*** Bhaja Govindam ***
Srimad Adi Shankaracharya Bhagavadpada has composed the Bhaja Govindam during his famous pilgrimage to Kashi (Benares). The fourteen disciples are said to have accompanied him. The story goes that when he was walking along the streets of Kashi, he was pained to observe an elderly man trying hard to learn Sanskrit grammar. At his advanced age, the remaining valuable little time of his life should have been used for worshipping the God, instead of wasting on learning a language. This prompted Sri Sankara to burst out this composition, a sort of rebuke to foolish way of living.
The Acharya urges the man to turn towards God and sing His glory instead of wasting on mundane things. A censure is implied when the Acharya calls the man a fool (Moodhamathe). It may be added here that the tone of Bhajagovindam is somewhat striking, in spite of its exotic poetic beauty and perfection of composition. This is no wonder, because such a treatment is required to wake up man from his slumber. A milder approach would delay the matter. The matter is urgent, as the Acharya explains in the next verse, for, when the hour of death approaches without any forewarning, the hard-learned verses of grammar are not going to save the poor soul. Hence the song rightly starts without any preamble:
Worship Govinda, Worship Govinda, Worship Govinda.
Oh fool! Rules of Grammar will not save you
at the time of your death ..(1)
Oh fool ! Give up your thirst to amass wealth,
devote your mind to thoughts to the Real.
Be content with what comes through actions already
performed in the past. ..(2)
Do not get drowned in delusion by going wild with passions
and lust by seeing a woman’s navel and chest.
These are nothing but a modification of flesh.
Do not fail to remember this again and again in your mind. ..(3)
The life of a man is as uncertain
as rain drops trembling on a lotus leaf.
Know that the whole world remains
a prey to disease, ego and grief. ..(4)
So long as a man is fit and able to support his family,
see the affection all those around him show.
But no one at home cares to even have a word with him
when his body totters due to old age. ..(5)
When one is alive,
his family members enquire kindly about his welfare.
But when the soul departs from the body,
even his wife runs away in fear of the corpse. ..(6)
The childhood is lost by attachment to playfulness.
Youth is lost by attachment to woman.
Old age passes away by thinking over many past things.
But there is hardly anyone
who wants to be lost in parabrahmam. ..(7)
Who is your wife ? Who is your son ?
Strange is this samsara. Of whom are you ?
From where have you come ?
Brother, ponder over these truths here. ..(8)
From Satsangh comes non-attachment,
from non-attachment comes freedom from delusion,
which leads to self-settledness.
From self-settledness comes Jeevan Mukti. ..(9)
What good is lust when youth has fled ?
What use is a lake which has no water ?
Where are the relatives when wealth is gone ?
Where is samsara when the Truth is known ? ..(10)
Do not boast of wealth, friends, and youth.
Each one of these are destroyed within a minute.
Free yourself from the illusion of the world of Maya and
attain the timeless Truth. ..(11)
Daylight and darkness, dusk and dawn,
winter and springtime come and go.
Time plays and life ebbs away.
But the storm of desire never leaves. ..(12)
This bouquet of twelve verses was imparted
to a grammarian by the all-knowing Shankara,
adored as the bhagavadpada. ..(12a)
Oh mad man ! Why this engrossment in thoughts of wealth ?
Is there no one to guide you ?
There is only one thing in three worlds
that can save you from the ocean from samsara.
Get into that boat of satsangha quickly. ..(13)
There are many who go with matted locks,
many who have clean shaven heads,
many whose hairs have been plucked out;
some are clothed in saffron,
yet others in various colors — all just for a livelihood.
Seeing truth revealed before them,
still the foolish ones see it not. ..(14)
Strength has left the old man’s body;
his head has become bald,
his gums toothless and leaning on crutches.
Even then the attachment is strong
and he clings firmly to fruitless desires. ..(15)
Behold there lies the man who sits warming up
his body with the fire in front and the sun at the back;
at night he curls up the body to keep out of the cold;
he eats his beggar’s food from the bowl of his hand
and sleeps beneath the tree.
Still in his heart,
he is a wretched puppet at the hands of passions. ..(16)
One may go to gangasagar(ganes), observe fasts,
and give away riches in charity !
Yet, devoid of jnana,
nothing can give mukthi even at the end of a hundred births. ..(17)
Take your residence in a temple or below a tree,
wear the deerskin for the dress,
and sleep with mother earth as your bed.
Give up all attachments and renounce all comforts.
Blessed with such vairagya, could any fail to be content ? ..(18)
One may take delight in yoga or bhoga,
may have attachment or detachment.
But only he whose mind steadily delights
in Brahman enjoys bliss, no one else. ..(19)
Let a man read but a little from Gitaa,
drink just a drop of water from the ganges,
worship murari (govinda) just once.
He then will have no altercation with Yama. ..(20)
Born again, death again,
birth again to stay in the mother’s womb !
It is indeed hard to cross this boundless ocean of samsara.
Oh Murari ! Redeem me through Thy mercy. ..(21)
There is no shortage of clothing for a monk
so long as there are rags cast off the road.
Freed from vice and virtue, onward he wanders.
One who lives in communion with God enjoys bliss,
pure and uncontaminated,
like a child and as someone intoxicated. ..(22)
Who are you ? Who am I ?
From where do I come ?
Who is my mother, who is my father ?
Ponder thus, look at everything as essenceless and
give up the world as an idle dream. ..(23)
In me, in you and in everything,
none but the same Vishnu dwells.
Your anger and impatience is meaningless.
If you wish to attain the status of Vishnu soon,
have samabhava always. ..(24)
Do not waste your efforts to win the love of or
to fight against friend and foe, children and relatives.
See yourself in everyone and
give up all feelings of duality completely. ..(25)
Give up lust, anger, infatuation,
and greed. Ponder over your real nature.
Fools are they who are blind to the Self.
Cast into hell they suffer there endlessly. ..(26)
Regularly recite from the Gita,
meditate on Vishnu [thro' Vishnu sahasranama] in your heart,
and chant His thousand glories.
Take delight to be with the noble and the holy.
Distribute your wealth in charity to the poor and the needy. ..(27)
He who yields to lust for pleasure leaves his body a prey to disease.
Though death brings an end to everything,
man does not give up the sinful path. ..(28)
Wealth is not welfare, truly there is no joy in it.
Reflect thus at all times.
A rich man fears even his own son.
This is the way of wealth everywhere. ..(29)
Regulate the pranas, remain unaffected by external influences
and discriminate between the real and the fleeting.
Chant the holy name of God and silence the turbulent mind.
Perform these with care, with extreme care. ..(30)
Oh devotee of the lotus feet of the Guru !
May thou be soon free from Samsara.
Through disciplined senses and controlled mind,
thou shalt come to experience
the Indwelling Lord of your heart ! ..(31)
Thus was a silly grammarian lost
in rules cleansed of his narrow vision and
shown the Light by Shankara’s apostles. .. (32)
Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, worship Govinda,
Oh fool ! Other than chanting the Lord’s names,
there is no other way to cross the life’s ocean .. (33)
Bhaja Govindam
Srimad Adi Shankaracharya
