We have learnt by now that however much we long for Ardha and Kama they cannot give us true happiness. So there is no point in spoiling our life for them. Life is a bubble. It can be blown any time ‘Kalo Jagadbhakshakaha’ proclaimed our elders. To run any vehicle you need petrol. Then what petrol runs the ever moving time? The very world! Time destroys the world! Don’t be stupid to say ‘What do I care if time destroys this world? Mind you, your life, my life, our life; everybody’s life is in the world! Any minute time can finish us! Lord Yama doesn’t wait for our appointment. He can land at quite an unexpected moment.

If we waste this short span of our life on unnecessary things, when we wake up to reality, we may not be left with time to do useful things. We may have a strong desire to do good things but we will not be left with our life to fulfil it. Then that good intention goes down the drain.
Read this small story - Once a notorious thief was ordered to be beheaded. The custom of that country was the king would personally come and fulfil the dying wish of the criminal. Accordingly the king came. The prisoner said, ‘Oh maharaj’ I don’t have any dying wish as such but I have written a poem. I would like you to listen to it. The king agreed. The sloka ran thus -

Bhattirnashtaha Bhaaravishtadhaapi
Bhikshurnasto Bhimasenopi tadhaa
Bhukkundoham Bhoopatistvam
Bhabhavalyaam Antaka Sannivistaha
‘Bhatti - A very wise man and minister of Vikramaditya, Bharavi - a great pandit, Bhikshu - a great mathematician, Bhimasena a great astrologer - all these passed away. Bha-Bhatti, Bhaa - Bhaaravi, Bhi - Bhikshu, Bhii- Bhimasenudu. Lord Yama is after the names starting with ‘B’ in the Guninthaas of B. After bha, bhaa, bhi, bhii come bhu, bhuu! My name is Bhukkundudu. I am going to die now. Your name is Bhuupati. After ‘bhu’ comes ‘bhuu’ which means your turn is the next.’ The thief retorted funnily that way!

He is correct! If not today, tomorrow may be our turn! We can’t predict when it is but definite it is! So whatever we wish to do, we must do before we face death! Even if we develop a good interest in the last minute, cannot put it into practice easily. Lord Yama is a perfect communist. He believes in equality. However much you plead, ‘I have wasted my life. Please give me just an hour’s time; I will pray to God, He will not yield to you. A great king like Parikshit couldn’t gain one minute extra! He died just on the time he had to die! After all who are we?
Spiritual Practice…

It’s really great to wake up before it is too late. Spiritual practice doesn’t mean leave your family and run away somewhere. It means you should do your work with interest, with proper understanding, on the rightful path; you should do every practice required for that and attain knowledge. That is a true spiritual life. So it is not right on your part to postpone spiritual path for your retired life.

The true reason for our misery is our misunderstanding! It means we should have a proper understanding. As simple as that! You don’t have to go any where to acquire it. You don’t require a change of place, but a change of heart. Remain where you are and develop a proper understanding of life. You tune every experience of yours to help you promote and develop a proper understanding of life.

Those who don’t have a proper understanding of spirituality, postpone this practice for a good day. We do have a good intention, but where is the time? ‘After we finish all our responsibilities, we will devote our full time to spiritual thinking’ this is the common slogan of the day. Postponing unnecessarily what you should do is equally harmful. Postponing is as good as not doing! Modern management describes this postponing tendency as a negative element for success. You can name this bad habit as procastination. It is deep rooted in us. We are already blamed for our laziness! ‘Aarambha suraa, Khalu Bharatiyaa’. We Indians begin a thing, but we don’t complete it.
If this quality of ‘procrastination’ is more, it leads to problems. For example let’s take the case of a student. If a student learns his lessons everyday and understands them properly, he can remain cool even during the exams. Instead if he whiles away the time on unnecessary things and postpones his learning, he will suffer a lot during exams. In the last minute he cannot concentrate properly and so cannot understand what he learns.

The same law applies for spiritual knowledge. Whiling away our time on unnecessary things and ignoring the acquistition of true knowledge, makes us suffer in life. If we wish to avoid it, we should wake up before it is too late. We should prepare a wonderful plan for it, but we are not doing so. It is because we don’t have a proper understanding - we can’t differentiate between the useful and the useless things. So we are wasting our time on silly pleasures. When we really desire to do something useful, nothing comes to our rescue.

