Bhaja Govindam - Sloka 12

12.

Dinayaminyau – day and night

Sayam – dusk

Prata - dawn

Shisharavasantau – winter and spring

Punar - again

Ayata - comes

Kala - time

Kridati – plays

Gacchati – goes / leaves

Ayuh - life

Tadapi – even then

Na – does not

Munchati - giveup

Ashavayu – the assosiation

Day and night, dawn and dusk, winter and spring come and go again and again. This way the time goes / passes by playfully and the time of death also comes near. But still, this jiva does not give up the desires, which lead them astray.

This is the ultimate teaching for the Astikas. When we see the person whom we trust, believe shows a loss of hope, it ignites the bond between the person and the personified. Here too Acharya, after talking about the vairagya in length applies this logic and hammers the final nail.

Instead of wasting the time in useless pursuit day-in and day-out, one should take time to examine the path one’s life is leading him into.

When we turn back and look during the time of death / in death-bed then we would understand whatever time spend on the pursuit of happiness is wasted one. Because, that did not give the sense of completeness. For doing this one need not be in death-bed, one can think as one is in such a situation and retrospect one’s life.

Different time, different place and different people but the desire is the same.

If this does not do it, nothing will do it (give you the Vairagya and Viveka).

Bhaja Govindam - Sloka 11

11.

Ma – don’t

Kuru - gain

Dhana - wealth

Jana - people

Yauvana - youth

Garvam - ego

Harati - destroys

Nimeshad – in split second

Kala – time / death

Sarvam - everything

Mamayaam  - illusional

Idam - this

Akhilam – whole world

Hitva – giving up

Brahmapadam – Brahman state

Tvam - you

Pravisha - enter

Viditva – knowing

Don’t gain ego because of the wealth, people and / or youth. All these are destroyed in split-second by the time or death. Knowing everything in the world and the world to be illusional or ephemeral, give up the attachment or association with it. And, enter the brahminical state after knowing it.

One normally gains a great amount of ego because of the possession or the power on holds. The dhana here should be understood as possession. Whether it is money or any meager possession it only creates and increases the idea of duality. So too, the idea of power. This is what is referred by jana. Though loosely translated it is the people, but, the support you gain from the people surrounding is a power. The third type of ego is the youth. Here youth can be understood as comparatively younger. Because of the age, one is able to do different thing through the body, which becomes difficult or impossible for older person.

All these different type of ego are useless, because, the time which is the representative of Death will destroy all of it in matter of seconds. Kala though means time, it is to be understood here as the Death (Lord Yama). The Lord Yama, has a boon, by which though he destroys everyone in due time according to their fate, will not be identified as the culprit or will not be cursed for this. People attribute it to different things.

Therefore, one should cultivate dispassion towards the world in the lines of the stanza 8. And give the attachment to it. And to gain this the methods prescribed in the stanza 3 and 4 will be useful.

After, gaining dispassion as said in the 2^nd stanza one should enter into the assossiation of the people discussing Sat. this is necessary prerequisite to gain the knowledge. What was said in the th stanza is stressed here. By the word “viditva” to learn from a proper Guru is specified.

With reference to the other states of wakeup, dream and deep sleep; the turiya (fourth), which is our intrinsic nature is referred as a state.

So in reference to the the worldy existence our intrinsic nature, to be the Self, is referred as a Pada – state.

Bhaja Govindam - Sloka 10

10.

Vayasi – when the age

gate – is lost

ka - what

kamavikara – sexual thoughts does / happens

shuske – when dries

nire – of water

ka - what

kasara – lake remains

kshine – when lost

vitte – is the wealth

ka - what

parivara  - relations exist

jnate – when known

tatve - the Truth

ka - what

samsara – Samsara exists.

When one looses his age, where can there be any sexual transformations. When the water dries, what lake remains. When the wealth is lost, where will be the relations. And when the Truth (Brahman) is known where can there be any samsara.

When one looses age - when one becomes old. It is not that, when one becomes old, he will start to become pious or no such thoughts about sex arise. But, of what use will it be, the body won’t support it. And not just that, the thoughts also, as we saw in the 7^th stanza, is only about the worry about the past or feature.

When the water is lost, where is the lake. The lake gets the name lake only because of the water. The father becomes a father only when one gets a progeny. But when there is no son / daughter the name or the title father will not fit the person. In the same way, if there is no water the name lake, river, sea or any other water body loses its reference.

When one has the wealth, even the unknown person, wants to be related to oneself. But, when one loses the wealth, the people who are close to him will distance themselves from the person. This was said in the 5^th stanza.

When one gains the knowledge about the Self, there can be no samsara. Samsara is because of the ignorance of the Self. The world and its creation are just a superimposed transformation of the ignorance. This ignorance, whence did it start? If be asked, the answer can only be Anadi – from begingless time. It cannot be explained. It is inexplicable. Because, the idea of time and the reference with the time is in ignorance. Though it has no beginning this ignorance is destroyed when the knowledge dawns. That is why this is defined as “bhavarupa jnana nivartya” – existential and removed by knowledge. Existential means in the vyavahara – transactional plane. Otherwise, what is cannot be negated and what is not also need not be negated. So too is the ignorance, like the knowledge of snake in the rope. The knowledge of pseudo-snake creates all the reaction as the real snake. But, when we know the rope, it gets negated. It did exist, during the confusion. But, ceases to exist when the true knowledge of rope dawns. Where did this snake come from and where did it go, all these questions are futile.

When the knowledge of the Self, which is non-dual dawns. Since, there is nothing other than the self and the root cause for the samsara, the ignorance, is destroyed, what can be called as samsara. Ignorance is Samsara.