Bhajagovindam (part 11)

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Sloka 6

 

Yavatpavano Nivasati Dehe

Taavatprichchati Kusalam Gehe

Gatavati Vaayau Dehaapaaye

Bhaaryaa Bibhyati Tasminkaaye

 

.... Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja Govindam.

 

Yaavat - as lons as, Pavanah - the breath (life), Nivasathi - dwells, Dehe -

in (your) body, Taavath - so long, Prichchati - enquires, Kusalam - of

(your) welfare, Gehe - at home, Gatavati Vaayau - when the breath (life)

leaves, Dehe Apaaye - (when) the body decays, Bharyaa - (even) your wife,

Bibhyati - fears, Tasmin - that very (in that very), Kaaye - body.

 

Substance:

 

As long as there is life in one's body, people enquire kindly about one's

welfare and show concern, but when the soul departs from the body, even

one's own wife runs away in fear of the same body (corpse).

 

Commentary:

 

One has to develop a sense of detachment from the blind attachment to the

world, from the objects of materialistic enjoyments through constant

contemplation. The brittle vanities of life will never give permanent

enjoyment to any one. One should not spend one's entire life in sheer

body-worship and enjoyment, as it will never remain permanent and today's

young bodies will become old and decay as the days pass. There is no doubt

that it is necessary and important that one has to sweat and toil, fight and

procure, feed and breed, clothe and shelter the body but to spend the whole

lifetime in these alone is a criminal waste of human abilities, as the

nature of the body is to grow old, totter, become infirm and in the end die

away. The animal body has some value at least when it is dead, but human

body, once dead, has no value whatsoever. To maintain such a body, one

indulges in all kinds of inhuman activities and amasses wealth, but when

once the life has ebbed away from the body, even the life partner dreads and

fears the darling body of her beloved husband.

 

No doubt that body is the carrier of the soul and one should look after it

as a temple, but not with attachment and vanities. One should keep it clean,

feed it, clothe it, etc., as one does for one's vehicles that one uses in

one's day-to-day materialistic life, but with perfect understanding and

contemplation that it is only an instrument and through it one has to earn

the Sacred Feet of Lord.

 

P. Gopi Krishna

South Asia Multidisciplinary Advisory Team (SAAT)