, the sense of inadequacy is not

because you have a reason for it, but because you are ignorant, or do not know

your true nature.

Desires can be taken care of only by Self-knowledge

Vedanta points the problem of our life to be an ignorance of the nature of reality, rather than a real inadequacy. Thus the inadequacy or incompleteness

that I feel about myself is not legitimate or genuine. It is something that is a

result of ignorance. Unless the ignorance of the self goes, this sense of

inadequacy will not go.




prIúy laekan! kmRictan! äü[ae inve R dmayaÚaSTyk«t> k«ten,

tiÖ}anaw¡ s gu émevaiÉgCDet! simTpai[> ïaeiÇy< äüinóm! .

parékñya lokän karmacitän brahmaëo nirvedamäyännästyakåtaù kåtena,

tadvijïänärthaà sa gurumeväbhigacchet samitpäëiù çrotriyaà brahmaniñöham.Having analyzed the worldly experiences and achievements acquired

through karma, a mature person gains dispassion and discerns that the

uncreated (limitlessness) cannot be produced by action. To know That

(limitlessness), he should go, with twigs in his hand (servitude), to a teacher

who is learned in the scriptures and who is steadfast in the knowledge of

himself [Muëòakopaniñad 1-2-12].

When one understands that what I am seeking is the limitless which cannot be

created, but is only to be known, my attention is drawn to knowledge, and to

inquiry, rather than to doing things. It is by viveka or discrimination that the

desires can be transformed from the desire for the mundane to the desire for

knowledge. Desire will always be there, except now it becomes a desire for

mokña or a desire for knowledge. Thus, even in the one who has renounced life,

there is a desire. What is his desire? He wants to know. He has understood that

it is knowledge that is going to remove the sense of incompleteness. Therefore,

what we call a renunciate is a mature person who has understood life, and has

understood himself. He has understood his own urge, his own need. We don’t

understand our own need and therefore, go around trying to fulfill the need. It is

one who has understood that need who realizes that it is the knowledge of the

Self and the study of the scriptures that will solve the problem. Out of this

understanding, therefore, he gives up the pursuits of material achievement.

Renunciation without gaining maturity is suppression

Renunciation is nothing but maturity or understanding. When you have

that you can certainly give up things, and not miss them. You will understand

that you don’t need those things. Then alone is the mind free to do what it has to

do because we require a relaxed mind in order to study, contemplate, learn, andgain the knowledge. This is what is involved in renunciation. Suppose a person

renounces things without having understood this, tadapi na muïcatyäçäpäçaù, the

noose of desire does not leave him because that sense of inadequacy still remains

as well as the need to remove that sense of inadequacy. A person becomes a

renunciate by giving up all the means to fulfill his desires, and he has nothing

left with which to fulfill the demands of his senses. However, if the needs and




demands of the senses remain, then it is a very pitiable condition. It is pitiable to

give up something but retain the need for it. By will, I resolve that I will not

drink tea or coffee from tomorrow, but then every morning I crave that. That

manner of giving up does not help me because it only creates a sense of

deprivation and suppression.

Renunciation begins with giving up attachment and aversion

Doing something is not a solution. Not doing something is also not a

solution; understanding alone is the solution. When that maturity is there, one is

ready for the life of renunciation. Actually, one should become a renunciate

before giving up anything. That is why Lord Kåñëa teaches us karma yoga. The

life of a householder should become a life of worship. The actions he performs

then become an offering to the Lord, and that is how he is a sannyäsé in the

making. The person who neither hates nor longs for anything should be knownas always a renunciate, jïeyaù sa nityasannyäsé yo na dveñöi na käìkñati

[Bhagavadgétä, 5-3].

Lord Kåñëa points out how the process of renunciation takes place. What

is the first thing that you have to renounce? It is your rägas and dveñas, meaning

desires. When they say that we must renounce desires, it means that we have to

renounce räga or attachment and dveña or aversions, which have arisen, as we

saw earlier, because of not understanding the nature of things. When I impose

upon something a certain value that does not belong to it, there is räga. Similarly,

when I hate something, also because of not understanding, there is dveña. So

räga-dveñas are both results of aviveka or non-discrimination. They have thus to

be eliminated. That is the training that you have to gain as a householder.

So, is a person mature when he grows old? When can we call him

mature? As one advances in age, if he also advances in freedom from räga-dveña,

we know that he is a growing person. So growth in our life is becoming free

from räga-dveñas or reactions. Thus, it is when I become free from reactions that I

am fit to become a renunciate, not otherwise. If I have a reacting mind, and I am

a renunciate, then there is a big problem, because I do not have any means tofulfil my reactions and the reactions are all there. The impulses are all there. If

they have not become quiet, the life of renunciation is a very wrong life to

assume.

Here, we have a person who has not become free from the impulses

within, but has outwardly given up everything. However, just because you live




the life of austerity, or self-denial, it does not mean that those desires or cravings

are going to go away. They will go only as a result of mature living or mature

thinking1.




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This verse tells us of the means for mukti or liberation.

k…éte g¼asagrgmn< ìtpirpalnmwva danm! ,

}anivihn> svR mten Éjit n mu i´< jNmzten.

kurute gaìgäsägaragamanaà vrataparipälanamathavä dänam, jïänavihinaù sarvamatena bhajati na muktià janmaçatena.

One may go on pilgrimage, observe vows, and give away wealth in charity.Yet, devoid of the knowledge of the Self, nothing can give freedom even in

hundred lifetimes. Jïänavihinaù sarvamatena bhajati na muktià janmaçatena. The second line

says, sarvamatena. This is the mata, or the opinion of all the scriptures, that jïänavihinaù, one who is devoid of jïänam, knowledge of the self, bhajati namuktim, will not be able to get mukti or liberation, janmaçatena, even in onehundred lives. We are not talking of a mundane person or a saàsäri here, but of a very sincere seeker. Kurute gaìgäsägaragamanam, he goes on a pilgrimage toGaìgäsägar. Gaìgäsägar is a place in Calcutta where the river Gaìgä meets theocean. It is a very holy place. This seeker could also be one who may go to the

river Gaìgä, and to the sägara meaning ocean. Gaìgä stands for the north, so hemay go to Käçi, the Himälayas or Rishikesh on pilgrimage. Sägara stands for thesouth, meaning places like Rämeçvaram. This just means that he may go tovarious places on pilgrimage.

The story of the Badrinath temple

Çré Çaìkaräcärya is said to have gone to various places of pilgrimage likeBadrinath, Kedarnath etc. You will find a story associated with Çré Çaìkaräcäryain most of the temples of India. Çré Çaìkaräcärya went to a number of temples onthe way to Badrinath. At that time, many of these temples had become old, andthe worship was not performed properly. There were also many distortions inthe forms of worship, particularly in the worship of devé , in which a lot of sacrifices were being carried out. Çré Çaìkaräcärya changed all this. He installed benign images of the devé , and installed the Çré-cakra in the worship of the formsof devé .




Badrinath is a temple of Lord Viñëu, where he is supposed to be doingpenance. The rest of the kñetras in the Himälayas are Çiva kñetras. In Badrinaththe Lord manifests as two åñis, Nara and Näräyaëa, and they are constantlydoing penance. There are two mountains there, one called Nara and the other,

Näräyaëa. What we have in the temple is a çäligräma sila, or image. In this sila there is an image of Lord Näräyaëa seated in a meditative posture. It issupposed to be a very ancient temple. The temple is covered in snow for sixmonths of the year. At that time, all human beings come away from there, and itis said that for those six months, the devatäs perform the worship of the deity atthe temple. This is the story. Enjoy it for what it is! It is said that the Buddhistswent there and, being atheists, threw away the image of Näräyaëa into the riverGanges, which is called Alakänandä there. So the temple was without an imagefor a long time.

It is said that Çré Çaìkaräcärya had a dream in which Lord Näräyaëa cameto him and said, “ I am lying at the bottom of the river. Retrieve me and installme back in the temple.” So Çré Çaìkaräcärya went to the Alakänandä, and took adip in its waters. He retrieved the çäligräma image of Lord Näräyaëa from theriver and installed it back in the temple. It was then discovered that the imagewas khandita, or damaged. Of the four arms of Lord Näräyaëa, only two wereclearly visible. The other two arms were broken, and this damaged idol couldnot be worshipped. Therefore, Çré Çaìkaräcärya threw it back into the river. Heis said to have had another dream in which he was told to reinstall the damaged

idol, which he again did. Thus it is, that this is one temple where a damaged idolis worshipped.

It is said that Çré Çaìkaräcärya installed a Namboodri or priest fromKerala in Badrinath, and until today the tradition continues. Badrinath is in thenorthenmost corner of India and the priest who conducts the worship there isfrom the southernmost corner. In Nepal, Çré Çaìkaräcärya installed a priest fromMaharastra to conduct the worship in the temple. This is what was done to bringabout national integration in those days.

Pilgrimage unifies the people

The concept of a pilgrimage is a wonderful thing. In India, sightseeing is by way of pilgrimage. You go on a pilgrimage to Badrinath or Kedarnath, andthe sightseeing of the Himälayas takes place. It is amazing how these templesare situated in very far away places. Sometimes they are in difficult places such




as on the top of a mountain. While these days access to these places has becomemuch easier, in the past, you really had to exert yourself in order to reach them.

The custom of pilgrimage in India is widely prevalent. These pilgrimages brought all the Indians together because people from all over India would visit

these centers. Even though the language was different, and the dress and foodwere different, the culture was one. This was a unifying factor. People living inthe south of India always aspired to visit the Gaìgä, go to Benares or Käçé, andhave the darçan of Lord Çiva. They would carry with them a pot of water fromthe ocean, and pour that water upon Lord Çiva out there. The people living inthe north, on the other hand, always aspired to go to the south. They wouldcarry a pot of water from the Ganges, go down to Rämeçvaram in the south, andpour that water on Lord Çiva there. This is how the life was.

Pilgrimage is a process of self-purification

Pilgrimage formed a very important aspect of religious life. Even until 50years ago, people had to walk two to three months to perform the pilgrimage tothe four centers, Chardham, in the Himälayas (namely Gangotri, Yamunotri,Badrinath, and Kedarnath). In India, it is generally those who are retired andhave nothing else to do that go on these pilgrimages. These people over the ageof 55 or 60 do not have much strength to walk, but they undertake thesepilgrimages which require walking on the mountains and suffering the cold etc.Those days, when such elderly people left on a pilgrimage we used to bid themgoodbye. We never knew whether they would come back or not. Theythemselves did not know, and they were prepared. If their body dropped on theway to Badrinath or anywhere in the Himälayas, they were happy. If they came back after a few months, it was a miracle! Thus the pilgrimage tradition has beenan an important form of worship.

When I went on a pilgrimage once, I was with a busload of people. Westopped in Srinagar for lunch. The Çré Çaìkaräcärya of Badrinath was also in thesame guesthouse on his way to Joshimath. We went and prostrated before him

like all others. He asked us where we were going and we told him that we wereon our way to Badrinath by bus. He told us that the real way to go on apilgrimage is to go on foot. Nowadays, you can go to Badrinath from Rishikeshin one day. And one is not prepared for that, because Badrinath is at a height of about 10,000 ft. It is cold and uncomfortable. If you have come from thecomparative comfort of Delhi, the first thought that comes to you is about whenyou can return. Before you go on this pilgrimage, you have to tune up




physically. If you go on foot, it may take 15 or 20 days, during which you willslowly get acclimatized. You walk along the Ganges, constanly repeating thename of the Lord, constantly thinking about him and, therefore, your emotionalfervor also rises. By the time you reach the temple, you are extremely eager to

have the darçan of the Badrinath. On the way, you stop at all the holy places. You bathe in the Ganges every day. There are many ashrams, hermitages, along theway. There are many sädhus living there, and you have satsangs with them.There are also many temples and you can have darçan there. That is how thepilgrimages used to be conducted in olden days. It is a process of self-purification. Austerities and penances formed the life of all householders. Thatis what is being mentioned here, in kurute gaìgäsägaragamanam.

Vows help cultivate will power

Vrata paripälanam. People may observe a variety of vows. Fasting is verycommon and there are some people who are always on a fast! There are hardlydays when they eat. They fast on Mondays, caturthé days, ekädaçé days, purëimä days, in the month of çrävana, and so on. This kind of vow is very common.What is a vow? It is a deliberate act of self-denial, that I will observe a fast; I willnot eat, or I will eat once a day. This is how we cultivate our will power. When Ifulfill that vow, vrata paripälanam, it gives me a certain satisfaction, and alsoincreases the strength of my willpower. Merely observing a fast is not the vrata,of course. During the fast you use that time and energy in worship.

Gaining knowledge is the only means for freedom

Athavä dänam. Dänam is charity, giving to the people who are needy.These three observances, pilgrimage, vows, and charity, used to form the life of people. We are told here, that even if we were to do all of these things sincerely,if the effort is jïänavihinaù, without the knowledge, bhajati na muktià janmaçatena,in spite of doing all of this even for a hundred lifetimes, one will not gainliberation or mukti. Liberation can only come about through jïänam orknowledge. The jïänavihinaù, one who is devoid of knowledge, cannot gain

liberation even in a hundred lifetimes. This verse thus emphasizes the value orimportance of knowledge.

As we have seen earlier, the problem of bondage is not a legitimateproblem. Bondage, or the sense of inadequacy, the sense of littleness, or sense of non-acceptance is an imaginary problem. It is a projected problem. What we call bondage is projected by the mind. In reality, the Self is free, but is still taken to




be bound. It is taken to be limited because of aviveka or non-discrimination. This body or the mind which is not the Self is taken to be the Self. Therefore, there isconstant suffering from a sense of mortality. I take myself to be a mortal being,subject to death, and so there is a constant fear of death. I take myself to be a

limited being, and so there is an attempt to become big. I take myself to be a sador unhappy person, and so there is an attempt to be happy. All of these notionsarise on account of the identification with the body or with the mind. Therefore,the only solution to the problem of bondage is becoming free from thatidentification by recognizing the true nature of the Self.

The spiritual practices are necessary for self-purification, but are not sufficient

You can gain a variety of siddhis and powers, but you cannot gainliberation unless you gain the knowledge of the Self, which is ever liberated.

This verse says that the jïänavihinaù, one who is devoid of knowledge, will not be able to gain liberation merely by the spiritual practices even in one hundredlives! That does not mean that the spiritual practices do not have a place. All of this is requried. It does not mean that for the pursuit of knowledge you need notobserve any fasts, or need not have any values or discipline in life. It is not so.All of these spiritual practices are required for self-purification. Self-purificationis an absolute requirement for gaining knowledge. However, mere purificationis not an end in itself. These practices are all only the means, while the end is thegaining of the knowledge1.




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In verse 18, we finally have the picture of a real renunciate. Earlier, wehad seen renunciates who appeared to be renunciates, but were not. Here is the

picture of one who is truly a renunciate.

su r m<idr té mU l invas> zYya ÉU tl mijn< vas>,

svR pir¢h Éaeg Tyag> kSy su o< n kraeit ivrag>.

sur a mandi ra taru müla niväsaù çayyä bhütala maj inaà väsaù,

sarva parigraha bhoga tyägaù kasya sukhaà na karoti virägaù.

Live in a temple or under a tree, wear the deer-skin for the dress, and sleepwith mother earth as your bed. Renounce all your possessions and

enjoyments. Blessed with such dispassion, could any fail to be happy?

Here is the picture of a wise man, a real ascetic or a real renunciate. He

has no possessions. He does not have a house, and is constantly wandering fromplace to place. Which is his dwelling place? Where does he live? Sura mandira

taru müla niväsaù . Taru means tree. Taru müla niväsaù , he lives under a tree. Sura

mandira is a temple. He either lives in a temple or under a tree. He lives in

public places because he has no place of his own.

