Bhaja Govindam part 7 contd.....

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Continuing with the Bhaja Govindam (sent by Gopi Krishna)

 

 

Sloka 2

Moodha Jaheehi Dhanaagamatrishnaam

Kuru Sadbuddhim Manasi Vitrishnaam

Yallabhase Nijakarmopaattam

Vittam Tena Vinodaya Chittam

 

.... Bhaja Govindam ..

 

Meaning:

 

Moodha - O fool, Jaheehi - give up, Dhanaagamatrishnaam - the thirst to

possess wealth, Kuru - create, Sadbuddhim - thoughts of Reality, Manasi - in

(your) mind, Vitrishnaam - devoid of passion, Yat - with whatever, Labhate -

you get as a reward of your past actions (Yallabhase), Nijakarma - by your

actions, Upaattam - obtained (Nijakarmopaattam), Vittam - the wealth, Tena -

with that, Vinodaya - entertain, Chittam - your mind.

 

Substance:

 

O Fool, give up your (insatiable) thirst or desire to possess or amass

wealth and earthly objects, devote and develop your mind to thoughts of

serenity, contentment and Reality, be happy and satisfied with whatever you

get as a reward of your past actions and entertain your mind with such noble

thoughts.

 

Commentary:

 

After attacking the desire of acquiring mere scholarship in the first sloka,

Sri Adi Sankaracharya attacks the desire of amassing wealth in this sloka.

The extrovert human being goes away not only from Reality but also from

himself. He searches for happiness outside himself in possessing or amassing

earthly objects, wealth, name, status, fame, etc. While struggling for these

mundane pleasures, he loses equipoise due to greed, lust, power, and many

such evils. He completely immerses in samsaara and invites sorrow and enjoys

temporary happiness. He forgets his originality, which is endless peace and

selfless love. Every such extrovert is a fool as one is suffering from one's

own ignorance, because all the satisfaction that one gets from wealth and

worldly objects is temporary. Acquiring wealth is not wrong, but the

insatiable desire to keep on acquiring wealth is a sin and one has to give

it up sooner than later. There is no need to condemn those objects which

give physical happiness, but one's relationship with them is always limited

and transitory. While meditating on Reality, it is easy for one to use one's

discriminatory intelligence and enjoy the worldly objects with a passionless

mind. The whole problem is with the mind. If mind is withdrawn from the

sensory objects and the objects of entertainment, it stops from dissipating

itself on mundane pleasures It will become empty and its infinite power

starts working. So, it is very important to cleanse the mind off its lust

for objects, greed for possessions, covetousness for wealth, hungry for

power, and worry for status in the society and apply the same mind to

contemplate on Reality, the Eternal Brahman. One has to live in this world

in contentment and satisfaction with whatever one gets as a result of one's

past deeds. Desires multiply as long as we keep on satisfying them. With

increasing hunger to satisfy desires, one gets deeper and deeper into that

quicksand and loses peace of mind and ultimately ends up in frustration.

Wealth can purchase only sense-gratification that too for a limited period

of time but if one wants permanent peace of mind, the only recourse is to

contemplate on God. So, all methods we apply to acquire wealth will only

lead us to disarray and disintegration and results finally in degradation,

as attachment brings endless worries. True enjoyment stems from true

renunciation. The fundamental truth is that one will never get God through

greed for wealth.

 

 

contd....