Those who wish to lead a spiritual life and a happy life should not miss this understanding of life. The thing we wish to do, we should definitely do in the right way and at the right time. Then only our life will be tensionless.

Whatever we do, our actions are centred round - ‘Artha’ and ‘Kama’. This desire doesn’t allow our intellect to open up. We don’t have ample time left with us to analyse and see how far these two Ardha and Kama can save us! We are not able to devote our time for satsang or knowledge of the self - for useful things. All the wakeful hours are spent in amassing wealth.

We should fulfil our household chores, we should amass wealth for our basic needs, we should do our duty as a husband or as an employee, but all the same we should devote some time for knowledge of the self. Without devoting time for this, if we assume God will save us, God too cannot save us. God has proclaimed long back in Geetha - ‘Uddaaret aatmanatmaanam’- you save yourself! So along with our other commitments, we should allocate some time for our internal self. To attain the knowledge of know thyself we should pray to Govinda, one who seeks Ardha or Kama prays to God for those two. I know your question. When you should give up the desire for these two why should we pray to Govinda? The answer is ‘Mokshardham Govindam Bhaja’ - Pray to God for knowledge of the self and for Moksha is the message of Sri Sankaracharya.

We are leading a haphazard life due to our misunderstanding and laziness. This sloka explains to us the true aspect of life.

4. Nalinidalagatha Jalamathi Taralam
Tadvajeevithamatisaya Chapalam.
Viddi Vyadyabhimaana Grastham
Lokam Sokahatam Cha Samastam. Bhaja Govindam .

The water drop on the lotus leaf is restless. The same way the life is restless. The life is full of diseases, miseries and sorrow. The men cling to their body and so have no happiness in life.
Nalanidala means lotus leaf. This example is used in our sastras in many ways in many slokas.

In Bhagavad Gita -
Brahmanyaadaaya Karmaani Sangham tyaktvaa karothi yaha
Lipyate Na sa papebhyo padma patra mivaambhasaa

Krishna referred to the lotus leaf. The summary of the sloka is - just as lotus leaf is very much in water but is not attached to it, whoever works incessantly but is not attached to the work, is a true karma yogi. He will not suffer from sins. Here in Bhaja Govindam also, Sri Sankaracharya takes this example.
‘Nalinidalagata jalamati taralam’ - The water drops on lotus leaf shine like pearls. The ordinary water drops don’t have such a beauty. But when they are seen on lotus leaf they turn out to be beautiful.But that beauty is transient.
Since lotus leaf is water proof, the dew drops on it are restless. They keep moving. The slightest blow of air, the feeblest touch of the wing of a fish will drive out the dew drops from the leaf.
‘Tadva jeevithamatisaya chapalam’ - Our life on earth is like the bubble on the lotus leaf.
Just as the bubble can be blown off any moment, our life can be blown off any moment. We never know what is in store for us. To understand my statement, just go to any hospital and interview the patients in orthopaedic wards. Ask them how they met with an accident and whether they could guess it. You get the stereotyped answer, ‘I can’t understand how I met with an accident. It just happened accidentally (unknowingly)’

What is in store?
Why do things take an unexpected turn? It is because life is dictated by the actions we do. When, why, where and how we get the fruits of our actions - no body can define! So we term it luck. Luck is something that is unseen. An unseen ‘karmaphala’ dictates our life. So we cannot predict what is going to happen the very next minute. The Telugu film song’ Ee nimishaniki emi jaruguno evaruuhinchedaru’ conveys the meaning clearly. We never know when we will fall sick, when we will lose money, when we will face any danger or when we will die. There is no predictability to life. There is no logic in life. You may argue, ‘I have lots of money and lots of relatives to help me. So there is no question of any problem in my life. ‘That is your logic but life has no logic. It doesn’t follow your logic. It follows the law of Karma. Your money and your kith and kin may disappear to God knows where! We can never predict what is in store for us. In other words we do not know what will be the fruits of our actions.