We don’t require anything to be happy

We can imagine how the ideal of life in India is so opposed to the ideal of

life in other places. In the US, for example, the ideal of life is to have an air-conditioned six-bedroom house, with a three-car garage and wall-to-wall

carpeting. The goal of life for the person who simply follows his sensuous

requirements is maximum possessions and maximum comfort. Therefore, when

you present this kind of a picture of an ascetic, people will ridicule you. “You

don’t know how to live life. That is why you are living such a self-mortifying

and unnatural way of life.” But in India, the picture of an ideal man is, sura

mandira taru müla niväsaù , one who dwells under a tree or in a temple. He does

not require his own dwelling place. Indeed, he is one who does not require any

particular dwelling place.

The problem with us is that we not only require a dwelling place, but we

require it to be ‘my’ dwelling place. Not only is a house required, but it has to be




A wise person is happy by himself

I need bhoga , a variety of enjoyments, good food, a comfortable dwelling

etc. Why? I depend upon these things for my entertainment or the cheerfulness

of my mind. Otherwise, I get bored. Here, this man does not require any

external bhoga . Lord Kåñëa describes a wise man as being ätmanyevätmanä tuñöaù [Bhagavadgétä, 2-55], one who is tuñöaù or happy with himself, and by himself.

He has a different source of happiness altogether. Ordinary people seek sense

objects and achievements, but here is a wise man who has tapped an unlimited

fountain of happiness within his own heart. That is the reason why he does not

have to depend on anyone else or anything else to be happy. It is a case of totalself-acceptance or total self-liking. He has discovered the true nature of the Self,

a self which is most acceptable or most lovable. Therefore, he has no need for

bhoga or enjoyment, or for material pleasures.

Many sädhus in Rishikesh deliberately renounce any kind of taste. They

make sure that the food that they eat is without any taste, so that they will notget attached to any taste. When the sädhu goes for bhikña , all of it is collected in

one bowl: ‘dal ’, rice and ‘päyasam’ or ‘kheer ’. He then collects this bhi kña in a

bundle of cloth, goes to the Ganges and dips it in the water so that the food is

washed of all the taste, and then eats it. This is a discipline. You don’t have to

do it, but some do it. It is not easy to do it. It is bland food that you eat, so thatyou do not get addicted to any taste. Otherwise, there is an expectation of good

food when you go forbhi kña

; there is always that hope in your mind, which is

also undesirable. Sometimes, you don’t get any bhi kña and then you get

disappointed.

Here, we are talking about a person who does not require a particulartaste. He is happy with whatever comes to him. It does not mean that he is

incapable of enjoying food. He does relish it if it comes his way, but even if it

does not, he is fine, yadåcchäläbhasantuñöaù [Bhagavadgétä 4-22]. Yadåcchä means

Éçvara’s iccha, desire. He is truly content with whatever fate or prärabdha brings

his way. As ÇréÇaì karäcärya says, sanjäte alam pratyayaù (source?) such a person

has a constant sense of contentment or constant feeling of adequacy or suffiencyand is always happy. He is happy because that is his very nature.

To discover happiness we have to purify our mind

To discover happiness in ourselves, all we have to do is to purify the

mind. It is the impurities of the mind that deny me the happiness which is the




nature of my own self. If there are a lot of impurities in the water of the lake, you

are not able to see the lake-bed, but if you remove the dirt, the water becomes

clear and the bed becomes visible to you. So also, the happiness of the self iscomparable to the bed, upon which lies the mind, which is comparable to the

lake. There are all kinds of impurities and disturbances in this mind as a resultof which we are not able to experience the happiness right now. That is the

reason why, instead of running after bits and pieces of happiness in the outer

world, it is better that we seek to remove the obstacles which deny us thishappiness. These obstacles, which we call impurities, are our likes and dislikes,

and reactions. These are the things which deny me the treasure in my own heart,

and these reactions are compared to demons. They are the demons who rob me

of the wealth which is my own self. Therefore we talk of values, e.g., becoming

free from anger, free from greed, and free from reactions. The renunciate we see

here is a person whose heart is pure, simple, transparent, and enlightened. Justas the water which is pure reflects what ever shining object there is, so also, the

happiness of the self is always reflected in his heart. No deliberate effort is made

to be happy because it is something spontaneous. So he is a spontaneously

happy person.

Dispassion is developed by practicingkarma y oga

Sarva par igraha bhoga tyägaù . Tyäga means renunciation, but understandthat the renunciate is one who has grown out of the need for any parigraha or any

bhoga , need for any possessions or any enjoyment. This is an ideal person. Here,the äcäraya asks the question, kasya sukhaà na karoti virägaù . For whom does

vi räga not bring any happiness? What is vi räga ? It means a state of freedom from

räga . Räga, here, also includes dveña ; therefore, in this context, it meansattachment and aversion. V igat aùrägaù yasmät saù vi rägaù , that from which all

the attachments and aversions have gone away is vi räga . V i rägasya bhävaù or the

state of vi rägaù is called vairägyam . So vairägyam is a state of mind from which all

theräga -dveñas , or attachments and aversions have gone away. That is the reason

why it should be the first attainment or siddhi that you should achieve. The

Bhagavad Gétä teaches us how to do that through the practice of karma yoga .

yt> àv&iÄÉUR tana< yen svRimd< ttm! ,

SvkmR[a tm_yCyR isiÏ< ivNdit manv>.

yataù pravått irbhütänäà yena sarvamidaà tatam,

svakarmaëä tamabhyarcya siddhià vindat i mänavaù.




Through one’s duty, worshipping him from whom is the creation of the

beings, by whom all this is pervaded, a human being gains success


Yataù pr avåttirbhütänäm , it is the Lord from whom this whole creation emerges,

and by whom the whole creation is sustained, yena sarvamidaà tatam , and bywhom the whole creation is pervaded and enlivened. The Lord is all-pervasive

and of the nature of caitanya or consciousness; he is both the life of the creation

and the very substance of the creation. Lord Kåñëa teaches that by worshippingthat Lord by my karma or actions, one attains siddhi or accomplishment,

svakarmaëä tamabhyarcya siddhià vindati mänavaù . Therefore, the worshipping of

God is the only means of purifying the heart. The worshipping of God means

developing the idea of devotion and worship in my mind. It is that which

purifies my heart. The ultimate purification subsequently comes through

knowledge, by which the remaining impurity of ignorance is also removed.

Dispassion always brings happiness

The question here is kasya sukhaà na karoti virägaù ? For whom does

virägaù , dispassion, not bring happiness? Dispassion always brings happiness to

everyone. The idea is that happiness is wherever dispassion is; there is

unhappiness wherever passion is. Even in my day-to-day experiences, wherever

I have a moment of happiness, I understand that I am enjoying a frame of mindwhere I am devoid of all the passions. We think that the happiness comes

because we get good food, or from a movie or some things like that. But really,happiness comes because at that moment my mind has become free from any

kind of passion, from räga or dveña . What the objects of the world are able to do

is momentarily release my mind fromräga -dveñas , and what I enjoy is that state of mind. I might think that I am enjoying that food, but what I am really enjoying is

my own mind, which has momentarily become devoid of räga or dveña . This

freedom from räga -dveña , attachment and aversion, is called vairägya .

Dispassion is not aversion

Very often people equate vairägya with aversion, but aversion is not

vairägya . Aversion is only another form of attachment, a distorted attachment.

Vairägya is an aversion, which is opposed only to attachment. It doesn’t meanone does not like anything. Having vai rägya means that one is neither attached

nor averse to anything.




Dispassion is not an action, but a state of mind

Vairägya , like renunciation, is not an action. It is just a disposition of the

mind. It arises on account of a healthy perception of the objects of the world. We

all love vai rägya and we are all renunciates by nature. Our life can be looked

upon as a life of constant renouncing. One way of looking at our life is to saythat we are constantly acquiring; I acquire money, a house, a car etc. But another

way of looking at life is to observe that we are constantly giving up something

else. We can say that you have given up poverty, when you acquire money.

Don’t say that you have acquired furniture, but that you have given up

discomfort. When I acquire a car, I am giving up discomfort or my restrictedmobility or my dependence on transportation. Really speaking, every moment

that we acquire something, we are giving up something else. Are we acquirers,

or are we renouncers? I would say that every one of us is a renouncer. So

renunciation is something that we are doing every moment. But we have tolearn what proper renunciation is. What we have to renounce is these räga -dveñas , attachments and aversions, arising fromaviveka , non-discrimination.

Discrimination leads to dispassion

From viveka arises vairägya . We keep on discarding things from morning

to evening. First thing in the morning, I sweep the house. All the dirt is

gathered, and I discard that. While cooking, we peel off things from the

vegetables and discard them. We keep discarding things. We discard things

which we have discovered to be useless. As long as I think something is useful, Icannot give it up. The moment I discover it is not useful, I give it up that

moment. Here is the person who has discovered that nothing is necessary. To

discover that you do not require anything, is total vairägya .

Kasya sukhaà na karoti vi rägaù , to the extent that we disover a freedom

from räga -dveñas , to that extent we discover a happiness in ourselves. Really, tobe happy, you don’t need anything. For being wealthy, you require, wealth, for

being famous, you require fame, and for being powerful, you require power. For

being happy, you don’t require anything. What do we require? We require justa mind which is free fromräga -dveña , a mind that is pure and transparent. We go

about doing all things in our life without paying attention to the mind, andinadvertantly keep on acquiring more and more impurities, more and moreräga -

dveñas . On the other hand, a lifestyle which is designed to remove these räga -

dveñas becomes karma yoga . Whatever we do in our life, and whatever be our

station in life, if we perform our actions in a manner that every action becomes a




means of getting rid of these impurities, these räga -dveñas , then every action

becomes yoga . Every action becomes a means for leading us to happiness. Thus,

kasya sukhaà na karoti vi rägaù , for whom does virägaù or dispassion not bring

happiness?1

1Transcribed and edited by Krishnakumar (KK) S. Davey and Jayshree Ramakrishnan.



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This verse continues to give us a picture of the wise man.

yaegrtae vaÉaegrtaeva s¼rtae va s¼vIihn>,

ySy äüi[ rmte icÄ< nNdit nNdit nNdTyev.

yogarato väbhogaratovä saìgarato vä saìgavéhinaù,

yasya brahmaëi ramate cittaà nandati nandati nandatyeva.

One may revel in yoga or pleasures; in the company of people or bereft of

company. Only the one whose mind steadily delights in Brahman revels;

indeed he alone is truly happy.

Nandati, he is happy. Nandatyeva, he alone is happy or he is always

happy. He cannot but be happy. Who is he? Yasya brahmaëi ramate cittam, or

yasya cittaà brahmaëi ramate. He is one whose cittam or mind dwells in Brahman,

or one whose mind abides in the knowledge that the self is Brahman. The

repetition of nandati three times suggests that he is happy at all times, in all

places, and under all conditions. He is happy when awake, he is happy while in

a dream, and he is also happy during deep sleep. He is happy when he does

something, and he is happy even when he does not do something. It does not

matter where he is or what he does.

A wise person is happy in all circumstances

Yogarato vä, he may be reveling in yoga, bhogarato vä, or he may appear to

be indulging in all kinds of pleasures. Whether he appears to be by himself, in

samädhi or meditation, or appears to be indulging in all kinds of pleasures, he is

happy. Saìgarato vä, he may be found in the company of people, saìgavéhinaù,

he may be without the company of other people. He is happy whether in

solitude or in the company of people.

This verse shows that it is not essential that the wise man necessarily be an

austere person, or that he must necessarily be an active person, or even that he

must live only in caves, or be on the banks of the Ganges. There is no

presumption as to where he should be or how he should be. Very often, we

associate some external appearances or form with wisdom, but it is not necessary

that he must have a particular appearance or a particular lifestyle, or dwell in a




particular place. The only qualification is that no matter where he is, his mind

dwells on Brahman, in the knowledge that self is Brahman. The idea is that no

condition can deny him the knowledge because Brahman is everywhere. The

self alone is everything and, therefore, the self in yoga and the self in bhoga are the

same self. It is the same Brahman outside and the same Brahman within. This iswhat Lord Kåñëa teaches in the Bhagavad Gétä. What is this world? The world

is nothing but the glory or vibhüti of the Lord.

@ta< ivÉU it< yaeg< c mm yae veiÄ tÅvt>,

sae=ivkMpen yaegen yu Jyte naÇ s<zy>.

etäà vibhütià yogaà ca mama yo vetti tattvataù,

so'vikampena yogena yujyate nätra saàçayaù.

The one who knows this glory of Mine and My connection with that in

reality, he is endowed with unshaken vision. There is no doubt about this


Bhagavän says, etäà vibhütià yogaà ca, one who knows my vibhüti, glory, knows

my nature and understands that the creation is nothing but the manifestation of

my glory or that it is I alone who am both the manifest as well as the unmanifest.

Saù, such a person yujyate, is always united with me, avikampena yogena, by the

avikampa yoga or with the unshaken vision. He can never move away from me,

because I alone am everywhere.

The Dåk-dåçya-vivekaù says,

dehaiÉmane gilte iv}ate prmaTmin,

yÇ yÇ mnae yait tÇ tÇ smaxy>.

dehäbhimäne galite vijïäte paramätmani,

yatra yatra mano yäti tatra tatra samädhayaù.

Wherever the mind goes there occurs samädhi effortlessly when the

identification with the body disappears and when the self is clearly known

as Brahman [Dåk-dåçya-vivekaù, 30].Dehäbhimäne galite, when the identification of the body has gone away. Vijïäte

paramätmani, when the self is known as paramätma. Yatra yatra mano yäti, tatra

tatra samädhayaù, wherever the mind goes, there samädhi is.




The Vision of Oneness

In the vision of the Vedas, sarvam khalvidam brahma, whatever there is, is

Brahman alone [Chändogyopaniñad, 3-14-1]. This is something to be

understood. It is not that I have to see Brahman. I have only to know that

whatever I see is Brahman. The good, the bad, the right, the wrong, the ugly, the

beautiful, whatever it is, is nothing but God. Here, God does not stand opposed

to Satan or anybody. God alone is. What we call Satan, is also God. Whatever

we call the good or the bad is the nature of the upädhi. Just as electricity alone

manifests in and through various bulbs, so also, the one Brahman manifests

through everybody and everything. The manifestation is different because the

medium of manifestation is different, but what manifests is the same principle.

One who knows Brahman does not have to do anything to abide in

Brahman. He need not even close his eyes because even with eyes open, all hesees is Brahman alone. What is the nature of Brahman? It is satyam jïänam

anantam, Existence-Consciousness-Limitlessness. Brahman is ananta, limitless,

and therefore he is always happy. True happiness is for those who know the

Self.

Relative happiness is also gained only by the one who has purified his

heart. Running after the objects in search of happiness is a futile attempt. An

intelligent man should work with his own mind to purify his mind of his räga-

dveñas, passions and impurities. To the extent that my heart is pure, to that extent

I discover myself to be a happy person. Here, of course, his heart is totally pure because he has discovered his self to be Brahman. Therefore the verse says,

nandati, nandati nandati eva.

Wisdom is not associated with any particular lifestyle

In the scriptures, we find all kinds of illustrations and references to the

wise man. ‘Krishnobhogi, Sukhoyogi, Nrupaujanakaräghavavau karmanistäh

vasiñöhädhyäù’ (Attribution?). Lord Kåñëa is seen as a bhogi. Can you imagine

having 16,108 consorts? He always appears to be involved in pleasures.

