SANKARA’S

B H A JA GOVINDAM
Jayantt Senes No. 7

Printed at the G S Press, Madras-2

Published by S. Subbaiya lor
Ganesh & Co (Madras) Private L td, Madras-17

Price Rs. 2
 yada dharmaglanirbhavati jagatun 1 sobhakararii
tada lokastam i prakntiiavapuk letudhrdajah
sntnm dkata siaeeho nigamaganagito ir a ja p a td i
saranyo lokeso mama bl avatv kr$no k o ii isayrh

When righteousness declines throwing the w oild m 4o

-i chaos then the Lord of the worlds incarnates Himself
in o rder to preserve th e Law s although H e is unborn
H e is the protector of the righteous pure, praised b j ill
the Vedas the Lord of Vraja the Refuge and the Direc­
tor of the worlds — m ay H e Sri K rsna become the
object of m v expei lence ’

— fiom S m k u i x R rs n i tai
 SANKARA’S

BH AJA G O VIN DAM

Text in Devandgari and Roman

w ith an English Translation
and Commentary

By
T. M. P. MAIIADEVAN, MJL, PhD .
Professor of PJitlosophy, University of Madras

19C2
CANESII & CO. (MADRAS) PRIVATE LTD
MADRAS 17
 Preface
This is the seventh in the Sankara Jayanti
Senes of publications The work of Sankara
selected here for translation and exposition is
the popular hymn ‘Bhaja Govindam’ For the
purpose of teaching the truths of Vedanta,
Sankara has made use of several forms of
literary composition, from vigorous prose to
scintillating poetry The present work is a
simple and moving song, exhorting people to
lead a God centred life The fundamentals of
Vedanta are taught here m plain and musical
language Hence the popular appeal of ‘Bhaja
Govindam’ May this offering of mine — in
the form of an expository edition of the Hymn
to Govmda — please the great Teacher of the
world, S n Sankara ’
I am grateful to my colleagues Dr V A
Devasenapathi and D r P K Sundaram for
reading through the proofs, to Messrs Ganesh
& Co, Madras, for sponsoring this publication,
and to the G S Press, Madras, for quick and
efficient execution of the printing
Madras
April 17 1963 T M. P MAIIADEVAN
 Contents
PAGE
Preface .. v

Introduction .. 1

Bhaja Govindam : Text,Translation, and

Commentary . . 10

A ppendix: DvadaSamanjarika .. 70
 Introduction

There is a story attached to the composition

o f the present Hymn Acarya Sankara, it is
said, was walking along a street in Varanasi,
one day, accompanied by his disciples He
heard the sound of grammatical rules being
recited by an old scholar Taking pity on the
scholar, he went up to him and advised him
not to waste his time on grammar but to turn
his mind to God in worship and adoration
The Hymn to Govmda was composed on this
occasion Besides the refrain of the song
beginning with the words *bkaja govindam’,
Sankara is stated to have sung twelve verses,
hence the hymn bears the title ‘Dvddasa-
manjanka-sttitra’ (A hymn which is a bunch
of twelve verse-blossoms) The fourteen dis­
ciples who were with the Master, then, are
believed to have added one verse each
these fourteen verses are together called
XZaturdasa-manjartka-stotra’ (A hymn which
is a hunch of fourteen verse-blossoms) In
some editions the two sets are given separa­
tely, with a verse added at the end of each
 KARA

wherein the authorship and the occasion are

mentioned Apart from minor variant"read-
mgs, there are quite a few variations among
the editions One half of a verse, in some
cases, is combined with a half of another
verse The order in which the verses appear is
not quite the same in all the editions Certain
additional verses also occur in the generally
accepted form of the hymn These additions
are sometimes referred to as the ‘surplus’
(se?a).
The text that is presented here follows the
one printed in volume 18 (pages 62-69) of
the Memorial Edition of The Works of £ n
Sankaracarya, published by Sn Vani Vilas
Press, Snrangam, with a few minor variant
readings adopted from other printed editions
The text consists of thirty-one verses includ­
ing the refrain beginning with the words
‘bhaja govtndam’, and hears the title ‘Moha-
mudgara’ which means ‘the hammer that
strikes at delusion ’ Popularly the hymn is
referred to as 'Bhaja Goiundam’
There is a manuscript commentary, Dva-
dafamanjanka-vtuarana, by one Svayampra-
hasa Svamin (Government Oriental Manus-
 B H A JA G O V IN D A M

