Bhajagovindam Part 16

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==Bhajagovindam Part 16, commentary by Gopi Krishna=========

 

Sloka 11

 

Maa Kuru Dhanajanayauvanagarvam

Harati Nimeshaatkaalah Sarvam

Maayaamayamidamakhilam Hitvaa

Brahmapadam Tvam Pravisa Viditvaa

 

.... Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja Govindam

 

Meaning:

 

Maa - do not, Kuru - take, Dhana - in possession, Jana - in the

people, Yauvan - in youth, Garvam - pride, Harati - loots away

(takes away), Nimeshaat - in a moment, Kaalah - the Time,

Sarvam - all these, Maayaamayam - full of illusory nature,

Idam - this, Akhilam - all, Hitvaa - after knowing,

Brahmapadam - the state of Brahman, Tvam - you, Pravisa -

enter into, Viditvaa - after realising.

 

Substance:

 

The pleasures of worldly life, such as wealth, friends

and youth, are deceptive appearances. Do not boast of them.

Understand that each one of these is destroyed within a minute

by time. Be detached and dispassionate from the illusion of the

world of Maya and cultivate renunciation and

realise the state of Brahman.

 

Commentary:

 

One gets entangled in Samsaara due to the attachment to

the tools of Maya, such as wealth, friends, youth, etc. These are

all false vanities and hollow conceits, which will vanish in no time,

if fortune begins to frown on one. One should not, therefore, be

proud of one's wealth, youth, health, etc. All the arrogance born

out of these false attachments will change in a moment into shame,

because of their instability. One invites problems when one

maintains relationship with the world of objects, feelings and

thoughts through one's body, mind and intellect.

 

Sense enjoyment will lead to miseries. The desire to possess

and enjoy will one day end in dissipation, as these sense objects

will wither away with the time. Wealth is neither constant nor stable.

Most of the human beings are slaves to this aspect of Maya, as the

materialistic world is completely dependent on this. Like wise, the

other faces of Maya are youth and friends. As we learnt from the

earlier slokas, the relationship with kith and kin is proportionate

to the wealth one possesses. Once it is vanished, all the

relationships will vanish in no time. The youth of today will be an

elderly person of tomorrow. One cannot escape from the Kala-chakra,

i.e., jaws of the wheel of time. With the passage of time, the body

decays and perishes.

 

Sri Adi Sankaracharya, therefore, warns that one should not dissipate

one's energies in these false vanities. Instead, realising the illusory

nature of these world of objects, one should concentrate and realise

the state and true nature of Brahman. Only that will give relief from

the vicious cycle of birth-death-birth.