Sukhoyogi refers to a great sage by the name of Sukhadev. He was a digambara, one who wore no clothes. He was also a wise man. King Janaka is said to have

been a wise man and an illustrious king. Räghava is Lord Räma who was also a

very wise king. Karmanistäh vasiñöhädhyäù is sage Vasiñöha and others like him

who were wise and always engaged in performing rituals. As far as wisdom is

concerned all of them are considered equal, but as far as their way of life is




within himself. He is happy thinking about the self that is Brahman, he is

satisfied with the self that is Brahman, and he revels in the self that is Brahman1.




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This verse describes to us certain means for the attainment of thisknowledge.

Égvdœ gIta ikiÂdxIta g¼a jllv ki[kapIta,

sk«dip yen mu rair smcaR i³yte tSy ymen n ccaR .

bhagavad gétä kiïcidadhétä gaìgä jalalava kaëikäpétä,

sakådapi yena muräri samarcä kriyate tasya yamena na carcä.

To the one who has studied the Bhagavadgétä even a little, who has sipped

at least a drop of Ganges water, who has worshipped Lord Muräri at leastonce, there is no discussion with Yama, the Lord of Death.

Kriyate tasya yamena na carcä. Yama is the Lord of Death. Yamena carcä na

kriyate, even the Lord of Death does not bother about such a person as isdescribed here, tasya. This means that when the proper means are followed he isnot afraid even of death; he goes beyond the realm of death.

Bhagavadgétä is the text of the Bhagavad Gétä. Kincid means a little.Kiïcidadhétä, one by whom the Bhagavadgétä is studied even a little. Gaìgäjala,

the water of the Ganges. Lava is a drop. Kaëikäpétä, one by whom even a tinydrop of the Ganges has been sipped.

Sakåd means once, and api means even, so sakådapi means even once. Yena, by whom. Arcana means worship, and muräri means Lord Kåñëa, muräri samarcä is the worship of Lord Kåñëa. Mura was a demon, and ari means enemy. LordViñëu destroyed the demon Mura, so he is called Muräri. This refers to one whoworships Lord Kåñëa even once.

The study of the Bhagavadgétä is the first step to liberation

In this verse we see that in order to become free from death all one needsto have done is studied the Bhagavad Gétä a little, or taken a sip of the water of the Ganges, or performed the worship of Lord Kåñëa even once. The study of the Bhagavad Gétä stands for the study of the scriptures. The Bhagavad Gétä is asacred text, and is the essence of all the Upaniñads and the Vedas. The study of the Bhagavad Gétä or the study of Vedanta is the first step to liberation.




The sacred water of the Ganges also grants liberation. Most of us knowthe story of the Ganges. It is said that in the olden days, the river flowed in theheavens for the gods and was called Äkäsagaìgä. It was brought down to flowon earth in order to give liberation to the sons of King Sagara, who were burned

to death. According to the story, King Sagara, who had 60,000 sons, wasperforming the açvamedha-yajïä. In that ritual, a horse was let loose to roam, andwherever it went became territory that had to be conquered by the kingperforming the yajïä. The king thus conquered each new territory, and the horsewas ultimately sacrificed. It is said that whoever perfoms this yajïä 100 timeswill acquire the kingdom of the heavens and become the Indra.

King Sagara was performing his hundredth açvamedha-yajïä and Indrawas concerned that he would lose his position. Thus, he came in disguise andstole the horse. The 60,000 sons of Sagara were following the horse as an army to

conquer the territory. The horse was gone and they were lost. They searched forit all over, but could not find it. They started digging through the earth and wentto Pätäla, the nether land. Indra had stolen the horse and taken it to Pätäla,where he had quietly left it in the hermitage of a sage called Kapila. The sagewas in samädhi, but the horse was tied there in his hermitage. The sons of Sagaraarrived at the hermitage and discovered the horse. Furious, they disturbed thesage and insulted him. Sage Kapila, who was stirred from his samädhi, realizedthat they were insulting him and was so angry that by his very glare, he burntthem to ashes. A big mountain of ashes was left there. King Sagara, worried

about his sons, sent some people in search of them. Ultimately they came downto Pätäla, and found the mountain of ashes. They asked sage Kapila, and he toldthem the whole story. “What do we do? The sons of Sagara have met with anunfortunate death and will therefore go to hell. How can we save them?” SageKapila advised them, “If you bring Gaìgä down from the heavens onto the earth,the water will purify the ashes and all of them will be liberated and go toheaven”. Gaìgä had thus to be brought down from the heavens.

King Sagara himself, leaving his kindgdom to his grandson, Aàçuman

went to the forest and performed a great penance. However, he died before hecould fulfill the task. After him, his son carried on the mission, but he also didnot succeed. King Sagara’s grandson also tried, but again, without success. Inthe fourth generation after King Sagara, Bhagératha, his great-grandson, went tothe forest and performed a severe penance. Even today, when a very difficulttask is to be performed, it is called ‘Bhagératha-kärya’. He performed a penance beyond imagination, by which he was able to please Brahmäji, the creator.




Brahmäji asked him what he wanted. “I want the Ganges to come down to theearth.” “Very well. The Ganges will come to the earth alright, but she will comedown with such a tremendous force that the earth will be completely crushedand destroyed. Therefore you require someone to bear the force of the falling

Ganges.” “Who can do that?” “Only Lord Çiva can do that.”

The story of Gaìgä

Bhagératha performed another penance to please Lord Çiva. Lord Çivawas pleased and asked him, “What do you want?” “I want you to receive theflow of the Ganges when she comes down to the eath.” Lord Çiva agreed, andthen the Ganges was invited to drop from the heavens to the earth. Gaìgä wasvery proud and arrogant. “Who is there, that can sustain my flow or bear myweight? Let me see how Lord Çiva does it.” With this pride, she began to flow

down onto the matted locks of Lord Çiva. He knew her arrogance. She got lostin the matted locks and could not come out. Bhagératha waited for the Ganges tocome down, but no water emerged. “What happened?” “She is arrogant, andhas to pay the price.” “She may pay the price, but I have to pay the price also.”Bhagératha again prayed to Lord Çiva to show kindness and release the Ganges.Lord Çiva then released a small stream, which is called the Ganges today.Wherever there is Lord Çiva, we always see a small stream. Even on the head of the idol of Lord Dakñiëämürti, we see a tiny maiden who stands for the Ganges.

The Ganges came down, but she was still very proud, full of energy andsurging down, without any consideration to where she was flowing. The planwas for Bhagératha to ride a chariot, and the Ganges to follow him. They camealong the hermitage of a sage called Jahnu. He was a king who was living in ahermitage performing yajïäs, and the reckless Ganges that was flowing withoutconcern for anybody flooded the hermitage of sage Jahnu. He was so angry withher that he drank up the waters of the river. Bhagératha, who was going ahead,looked back to discover that the Ganges had disappeared! He came back andpleaded with the sage Jahnu to release the ganges. It is said that Jahnu releasedher from his ears, and that is why she is called Jähnavi. The yätra then proceededwithout any further difficulties. Gaìgä followed Bhagératha to the hermitage of sage Kapila in Pätäla, and all the ashes were sanctified. All the sons of Sagarawere finally released. That is how the ocean, sägara, was formed. It is calledsägara because the sons of Sagara dug it. The Ganges filled the ocean completely.It is because of the Ganges that the ocean has all this water. Whenever Gaìgä ismentioned, all of this is understood to be mentioned.




Gaìgä represents the flow of knowledge

What does Gaìgä symbolize? Gaìgä was released from the head of LordÇiva and, therefore, represents the flow of knowledge. The Lord is the very firstteacher from whom the knowledge has come down to us.

sdaizvsmarMÉa< z»racayR mXymam! ,

ASmdacayR pyR Nta< vNde gu éprMpram! .

sadäçivasamärambhäà çaìkaräcäryamadhyamäm,

asmadäcäryaparyantäà vande guruparamparäm.

I salute the lineage of teachers, beginning with the ever auspicious LordÇiva, linked by Ädi Çaìkaräcärya in the middle and extending up to myown teacher.

I salute the guru parampara, all the teachers in this tradition, which began withLord Çiva. Çré Çaìkaräcärya is the central link in this lineage, which continuesdown to our own teachers. Therefore, the Ganges symbolizes the perennial flowof the knowledge from the Lord right up to our own teachers. The Gangesoriginates in the Himälayäs. The Himälayäs are the abode of Lord Çiva whoresides on mount Kailasa. The Himälayäs are also the place where the åñis havealways lived and continue to live. The re-emergence of the Ganges from the earsof sage Jahnu represents the karëa-parampara, the tradition of oral instruction.This knowledge is imparted orally by the teacher to the student. All of this is

symbolized by the story of the Ganges.

Gaìgä also represents sanctity

Symbolism apart, there actually is a river that flows in the plains of Northern India called the Ganges, which is considered to be the most sacredriver in India. It is said that taking one dip in the river Ganges releases you fromall sins. Of course, it is a matter of faith. If you have that faith, you will bereleased from all your sins. All of this is described in the Gaìgä stotram. Tava cen

mätaù, çrotaù snätaù punarapi jathare sopi na jätaù [Gaìgästotram, 7], oh mother,

when someone takes a dip in your stream, he does not have to be born again inthe womb of the mother. The Ganges is thus the most sacred river. It signifiesthe flow of knowledge and represents a great sanctity.




Three essentials of spiritual pursuit

There are three aspects in the spiritual pursuit: knowledge, devotion, andaction. All three are symbolically represented in this verse. The study of theBhagavad Gétä is the pursuit of knowledge performed by our intellect. It offers

both the vision of life, and the way of life. It tells us what the goal of life is, andthe path or sädhanam to be followed in order to attain that goal.

Bhakti or devotion is the second requirement in one’s spiritual pursuit.Sipping the water of the Ganges represents devotion. The Ganges alsorepresents pilgrimage. In order to sip the water of the Ganges, you must livethere, so it represents dwelling on the banks of the river and living a life of austerity and penance.

There was a great saint in India, by the name of Tulasidas. He compares

the great sages to the most important of pilgrim centers, Prayaga. There is aconfluence of the two holy rivers, Gaìgä and Yamuna at Prayaga. It is said thatthere is a third river flowing underneath, called Saraswati, which is not visible.This place is called triveni sangama, the confluence of three holy rivers. Therefore,Prayaga is considered to be one of the holiest places in India. Tulsidas says thatthe great sages are also Prayaga, a wandering or traveling Prayaga. He says thata sage represents the confluence of the three qualities that the three riverssymbolize. Saraswati, as we all know, is the goddess of knowledge. Gaìgä,according to Tulsidas, represents bhakti or devotion, and Yamunä represents

karma or action. We find all the three in mahätmäs; we find the knowledge orwisdom in them, we find in their heart, great devotion, and we find in their life,the right action. Thus, there is a confluence of wisdom, devotion, and action inthe mahätmäs. Tulsidas says that while you have to undertake a difficult journeyto reach the pilgrimage center of Prayaga, you don’t have to go anywhere to seethe saints. The saints themselves come to you.

The third aspect of spiritual pursuit is karma, action. The worship of theLord represents action. What is the means of worshipping the Lord? Let everyaction become a means for worship of the Lord, svakarmaëä tamabhyarcya siddhià

vindati mänavaù [Bhagavadgétä, 18-46]. We may worship the Lord through ouractions. Archana in worship is when you utter the name of the Lord and offer aflower each time. But Lord Kåñëa says, let all your actions become the archana.Let every action be a flower. Remember the name of the Lord and offer everyaction at his feet. Thus, the performance of our day-to-day actions also becomesa worship of the Lord when these actions are performed in that spirit.




In this verse, the worship of Lord Muräri can be said to be karma, thesipping of the water of the Ganges can be seen to symbolize devotion, and thestudy of the Bhagavad Gétä can be understood to represent the aspect of jïäna, orthe pursuit of knowledge.

A person who pursues knowledge, devotion, and right action is liberated

Lord Yama is the great controller. He determines a person’s lotdepending on the kind of karma that the person has performed, and dispenses justice accordingly. In this verse, we are told that when there is a confluence of all three aspects in a person i.e., knowledge, devotion, and the right action, theLord of death is never going to bother him. This conveys the meaning that sucha person gains the knowledge and becomes free from the cycle of birth anddeath1.




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This is a beautiful verse that talks of prayer.

pu nrip jnn< pu nrip mr[< pu nrip jnnI jQre zynm! ,

#h s<sare b÷ÊStare k«pya=pare paih murare.

punarapi jananaà punarapi maraëaà punarapi janané jaöhare çayanam,iha saàsäre bahudustäre kåpayä'päre pähi muräre.

Being born again, dying again, and again lying in the mother’s womb; this

saàsära is extremely difficult to cross over. Save me, O destroyer of Mura,

through your infinite compassion.

This first line, punarapi jananaà punarapi maraëam, describes the process of

saàsära. Punaù is again, jananam is birth. Punarapi jananam means being born

again, punarapi maraëam means dying again. Punarapi janané jaöhare çayanam,

sleeping again in the womb of the mother. Çayanam is lying.

Saàsära is a cyclic process of birth and death amid a lot of pain

Saàsära is nothing but a repeated process of birth and death. Why does

this cycle go on? It is because what I am pursuing or seeking is not fulfilled in

the journey of this lifetime. Naturally, then, when I die, there are unfulfilled

desires in my heart, and those unfulfilled desires make me take another birth in a

suitable environment so that I can fulfill my desires. If, again, the desires are not

fulfilled, the journey is not concluded in that embodiment and I give it up only to

acquire yet another new embodiment. This is the reason we talk of the process of

repeated births and deaths. It is because a man is born incomplete and he dies

incomplete as well. The journey goes on till a total fulfilment is gained. The

description of this cyclic process also represents the pain and suffering that we

constantly go through in life because birth and death are also extremely painful.

In between, of course, there is old age, there is disease, and all kinds of other

afflictions. Thus, there is constant pain. As Pujya Swami Dayanandaji points

out, the nature of life is ‘duùkham-duùkham-sukham-duùkham-duùkham’ ; a little

pleasure preceded by a lot of pain and followed by a lot of pain. If there were

not even that little pleasure, we would not survive.




There is a story in the Yogaväsiñöa, 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 sawthe 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 fellow 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.

Pain of saàsära should incite us to come out of it

We are preoccupied and sometimes don’t realize how our life is constantly

filled with struggle, pain, and sorrow. Everybody thinks that their life is

sorrowful, but the truth is that they have not observed others’ lives. God has

made no exception. There is a reason why there is pain and suffering in this life.

It is so that some day we will have an incentive to get out of this business. If it

were not so, we would remain stuck in this life. Therefore, the äcärya is saying,

what a pity it is, lying again in the womb of the mother, being born again and

dying again. There is only pain, all along. When will this end?

Iha saàsäre bahudustäre apäre. Saàsära, as we said earlier, is a sequence of

birth and death. It is compared to an ocean. It is dustära, extremely difficult to

cross. Tru means to cross. Päram means shore. Apära is that which has no shore.

This saàsära is described as being an ocean, which has no shore and is extremely

difficult to cross. Not only are there waves that buffet and assault, but also

aquatic creatures, which attack. Thus do we struggle, in this life. There is no end

to this kind of saàsära.

Seek the Lord’s help to get out of saàsära

This verse represents the prayer of the devotee, kåpayä apäre pähi muräre.

Muräri is Lord Kåñëa or Lord Näräyaëa, the ari, enemy, of the demon Mura.

Mura stands for the ego. The only one who can destroy that demon is Lord

Kåñëa. The prayer is, hey Muräri, Oh Lord, oh enemy of the ego, pähi, please

protect me. I am drowning in this ocean of saàsära, totally helpless, and being




attacked from all directions by various forces. I see no end to it and do not know

how to cross it. Therefore, hey Muräri, oh lord, please save me, kåpayä, by your

grace, by your kindness. Please shower your compassion, your grace upon me,

and raise me out of saàsära. This is a very important part of one’s spiritual

pursuit that is recognized at some point in time, due to one’s own inabilities orhelplessness.