We are mortals, prone to die any moment. Isn’t it foolishness on our part to treat ourselves as immortals? Isn’t it foolishness on our part to lose the opportunity in hand and to wait for an opportune moment? Haven’t you heard of the proverb a bird in hand is worth two in the bush? Can you guarantee you will be alive tomorrow?

Once somebody came to Dharma Raja asking for alms. Dharma Raja asked him to come the next day for it. Bhima who was listening to the conversation clapped his hands! Dharma Raja was surprised and asked him the reason for it. Bhima answered, ‘Dear brother! Life is so temporary. Any moment it will be put to an end. That’s why no Mahatma ever thinks he will survive for a day more. But you asked that gentleman to come tomorrow for alms. What does it connote? That you are sure of living tomorrow too! So I was delighted to hear you will survive the next day too and so I clapped hands. These words of Bhima were like an eye opener to Dharma Raja and so he fulfilled his task immediately.

I don’t know whether this really happened or whether it is a concocted story. But I like it because of the message in it. Is there any guarantee that we will see tomorrow morning? Even if we see, is there any guarantee that we will be perfectly healthy? If you think in these terms you will know how transient life is and how unpredictable life is! Not only this, it is also Vyaadhyabhimaana grastham! You understand, viddhi, this thing says sankaracharya Viddhi Vyaadhyabhi maana grastam!’
It offers two meanings -
1. We are suffering from ties and bondages
2. Our life is filled with diseases physically and with ties and bondages mentally.
In the life of diseases and ‘Lokam Sokahatam cha samstam’ - bondages only sokah (sorrow) dominates at every step. Bhaja Govindam proclaims ‘This loka is being killed by sokha.’
You ask anybody, each one has a sad story to narrate. While writing a letter we normally begin with ‘Safe and hope the same with you’. One boy while writing to his father wrote by mistake, I am well and I hope you are in the same well. He is partly correct. Everyone is in a well of miseries all created by himself. He lives like a frog in a well and so thinks that the whole world around him is happy except him. When everyone thinks that way, is there any happy man in the world? NO! ‘Lokam Sokahatham cha Samastham!’ Without any exception the whole world is carried away by the misconception that life on earth is permanent and acts accordingly. They don’t know that life is temporary and disease prone. So they are being drowned in a sea of misery.

There are some extremists who stretch things too far. They misunderstand every good point. If you tell them, you should not be miserable; they think that putting an end to their miserable life alone is the solution. They cultivate such harmful ideas. Unfortunately some religions encourage such harmful ideas, but even this is foolishness. When Sri Sankaracharya explained life is temporary, life is full of miseries, life is full of sorrow, he only meant to detail upon life and to educate us regarding life structure but definitely not to promote a negative attitude in us. In case somebody develops a negative attitude after he masters sastras, it only means he hasn’t understood sastras.

Escapism will never help. You should stand and face harsh reality of life but should never try to run away from it. If lotus flower had ever felt, Oh! my god! How dirty is my base, it wouldn’t have survived. The lotus flower blossomed forth from such dirt alone. The same way, in our life there are many aspects which help us to attain knowledge. So there is no point in running away from life calling it full of sorrow.

Just as a lotus flower is very much in mud but blossoms forth without being attached to it, the same way we should lead very much the sorrowful life, but should attain knowledge without being dejected by it. The greater care we take to lead our life the easier the task becomes. Otherwise we die a miserable life without achieving whatever we can achieve. So Sri Sankaaracharya says ‘Bhaja Govindam Moodamathe’.
Temporary - Permanent
Our life is temporary! Seek the permanent one in the temporary life! Govinda alone is the permanent aspect in life! We have already seen that Govinda means atma, our soul! Whatever changes, atma doesn’t change. That is the centre of our transcient nature. Except Govinda everything else is transcient. We can learn about all other temporary things but we are not able to learn about Govinda however much we try. You know why? We require a special eye to see or to understand God.
'Divyam dadaamite chakshuhu pasyame yogamaiswaryam’ - ‘your natural eyes will not suffice to visualize me. So I am providing you with ‘divya chakshuvulu’ special eyes’ said Sri Krishna to Arjuna in Gita! To see Govinda we require special eyes. A special eye means the mind’s eye-the intellect! For want of this mind’s eye we are not able to recognise the Omnipresent Govinda.

