The greatest wonder in the world is that man thinks that life in this world is permanent! He sees people dying everyday but does not realize that he too has to depart one day! There are two types of vairagyas. One is called ‘prasuti vairagya’. The woman, suffering excruciating labor pains, curses the husband and feels that she should never again suffer like this. Soon after seeing the child safely delivered, she forgets all her pain and is extremely happy! she will have many more children later! The second is ‘smasana vairagya’. Seeing people dying daily and being taken for cremation, man thinks that one day he too has to follow the same track! The feeling is just for that moment! He forgets that soon after and falls into the same rut of life! A momentary wisdom dawns on man but is lost in Maya or illusion. Many saints, sages and philosophers have declared that our life is very short! We do not recognize that at every second we are losing our longevity! Youth slowly disappears. Days lost do not return. Time swallows up the entire universe. Lakshmi - wealth is as unstable as the bubble on the wave of the ocean. Our life itself is as impermanent as a flash of lightning!
Sankara reminds humanity how impermanent and unstable life on earth is! “ Nalini dala gata salilam taralam tadwad jivita matisaya chapalam”--A drop of water on the lotus leaf does not remain stable and steady. It moves from one side to the other It is likely to fall off the leaf also! In the same manner life is very unstable says the eminent philosopher. We don't know what happen at the next moment! One who desires to live long die suddenly.The other who wants to die lives long! How many air accidents have occurred recently killing many passengers at the same time! One or two have escaped miraculously! Paupers have become millionaires while the rich have become paupers! The good and the righteous have suffered while the evil minded and the bad have prospered! There is no certainty that one’s life will follow a certain track from the beginning to the end
Sankara asserts that life is not a bed of roses! It is decidedly a bed of thorns! There are small sharp pin pricks that startle man. “ Viddhi vyad yabhimana grastham” remarks Sankara. Understand that the world is caught in the tentacles of pride or arrogance. Sankara has earlier said, “ makuru dhanajana yauna garvam harati nimeshat kalah sarvam”. Man is proud of his people, kith and kin. He becomes arrogant but in no time they vanish. Is wealth and riches permanent or stable? No! It comes and departs as secretly as the water in the coconut! Youth and robust constitution is only up to a point. Arrogance has brought down many a great sage and king and emperor!We have many examples in our Puranas and scriptures. In modern days, we have illustrations in history and politics, of people who have fallen down from their pinnacle of glory because of their arrogance and pride! Egocentric individuals are sure to have a terrible fall!
At the end of the sloka Sankara declares what happens to the world and society because of these egos and adamant conduct. “ Lokam soka hatamcha samastam” he concludes. All the world is destroyed by sorrow and suffering! Arrogance and pride are the incurable diseases that hang heavy on man and lead to his downfall at the end. Life on earth appears to be happy and full of fun outwardly but deep down is always an under current of sorrow and suffering which he does not recognize. Sankara advises humanity that our existence is inseparable from sorrow! Man is tossed hither and thither by his desires which can never be satiated! As a result he becomes angry and loses his mental balance.His intellect fails him and leads to serious consequences! What man considers as happiness isn't real happiness at all They are all silly transitory pleasures mistaken for real happiness! Sankara reiterates that man should rise against this make believe and enjoy the real pleasure of worshipping Govinda whose name is the source of perpetual “ Ananda" or bliss!
In every sloka of the Bhaja Govindam Strotra Sri Sankara echos the eternal Vedic and Upanishadic truths that are relevant for the world even today! Man is running after money and has becoms slave! Money can never bring happiness. On the other hand it creates many difficulties! Earning, protecting, spending and losing money makes man miserable! He runs after happiness through possessing riches. He is disillusioned finally! Sankara wants man to turn spiritual and devotional so that he can save himself from sorrow and grief of material world!
No comments:
Post a Comment