We need to overcome our inner enemies

Very often, we find that we are helpless against our own inner difficulties,

our own inner urges, passions, or reactions. We find that these enemies have

entered our heart, which at the moment is ruled by the demons. Who are the

demons? They are subsequently mentioned to be käma, lust, krodha, anger, lobha,

miserliness, moha, delusion, mada, pride or arrogance, and mätsarya, jealousy.

Thus, the demons of lust, anger, jealousy, pride, arrogance, resentment etc. areruling my heart and there is no room for God. The devatäs that inhabit my heart

have disappeared. We read in the puräëas, stories of constant struggles between

the devas and the asuras in which the asuras often win the battle and the devas are

driven away from the heavens. The poor devas then go to the Lord seeking his

intervention. The Lord comes to their help, the asuras are driven back and the

devas regain the kingdom of heavens. My heart is comparable to the heavens,

and should be really be inhabited by the devas, but what do I find? It is

conquered by these demons instead, and unfortunately, I cannot do anything

about it. I just can’t help it. All these reactions and passions take hold of me, andI find myself helpless. When there is helplessness, there is prayer. It is said that

when there is prayer, the Lord definitely comes and saves you.

There are many examples of these prayers in our puräëas. One famous

story is the gaja- graha story. Gaja is elephant, graha means crocodile. It is the

story of the great elephant devotee Gajendra. Gajendra was once sporting in the

waters of a lake when a huge crocodile came along and caught hold of one of his

legs and started pulling him down into the water. The elephant was powerful

and started to pull away towards the shore, but the crocodile had a strong hold

and continued to drag him down. The struggle went on until the elephant

started losing his power. He was slowly becoming weaker, and the crocodile

was becoming stronger. The elephant began to drown and as the water started

rising, he realized that he could not save himself in this struggle. It was at this

time that he called out to the Lord. Hey Govinda! Hey Gopala! Please come

along and save me. It is said that even as he uttered the word Govinda, Lord



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This is a description of a yogi, a wise man. Here, as also earlier in verse 18,we have a beautiful description of a wise man, a renunciate.

rWya cpR q ivrict kNw> pu {yapu {y ivvijR t pNw>,

yaegI yaeginyaeijt icÄae rmte balaeNmÄvdev.

rathyä carpaöa viracita kanthaù puëyäpuëya vivarjita panthaù,

yogé yoganiyojita citto ramate bälonmattavadeva.

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 itsgoal, revels in God consciousness, and lives thereafter as a child or as a

madman.

A wise person does not make any demands

Kantha means quilt. This person has covered his body with a quilt to

protect it from the heat or the cold. Viracita, what is the quilt made of? Rathyä

carpaöa. Rathyaa means street and carpaöa means rags. Rathyä carpaöa viracita

kanthaù, the quilt is made of rags that are picked up off the streets. Some

mahätmas do this even today in Rishikesh. They don’t have clothes that are rags, but then they have a quilt or some kind of a multi-colored quilt or a shawl made

of the rags that are picked up from the streets. That the wise man covers his

body this way is a figurative way of saying that he has no possessions and thus

does not make any demands. An important aspect of the wise man is that by

wisdom, as he discovers fulfilment from within himself, he becomes a non-

demanding person. He then makes no demands whatsover. He does not

demand food, nor does he demand clothes or anything. He is happy with

whatever comes his way. Yadåcchäläbhasantuñöaù , he is happy with whatever is

the läbha or gain that comes by prärabdha or destiny [Bhagavadgétä 4-22].

A wise person is free from the sense of doership

He is walking along a path, panthaù. What kind of path is it? A path that

is devoid of, vivarjita, merit and demerit or virtue and vice, puëya apuëya. In his

wisdom, a yogé walks along a path that is beyond both virtue and vice.




A wise man thus walks along a path that is beyond all päpa and puëya. He

does not perform any puëya or päpa. His actions can neither be classified as

puëya nor as päpa. Why? Puëya and päpa are there only when there is an ego or a

sense of doership behind an action. When I have the notion that I am performing

the action, when the ego or the sense of doership is there, the action can beclassified as virtue or vice. This is because there is an order in the uinverse, there

is dharma or adharma. An action performed in keeping with that order is called

dharma or puëya, and an action that is performed in violation of that order is

called adharma or päpa. However, this puëya and päpa are there only for those

who have a sense of doership. A wise man is one who has become free from the

sense of doership. No more is the ego saying, I am the performer of the action.

Action just gets performed without any ego or the sense of doership. So it is said

that he is beyond puëya and päpa. It also means that he is not obliged to follow

the rules and regulations. You and I are obliged to follow the code of conductthat we must perform the actions in keeping with a code of conduct, but the wise

man here, does not have any code of conduct at all. His actions are not bound by

any code of conduct as enjoined by the scriptures because he no more has any

sense of ego or a sense of doership. Therefore it says, he is walking on a path

which is beyond puëya and päpa.

A wise person’s mind is always united with the Truth

He is a yoganiyojita cittah, one whose cittaù or mind is niyojita, focused

upon yoga, one whose mind is focused upon the Lord, and one who abides in theknowledge of the Self.

Who is a yogi? He is one whose citta or mind is wedded to the Truth or

whose mind is focused upon the Self. Ramate, he always sports. Earlier, his state

of mind was said to be nandati nandati nandateva, and here it described as being

ramate. He is always happy.

A wise person lives in the present

Ramate bälonmattavadeva. Ramate, he sports or he revels like a child, bäla.

Unmatta means like a mad man. Bälonmattavadeva, like a child, or like a madman

or one who is intoxicated. This wise man is not childish, but childlike. He is not

mad, but like a mad man. He is not intoxicated, but like one who is. Intoxicated

with what? Intoxicated with the happiness in his own heart. The joy is

constantly springing like a fountain from his heart and therefore, he is

intoxicated with that joy. Like a child, he is free from all worries and anxieties.




In a child’s mind, there is neither a carryover of the past, nor any worry about

the future. Children are innocent and always live in the present. So also is this

wise man not worried about the past or carrying any burden from the past. The

past is left where it is, because he has no concern about it. He is also not worried

about or interested in the future. Whatever the future brings is fine. He lives inthe present like a child, innocent and free from all likes and dislikes.

Just as you cannot say that a mad man is doing either right or wrong

because he does not conform to the same code of conduct that we do, so also, the

actions of a wise man cannot be classified as either right or wrong. He is

spontaneously good because all his actions are in keeping with the order. It is

not that a wise man has a license to do whatever he likes, but we do not judge his

actions because he functions from a perception of life to which ordinary people

do not have an entry1.




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In this verse, the method of enquiry or questioning is being given to us,which again has been discussed in earlier verses.

kSTv< kae=h< k…t Aayat> ka me jnnI kae me tat>,

#it pirÉavy svR msarm! ivñ< Ty®va Svß ivcarm! .

kastvaà ko'haà kuta äyätaù kä me janané ko me tätaù,

iti paribhävaya sarvamasäram viçvaà tyaktvä svapna vicäram.

Who are you? Who am I? From where did I come? Who is my mother?

Who is my father? Thus enquire, leaving aside the entire world of experience, essence-less, and a mere dreamland, born of imagination.

Iti, in this manner may you contemplate or enquire, paribhävaya. Kastvam,who are you? Ko'ham, who am I? Kuta äyätaù, from where have I come? Kä me

janané , who is my mother? Ko me tätaù, who is my father? It is not the name of your father or mother that is asked here. Instead, our attention is being drawn toasking these fundamental questions of ourselves.

We all live in a world of notions

May you focus your attention on these fundamental questions of life.Who am I? I am ‘so and so’, or son of ‘so and so’. Is this really who I am? WhenI say that I am ‘so and so’, it means that I identify with the body. The name belongs to the body. The relationship of parent and child is also at the level of the body. Then what is the true nature of one whom I call my father? What isthe true nature of the one whom I call my mother? What is the true nature of theone, whom I call ‘me’? Also, what is the true nature of the one I call ‘you’? Whois this ‘you’? Who is this ‘I’? We go on with our life without an understandingof this. I imagine that I know you, and I imagine that I know myself. We interactwith one another without a proper knowledge of who we really are. When I donot know who I am, I have a notion regarding my own self, and when I don’tknow who you are, I have another notion regarding your self. Thus, all thisvyavahära or interaction is constantly going on in a world of notions. Each one isliving in the midst of his or her own notions and dreams!




As we said earlier, it is like children playing a make-believe householdgame. Someone becomes the mother, someone becomes the father, someone becomes the son, and someone becomes the teacher, and thus they play thisgame. The idea of the mother, father etc. is totally superimposed and purely in

the realm of the imagination. The game of our life is something similar becauseall these ideas are again, superimposed. That I take myself to be an individualand that I take you to be another individual is the superimposition because it isentirely imaginary. I am not what I take myself to be.

Svapna vicäram. Here the teacher is pointing out that you are living in aworld of dream. You are not really living in reality. Even the reality about youis different from what you take it to be. There is a famous example from thestories of the life of Çré Çaìkaräcärya himself. It is said that once, early in themorning, Çré Çaìkaräcärya was passing along the narrow streets of Benares on

his way to the Çiva temple after his ablutions. As is the custom, having had his bath in the Ganges and purified himself, he was carrying water from the Gangesin his kamandalu for abhiseka to the Lord Viçvanätha. At that time, he found astreet sweeper in his path, blocking the way. Sweepers are the so-called lowcaste or untouchable people. The äcärya could not proceed on his way and so outof habit he said, gaccha gaccha, clear out, clear out. Before complying with thecommand to move away, that sweeper confronted the äcärya and asked him, “Ohdvijavara, the most revererd one among the wise, you are asking me to moveaway from your path. Very well, but before I move away, please clarify one

thing. What is it that you are asking me to move away from? From what shouldI move away?”

AÚmyadÚmymwva cEtNymev cEtNyat!

annamayädannamayamathavä caitanyameva caitanyät

Are you asking this lump of food to move away from what is but anotherlump of food? Or are you saying that I, who am consciousness, shouldmove away from you, who are also consciousness? (Manéñäpaïcakam, 1).

“Are you trying to say that you are just this body, which is a bundle of food, andthat I am also this body, another bundle of food? Just clarify this, and then I willmove away.” Çré Çaìkaräcärya was stunned, and realized that it was no ordinarysweeper; he was someone else. He immediately prostrated before the sweeper,and it turned out that the sweeper was none other than Lord Çiva himself, whohad come in this form.




Enquire into your true nature

The question is, koham, who am I? Am I just this body, which is amodification of food? Or am I the sense organs, the instruments of perception?Or am I the mind? Who am I? Am I someone who is different from all of them?

I take myself to be the body or I take myself to be the mind, and I take myself to be an emotional being, or an intellectual being. Is that what I really am? Iti

paribhävaya, please ponder upon this question. Similarly, käme janané , who is mymother? Is this body all that my mother is? Ko me tätaù, who is my father? Isthis body all that my father is? Understand that there is a different dimension toyou. You are this body alright, but you are not merely confined to this body. Aslong as you think that you are this body, so long will you never be able to thinkof or know that other dimension. Thus, the teacher is asking us to recognize thatwe take ourselves to be merely small individuals, and naturally, we do not know

who we are. Therefore, we are living in an imaginary world. That we take thisperson to be our father, meaning that that person has another body, is one moreaspect of our imagination, and that we take all other people as nothing more thanthe body, mind, or personality, is yet another aspect.

All of this is svapna vicära, this dream-like world. Viçvam tyaktvä, give thisup, give up this entire world of imagination. However, you can’t give up theworld. Where will you go? You can only go from one place in the world toanother place. Therefore, giving up does not mean going away to some place. It

means giving up this viçva, this world of imagination that you are living in.Understand that all these relationships are merely based on this body and thispersonality without taking into account the very essence of the person behind thepersonality. It is saàsära, and it is asära, without essence. Saàsära is samyak sära,that which is all essence, but it is asära, essence-less. Therefore, having given upthis essence-less interaction called saàsära, which is comparable to the dream,dwell upon these realities of life, the fundamentals of life, to become free.

Unless we start to enquire, there is no way that we can become free, because what is in fact unreal, imaginary, or comparable to a dream, is taken by

us to be real. As long as an unreal thing is taken to be real, there is no way thatyou can get release from it, and therefore, enquire into the realities of life –realities about yourself, and all that you come across. Recognize that everythinghas a different dimension. Recognize that dimension alone to know yourself andto know other things.




We are too preoccupied with our day-to-day problems

When can I enquire into the realities of life? When do I have the leisure orpoise to dwell upon these questions? I can do so only when my mind is freefrom other preoccupations. I am not able to contemplate upon these

fundamental things because my mind is too preoccupied with the mundaneconcerns of what will happen, what will not happen, what to achieve, what notto achieve, success, failure etc. Our mind needs to be free of these superficialissues, which now occupy our attention completely, for it to enjoy the leisure todwell upon the more essential issues of life. There is no doubt that our day-to-day life has a certain reality and importance, and we do need to accord it theimportance that it deserves. However, we are giving much more reality to theseconcerns than they actually deserve; our very existence seems to be focusedentirely upon that as though nothing else exists in life. The teacher points out

that life has certain other dimensions. The ocean appears to be stormy on thesurface. Yet, under the surface of the ocean, there is a profound silence, whichremains unperceived and inaccessible to us because of the waves and storms onthe surface. Similarly, the important questions of life remain unaddressed because our mind is totally preoccupied with superficial issues. We mustunderstand that the problems of the father, mother, past or future, wealth, name,fame, and security have a certain reality, and human birth is taken to addressthese important problems. However, this reality does not endure beyond thesurface. In and through these apparent problems, there is something

fundamental that you have to address – the truth of who I am, and who you are.

We take things for granted

Unless I understand who I am, how can this vyavahära be clear? The wayin which I interact with the world or respond to the world is determined by howI perceive myself, and how I perceive the world. If I percieve someone as a brother, I respond in a certain way. If I perceive him as a friend, I respond in acertain other way. If I perceive him as a stranger, my response is going to bedifferent. Then again, if I perceive myself as good, my response is different.Therefore, what determines my responses and interactions, and indeed, my life,is my perception of myself, and my perception of everything in this world. Thisperception is taken for granted. I never stop to question whether what I take forgranted about myself and what I take for granted about the world would standup to enquiry or not? I have never stopped to scrutinize this fundamentalassumption on my part.




or focusing on your breathing. Meditation is this kind of an inquiry. It includesfocusing your attention on these basic problems of life1.




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The discussion continues in this verse. When the teacher keeps onreiterating a certain point, every Vedantic lecture may appear to be the same.Similarly, all Upanishads say the same thing. However, we want to be told of something else, we want to know something different. Sometimes we feel a littleimpatient because nothing seems to be happening and we feel that we are notprogressing. The teacher addresses such impatience in the student.

Tviy miy caNyÇEkae iv:[u> Vyw¡ k…Pyis mYysih:[u >,

Év smicÄ> svRÇ Tv< vaÁDSyicra*id iv:[u Tvm! .

tvayi mayi cänyatraiko viñëuù vyarthaà kupyasi mayyasahiñëuù,

bhava samacittaù sarvatra tvaà väïchasyacirädyadi viñëutvam.

In you, in me, and in all other places too there is but one all-pervadingreality, Viñëuù. Being impatient, you are unnecessarily getting angry withme. If you want to attain soon the status of Viñëu, be equal-minded in allcircumstances.

Viñëu means all-pervasive

This is the beautiful truth that the scriptures reveal. Viñëuù means theLord. Viñëu is, of course, the particular name of a deity, the preserver, but thedefinition of the word Viñëuù is vye vyesti iti viñëuù, one who pervades is Viñëuù.Therefore, the derivative meaning of the word Viñëuù is the one who is all-pervasive. That is the meaning of the names of all the devatäs.