As long as we don’t visualize Govinda, our life is filled with dissapointment and pessimistic feeling. ‘Life is a story told by an idiot, full of fury and noise, signifying nothing.’ A western philosopher explained that life is like a meaningless story. He made such a statement after a thorough examination of life. There is no doubt about it! But what’s the use? Such an observation of life couldn’t provide a life purpose to humanity. On the other hand it only promoted pessimistic approach to life. As a result life became insipid. This led to the Epicurean motto of life. ‘Eat, drink and be merry and die one day.’

Even our ancient rushis proclaimed that life is temporary and life is insipid. But their attitude was different. A moving thing depends on a stable one and a visible thing depends on an invisible thing. For example a visible cinema depends on an invisible screen. Whatever gives support is greater than what are supports. The blades of a fan move but the rod supporting these blades don’t move. The picture on the screen moves, but the supportive screen doesn’t move at all. If the screen moves, we can’t see the picture clearly. If we wish to see the moving picture clearly, the supportive screen should remain stable! There is no doubt about it! The same way there should be some supporting permanent element to support the temporary aspect! Otherwise there is no possibility of a temporary aspect.

The rishis probed into this matter - what is the supportive element behind the temporary element? They found the answer - the ever present, Omniscient God! ‘Sarvam Vishnumayam Jagat.’ So this transient world is dependent on the Omnipresent Govinda. So the rishis told us to worship Govinda to attain life purpose.

If we seek the blessing of the Omnipresent God, this temporary life will not trouble us. We can liberate ourselves easily from its influence. This is our duty. That’s why Jagat guru Sri Sankaracharya repeatedly proclaims ‘Govindam Bhaja - learn about Govinda. To worship Govinda, we should digest the fact that we are temporary. Without understanding this temporary aspect of life, however much we pray to Govinda, it becomes mere surface level of prayer. So we should understand life properly and then whole heartedly pray unto the lord and be blessed by him.

5. Yaava Dvithoparjana Saktaha
Stava Nija Parivaro Raktaha
Pasctha Jeevathi Jarjhara Dehe
Vaarthaam Kopina Prucchati Gehe “Bhaja Govindam.

Your kith and kin show affection on you, only as long as you earn the money. When you become old and crippled, you will be left with no-body to take care of you.
Some people keep saying, ‘I am very much inclined towards spiritual life, but I am bound by my family ties. I hardly have time for this life’.

It is a misconception that our family comes in our way of spiritual progress. If you think leading spiritual life means leaving the family and going into thick forests, yes you are right But our dharma is never against family life or social life! ‘Acharyaaya priyam dhanamaahrutya prajaatantum maa vyavachcheteehi satyaanna pramaditavyam! dharmaanna pramaditavyam!...’ Matrudevobhava! Pitrudevobhava! Acharya devobhava! Athidhi devobhave! Are the teachings of Vedanta. After the student finishes his training in Gurukul, the Guru blesses him thus ‘My dear son? Your education is completed. Now you enter the society, get married and beget good children... You treat mother, father, guru and guests as personifications of God… This is the meaning of the above Sanskrit message. What does this convey? Doesn’t it mean lead a life amidst society? This system of life is proposed by the Upanishads. So our family never comes in the way of our spiritual path.
Your family members should be a part of your life but they should not be the whole! If they pervade your whole life, it becomes a trouble shooter. Every aspect has a limitation. As long as you know these limitations, you don’t face any problem. The minute you cross this limitation, you are bound to suffer.

You are mad after your family, but do you know the true nature of your family? Do you know how long it will be with you?
‘Yavadvitha parjana saktaha, tava nija parivaro raktaha’ - As long as you have the strong desire and great energy to earn money so long does your family has love on you. Whether you believe it or not, this is the harsh reality of life. You will personally experience it the minute you become old.

