Bhajagovindam (part 27)

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Bhajagovindam by Adi Shankara commentary by Gopi Krishna.

 

 

Sloka 22 (Attributed to Nityanatha)

 

Rathyaacharpata Virachitakanthah

Punyaapunyavivarjitapanthah

Yogee Yoganiyojitachitto

Ramate Baalonmattavadeva

 

.... Bhaja Govindaj, Bhaja Govindam

 

Meaning:

 

Rathyaa - the road, Charpata - pieces of old cloth, Virachita - made of,

Kanthah - godadi (a shawl) (He who wears the godadi - shawl made up of

pieces of cloth rejected by others on the road), Punya apunya - merit and

demerit, Vivarjita - well left, Panthah - the path (One who walks the path

that is beyond merit and demerit), Yogee - the Yogin (sage), Yoga niyojita

chittah - whose mind is joined in perfect Yoga, Ramate - sports (lives

thereafter), Baalvat eva - as a child (or), Unmattavath eva - as a madman.

 

Substance:

 

Clad in stray rags, treading the path beyond good and evil or merit or

demerit and whose mind is always in meditation, he revels in

God-consciousness, having lost all outward norms and decorum, he behaves

like a child or as a madman.

 

Commentary:

 

A yogi is like a child, who is, in his innocence does not know the

difference between good and evil and, at times, behaves like a

mad man, who does not care for the world. The known and recent

example for this kind of mental status is Sri Ramakrishna

Paramahansa and Sri Shirdi Sai Baba. They used to dance in divine

joy, not caring about the surroundings. One can attain this kind of

bliss and maturity of heart and mind only when one is completely

immersed in God-consciousness. The mind waits for a chance to

become prey to the deceitful senses. It gets attracted only to impurities.

With constant contemplation and pursuing the path of devotion, one

has to try to wash out the impurities of the mind. Once the mind is

devoid of any kind of impurity, it becomes subservient to the soul.

The moment one liquidates one's identification as an individual,

the person will become like a child, forgetting the body-consciousness.

Although one may appear like a child or a madman, in fact, one is

not so. It is an aberration to call a realised soul in such a fashion,

because one is beyond the dwandas like love and hatred, evil and

good, sukha and dukha, etc. These are all related only to the body

but not to the soul. Soul is always in Satchidaananda, but we do not

realise, as we have covered it up with our Ajnana, ignorance born out of our

attachment to materialistic objects. As children keep changing their

emotions or mental moods, as they have no capacity to be in one

mood fully engrossed, they do not think about the past and worry about

the future. They live only in the present. They do not plan their lives.

They live from moment to moment. Neither the vaasanaas of past

janma or the worries of future will trouble the children. So also the

realised soul. Since a realised soul totally engrossed inwardly, though

outwardly it does not appear so, as he moves amongst us, it is difficult

to gauge and understand. Such a soul is beyond the ego and its vanities

and joys and sorrows, merits and demerits, good and bad, pleasure

and pain. He always revels in the peaceful state and maintains perfect

equipoise. He moves lonely and fearlessly anywhere and everywhere.

He does not know what fear is. When one reaches the goal of

God-realisation, one's mind is totally annihilated and with that the

passion and the lust. He is no more a slave to the body and its desires,

although he allows his body minimum of protection.

Such a person has no duty to perform, he takes upon himself

all duties out of infinite love for the society, as our Rishis and Munis

used to live in forests but serve the mankind.