Näräyaëa means the ultimate goal of all living beings

The name Näräyaëa, for instance, evokes a particular form of the deity asthe four-armed Lord, wielding the çaìkha, chakra, gada, and padma. That is called

the rüdé or popular meaning of the word Näräyaëa. However, if we analyze thederivative meaning of the word, we see that Näräyaëa is a combination of twowords, nära and ayana, as in näränäm ayanam. Ayanam is abode, the objective orthe goal. Nära is the group of naras, all the jévas or beings. Thus, Näräyaëa is onewho is the ultimate goal or ultimate aim of all the beings, the one whomeveryone is seeking, that freedom, that limitlessness, that saccidänanda. Another




way of looking at the meaning is that all these jévas or beings are the abode of Näräyaëa. He is one who abides in all the beings as their very self.

The same Lord is worshipped in many forms

Traditionally, every deity has a particular form with some attributes, butin the ultimate sense, every deity represents that definitive principle, which issaccidänanda. Every deity represents only Brahman, the ultimate, and thatlimitless alone is worshipped in different forms depending upon our owndisposition and emotional makeup. Accordingly, I worship that Lord in theform of a father, a mother, a son, a master, etc. and that is how we have so manydifferent deities. Just as the same man may be looked upon as being a father, a brother, a son, or a friend by different people, so also, the same lord is lookedupon differently by different people. That is why we worship the Lord in so

many forms.

That same Lord is in me and in you

Tvayi mayi ca anyatra ekaù viñëuù. Ultimately, there is ekaù Viñëuù, this oneViñëu, in you, in me, and in everything else. There is this one all-pervasive lord,this one Näräyaëa alone. This is a very comforting vision. The very idea givesme such relief, that I am Viñëuù, I am Näräyaëa, I am limitless. Whether or not Iam able to see myself as free or limitless today is a matter of my knowledge orexperience, but the scriptures reveal this vision about myself. I am told, tat tvam

asi, that thou art, that limitless, that divine or that ultimate truth.

My constant struggle to be free from any limitation shows my true limitless

nature

One may ask, when I experience a sense of limitation, inadequacy orincompleteness constantly, how does it make sense to say that I am a complete being even now? In spite of this line of argument, even an intellectualunderstanding proves this logic to make sense. I can see that every moment, andthrough every pursuit, I am constantly seeking to be complete. I am constantly

striving to be free from limitation. Whatever I do or do not do is motivated bythis innate urge to become free. Everything that I do in my life reflects an innatelove for freedom, for completeness, for adequacy. Every action of mine is amanifestation of my love for the limitless and the fullness that is Näräyaëa. Therule is that there is always love for that which is natural and aversion for thatwhich is unnatural. For instance, the river loves the ocean because the ocean is




its natural destination, and fire loves heat because that is its nature. So also, thatI love freedom, that I love wholeness, and completeness, shows that thisfreedom, wholeness, and completeness must be my nature. Likewise, that Icannot accept division, limitation, or inadequacy shows that they must not be my

nature.The logic is thus very simple. There is a constant urge and struggle in me

to be free from every sense of limitation, and this shows that I am not limited.Otherwise, I would have accepted it. Therefore, I know that I am not the limited being that I take myself to be; I am not a sinner, I am not impure, I am notinsignificant, I am not a failure, and I am not a miserable or sad creature. Eventhough I take myself to be thus, I am not so. If I understand this, it gives me atremendous amount of relief, if nothing else, and I do not give reality to thesadness or the smallness that I experience about myself. This is because I have

çraddhä, trust in the revelations of the Upanishads. I give the Upanishads and theteachers the benefit of the doubt, that they know me better than I know myself. Just as when I go to the doctor I submit myself entirely and accept the judgmentof the doctor, so also, I have this implicit faith in the Upanishads. They revealthat I already am that which I seek to be, that I already am that which I amsearching for.

Do not give reality to the sense of limitation

The first thing to do, then, is to not give reality to the sense of limitation,and thus, not lend reality to these problems. Understand that all these problemsarise only out of your imagining that you are a small or a limited being. Thatinitial superimposition brings in its wake, a host of other problems. A Vedanticstudent will not grant reality to the problem. It is not a legitimate problem because one does not have to ‘become’ limitless.

Become a renunciate for 30-45 minutes a day

The teacher continues to declare that I am limitless, and says, vyarthaà

kupyasi mayyasahiñëuù, you are unnecessarily getting upset with me. This is because I don’t experience myself to be that which he says I am. I get impatient,and even upset. “Swamiji, say something practical. What can Vedanta do aboutmy job? What can Vedanta do about problems that I have with my children?How can Vedanta help with this problem that I have with my boss? DoesVedanta have something to say about it?”




First of all, address the problem you have with yourself before you look atthe problems you have with the world. I have a problem with my own self andthat problem reflects or manifests as my other problems. Therefore, iti

paribhävaya, think about all this. While we don’t say that you should give up

your job or become a renunicate, make some time each day, atleast half an houror so, to become a renunciate. Give up all your roles for this half hour or 45minutes; have no agenda, no responsibility, nothing to accomplish. You don’thave to answer to any body, you don’t have to fulfill any demands. This is thetime that is meant for you to dwell upon yourself and to address your mind. Doyou worry about that report? Write it afterwards. Do you worry about theproject in the office? Put it off for that half hour. Worried about your son’sexams? Again, deal with it after half an hour. Let everything be postponed untilafter that half hour. Iti paribhävaya, may you dwell upon these things.

Take time to enquire into your limitations

The things that I take granted about myself, should they really be takenfor granted? Lord Kåñëa says in the Bhagavad Gétä,

t< iv*adœ Ê>os<yaegivyaeg< yaegs<i}tm! ,

s iníyen yae Vyae yaegae=inivR {[cetsa.taà vidyäd duùkhasaàyogaviyogaà yogasaïjïitam,

sa niçcayena yoktavyo yogo'nirviëëacetasä.

May one know that dissociation from association with sorrow is what iscalled yoga. That yoga should be pursued with clarity of purpose with amind that is not discouraged [Bhagavadgétä, 6-23].

What is this yoga he speaks of? Lord Kåñëa says that this yoga is nothing butduùkha-saàyoga-viyoga. Yoga means joining, but in a sense, yoga is really viyoga,disjoining. I am already joined to duùkha, pain and sadness. Disassociating ordisjoining from this pain and sadness is yoga. There is already saàyoga orassociation with duùkha because I have taken myself for granted, I have taken

myself to be duùkhé , to be small or limited. I then go around trying to becomesukhé , trying to make myself free from limitation. Therefore, take the time toenquire whether you are indeed limited, whether you are indeed duùkhé , sad, andwhether you are indeed a saàsäri. This yoga is of the nature of vicära or enquiry.It means trying to implement whatever understanding I gain through this vicära in a way that it slowly permeates and percolates into my life. What is so difficult




about doing this? Even to learn in an indirect manner that I am already free iscomforting, and there is an enthusiasm in me to see it as being a fact of life. Sa

niçcayena yoktavyo yogo'nirviëëacetasä, this yoga of self-knowledge must beimplemented or pursued, anirviëëa-cetasä, by a mind which is free from nirveda,

despair. Don’t despair, don’t get disappointed, don’t lose patience, and don’tlose heart because there is nothing new that you have to accomplish. Youalready are what you are seeking to accomplish. Therefore, don’t worry or don’tlose heart.

Acquiring self-knowledge takes time

Patience is extremely important in seeking this knowledge. We becomeimpatient, but that is also acceptable. That urge and enthusiasm is definitelyrequired, except that at the same time, we should understand that this affliction

of self non-acceptance, self-rejection, and self-judgment is long-standing. It issaid in Ayurveda that you should take medicine for as many months or for asmany years as you have been having the disease. Consider how long have you been having this problem, and don’t expect to be cured of it overnight. This‘disease’ of constant self-condemnation is so old that it is going to take some timeto become free from this. It has become a habit, and I did not even know it wasthere. It has crept in so effortlessly and been there for so long that I have come tothink that it is the truth about myself. Therefore, the whole question now is tocompletely reverse this trend, this way of thinking.

There is this ingrained pattern in my mind to always look down uponmyself, to always judge myself from the standpoint of this body, or from thestandpoint of this mind, or intellect, and to always judge myself as being aninadequate or incomplete being. To begin to judge myself, not from thestandpoint of this personality, or body, or mind, but from the perspective of theself that I truly am, is a task that is going to take its own time. Often, thisreversal of thought is compared to the task of completely reversing the flow of ariver. Imagine how much effort it would require to make a river go back to itssource. Similarly, with as much effort, this river-like flow of thoughts, of self non-acceptance, has to be turned around into becoming thoughts of self-acceptance, self-recognition. Therefore, have patience, have faith, have çraddhä inyourself, and have çraddhä in the scriptures. Have çraddhä in God that he is alsowith you and that you can always seek his help. As we saw earlier in iha saàsäre

bahudustäre kåpayä'päre pähi muräre [21], you must seek his help.




May you see the Oneness in everything

What is to be done for acquiring this vision? The second line of this versedescribes that very beautifully, bhava samacittaù sarvatra tvaà väïchasyacirädyadi

viñëutvam. Acirät is soon. Acirät väïchasi, you desire that you should acquire the

state of viñëutvam soon. You want to become Viñëuù, you want to become wholeor complete, you want to become free or limitless. Yadi väïchasi, if this is whatyou desire, that desire is legitimate. Then what should you do? Sarvatra,everywhere. Tvam bhava, may you become samacittah, one who has sameness of mind, or equanimity of mind.

Gain a non-judging mind, one that does not judge something as beinggood and something else as bad, or conclude one thing to be right and someother to be wrong, or see something as being success and something else as

failure. Everything may seem different from everything else, the costumes aredifferent, the names and forms are different, and the external appearances aredifferent, but recognize the essence of everything to be the same. For example,gold may appear in the form of many ornaments, and each ornament looksdifferent from every other ornament. Perhaps the shape is different, perhaps thedesign is different, perhaps the function or wearability is different, and perhapsthe value is different. In spite of all these differences, however, all of them arestill the same in as much as they are all made of the same material, gold.Similarly, there are many living creatures, human beings, birds, animals, plants,

insects, and many sentient things as well as insentient or inert things. There is somuch variety and diversity in the creation, but this variety and diversity is notthe ultimate truth about this creation. Hidden behind this variety and diversityis the oneness, that Viñëuù, that all-pervasive principle. That one alone manifestsin these different costumes, names, and forms.

Separate the person from the personality

Kastvam, who are you? Koham, who am I? Käme janané , who is mymother? Ko me tätaù, who is my father? It is the same Viñëu who is this ’I’, the

same Viñëu who is ‘you’, and the same Viñëu who is called mother or father,husband or wife.

As we discussed earlier, everyone is a union of two factors, one is theperson and the other is the personality. Just as an actor is the performer and thecostume, so also, in everyone there is a person and a personality. It is thepersonality that is called the husband, the personality that is called the wife, the




personality that is called mother, the personality that is called father, thepersonality that is called you, and the personality that I know as me. However,the personality is not the whole truth of you or me, the father, or the mother, because behind this personality is a person. Who is that person? That person is

Viñëu, the all-pervasive one, the whole, the complete, the limitless, and the pure.Whether it is called Viñëu or Çiva, that is the person. How many such personsare there? There is but one. That person is the silent conscious presence, whichillumines or enlivens the personality. This is in the manner of the thread, whichsupports the harmonious arrangement of all the flowers in a garland. When yousee that garland, all you can see is the arrangement of the flowers. We fail to seethe thread passing through every flower. However, if the thread were not there,this entity called a garland would not have been there. Therefore, it is the threadthat provides the harmony, the oneness to all the flowers. Similarly, there is only

one thread that is passing through every name and form.The name and form has variety, it has multiplicity, and the goodness and

the badness are all in this name and form, in the costume. Just as an actor mayappear in the costume of a beggar, he may appear in the costume of a villain aswell as the costume of God. The same actor will play Räma in one movie, andRävaëa in another. That Räma and Rävaëa are attributes of the costume, but thatis as far as our perception can go; we cannot penetrate the costume. We thinkthat the costume is real, that the outer appearance of name and form is real.Therefore, we are not able to penetrate that costume and appreciate what lies

behind it. The same awareness, the same Çiva, appears as every costume.

iv*aivnysMpÚe äaü[e giv hiStin,

zu in cEv ñpake c pi{fta> smdizR n>.vidyävinayasampanne brähmaëe gavi hastini,

çuni caiva çvapäke ca paëòitäù samadarçinaù.

Wise people see the same self in a brähmin endowed with knowledge andhumility, in a cow, in an elephant, in a dog and (even) in a dog-eater

[Bhagavadgétä, 5-18].Whether it be a learned brähmaëa, a cow or an elephant, or a dog or dogeater, inall of these, the wise, paëòitäù, see the same truth, the same principle or the sameself , samadarçinaù. This represents the whole spectrum of beings from the sättvic or pure to the most impure.




The beauty about Lord Çiva is that he remains unaffected or untainted byall the inauspicious things or impure things that he is supporting. You and Iwould not even touch those things. We would not touch the snake or the ashcoming from the cremation ground. Lord Çiva wears a garland of skulls. He is

surrounded by ghosts and goblins. All of these are considered impure andinauspicious, but in spite of it all, Lord Çiva remains ever auspicious. So also, letthere be all this inauspiciousness in the personality. The snake, theinauspiciousness, is in the personality. The ghost-ness is in the personality.There is viciousness and inauspiciousness in the world and it manifests in thepersonality as what I find in the spouse, the parents, in the children, and in theworld. Underlying all of this is the pure and auspicious Lord Çiva.

Shift the attention from the personality to the person

Bhava samacittaù, while perceiving all this duality or variety, don’t fail toremember that there is only that One in all of it. Therefore, may you not judge aperson merely by the outer appearance or the personality, but seek the real truthor the essence that is in them. That is samacittaù. As long as my attention ispreoccupied with the appearance of an ornament, so long will I think that oneornament is better than another, but then, when I look upon the ornament fromthe standpoint of the essence, I realize that all the ornaments are the same.Therefore, the teacher says, let us shift our attention. Presently the focus of attention is merely on the costume, on my own personality and the personality of

the others. May we shift the focus of our attention from the personality to theperson, and find the same Viñëu everywhere and in everything. May we see thesame Viñëu, the same principle, in whatever we call inert as well as in whateverwe call sentient, in one whom we call the sinner as well as in one whom we callthe saint, and in what we consider to be pure as well as in that which weconsider impure. The same One supports it all.

Develop equanimity of mind

Bhava samacittaù is the sädhanam, the means given to us in order to

appreciate the fact that there is only one, the Viñëu or Brahman. TheChändogyopaniñad [3-14-1] says, ‘sarvam khalvidam brahma’, all of this isBrahman. All of this is indeed Viñëu, all of this is indeed Çiva, and all of this isindeed the self. We will be able to appreciate that truth when we begin to havesamatvam. Lord Kåñëa talks about samatvam throughout the Bhagavad Gétä.Samatvam is having same-mindedness whether you confront iñöa, the agreeable,




or aniñöa, the disagreeable, nityaà ca samacittatvam-iñöäniñöopapattiñu [Bhagavadgétä 13-10]. We keep confronting a variety of situations in our life.One moment, the situation is conducive or agreeable or pleasant. Anothermoment, the situation will be unpleasant or disagreeable. We seem to ride on

the wave of joy and sorrow depending upon what we are confronting becausewe only relate to each situation superficially. Lord Kåñëa says, whether it bepleasant or unpleasant, agreeable or disagreeable, don’t lose equanimity of mind.Welcome both the pleasant and the unpleasant with even-mindedness. Welcomeeverything as being but the manifestation of the Lord. Understand that the oneNäräyaëa comes before me now as the pleasant, as the agreeable, and as theconducive. The same Näräyaëa may choose to come before me as thedisagreeable, or the unpleasant. Therefore, do not get distracted by theappearance, but always seek to appreciate the one who informs everything and

comes before you in different costumes. It is this samacittatvam or sameness of mind that is taught in the Bhagavad Gétä1.