A communist writer commented that inter personal relations are centred round currency notes. If we look at this statement from a particular angle, I do agree he is correct.
In the modern culture where human values are going down the drain the wealth position decides a person’s position in the family. If the husband is amassing wealth, the wife adores him. If the father has a long store of wealth behind, the children bend before him. Sometimes we are forced to accept that the love and affection of our family for us is centred round the money behind us.
Once two lovers were exchanging their love notes. Suddenly the lady love had a doubt. She asked, ‘Raju, how much do you love me?’ Raju promptly answered ‘I can’t describe it in words’ But his lover wasn’t satisfied. She needed a further clarification. So she asked what is the proof that you love me so much?’ ‘Proof? Your parents are millionaries and you are their only lovely daughter. What other proof do you want?’ It is a proper proof! In another corner a lover was proudly boasting ‘My uncle is very rich. I will inherit his property when he dies’, ‘where does he live! The lover innocently gave his address and his lady love became his aunt! Do you call this love? As long as we have currency notes with us, we are an important person. The relatives are bound to us.

Once a man suddenly acquired few crores of rupees through a lottery ticket. The news spread like wild fire. People swarmed like flies around jaggery and showered him with bouquets. He did not know till then that he had a train of relatives. They were introducing themselves. One of them said, ‘Sir, I am your close relative, though you can’t probably recognise me - I am your father-in-law’s father’s grandfather’s grandson’s son-in-law’s wife’s brother’s son’s father-in-law. We are closely related thus, if we can connect to a person in Anakapally on oneside and to African tribe on the other side.

As long as money grows stage by stage, relatives grow step by step. The strength of our kith and kin boosts up our ego. ‘Paschat jeevathi jarghara dehe’ - one fine morning the handsome body sags. However much you take precautions, you cannot prevent becoming old. When you reach old age, you lose your physical stamina; you reach second but pitiable childhood. You cannot slog day in and day out to amass wealth. ‘Vartham Kopina Vruchchati gehe’-leave alone outsiders, even the inmates of your family care a foot for you.

‘Why the hell should we care for this old hag’, will be the attitude of some people, whereas some people say, ‘My God, if you just say hello to him he goes non-stop like a doll which is operated with a key. He repeatedly narrates his childhood glory. He is a big bore. ‘So they avoid the very sight of old people. Everybody has his or her own reason against an old man but the end result is the same. They ultimately avoid him. This is the law of life. Any family does the same thing. You and I are no exception to the rule. We behave the same way and we get the kickbacks the same way in our last days.

I constantly hear this complaint - ‘We brought up our children the hardway. We sacrificed many things for them, but today they hardly care for us.’ My stock answer to them is as follows.
‘You looked after your children well. You brought them up well. You paved a good way for them. Fine! Looking after your children is your prime responsibility. You fulfilled your responsibility well. But why do you now complain that your children don’t care for you in your old age? Don’t you know that one day you will become old? Did you take care of yourself? Don’t you know that you have to lead a life of loneliness in old age? Why didn’t you realize in your youth that, to avoid this pitiable childhood, you have to inculcate the feeling of vairagya then itself? Why didn’t you try in those lines? When you had a chance to help yourself, you didn’t care. Now you blame your children for not caring you. What rights have you to do? Better late than never. Wake up before it is too late. Learn about the limitation of your family.’

When you were overflowing in money some people whiled away many useful hours in idle talk with you. But now, the moment they learn you are penniless, they take a circutous route but they don’t touch your house. Why? For the simple reason they have to shell down the money you loaned to them. ‘A friend in need is a friend indeed’ is the old saying. ‘A friend in need is no friend of mine’ is the modern version. Every word of it is true. These are the true colours of your kith and kin.

Isn’t it foolishness on your part to devote your entire time and energy for such opportunists? Spend minimum time for the opportunists but work out the opportune time for your betterment - betterment of knowledge. If you still want to cling to your people, fine, cling to them but be prepared for its consequences i.e., be prepared for a secluded, uncared for, unwanted life. Can you tell me how long does anybody bother about your welfare?

6. Yavatpavano Nivasathi Dehe
Tavatprucchhati Kusalam Gehe!
Gatavathi Vayau Dehepaaye
Bharyaabibhyati Tasmin Kaaye “Bhaja Govindam.
As long as we have life in us, our people show interest inus. The minute we breathe the last, even our wife is scared to approach our dead body.

