THE ESSENTIAL
DOs AND DON’TS OF LIFE
BHAJA GOVINDAM
by
Sri Adi Sankaracharya
(POST.12. Vs 24,25)
VERSE 24
(Attributed to Medhaatithira)
THVAYI MAYI CHAANYATHRAIKO VISHNUH
VYARTHAM KUPYASI MAYYASAHISHNUH
BHAVA SAMACHITTHAH SARVATHRA THVAM
VANCHHASYASHIRAADHYADHI VISHNUTHVAM
(... Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja Govindam, Govindam…)
Meaning:
in you; in me; and, in all other places (too),
there is but one All pervading Reality; the Vishnu (or the Brahman);
unnecessarily, you are being impatient and getting angry, with me;
become equal-minded, everywhere, and in all circumstances;
you, if you want, very soon, can attain the Vishnu-Status.
Commentary:
Brahman is (i) eternal (ii) all pervading (chaitanyam) and (iii) supreme Aananda or joy
If Brahman is all pervading - he is in me; he is in you and he is every where.
In fact, he is – me, you and everything; and everywhere. This is the all-pervading reality of Brahman.
Maya also is a product of Brahman. Maya veils our wisdom and creates ignorance in us. In ignorance, we are unable to recognize the Brahman in ‘us’, as ‘us’.
You are unable to see your self as Brahman; nor can you see me as Brahman. The Maya’s veil is so powerful. The Drama of the world – called Mithya prapancham goes on under this veil.
Under Maya – you fight with me; I fight with you. But, when the veil of Maya is removed, when we see the Brahman (or Vishnu) in all – where is the question of treating one as superior and another as inferior; where is the question of loving one and fighting another?
We look at all beings as the same representation of Brahman.
The last line is very significant.
If you want.. you too can attain the Vishnu status itself and very quickly too..
Adi Sankara and his disciples are never tired of using all terms like Vishnu, Eswara, Maheswara, Brahma, Govinda etc to denote the one and the same Brahman. When Brahman is one and you too are Brahman – where is the distinction?
Unfortunately, the veil of Maya is so powerful that – 1200 years after Adi Sankara, many people are still fighting each other, saying, my God is better than yours; my God is the only God.. and so on.
Going back to the earlier sentence : If you want.. you too can attain the Vishnu status itself and very quickly too..
How to attain the status of Vishnu?
Be equal minded in respect of every one; and in all circumstances. Whether the other person is good or bad, friend or foe, generous or greedy; angry or peaceful – this must not sway or unsettle your equal mindedness. you must keep it at all circumstances. This leads you towards Vishnuthvam, or Vishnu status.
You must want ardently to attain this Vishnuthvam. You must want it very seriously and very sincerely. Then, your equal mindedness leads you to the Vishnu status (or Brahman status).
In puranas, Maya is also called – Vishnu Maya – not as Siva Maya or Brahma Maya. The reason is Brahma’s work strops with creation. Siva’s work is dissolution. The work of sthithi or maintaining the universe is in the hands of Vishnu – and that is when, Maya is in full play. Therefore, it is usual to refer to it as Vishnu Maya. If you remove the veil of Maya and see all as Vishnu at all times and circumstances – you have attained Vishnuthvam.
Let’s make a start. Let us improve daily. The goal will come nearer, as we move towards it.
VERSE 25
(By Medhaatithira)
SATHRAU MITHRE PUTHRE BANDHAU
MAA KURU YATHNAM VIGRAHASANDHAU
SARVASMINNAPI PASYAATHMAANAM
SARVATHROTHSRIJA BHEDAAJNYANAM
(... Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja Govindam, Govindam…)
Meaning:
Ø against an enemy, against a friend, against a son, or, against a relative,
Ø never, make efforts for either fighting, or, for making friends,
Ø in everything and everywhere, see, the Self,
Ø everywhere, lift away (cast out), the sense of differences born out of ignorance.
Commentary:
See yourself everywhere!
This - is almost a continuation of earlier verse.
Don’t make efforts to fight an enemy, the verse says.
Why so? Because, there is no enemy!! There also - is only you.
Don’t make any special efforts to make friendships.
Why so? Because, there is no friend out there. There also – is only you.
There are bound to be differences among people. None of us are made the same way. Our differences are based on Naama, roopa, guna, desa, kaala and other differences.
These are external. At the root of every Individual, there is however, the same Atman. There is only the same Brahman.
To start with - try to sink all your hate, all of your anger against an enemy. Pray for him. This is all to neutralize your enmity towards him. This leads to a state in which your enmity is gone. But, no special friendship has developed.
Next, equate him with a friend – and try to see both of them equally.
This is called Pratipaksha bhavana. Placing the opposite feeling – to neutralize the feeling we want to conquer. The goal however is – to come out of the LOVE-HATE duality completely. We hate none. We love none. Not that we are indifferent to all.
No. This is not the goal. We want to see our own SELF in all of them.
When we wash our hands, do we feel any special love towards one hand to the exclusion of the other? Suppose, a leg is bruised, do we feel less love for it and more for the healthy leg? Whatever we do to our own body parts – we do, with equal concern and seek all of their health and welfare. We have no special friendship with one limb and no special enmity towards another limb. We see our self in all the limbs.
Similarly, we must see our self in all people.
We must cast out all differences between people and our relationship with them. All these gradations and differences are born out of ignorance, out of looking only at the physicality of the person, not his inner core. The inner core every where is Brahman.
We have seen in some of the earlier Posts on Maya – 3 stories on Maya, how Maya creates and nurtures differences in us leading to all sorrows (or Samsaara) and how the lifting of the veil of Maya makes us, see the reality of the oneness of Brahman everywhere.
It is for this reason – that Pancha Maha Yajnas are prescribed in India.
Help the Devas (Angels or universal Powers); Help the Sages; Help the dead and alive ancestors; Help the humans; Help all other beings (animals, birds etc); Do the help selflessly – not for some selfish ends.
These are the Pancha maha Yajnas. These 5 Yajnas are to be performed daily. Not one today, tomorrow another and so on. We can’t claim, helping human beings is helping god. No. You must do all the five Yajnas daily. Every SELFLESS, HELPFUL deed is called a YAJNA.
The Pancha Maha Yajnas are prescribed precisely – to create the feeling of equality for all these five categories of beings, and to enable us to see the self in all of them.
These are external enemies and friends. What of the inner friends and enemies? Let us see in the next verse (next post).
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