“Kalau kalmasha chittanam papa dravyopajivinam vidhikriya Vihinanam gatir Govind Keertanam”. During the Kaliyuga, for people with impure mind, and who live with ill-gotten wealth and who have no respect for Vedic and scriptural mandates, the only way out is to repeat the name and sing the glory of Govinda! The golden ages are gone when Dharma was Paramount in society! People were honest, sincere, selfless, kind and compassionate then. But today dishonesty,insincerity, selfishness and cruelty rule the minds of people! Materialism and a mad rush and run for money is prominent.The thought of God and spirituality has receded to the background! Caught in the shoreless sea of samsara, man is struggling to find happiness in the illusive world! He doesn't realize what is good for him or bad! He is led away by his desires that can never be satiated. How is it possible for man to realize and save himself from this interminable cycle of birth and death? Is he to be tormented for ever like this? No, says the philosopher Sankara in his Bhaja Govinda Stotra! What is it that man can do to not stray away from the path of Dharma or righteousness? Sankara , diagnosing the maladies of Kaliyuga prescribes a five fold treatment for the mind!
“Geyam Gita Nama sahasram” Read the Bhagavad-Gita and chant Vishnu sahasranamam counsels Sankara.The Gita is considered as universal scripture! What is its speciality? “Sarvopanishado gavo dogdha Gopala nandanaha Partho vatsah sudhir bhokta dugdham Gitamrutam mahat”! All the Upanishads are the Cow, the milkman is Lord Krishna himself! Arjuna is the calf. The good and the wise are the partakers of the milk which is the Divine nectar or amrita! It is the Divine discourse given to Arjuna, the Pandava warrior on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Lord Krishna himself clarifies all the doubts of Arjuna vacillating between war and sanyasa. His attachment to his kith and kin are wiped out by Krishna. Krishna tells Arjuna that he is just an instrument in the hands of God! The soul can never die! It is indestructible. Action is the right of man, not expectation of any reward. Karma is a must and it leads to Bhakthi or devotion which again directs you to Jnana or Knowledge of the Brahman! Total surrender to the will of God is the ideal by which man can be saved. The study of the Gita thus can open the eyes of man and inspire him to go spiritual! Vishnu Sahasra Nama is said to cut off all bonds of birth and Samsara! “ Janma Samsara bandhanath” It is a part of the famous epic Mahabharata composed by sage Vyasa. Chanting the thousand names of the Lord is sure to absolve man of all his sins and lead him to salvation!
“ Always fix in your heart the form of Lord Vishnu and meditate on it” advises Sankara to the man in Kaliyuga! That worship will protect him from all the turbulent waves of the sea of Samsara! It is not easy to think of God all of a sudden and be free from the onslaught of desires and other worries! By meditating on God always one develops detachment slowly but surely! The next prescription of Sankara is “ neyam sajjana sange chittam” to keep company with the good and the wise! Associations are very important in life. Fire that cannot be touched, in association with Iron, receives terrible blows of the hammer! On the other hand ordinary thread, in association with flowers, adorns ladies’ heads! Even a bad man can become good by constant company with wise men, sages and saints who are always in the thought of God!.
“Deyam Dina janayacha vittam” Make charity the ideal of your life, tells Sakara. Be large hearted and give money to the poor and downtrodden! Don't be selfish and greedy. Money has four ‘dayadis’ The first, Dharma is the major partner. If not utilized for Dharma, it can be consumed in fire, or taken over by the king or robbed by thieves! There is an indescribable pleasure in giving away to others! We see God in the smile and happiness of the less fortunate. Our life is like a flash of lightning, sudden darkness after illumination! It is very short lived. By taking these prescriptions, Sankara says, man can save himself from the effects of KaliYuga and head towards God without any doubt!
Though Sankara has suggested the remedies for the ailments, it is doubtful how many in the present generation have read the Gita or at least heard its name! Even the thousand names of Lord Vishnu many do not know and what of chanting them regularly! The company they keep is not ideal for spiritual elevation! They are worshippers of money and not charitable! Hence following Sankara’s suggestions gathers special significance in the present context!
No comments:
Post a Comment