As long as there is pranic energy in your life so long does everybody cares for you. The minute you breathe your last, that is the last minute with your darling wife (here wife is the surface meaning. You can extend it to children, relatives, and friends and so on). All these are scared even to look at the body.

In case somebody advises, ‘What a pity! This poor body of his slogged all his life for your welfare. Don’t ruthlessly burn him away. Please preserve him carefully in one corner of your house, ‘pat comes the reply, ‘Sir, if you so desire, we will conduct his funeral on a large scale and burn him on sandal wood sticks, but for heaven’s sake don’t ask us to keep the dead body with us. We are scared to look at it even.

‘Yavatpavano nivasati dehe’ - as long as there is air in your body. There is poetic beauty in these lines. A careful selection of a word conveys the meaning better than any other word. Sri Sankaracharya could have said, ‘as long as you have life in you’ but he is conveying a subtle meaning through the word. ‘Vayuvu’ Vayuvu is moving or temporary. Our life which is filled with this Vayuvu is as temporary as the Vayuvu itself.

Actually the substance of air in us is a miracle. You can call it the wonder of wonders. For example you take a foot ball or a volley ball filled with air and just gives it a pinprick! The whole air goes out! Whereas though our body has nine holes - ‘nava randhras’ - it sustains air! How amazing! But how long will this restless air rest in our body, no great astrologer can predict. The minute the air leaves you, your relatives leave you! Whichever body you have gloated as your own is burnt down to ashes in the grave yard. Which ever relatives you boast about as your own burn down their memories of you in the grave yard itself! This is the darker side of life which we refuse to visualize. But how long can we shun the darker side? If we do so, it is real madness!
As I keep telling you, don’t stretch the meaning ‘Bharya bibhyati tasmin Kaye’ too far. If you start singing everyday philosphical songs like Bharya biddalu todurarura jeeva (wife and children don’t accompany you to grave yard) or Okanatiki vallakaadiki (one day we should die) they will desert you this very minute! These teachings are to bring awareness in you but not for external exhibitions. The sum and substance of this line is - you should realise their limitations and you should love them as much as they require but you should not insult them or suspect their love with your misunderstanding of Vedanta.

Limitations -Maturity
If we have a proper understanding of the limitations of the family or society, we will not deprive them of their freedom. We will lead an adorable life. On the contrary, if we don’t realize our limitations, we start dictating terms to our family members, relatives and even friends. This desire for power becomes an obsession and disturbs our mind initially and disturbs the others around us.
The true love blossoms forth in freedom. Our love is not true love. It is because we are trying to command others in terms of love. Our love is enslaving them to us instead of binding them to us. We do emotional blackmail. We utter words like, ‘If you love me you should do this, you should do that.’ Emotioned blackmail is as good as a crime. How can such a man become a spiritual person?
Some of you assume that if you listen to spiritual lectures, your love and attachment for your family dies down! I can strongly oppose this misconception. Vedanta promotes your love but never curtails it. If you know where to draw a line, you can work within the boundaries. Then doesn’t it fill your life with happiness? Definitely! So this sloka or theory of Bhaja Govindam strengthens your love for the family or your human relations, but it will never bring your downfall. True love dawns with the dawn of knowledge.

One who attains knowledge leads even his family in the right path. As a result his marriage and his family become a great bliss. In such a family there will be freedom. It suits the description ‘Home is heaven on earth’.

On the contrary, one who is not inclined towards acquisition of gnana doesn’t know the limitations of his family. He seeks at a wrong pace, the fulfilment of his desire for permanent happiness. He depends on his family for everything and disturbs them time and again. This results in a rupture among the family members and unrest at home.
Such a great teaching is not aimed at an escapist. You must have guessed it by now. So, for heaven’s sake, don’t arrive at ‘negative meanings’ after reading these slokas. Use your simple logical thinking. Will a great man like Sri Sankaracharya who is a repository of spiritual knowledge, invoke such negative thoughts in you?

