HariH Aum Gurubhyo NamaH |
Bhaja Govindam Verse – 4
नलिनीदलगतजलमतितरलम्, तद्वज्जीवितमतिशयचपलम्।
विद्धि व्याध्यभिमानग्रस्तं,लोक शोकहतं च समस्तम् ॥४॥
Nalinidalagata jalamatitaralam tadvajjivitamatisaya-capalam,
viddhi vyadhyabhimanagrastam lokam sokahatam ca samastam. – 4
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Explaination of Pujya Swami Viditatmananda Ji
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.
Tadvajjivitamatisaya-capalam, Jivitam means life, and capalam, unsteady. Atisaya-capalam is extremely unsteady. Adi Sankaracarya gives an excellent example here, to illustrate the unsteadiness of life.
Nalinidalagata jalamatitaralam. Nalini is the lotus, dala means leaf, and jalam is a drop of water. Nalinidalagata jalam is a drop of water resting on a lotus leaf. Atitaralam, how unsteady it is! Tadvad, in the same manner, our life also is extremely unsteady or extremely unpredictable.
Life is as unsteady and unpredictable as the droplet of water, which rests on the lotus leaf. Interestingly enough, this drop of water does not touch the leaf itself.
It is therefore so unsteady that even the slightest breeze will cause it to slide off. Life departs in much the same way as the droplet, with the blowing of a breeze. We just do not know what the next moment is going to bring. It could be anything, a stroke, a heart condition, a cancer detected, or an accident.
Sri Sankaracarya points out that we cannot take this life for granted.
People generally plan for the future. When the young are advised to read the Bhagavad Gita, 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 providing for 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 the one hand, life is unpredictable when it concerns security, on the other hand, when it comes to reading the Bhagavad Gita, it is predictable. He expects to live long and decides that the time to study the Bhagavad Gita is later.
The complacency of the human mind is amazing. We take it for granted that we have a 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 it will stop ticking. We don’t want 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 that everybody else’s life may be unpredictable, but we ourselves are fine. The mind just wants to avoid facing up to the facts of life.
Sri Sankaracarya says, life is atisaya-capalam. What does it mean? It means that there is no time to waste. Do not postpone what must be done, to the future. We procrastinate that which is unpleasant or difficult. Sri Sankaracarya 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 is now. Vedanta talks about our life and tells us how to be happy.
How can we postpone being happy to sometime in the future?
If we do, we do not understand the value of it.
Therefore, Sri Sankaracarya says, start worshipping Govinda now. The worship of Govinda could be in the temple by way of archana, or by way of prayer, or japa; all are necessary. At the same time, in performing all actions 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 Gita [8-7], Bhagavan says, “tasmatsarvesu kalesu mamanusmara yudhya ca”, “remember me all the time, and perform your duty”. That is why japa or nama smaranam, repetition in the mind, has great value. Repetition of a name is a constant reminder to us about our objectives. Whatever you do, always keep this as an objective. We have to remember that life is momentary and, therefore, the task that is before us requires all our attention and all our effort.
The second line of this verse says, viddhi vyadhyabhimanagrastam lokam sokahatam ca samastam. Viddhi is may you further understand. Vyadhyabhimanagrastam lokam means that this loka or the whole world is grastam or grasped, from the jaws of vyadhi, disease, and abhimanam, pride. Whatever life we do have is stricken by vyadhi and abhimanam, arrogance and conceit. At the level of the body, there is always some kind of disease present. The body is never completely healthy, though it may be healthy for periods of time. At the level of the mind, there is abhimanam or conceit. Therefore, the life that you are spending away in the pursuit of artha and kama, only appears to bring you vyadhi and abhimanam.
Lokam sokahatam ca samastam The world is sokahatam, afflicted by sorrow. Sri Sankaracarya points out that besides vyadhi and abhimanam, this is another thing that dominates our life. People are always under the spell of sorrow; this world is always grief-stricken. Therefore, what is it that you are working for or waiting 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 and utilize whatever time you have, properly.
In the Bhagavad Gita [13-9], Lord Krsna asks us to reflect constantly upon the fact that there is pain of different kinds all the time; in janma or birth, in mrtyu or death, in jara, old age, and in vyadhi, disease, janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi-dukhadosanu-darsanam. Sri Sankaracarya says, remember that there is only pain all along and, therefore, utilize whatever opportunity you have, for a worthwhile cause.
Life is ebbing away with the passing of each day. Even as we watch our youthfulness is also slowly getting exhausted. The days that have passed by, never return. Time devours the entire creation. What Sri Sankaracarya means is that we should keep in mind that time is constantly devouring our days, eroding our life, and we should, therefore, do what is necessary. In his teachings, Sri Sankaracarya always reiterates the importance of setting priorities in our life and utilizing our time properly.
HariH Aum __/\__
Courtesy : Sri Subramaniyam Balaji
Credit : Swami Viditatmananda Saraswathi Ji.
|| अहम् ब्रह्मास्मि || 