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What should we do or not do?

zÇaE imÇe pu Çe bNxaE ma k…é yÆ< iv¢hsNxaE,

svR iSmÚip pZyaTman< svR ÇaeTs&j Éeda}anm! .

çatrau mitre putre bandhau mä kuru yatnaà vigrahasandhau,

sarvasminnapi paçyätmänaà sarvatrotsåja bhedäjïänam.

Strive not, waste not your energy to fight against or to make friends with

your enemy, friend, son, or relative. Seeking the Self everywhere, discard

the sense of division, born out of ignorance.

Do not keep seeking the pleasant and avoiding the unpleasant

Vigraha sandhau yatnaà mä kuru, don’t keep on wasting your time doing

vigraha, battle or war, and sandhi, alliance or friendship. I find myself doing this

constantly. When I am confronted with something agreeable or pleasant, I make

friends with that. When I am confronted with something that is disagreeable or

unpleasant, I immediately proceed to develop enmity towards that. I make

friends with some people and I create enmity with some others because there is

someone whom I brand as a çatru or enemy, and someone else whom I brand asa mitra or friend. Then there is one whom I brand as a putra, son, and another

whom I brand as a bandhu, relative. Thus, there is the enemy, the friend, the son,

and the relative. I keep on confronting all of this and I keep responding to them,

meaning I come under their spell. That is how my responses come to be

determined not by me, but by them. Thus, in my life, I am constantly engaged in

either vigraha, division, or sandhi, joining. I want to keep myself away from

something that is unpleasant, or I want to keep myself with something that is

pleasant. This is what I am trying to do constantly and this is the story of my life.

I waste my life in always seeking to be with that which is pleasant or avoidingthat which is unpleasant.

Trying to adjust the unpleasant to the pleasant will exhaust your time

Don’t do this because it will completely exhaust your life. There is no end

to the pleasant and the unpleasant; life will keep on presenting these two things.




You are not always going to confront the pleasant, and neither will you always

have to contend with the unpleasant. The pleasant and the unpleasant, the

agreeable and the disagreeable will keep on coming to you, and continually

trying to adjust things in such a manner that everything is agreeable will never

work.I often relate an experience that I had when I first came to the United

States. I was the guest of a friend who had been living here for several years. He

was very enthusiastic about taking me around, and showing me the mountains,

the rivers, and the parks. He once took me for a ride in his nice car along a

beautiful scenic road. He had showed me the weather control in his car with

which one could get the right kind of temperature inside the car. I liked the

idea. Turning and twisting that knob fascinated me! He was driving along the

road and I found the temperature a bit too warm, and so I made it a little colder

with that knob. All of a sudden the clouds came, and I felt too cold. So I turned

the knob a little bit to make it a bit warmer. The bright sun came back and soon I

felt a little warmer, and again I turned the weather control knob. It went on and

on like this throughout the ride. At the end of the drive my friend asked me

whether I had enjoyed the ride. I told him yes, I had. He asked me whether I

had enjoyed the mountains and the scenic views. I was wondering, what

mountains and what scenes? I had been so busy adjusting the knob that I did not

notice the mountains or the scenic way! This is what we keep on doing in our

life. We are always trying to arrange things around ourselves so that they are

pleasant and agreeable. The teacher says here, that if this is what we try to do,

there will be no end to it at all.

There is no ideal arrangement

Mä kuru yatnaà vigrahasandhau, don’t keep on trying to rearrange things

around yourself in search of an ideal arrangement. I am constantly trying to find

that one ideal arrangement that would be perfect, but when I do discover the

arrangement, I find that that is not what I want. So I re-arrange it. Again, it is

not quite what I want. Like this, we re-arrange our jobs, our houses, and

sometimes, even our families! Where is the end to that? There is no end to it.

Therefore, mä kuru yatnaà vigrahasandhau. I find myself either fighting with the

situation or in love with the situation. That is not love, but attachment. Don’t

waste your time like this, because there is no end to this. Then what should you

do?




See the same self in everyone

Sarvasmin paçya ätmänam, may you see the one self in all. May you

understand that it is the same Viñëu that comes as the pleasant, who comes as

the unpleasant as well. “Swamiji, that seems very convenient. From now on, my

wife should not complain about me because I am Viñëu appearing before her in

an unpleasant situation.” It does not give one a license to be whatever we want

to be because we should also have samacittatvam in ourselves, and seek to live

upto these values. Let me maintain some dignity in that I am not merely this

body or mind or personality, but the person. I try to remember that and exhibit

that dignity in life. How can I do that? If we think of the real nature of

ourselves, we will refrain from doing that which is unbecoming of us. Sarvasmin

api paçya ätmänam, in everyone, may you see the same Self.

Sarvatra utsåja bheda ajïänam. Utsåja, discard or give up. What? Bhedaajïänam, that bheda or division, which is a product of ajïänam or ignorance.

Because of ignorance, you take the personality alone to be real, the costume alone

to be real, and the external appearance alone to be real. Appreciate that through

that costume, or the variety or multiplicity, there is that one manifesting itself

and, therefore, seek to give up the duality or division that arises from ignorance.

Seek to see the same self in everyone.

Alertness helps in cultivating equanimity of mind

Why is it that we are not able to see the same self in everyone? It is because we come under the spell of the situation! How is it that we come under

the spell of the situation? That happens because there are difficulties within our

own self. As long as those reactions and impurities are there in my heart, so long

am I not able to maintain equanimity of the mind. Only later on do I realize that

I should not have become angry, or that I should not have said this, or that I

should not have behaved like that. I realize it after the fact, but when the

situation is upon me, I just forget myself. I forget my values. Why is it so?

Again, it is because there are some demons, or some evils within me and I am

under their hold. That is the reason why my wisdom and discrimination do notseem to come into play. If I am alert in every situation, it would not be difficult

for me to live by my values. However, there are different situations when I am

not alert. At those times, I lose myself in my own reactions1.




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The next verse tells us what is it that we should seek to become free fromso that sameness or equanimity of mind can be maintained.

kam< ³aex< laeÉ< maeh< Ty®va=Tman< pZyit sae=hm! ! ,

AaTm}an ivhIna mU Fa> te pCyNte nrkingU Fa>. 26.

kämaà krodhaà lobhaà mohaà tyaktvä'tmänaà paçyati so'ham,

ätmajïäna vihénä müòhäù te pacyante narakanigüòhäù.

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, ascaptives in hell, are tortured.

Ätmänaà so'ham iti pasyati. The seeker of self-knowledge is able to see theself for what it is, soham, that I am. I am that Viñëu or Näräyaëa, I am thatlimitless or the whole. When is this seeker able to see the truth about himself?

Tyaktvä, having given up, kämaà krodhaà lobhaà and moham. Käma is lust,krodha is anger, lobha is greed or miserliness, and moham is the delusion thatarises because of these. Tyaktvä, do not let yourself come under the sway of this

lust, anger, greed, or delusion. Maintain your balance of mind.Our obstacles are internal

It is the demons of kämaà krodhaà lobhaà and moham, which prevent mefrom seeing this truth. In reality, then, where is the obstacle? Is it the world thatreally harasses you? No, the obstacles are within ourselves.

Käma is not merely simple desire, it is tåsna or craving. That lust orpassion that I have is called käma. When it arises, I lose myself, I come under itssway. So käma or passion arises as a tremendous force within me, and at that

time, I lose myself.

These internal obstacles rob us of our good judgment

Krodha or anger is another ävega, impulse. When anger arises, it alsocomes as a tremendous force from within, and takes hold of me. Again, I losemyself. When I act as dictated by the anger, my sense of discrimination or




wisdom does not come into play at all. It is not that we don’t know things. Weknow all of this, but at that time this knowledge is not available to us. At thattime, I come under the pull of these bandits.

kämaù krodascha lobhascha madhye tiñöhanti taskaräù (source?)

These taskaräù, thieves, are within you. Just as when we are going along anisolated route, bandits come and rob us of our wealth, so also, when we areunder the sway of our passions, these robbers that are within, rob us of our good judgment. Ätmasam aparähäya, they rob you of your self; they rob whatever littlewealth there is inside. They rob whatever divine wealth I have gathered,whatever purity I have gathered. Tasmad jägratha jägratha, therefore may youwake up, may you become alert.

Lord Kåñëa says,

iÇivx< nrkSyed< Öar< naznmaTmn>,

kam> ³aexStwa laeÉStSmadetTÇy< Tyjet! .

trividhaà narakasyedaà dväraà näçanamätmanaù,

kämaù krodhastathä lobhastasmädetattrayaà tyajet.

This doorway to naraka (painful experiences), which destroys a person, isthreefold – desire, anger, and also greed. Therefore, one should give upthis triad [Bhagavadgétä, 16-21].

Talking of lust, anger, and miserliness or greed, he says, these three are thegateway to hell, narakasyedaà dväram. Näçanamätmanaù, they destroy the self,they damage or hurt my own self.

These obstacles damage us

Everytime lust arises, or anger arises, or whenever there is greed in me, Iam causing damage to myself. It is like a heart attack, which leaves a permanentdamage on the heart everytime it strikes. Similarly, every time lust or anger orgreed comes, it leaves behind damage in the self. Therefore, Çré Çaìkaräcärya

says, those who are devoid of the knowledge of the self, ätmajïäna vihénä, havedelivered themselves into the hands of käma, krodha and lobha, and are deluded,müòäù. They are naraka nigudäù, the captives of hell.




All our suffering can be traced to these internal obstacles

People ask this question, “Swamiji, is there a place called heaven or hell?”There must be, because the scriptures describe them. Still, we don’t have to gotoo far to experience hell. Who has captured the deluded in hell? It is käma,

krodha, and lobha. I live a life of hell, captured by them or dominated by them;there is constant inner suffering. Pacyante means they are cooked. It is said thatyou may be cooked or fried in hell, in a big cauldron, or you may be asked toembrace burning pillars. You may even be cooked in the oven. We don’t have togo anywhere to be cooked in the fire of hell. Pacyante, we are already beingcooked constantly. Käma, krodha, and lobha are the fire that is constantly cookingor torturing me, and all my suffering may be traced back to them. Where do theyarise from?

Käma, krodha, and lobha arise from the ignorance of the Self, which bringsabout the ego or the sense of individualtiy. This brings about a sense of insufficiency, which brings desire. When the desire is not fulfilled, it bringsabout anger. Yet, when the desire is fulfilled, it brings about greed. Howinteresting! Desire is thus damaging, whether fulfilled or not. This desire leaves behind either anger or greed in its wake. Both of them result in a disturbance of the mind, so I can never have even a moment of leisure as long as I am under thespell of käma, krodha, or lobha.

Moha is delusion or the state of intoxication when under the spell of käma,

krodha, or lobha. It is the stage at which I lose myself; I lose my sense of judgment,and I lose my sense of discrimination. When I come under the spell of anger, Ilose my judgment. I act in a manner that is totally unbecoming of me. When hecomes under the spell of anger, man completely loses himself and becomes ananimal, a tiger or a snake etc. That situation is called moha. When lust arises, I become müòaù, deluded. When krodha or anger arises, I lose all my judgment,and when greed or miserliness arises, then again, I lose myself.

These inner enemies need to be conquered

These are the inner enemies which we have to conquer. It is this strugglewhich is often represented as a struggle between the devatäs and the asuras in the puräëas. Sometimes the devatäs win, and sometimes the asuras. Similarly, this battle is constantly going on in our own minds. Whenever the time comes toimplement a certain value, a conflict arises. For example, the conflict arises whenwe have to make an honest customs declaration. The more I declare as having,




the more customs duty I have to pay. Thus, on the one hand I value the truth, but on the other hand, I have value for money, artha, power or possession, andfor käma, pleasure and entertainment. These values are embedded in us as wegrow. On these occasions of conflict one part of the mind says, “Speak the

truth.” The other part of the mind says, “Don’t speak the truth. Who speaks thetruth anyway? How does it matter?” This is comparable to the battle betweenthe devatäs and the asuras. So values such as truth, or non-violence can becompared to the devatäs and values such as greed, lust, and passion can becompared to the asuras. There is a constant struggle between the two.

These inner enemies can be conquered by using discrimination

Greed, miserliness, lust, or anger are your enemies and therefore, do notdeliver yourselves into their hands. This is a practical application to the

question, “Swamiji, what should we do in our day-to-day life whenever angerarises?” Don’t come under its sway; don’t give it reality. As we saw earlier,anger arises whenever I make a demand either on others or on myself. As best aspossible, give up the demands. Learn to accept and enjoy things as they are.

Käma or desire arises because of aviveka or non-discrimination because I donot know that what I am seeking is my own self. I do not know that when I seekhappiness or security through the pursuits of the world, that pursuit is nevergoing to be fulfilled because what I am seeking is my own self. Therefore, desirecan be handled by educating the mind all the time. When a desire arises in themind, ask the mind, “What do you want? What are you seeking?” The answerwill be, “I am seeking happiness. I am seeking security.” Nobody wants moneyor power for its own sake; everyone wants money or power solely for the sake of happiness. When you make the mind see that happiness does not lie there, andthat the happiness is to be discovered only within one’s own Self, the blindchasing after money, power etc. will slowly come to a stop. Thus, we have tohandle the various impulses of the mind by viveka or discrimination. They canonly be resolved by viveka or discrimination. Only by viveka can we make themind free from käma, krodha, lobha, etc. It is not possible to overcome anger bywill, or greed by will. That can happen only for a period of time, before theyarise again.

We can see the Truth when these obstacles have been conquered

When the mind becomes free from these evils, I am able to see myself as Itruly am, so’ham. On account of käma, krodha, or lobha, not only is my judgment




impaired, but my perception of the world is also distorted. Therefore, I shouldseek to get rid of these devils, slowly creating the ground for the knowledge of the self.

The truth about the self is that I am not what I take myself to be today, but

so’ham, I am that, I am Brahman. I am a complete being; I am limitless, free, andpure. This truth about the self becomes clear as a result of the teaching of thescriptures. However, the teaching becomes effective only when we have a mindwhich is receptive. When does the mind become receptive? Only when itovercomes these inner obstacles, kämam, krodham, lobham, and moham1.




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In this beautiful verse, the teacher presents before us the daily spiritualpractice that we should follow in order to prepare for the knowledge.

gey< gIta nam shö< Xyey< ïIpit êpmjöm! ,

ney< s¾n s¼e icÄ< dey< dInjnay c ivÄm! . 27.

geyaà gétä näma sahasraà dhyeyaà çrépati rüpamajasram,neyaà sajjana saìge cittaà deyaà dénajanäya ca vittam.

The Bhagavadgétä should be sung, and the Sahasranäma should be

chanted; always the form of the Lord Näräyaëa is to be meditated upon; themind is to be led towards the company of the good; wealth is to bedistributed to the needy.

This is a nice set of instructions given to us for the purification of ourminds, and the correction of our perception of life. By this, at the level of themind, we have purity and at the level of the intellect, we have correct perception.

Study the Bhagavadgétä

What should we do in our daily life? Geyaà gétä näma sahasram. Geyam means to be sung. Geyam gétä, the Bhagavad Gétä should be sung. Earlier, wehave seen bhagavad gétä kiïcidadhétä [20]. The study of the Bhagavad Gétä has agreat importance in our tradition. It is not a very large text and consists only of about 700 verses. Yet, within those 700 verses, we have all that we need for ourinner development or maturity. Thus, the Bhagavad Gétä should not only besung or recited, but must also be studied.