When the body itself has its own limitations, doesn’t the system which is centred round the body have its own limitations? If we cross the limitations it leads to many problems.
So, don’t put the blame on the family for your inaction. It is only passing the back. Family is not hindering your way; it is your ignorance that is putting a break to your spiritual progress. If you have an inclination in the spiritual path, every step becomes yoga.

Many people are of the opinion ‘jindagi lamba hai’ what the great hurry is. As we grow old we get spiritual thinking automatically.

Spiritual thinking has nothing to do with age. If you have maturity, you get the inclination. Maturity doesn’t automatically come with age. We should gain maturity through sastra, lectures of gurus etc. so it is a misconception that we get spiritual thinking as we grow old and that it blossoms forth on its own. This idea is described by Sri Sankarachaya in this sloka.

7. Balastaava Kridaasakta
Starunastaava tarunee saktaha
Vruddha staavat chintaasaktha
Pare brahmani kopi Na saktaha Bhaja Govindam.

The childhood is wasted in playful mood. When we enter youth, our youthful desires enhance themselves. In old age, we are depressed. Being lost thus in every stage nobody is ever making an attempt to attain Brahma gnana is the wonder of Sri Sankaracharya.
Sri Sankaracharya is analysing life here. Vedanta teaches us how to think. That’s why Vedanta is described as the greatest teaching. Only Vedanta can guide us to the path of thinking!
Somebody says ‘Chant the name of Hari all the 24 hours. Then the attendants of Vishnu will come and take you to Heaven.’ Where is the scope for you to think?
‘I am born to liberate you! Why fear when I am here’ says another great man. What else can you think of? Even if you wish to think, they don’t let you do so. Except Vedanta nothing else can make you reason out things!

The wiseacres tell you that the minute the thinking ability dies; man is as good as being dead. It is because man is distinct from all other creatues only by virtue of his thinking power or reasoning ability. All other aspects supply the thoughts to you. They even dump thoughts on you. Vedanta alone explains to you anything logically with examples and leaves the final decision to you. Vedanta doesn’t believe in thrusting somebody’s opinion on you. It doesn’t threaten you with the words like, ‘If you don’t follow me you will go to hell!’

After speaking elaborately for 18 chapters, Krishna left the final choice to Arjuna. He said’ Yadhecchasi tadha kuru! It means you reason out to yourself on whatever you have heard and do whatever you want. He did not force Arjuna to follow his line of action.
Whatever others tell you ultimately your life is your own! Vedanta can guide you when you are at a loss to decide but it doesn’t force you to take a particular step. It is because, even if you hear any number of good things, unless your heart responds to it, you cannot put one step forward. That’s why Vedanta helps you as a friend, but doesn’t control you as a dictator.

There is no point in listening to a few stories in Bhagavatham or in singing a few bhajana songs. They are surface level prayers. They can be called entertainment but they do not give you enlightenment. Spiritual teaching is to provide you enlightenment but not entertainment. External prayer doesn’t lead you anywhere!

Once a passerby was passing through a forest. He saw a hunter getting ready with his net to catch the parrots. He was moved with pity for them. So he went to the parrot’s leader and said, ‘Look Mr. Leader, the hunter is getting ready to catch hold ofyou. Presently I can save you from him, but I cannot be with you forever. So I will teach you one mantra which will help you to save yourselves.’ So saying, he taught the mantra ‘Hunter is there, be ready’ to him. He added you practice this mantra and you also teach to it to the other parrots. As soon as anyone sees the hunter, he can alert the rest.’

He was surprised to see on his way back the parrots were totally caught in the net. They were blindly repeating, ‘Hunter is there, be ready!’ If you are carried away by superfluous teachings, even your life will be like the parrots’ life. Day by day we get entangled in the net of ignorance but like the parrots we keep repeating ‘Brahma Satyam, Jaganmidya.’
Vedanta shows you the right path but never gives you superfluous information. Sri Sankaracharya is highlighting this aspect.

Open your eyes and see for yourself. You yourself will learn that spiritual knowledge just doesn’t come and fall in your lap.

Kaumaram, Yavvanam, Jara - childhood, youth, and old age are the three stages of our life. Sri Sankaracharya is analysing these three stages in this sloka.

