NARI STHANABHARA NABHI DESAM( Bhajagovindam)

“Beauty is only skin deep but ugly goes clean to the Bone" says Dorothy Parker! According to Confucius everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it! “ No matter how plain a woman may be, if truth and honesty are written across her face she will be beautiful” says Eleanor Roosevelt! Another writer remarks that beauty is not in the face, it is a light in the heart! Different individuals have defined beauty in different terms.  To John Keats, the famous Romantic poet,“ Beauty is truth, truth beauty-that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.” Then what is beauty exactly? Can it be physical beauty or the beauty of the mind? Surely, beauty that is evanescent cannot be called by that name. It should be eternal, everlasting and not fading through​ the ravages of time, climate and temperature! Classical art is beautiful though it has seen many

generations! Beauty of the body, the fairness of the skin, the contours and other aspects cannot constitute beauty because they disappear, and disintegrate as age advances! After all, behind the outward beauty of  the body lies the ugly skeleton that we despise to look at!

Modern society is obsessed with the superficial, transient, outward beauty of the body! Since countless generations and civilizations man has been the slave of physical beauty! Stories galore are available in our Puranas, of sages, saints, great warriors and outstanding personalities, falling a prey to the bewitching beauty of damsels! As such present generation cannot be otherwise! It is to warn humanity of its folly that Adi Sankara expresses his anguish at the way mankind is staying away from the right path!

“ Why are you distracted by lust when you notice the region of the navel and the cleavages on the chest of the woman?” questions the king of philosophers, Sankara! He is compelled to question thus as he pities mankind that has become addicted  to sex! “Nari sthana bhara nabhi desam  drustwa maga mohavesam”! Don't be excited with passion at the sight of the woman’s navel and the place above. Though a celibate and a renowned intellectual and philosopher, he comes down to the level of the common man and crudely describes the attitude of modern man!

“ Beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold” said Shakespeare long long ago and it is an established truth even today!  Man is enticed by the the fair skin and personality of the woman! He forgets that it is but the covering for various organs and muscles underneath the skin! “ Ethan mamsa vasadi vikaram” warns Sankara. Under the skin that you like, is present just flesh, marrow of the bone, muscles and nerves and a host of other arrangements in a maze! If one really thinks about that, he will never approach the woman!! Sankara calls it ‘vikara’--ugly. But what is ugly to one is beautiful to the other! That is the way of the world! Our body is a wonderful creation of God! Head and all organs, blood vessels, heart, nerves, and muscles have been dexterously arranged for maximum benefit and wrapped over by the skin so that none can see the complication and confusion inside! This act of God makes us think that we are good looking and beautiful!

Don't  fall in love foolishly! Counsels Sankara! It is very easy to be led away by the beauty of woman! Discriminate through your intellect. Woman is the root cause for bringing down man! She is the bedrock of Samsara, family life and all attachments that encircle you.  You will be engulfed in the shoreless sea of samsara! “ manasi vichintaya varamvaram” Deliberate again and again in your mind--and come to a conclusion early so that you may not lose your liberty counsels Sankara! Once Man is caught in the web of  samsara it is almost impossible to come out of it!

Advising the old man to not waste his time in learning grammar rules in the evening of his life, sankara recommends the worship of Govinda! At the same time he warns mankind of many pitfalls on his way. It is not easy to think of God all of a sudden. Even sanyasis are unable to concentrate on Him! Time flies and rob's silently the age of man!

Birth and death is a never ending cycle! Children, adults, and the old are all interested in their own small pleasures and none is interested in thinking about God! When man realizes God the fetters of Samsara are broken for ever! Hence, Sankara wants the youth to be wary of the wiles of woman and the charm of her physical beauty that is impermanent!