The reciting of the Bhagavad Gétä or listening to discourses on the text, orreflecting or contemplating on the meaning of the verses gives us a proper

understanding and perception of life. The Bhagavad Gétä teaches us a vision of life and also a way of life. It not only tells us what the goal is, but also tells us of the path or the means to it. Therefore, the Bhagavad Gétä gives us viveka ordiscriminative understanding.




has a cleansing or purifying effect on our mind. So it is said here, geyaà gétänäma sahasram.

Meditation upon the form of the Lord invokes the devotion in our heart

Dhyeyaà çrépati rüpam ajasram. Ajasram, constantly. What is it that Ishould meditate upon constantly in my mind? Çrépati rüpam dhyeyam. Çré isLakñmé devé , the goddess of wealth. Çrépati is Lord Näräyaëa, the lord of thegoddess of wealth. Meditate constantly upon the form of the Lord. This appliesto people who worship the Lord in a given form. It is not mandated that wehave to always meditate upon a given form, but for those who are brought up inthe culture of a worship with a form, it becomes very easy. We have anemotional attachment to our iñöa devatä. Therefore, the very thought of the formof the iñöa devatä, whether it is Lord Räma or Çré Kåñëa or Lord Näräyaëa, brings

about or invokes the devotion in our heart. Therefore, may you meditate uponthe form of Lord Näräyaëa. What is meant by meditation here is keeping theobjective in mind. Lord Näräyaëa, Lord Çiva, or Çré Hari are nothing butrepresentations of the same Brahman in a given form. For example, the featuresof Lord Dakñiëämürti symbolize certain principles. While, at the beginning, Imay meditate on the physical form of Çré Dakñiëämürti, I will slowly begin todwell upon what Lord Dakñiëämürti represents. Thus, this kind of meditationupon a form is also very important.

Keeping company with good people inspires usNeyaà sajjana saìge cittam. The faculty of thinking or inquiring is called

cittam or cit. May your intellect always be in the company of sajjana, the wise orthe good. As we have seen earlier, the company we keep is very important because we are prone to be influenced by our environment. Therefore, keep thecompany of good people or thinking people, those who have certain moralvalues. Be with those who are righteous and noble in their thinking, people of pure heart, people who have çraddhä or devotion in God and in the scriptures.May you always keep the company of such people so that çraddhä arises in your

heart also. You will also be encouraged or inspired to follow those values of life.Cultivate satsaìga, the company of the good, the company of the wise, or thecompany of like-minded people.




Develop an attitude of charity

Using my faculty of speech, I recite the Bhagavad Gétä and the name of theLord. In my mind, I meditate upon the form of the Lord. With my intellect Iseek satsaìga and enjoy the company of wise people. What should I do with my

hands?

Deyaà dénajanäya ca vittam. With the hands, you give charity. Deyam, to be given. Vittam, money or wealth. Money should be given to dénajana, the pooror people in need. With the hands, may you give in charity to those who are inneed. This means that, there must be an attitude of charity in our life.

Charity is not expressed merely in giving money. It is to be expressed byour whole being. I should be a charitable person in whatever I do. Even in myspeech, may I use words and expressions in a charitable manner so that I do not

hurt anybody when I am talking to them. As best as possible, I should alwaysutter pleasing and sweet words. Wherever I am, in whichever situation I findmyself, may I make an attempt to become useful and to become a blessing. It isnot that we have to do great things in our life to be good people. Even littlethings go a long way if they are done in the spirit of charity, in the spirit of giving, and in the spirit of offering.

Giving money is just one of the things I can do. Here, money stands forwhatever wealth we have, which is not only monetary wealth, but wealth interms of our mind, our knowledge, and our compassion. We have all thatwealth. Let us always be ready and prepared to give that, to share it with others.Thus, there should be a spirit of sharing in our life.

The notion of ownership should slowly cease to exist

As we saw earlier, we should realize that whaever we have is on accountof the support we have received and continue to receive from the whole creation.If I am a wealthy man, I cannot take the credit for what I have acquired orearned. I have earned it only because I have been given a certain ability, a certainunderstanding, a certain knowledge, and certain capabilites to do so. When Iwas born, I was born with nothing. In course of time, as I grew up, so manyteachers and so many others contributed to the knowledge, the skills, and thecapabilities, with which I then earned money. Therefore, I may not claim soleownership of that. Even the physical abilities that I have and the skills that Ihave are on account of the support and grace that I have constantly beenreceiving. The whole world is constantly serving me. In truth, therefore, I am




not the private property even of myself. I am public property. Everybody isreally public property. When I truly become public property, then alone do I become a wise man. A wise man is truly public property because he does nothave any ahaìkära, meaning he does not have any sense of ownership, even of his

own body. To the extent that I hold on to this idea of ownership, to that extentam I making myself limited, and making myself isolated. Thus this whole ideaof ownership, which arises from ignorance, should slowly cease to exist. For thatto happen, begin with being charitable.

Reaching out is essential for spiritual progress

Be charitable with your wealth of good words, your wealth of goodthoughts, and your wealth of kind action. Let kindness and charity manifestthrough your action at every moment that you have an opportunity to be

charitable, and every moment that you have an opportunity to be kind.Whatever you are doing, there is always a possibility for kindness, for charity,for sharing, for reaching out. Don’t think that Vedanta never talks about socialservice and things like that; it does, in this manner. I realize that I have had theprivilege of enjoying so many benefits and amenities, and that there are manypeople who are deprived of those benefits. They are deprived because they didnot have the privilege or the opportunity that I have had. I was born in thisfamily and in this environment and that gave me the privileges. The others didnot have these privileges, but it does not mean that they should be completely

deprived. Thus, a concern for them and a desire on my part to reach out is veryimportant. There can be no spiritual progress without this. Käma, krodha, etc.cannot go unless I slowly expand in the heart.

Tune up the entire personality to focus on God

Let your heart have charity and compassion. Let your hands be engagedin acts of charity and service. Let your mind always meditate upon the form of the Lord. Let your thoughts always be in the company of the wise, and good andthinking people. May you always recite the scriptures and the name of God.

Thus, your entire being or the entire personality is engaged or focused uponGod, which is the goal that you are seeking. This is a process of tuning-up.When I observe a very small particle under a microscope, I tune the microscopeto focus on the particle. Or when I want to look at a distant object through atelescope, I tune the telescope in order to focus on that object. Similarly, ourentire 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 thatdirection. This verse tells us beautifully how to do that. Your speech, yourmind, your intellect, and your actions, let all of these be focused upon the Lord.

It is said that the first 13 verses of this poem were composed by Çré

Çaìkaräcärya. The next 14 verses are believed to have been composed by his 14disciples. We have completed this second set of verses. We now come to the lastfour verses, which are again attributed to Çré Çaìkaräcärya. They give us asummary of what we have studied so far and some some further instruction aswell1.




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The äcärya presents another observation of life here. He asks us to observehow a common man exhausts himself and squanders this precious opportunityof human life without recognizing its value.

su ot> i³yte ramaÉaeg> píaÏNt zrIre raeg>,

y*ip laeke mr[< zr[< tdip n mu Âit papacr[m!.

sukhataù kriyate rämäbhogaù paçcäddhanta çarére rogaù,

yadyapi loke maraëaà çaraëaà tadapi na muïcati päpäcaraëam.

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

Human birth is rare

Çré Çaìkaräcärya says elsewhere:

ÊlR É< ÇymevEtÎevanu ¢hhetu km! ,

mnu :yTv< mu mu Kzu Tv< mhapu é;s< ïy>. 3.

durlabhaà trayamevaitaddevänugrahahetukam,manuñyatvaà mumukçutvaà mahäpuruñasaàçrayaù.

The status of a human being, the disposition of one who longs for freedom,and being under the tutelage of a teacher – this three-fold blessing isdifficult to gain and has its cause only in the grace of the Lord[Vivekacüòämaëi, 3].

There are three things that are said to be rare, of which manuñyatvam, gaining birth as a human being, is one. In the very first verse of the Vivekacüòämaëi, Çré

Çaìkaräcärya says that there are millions and millions of species in this wholeuniverse, and the human being is but a minuscule part of all the creatures in thiswhole universe. However, to be born as a human being is a great blessing, jantunäm nara-janma durlabham. It is a rare privilege, and we should utilize thisprecious opportunity. In this birth, the human form enjoys certain distinctions,certain privileges, which are not available to other life forms. The animals grow




in a horizontal direction. In the case of an animal, the head, the stomach, and allthe organs are in one line. Therefore, the head is intensely engaged in thinkingabout the stomach and the sense gratification. However, that is not the case withthe human being. The human head is high above the rest of the body. He also

has senses no doubt, but then, his head is not to be merely utilized in thinkingabout sense gratification. His head is to be used to think about somethinggreater than that.

The intellect provided to the human being is a unique blessing

AaharinÔaÉymEwu n< c samaNym! @tt! pzu iÉnR ra[m! ,

bu iÏihR te;a< Aixkae ivze;> bu Ï(a ivhIna> pzu iÉ> smana>.ähäranidräbhayamaithunaà ca sämänyam etat paçubhirnaräëam, buddhirhi teñäm

adhiko viçeñaù buddhyä vihénäù paçubhiù samänäùThere are several features common to the human being and other beings:eating, sleep, sense gratification. For human beings, the intellect is anextraordinary feature. If the intellect is not there in the human being, thenhe is as good as an animal only [source?].

Ähära, nidrä, bhaya, and maithunam are the impulses common to all animals andhumans. Ähära is food. Where there is hunger, there is a common need toappease that hunger. Nidrä, the need for sleep and rest, is common, bhaya, fear orthe need to protect oneself, is common, and maithunam or the impulse for sensegratification is also common. However, human beings have one distinction.They have an intellect. They can think, and they have an urge to evolve. There isan urge to change, an urge to improve, an urge to progress. Such an urge doesnot appear to be there in any other life form. That is the reason why, forcenturies, the cows have been what they are. There is no change in their lifestyleor their diet. The animals have not even thought that they could cook grass orspice it up a little bit! We see the sparrows building the same kind of nests forcenturies together. They know whatever architecture they need to know. That isall. There is no improvement at all. Whereas, we can see the degree of progresshuman beings have made. That shows that the human being is a very priviligedspecies. Therefore, this human form is not acquired to merely be wasted away ineating, drinking, and making merry. An animal form is more suitable for that. If eating well is the goal of life, I’d better become a buffalo, which has a bigstomach, and can eat a lot of food. In many other faculties, the animals are muchmore efficient than I am; the fish can swim, the birds can fly, the horse can run.




In terms of power also, animals like elephants and tigers are much morepowerful than us. If you compare the human beings with all other life forms, weare nowhere near, and still, the human being is master of the universe. Why isthat so? It is because he has an intellect. It shows that his life has a purpose

different from that of the animals. Animals spend their entire lives as dictated bytheir instincts of ähära, nidrä, bhaya, and maithunam because they don’t have thefreedom to be other than what they are. They have no freedom to change theirinstincts, whereas, the human being has freewill, which is a great privilege.Therefore, man should contemplate upon the purpose of life. Life should not bewasted away merely in sensuous pleasures, but people do that.

But all our energy is exhausted in indulging the senses

Sukhataù kriyate rämäbhogaù. Sukhatah, easily. Rämä means woman.

Rämäbhogaù means carnal pleasures. Man succumbs easily to the impulse forlust or pleasure. The tongue has a natural affinity for taste. The ears have anatural affinity for sound. Our sense organs have a natural affinity for senseobjects. That is how they have been created. God has created them like that.

praiÂ oain Vyt&[t! SvyMÉU StSmaTpra'œpZyit naNtraTmn! , paräïci khäni vyatåëat svayambhü-tasmät-paräìpaçyati näntarätman.

The self-existent Lord has created the sense organs (and the mind) to beextroverted. Therefore, there is a natural tendency for sense objects, not the

inner Self [Kaöhopaniñad, 2-1-1].

The sense organs have a natural affinity for the sense objects. Therefore, theyalways extend outwards, reaching out for pleasure. It is very easy. Just as it isvery easy for water to flow from a higher level to a lower level, so also, it is verynatural for this mind, this sense organ, to expand from the inside to the outside.The outward flow of the mind can be compared to the outward flow of the river.The seat of the mind is the heart. From there, it runs out through these apertures,the sense organs, into the world. Because this is something natural, and veryeasy and instinctive, the river of the mind is always flowing out, resulting in allthe energy being exhausted or wasted away. Therefore, the common man wastesaway all his energy in the play of the senses. He wastes away his life. Whathappens then?




The abuse of the body breeds many diseases

Paçcäd hanta çarére rogaù. Paçcäd, thereafter. Hanta, alas. Hanta is a termused to express pity. What a pity it is, that after having spent his life merely insense pleasures, he suffers from all kinds of bodily diseases, çarére rogaù. As

Bhartåhari says, bhoge rogabhayam [Vairagya Çatakam, 31], whenever there is anattachment to pleasures, an attachment to sense gratification, there is also roga

bhayam, the fear of roga or disease. Whenever one is engaged in sensuouspleasures, there definitely is going to be disease. Most of the diseases that we aresuffering from are there because we abused our body.

God has created this body to be quite capable of doing what it is meant todo, but we utilize our body for purposes different from what it is designed for.We utilize the stomach as a storehouse for food; we keep on dumping food. It is

not meant to be used that way. Pujya Swamiji used to say that one man wouldrun 20 miles each day. This is very funny. We are not horses. How can someonerun 20 miles every morning? Doesn’t he have anything else to do? Thus, weabuse the faculties that God has given us. Just because we have eyes, it does notmean that we watch TV six hours a day! The ears are given to us. Even as theyrun, people use a walkman to hear music. Keep on listening, nothing else to do!I am not saying that we should not watch TV or listen to music; that is not thepoint. It is only that indulgence in any field is undesirable. There is a saying inSanskrit, ati sarvatra varjayet, you must always avoid excess in anything.

However, our life is full of excesses and indulgence, full of abuse to the body.That is the reason why we soon start suffering from a variety of diseases such asdiabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure, etc. We abuse the body. When people getnervous, they eat food. If I don’t feel good or I am bored, I go to the refrigeratorand pull out something to eat. We don’t realize, however, that what we eat,what we drink, what we read, or what we hear has an influence on our mind.The abuse of the body is not merely confined to the body, but breeds manydiseases of the mind as well. People seem to have all kinds of problems. Anormal person is hard to find. As long as they don’t talk, so long, everything is

fine. It is only when they start talking that we realize the kinds of craziness outthere. All this is because we do not live our life intelligently.

Despite the certainty of death, we squander life away in material pursuits

Yadyapi loke maraëaà çaraëaà. People see that maraëam or death is theultimate end. I cannot survive for ever. I see that life is short and so the timeand opportunities I have at my disposal are also short. At the time of death I am




not going to take anything with me. The wealth that I have accumulated is notgoing to come with me. Apare khaatar mehal banaayaa, aap ahi jaakar jungule soyaa,says the poet Kabir. This man built a palace for himself, but ultimately wheredid he go to sleep? In the forest. When you die, where do you sleep? In the

jungle! Why are you wasting your time building such a big palace? It is puzzleto me, why people build such huge houses with so many rooms, bathrooms etc.,that cleaning the place itself becomes very difficult. Such houses are such awaste of energy, building and maintaining.