‘Balastavat Kreedasaktaha’ - You will be in a playful mood in childhood. You will not have the maturity normally to probe into serious matters. Dhruva, Prahlad, Sachiketa and Sankaracharya were exceptions to the rule. Other than these, nobody ever attained Brahma gnana inthat age. It is spent in games. So the playful mood dominates in childhood.
Then how is youth?

‘Tarunastava tarunisaktaha’ - As we step into youth from childhood we gain more of energy. So our body and heart long for many desires and they become uncontrollable. When desires dominate, where is the place for God or self realization? That’s why students think of God only during exams. They treat spiritual learning as a sheer waste of time. So they look down upon those who teach good things or those who seek to learn good things. This stage is a wanting stage butnot a knowing stage.

‘Ayurnasyati pratidinam, yaati kshayam yavanam’ - gradually we are nearing our last days. We lose our youthful energy. Do we open our eyes when we reach our old age atleast?
‘Vrudhastava Chintasaktaha - In old age man is prone to sorrow’. Oh Swamiji! How I wish, I was acquainted with you thirty years ago. I would have led my path in the rightful way, but what can I do now? It’s all my bad luck! ‘This is the standard dialogue of most of the old people whom I come across.

Actually if you understand Vedanta properly, you can lead your way in the right direction even in old age. There is no doubt about it. But the tragedy isold people are constantly reminded of the past. They live in past ignoring the present. They brood over the past glory. When they are distubed thus, they cannot gain any knowledge. Teaching them is a sheer waste.
So all the three stages - childhood, youth and old age - are being wasted thus. Now tell me, when they are wasted thus, how will spiritual thinking come automatically ?

If your argument is correct, all old people should become gnanis. In fact, in old age instead of becoming a gnani, a man is losing what little knowledge he has. Children have a greater clarity of mind than the old people. So there is no possibility for acquiring knowledge until you open your eyes. You can acquire gnana only by understanding life but not by just living it.

So try to understand life properly and begin this very minute an attempt to ‘know thyself’. Put an end to the procastination ‘Jindagi lamba hai!’

Very little time at hand
We have a life span of 100 years but nearly 40 years time goes in our sleep. In the remaining 60 years, we spend some 15 years in childhood pleasures, another 15 in acquiring education, another 15 in family and yet another 15 in diseases. So we either enjoy or suffer in life. If we give a discount to all these we are left with a minimum of five or ten years! So it is real foolishness to assume that there is plenty of time to acquire knowledge of the self.

Does the food in your plate go into your mouth automatically? No, you have to eat it! Then how can you expect knowledge to enter your brain all by itself? It needs a great effort on your part. That’s why our rishis proclaimed ‘Uttistata!’ Beware! Prapyavarannibodhata! - Get up! Open your eyes! Seek the footsteps of blessed souls and attain knowledge!

We should seek the blessed souls and we should be inspired by them, but we should never sit idle hoping it bill land on us all by itself.

Life gives us ageing but not maturity. What is the difference between the two? Ageing is growing old physically. Maturity is growing wise mentally. Life’s quantitative aspect is ageing, qualitative aspect is maturity

It is not wise on your parta to sit idle without making any effort leaving the matter to God. God helps you no doubt but how? He enables you to meet good people. He takes you to the footsteps of a great saint. He paves the way, but you have to walk on the path. When you are acquainted with such satsangs and great saints you should try to derive knowledge outof them. But are we probing into the matter at anyof the three stages of childhood, youth and old age? ‘Pare brahmani kopi na saktah’ -Nobody is learning about the ever truthful brahmatatva! ‘Nobody is showing an interest to learn about brahma tatva’ says Sri Sankaracharya with an element of surprise. As long as you don’t seek to learn about God and self realization, you cannot get rid of your sorrow. So, for that reason pray to Govinda says Sri Sankaracharya.

We are blind to the truth and we are in a sort of a dazed state ‘Govinda Bhajan’ is the only way out of this dazed state. Whichever wakes you up to the truth, whichever brings you an awareness of ‘Brahma’ that is the true bhajan ‘Uttishtata!’ Beware!
Bhaja Govindam Bhaja Govindam Govindam Bhaja Moodamate.