Even though the person knows that he is ultimately going to die, he doesnot give up his sinful ways, päpa äcaraëam na muïcati. “Swamiji, I am a verystraightforward and righteous person. Sin does not apply to me.” You arerighteous, perhaps, as far as honesty is concerned. Still, that is not the onlyrighteous way. What are you doing about yourself? What is the purpose for

which you are here? Are you utilizing your energies for that purpose, or are yousquandering it away on something else? That is also a päpa. To abuse this bodyis also a päpa or a sin. A surgeon’s knife is meant to perform a delicate surgery.If you use it for sharpening pencils, that is an abuse. If a sophisticatedinstrument is used for a rough purpose, it is an abuse. Similarly, this body is avery sophisticated and priceless piece of equipment, but we are squandering it inmere material pursuits or sense gratification. That is a great sin.

AsuyaR nam te laeka ANxen tmsa==v&ta>,

ta‡Ste àeTyaiÉgCDiNt ye ke caTmhnae jna>.asuryä näma te lokä andhena tamasä''våtäù,

täðste pretyäbhigacchanti ye ke cätmahano janäù.

Those worlds of devils are covered by blinding darkness. Those peoplethat kill the self, go to them after giving up this body [Éçaväsyopaniñad, 3].

The Upanishad calls those who hurt themselves or kill themselves in thismanner, ätma-anaù. They are leading an extroverted life. A life in which materialthings are the only purpose is an extroverted life.

This is an observation that Çré Çaìkaräcärya makes for our benefit. Look,ultimately you are going to die. Therefore, are you preparing for your death ornot? Sampräpte sannihite käle nahi nahi rakñati òukåïkaraëe. When the appointedtime comes, òukåïkaraëe, none of these pursuits are going to help you. They are




not going to protect you. Therefore, spend your life in a worthwhile pursuit thatwill save you or help you at the time of death1.





Money creates fear and suspicion

People who have wealth always have a secret fear of those who do nothave it. I feel that those who don’t have money are always looking at me, alwaysseeking an opportunity to extract it, and always seeking an opportunity to

exploit me. I feel obliged to protect myself from them. When somebody asks forsome money I feel like saying, why don’t you go work? I feel that he is going totake something away from me. I cannot part even with one rupee even though Iam a millionaire. This is something common to everybody. This is what moneydoes to a person.

Money also brings suspicion. Your fear makes you suspicious. You beginto suspect your partner, your subordinates, your accountant, etc. You can’t trustanybody. That is why, in a family business, this man never hands his keys to his

sons. He does not really give up the control to anybody. He must make alldecisions and he must have the keys. This mother-in-law will never pass on thekeys to the daughter-in-law. This also brings in the idea of power etc.

Money divides people

Wherever money is, it divides. The moment the issue of money comes between two friends the friendship gets dissolved. Many partnerships break upthis way. In the beginning, they all work hard. Once the money comes in,however, one fellow does something, and then they fall out. Thus, money

divides friends, money divides father and son, and money divides even husbandand wife. Therefore, in the second line, Çré Çaìkaräcärya says, puträdapi dhana

bhäjäà bhétiù, the wealthy fear or suspect even their own sons. Sometimes, youfind a young man who is doing nothing. “Why, don’t you have to work?” “No,I am just waiting.” “Waiting for what?” “For the old man to pop off.” And theold man also knows that this fellow is waiting for him to ‘pop off’! We have seenso many examples. We have seen it in India also. If a parent makes the mistakeof distributing all his or her wealth to their children, you have to see whathappens to them. Once the wealth is assigned, they are thrown out of the house

the very next day. Therefore, everybody wants to hold on to it until death. Sothese fellows wait for him to pass on. It is amazing how all the love and affectiongoes away when this calculation of money comes into the equation. All of us arefamiliar with this. Whether I have money not, I cannot be happy. Nästitataù

sukhaleçaù satyam, money can never give me happiness. It can only give meanxieties, fear, and suspicion.



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Verses 28 and 29 have told us about the calamitous and foolish pursuit of artha and käma. We have to apply the pratipaksa bhavana in order to withdraw our

mind from this preoccupation with artha and käma, so that the attention of the

mind can be drawn to what we really have to do. Verse 30 tells us what to do

when we achieve this.

àa[ayam< àTyahar< inTyainTy ivvekivcarm! ,

jaPysmet smaixivxan< k…vR vxan< mhdvxanm! . 30.

präëäyämaà pratyähäraà nityänitya vivekavicäram,

jäpyasameta samädhividhänaà kurvavadhänaà mahadavadhänam.

The control of breath, the sense withdrawl, discriminating between the

permanent and the impermanent, along with a mind that is absorbed in

doing japa, perform these with care, with great care.

In the earlier two verses, the äcärya told us what not to do, and here we are

told what to do, kuru mahad avadhänam. Avadhänam means great care. Mahad

avadhänam, with great care or very carefully. With great care, may you do this.

What is he asking us to do? Präëäyämaà pratyähäraà nityänitya vivekavicäram

jäpyasameta samädhividhänam.

Have self-control and be alert

Präëäyämam is control of the breath. The control of the breath is the

control of all our faculties, which implies exercising control over our sense

enjoyments. As Lord Kåñëa says:

yu aharivharSy yu´ceòSy kmR su ,

yu SvßavbaexSy yaegae Évit Ê>oha. 6-17.

yuktähäravihärasya yuktaceñöasya karmasu,

yuktasvapnävabodhasya yogo bhavati duùkhahä.

For one who is moderate in eating and other activities, who is moderate in

effort with reference to one’s duties, (and) to one’s sleeping and waking




hours, (for such a person) meditation becomes the destroyer of sorrow

[Bhagavadgétä, 6-17]

Let there be a sense of proportion in everything that we do in our life. In ähara,

food, and in vihära, walking and moving around. In whatever karma you

perform, always have a sense of proportion. When you talk, talk what isnecessary, what is proper, what is right, what is pleasant and what is truthful. In

whatever you do, always be alert. May you be alert in all the actions that you

perform and may you not waste any effort. Do what is right; neither more, nor

less. That is called having a sense of proportion. In food, avoid eating too much,

and avoid eating too little. In sleep, avoid sleeping too much and avoid sleeping

too little. In speech, avoid speaking too much, and avoid speaking too little. In

action, avoid doing too much and avoid doing too little. If it is too little, you get

too lazy. If you do too much, you get exhausted. May you design the activities

in your life in such a manner that your focus is always maintained upon what

you want to do, meaning acquiring a knowledge of your self. Let your whole life

be designed around the pursuit of knowledge. What the äcärya calls präëäyämam,

really means the control of all the sense organs of perception, and organs of

action. With all these faculties, the hands, legs, speech, eyes, and ears, I do what

is necessary. I do properly and alertly what I have to do, no more, no less. This

is self-control.

Discipline the mind to focus on the Self

Pratyähäram is the withdrawal of the senses. It is the withdrawal of the

mind from its preoccupations. I should slowly withdraw the mind from other

things and begin to focus the mind upon the Self. The first step is the practice of

discipline and having a sense of proportion in all my activities, through self-

control and alertness. The second is the withdrawing of the mind from its

external preoccupations and focusing it upon the self.

Discriminate between the real and the unreal

Nityänitya vivekavicäram is the discrimination or viveka between nitya and

anitya. Let my intellect be engaged in discrimination. Let me become an

enquiring person, a thinking or contemplative person. Let me not take things for

granted. There are so many notions and assumptions in our life, which we have

never stopped to analyze. Therefore, let me consider what is nitya and what is

anitya, or what is permanent and what is impermanent.




What am I seeking? Whenever I want to perform any task, I should ask

this question, “Is this task going to help me in achieving what I am seeking?”

When I leave home to go somewhere, the destination always remains in one

corner of my mind. Whichever road I choose, whichever exit I take, all of that is

determined by my destination. Similarly, let our lives be totally dedicated ordevoted to the pursuit that we have chosen for ourselves. Let no action ever be

wasted. This also can come in the practice of präëäyama. Let the mind always

dwell upon understanding what is nitya and what is anitya, what is permanent

and what is impermanent, what is desirable and what is not desirable, what is

conducive to my goal and what is not. Let the mind always be alert. Ultimately,

it is a study of the scriptures, the study of Vedanta, which unfolds the nature of

the nitya vastu, Truth. Thus may we develop the ability to discriminate between

the truth and the untruth, the real and the unreal.

Jäpyasameta samädhividhänaà. Samädhi means the relaxation of the mind,

the absorption of the mind. When the mind is devoid of the various distractions

and disturbances, it becomes silent. That silence is the total relaxation of the

mind, the absorption or total abidance of the mind. As Lord Kåñëa says, may

your mind abide in the self, and not think of anything else, ätmasaàsthaà manaù

kåtvä na kiïcidapi cintayet [Bhagavadgétä, 6-25]. When the mind is free from all its

distractions, then the mind abides. So samädhi here, means the abidance of the

mind in the self. How is that to be achieved? Jäpyasameta, by doing japa. We

have talked about japa or the repetition of a holy name in the mind. It prepares

the mind and cleanses the mind, purifies the mind and makes it silent.

Ultimately, that silent mind can have an abidance in the self.

Abide in the Self

Kurvavadhänaà mahadavadhänam, do this everyday, do this carefully and

do this with great care. In all of this we should exercise a great deal of care and

patience. When it is said here, do this with great care, it also means exercise

patience. We should have patience. Sometimes, the first thing that people want

to do is meditate. Everybody wants to start with dhyänam. In the practice of

añöänga-yoga, meditation or dhyänam is only the seventh stage: yama or restraint1,

niyama or good conduct2, äsana or correct posture, präëäyama or regulation of

breath, pratyähära or withdrawl of the mind, dhäranä or fixing the mind, and then

1 Yama or restraint consists of non-injury, non-stealing, celibacy, non-acceptance of gifts, truth.2 Niyama comprises purity, contentment, penance, study of scriptures and meditation upon (or

renunciation of fruits of action to) éçvara.




dhyänam or meditation. Only when you have completed the first 6 stages is your

mind is ready for dhyänam. Yama is having the values of life like non-violence,

honesty, self-control, truthfulness, and non-possession. Niyama is santoña or

contentment, tapaù or austerity, saucam or inner and outer cleanliness, svädhyaya

or the study of scriptures, and éçvara pranidhanam or the worship of the Lord. Äsana is control at the level of the body. Präëäyama is the control of the breath.

Pratyähära is the withdrawal of the senses. Dhärana is the ability to concentrate.

Then comes dhyänam, meditation. Therefore, the whole life is designed for

accomplishing the goal that we are discussing. Kurvavadhänaà mahadavadhänam,

do it carefully, and with patience. Don’t be in a haste. To dedicate myself to the

pursuit is fine, but often, there is also haste, “I want to do it right now. It should

happen rightaway!” We hurt ourselves, sometimes, in being in such a haste3.




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In verse 31 the teacher gives us his final blessing.

gu écr[aMbu j inÉRr Ékt> s<saradicraÑv mu >,

seiNÔymans inymadev< Ôúyis inj ùdySw< devm! . 31.

gurucaraëämbuja nirbhara bhaktaù saàsärädacirädbhava muktaù,

sendriyamänasa niyamädevaà drakñyasi nija hådayasthaà devam.

O devotee of the lotus feet of the teacher! May you become liberated soonfrom the saàsära through the discipline of the sense organs and the mind.

You will come to experience the Lord that dwells in your own heart.Bhaktaù means a devotee. Nirbhara is completely. Nirbhara bhaktaù is one

who is completely devoted. Devoted to what? Gurucaraëämbuja. Ambuja means lotus. Caraëa ambuja is the lotus feet. Gurucaraëämbuja is the lotus feet of the teacher. Now the teacher is addressing us, Oh seeker, you who are ardentlydevoted to the lotus feet of the teacher, Oh bhaktä, saàsäräd acirät bhava muktaù. Acirät is soon. May you soon become free from saàsärä. Here, in the last verse,having told us so many things, Çré Çaìkaräcärya wants to tell us of one morething that we may want to do. Everything else will follow from it.

Ardent devotion to the teacher is the most important means

What is that one most important means? It is the ardent devotion to thelotus feet of the teacher. He is suggesting that this is an outstanding means forthe pursuit of knowledge, for becoming free from saàsära. Why is this devotionto the teacher emphasized so much?

Devotion to the teacher represents devotion to the scriptures

Devotion to the teacher also includes devotion to what the teacher standsfor. I cannot be devoted to a teacher unless I am devoted to what the teacherstands for. A teacher represents the scriptures. He represents the tradition, herepresents the knowledge. In being devoted to him, there is devotion to theknowledge, devotion to the scriptures, devotion to the tradition, and devotion toGod. Devotion means love with respect and reverence. It is a love in whichthere is reverence and surrender. There are different kinds of love, but the love




between a teacher and student is altogether different. There is a willingsubmission or willing surrender to the teacher out of a sense of reverence, and animplicit trust or faith in him. All the scriptures declare this to be a veryimportant means.

ySy deve pra Éi´> ywa deve twa gu raE,

tSyEte kiwta ýwaR > àkazNte mhaTmn>.

yasya deve parä bhaktiù yathä deve tathä gurau,

tasyaite kathitä hyarthäù prakäçante mahätmanaù.

In him who has total or supreme devotion for the Lord, and the samedevotion for the teacher as in the Lord, in the mind of such a person will thewords of the scriptures reveal their meaning [Çvetäçvataropaniñad, 6-23].

The same idea is presented in this verse and we are told, Oh seeker, youwho are devoted to the lotus feet of the teacher, may you soon become free fromsaàsära.

Sendriyamänasa niyamädevaà drakñyasi nija hådayasthaà devam. Evam, inthis manner. Niyamä means control, of the indriya and mänasa, the sense organsand the mind. With the devotion to the teacher, the scriptures and the Lord, andwith the sense organs and mind under control, meaning focused upon the self,drakñyasi nija hådayasthaà devam. Drakñyasi, you will see. What will you see?Devam, the Lord. Who is the Lord? That very self. Where is he? Nija

hådayastham, in your own heart. Thus, by a control of the mind along with thesenses, and with a heart in which there is total devotion for the teacher and theLord, you will see the Lord who is in your own heart. Thus, you will soon become free from this saàsära.

Nothing can be achieved without devotion

This is the last verse and Çré Çaìkaräcärya gives us his blessing, “May yousoon become free from saàsära!” May you discover that devotion in your heartfor the teacher, for the scriptures, for the Lord, and for the knowledge of the Self.

Devotion is a very important thing to have. Without devotion, nothing can beachieved. Some people believe that there are different paths, that there is a pathof devotion and a path of knowledge. They believe that sages such as CaitanyaMahäprabhu followed the path of devotion, and wonder what path ÇréÇaìkaräcärya is following. Do you think he is not a devotee? Çré Çaìkaräcäryawho is the champion of knowledge is equally a devotee. His devotion is evident



everywhere. The devotion for the teachers, devotion for the scriptures, anddevotion for the Lord is evident in everything that Çré Çaìkaräcärya writes.Therefore, whatever you are pursuing, the first requirement is that the heartmust have devotion.

Devotion arises as a result of the grace of the Lord

Devotion comes as a result of the grace of the Lord. We pray that we mayhave devotion. That is what Tulsidas says when he addresses Lord Räma andsays, nänya spraha nanya spraha raghupade hrdaye smadhiye. He! Raghupathy! Hrdaye smadhiye, in my heart, nänya spraha, there is no other spraha, no otherdesire or craving. In my heart I don’t have any desire other than this. You knowthis well because bhavantar akhilad ätma, you are the self of all. You are thewitness of everything. You know what there is in my heart, and I am telling you

that in my heart, there is no spraha, or desire other than this. What is the desire?Nirbhara bhakti, total devotion. What I want is raghu pungava nänya spraha

raghupataye hrdaye smadhiye bhaktim prayacha raghupungava nirbaramare. Oh LordRäma, please give me nirbharam bhakti, a fulfilling devotion. Please give me totaldevotion in my heart. Kämädhi doña rahitam .. mana summe. Please make my mindfree from the doñas of käma and krodha Please remove these evil enemies of

bhajagovindam-viditatmananda

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