cripts Library, Madras; No. D. 10067). In the

-invocatory verses, the commentator Svayam-
prakasa offers obeisance to Sri Svapraka^a,
the lord of the world (oisuesa), to Sri Ra m a,
his chosen deity (ista), and to Sri Gopala-
Yogindra, his preceptor. The first three in­
vocatory verses read as follows:
•(1) yatpdda-smaranam samasta-jagatarn
sarvarthasiddhi-pradam
yannama-sravanam visuddha-manasam
jnana-pradam yogindm,
yatkarunya-kataksa-viksanam aho
samsara-samtdranam
fam vtsue&rm anantam adyam amalam
sri-svaprakasam bhaje.
^2 ) sarvadharam anadharam
sargasthityanta-kdrinam,
sarvajftam karunam urtim
sri ramam saranam bhaje.
•(3) yatprasaddd-aham saksdd-
tsvarandm apisvarah,
snmad-gopdlayogirtdrdms
tdn vande karundnidhin.
The next verse is in praise of Sri Safikara.
SvayamprakaSa says here that his own words
•(in the form of the commentary) have be-
 SANKARA

come valuable because of their connection

w ith the A carya’s work, the Dvadasa-manja-
n ka, even as the drain-water becomes sacred
w hen it 301ns the Ganga
acaryakrtz-sambandhan-madvakyarn.
slaghyam eva ht,
rathyodakam yatka gangapravaha-
patanac-chubham
According to Svayamprakasa, the Dva-
dasamanjanka is a prakarana work, a manual
o f Advaita-Vedanta He does not call it a
stotra (hym n) It is significant that the re ­
frain beginning with the words 'bhaja govtn-
dam > is not found in the manuscript commen­
tary Nor is there any reference to the gram­
marian and his recitation In some printed
editions, as already stated, there is a verse-
added at the end of the twelve verses attri­
buted to Sankara (thirteen including the re­
frain), wherein are mentioned the authorship
and the occasion of the composition The
verse reads thus
dvadasamanjankabhvr-asesah
kathito vatyakaranasyatsah,
upadeso’ bhud vidyantpunath
srimacchankarabhagavaccaranaih
 B H A JA G O V JH D A M

[Through the twelve verse-blossoms, all

this entire teaching was imparted to the gram­
marian by the most wise Sri Sankara-bhagavat-
pada ]

Instead of the above verse, Svayam-

prakasa has the following —
dvadasamanjarzkabkir-asesah
sisyanam kathzto hyupadesah,
yesan-naiva karoti vivekam
te pacyante narakam anekam.
{Through the twelve verse-blossoms, the entire
teaching was imparted to the disciples Those
dor whom this teaching does not bnng discrimi­
native wisdom will suffer in many a hell ]
Svayampraka£a’s commentary is on exact­
ly twelve verses The verses occur in the fol­
lowing order 2, 29, S, 4, 11, 3, 18, 26, 12, 13,
24 ab + 25 cd, and 17 (These numbers refer
•to the places of the verses in the present edi-
■tion) Hence the title Dvadasamanjartka does
■strictly apply to this collection Explaining the
meaning of the title, SvayamprakMa says:
Ju st as a cluster of blossoms pleases the mind
by a mere look, so also this manual purifies
the mind by mere study through generating
 S A fiK A R A

detachment and knowledge Or, just as a

cluster of blossoms pleases the bees through-
honey, even so this m anual brings satisfac­
tion to the disciples Hence the comparison of
th e manual to a cluster of blossoms is quite
apt (yathd manjankavalokanamatrena cittam
prasadayati, evam prakaranam apt sravana-
matrdd eva vairagyajnanadvara ctttam pra-
sadayati athava manjari makarandadvara
yathd bhramardn pnnayatt, tatha sisyan
prinayati tasman manjansamyam prakara-
•nasyopapannam eva)
The method of exposition that a teacher
adopts when he has to instruct his pupils is
quite different from the one which he employs
m order to convince or silence his opponents
Instruction (upade&a) is different from dis­
putation (vada,) The present manual is of the
nature of instruction designed for the disciple.
The word stsya (disciple, pupil) means h e
who is taught by the teacher, he who becomes
distinguished through knowledge of the texts,
from the outward-turned individual that he
was earlier, he who restrains the activity of
the sense organs, etc (Svayatnprakasa •
siksyata iti stsyah, athava sisyate visisyate
sastradi-panpidnena bahirmukhdpeksaya iti
 BH A JA G O V IN D A M

sisyah, athavd tndnyddi-pravrttim siksayafiti

sisyah).
The disciples are of two grades those with
impure mind (yyakida-atta), and those with
pure mind (avyakula~citta) A disciple of the
first category has a mind which is endowed
with bad tendencies, passions, attachments,
e tc , and is full of wild and vain imaginings
A disciple of the other category has no
conceits—even those bom of learning and good
conduct—and no vanities, and is free from the
habit of building castles m the air Such a
one gains release even by a single listening to
the Vedantic texts But the other one has to
first cleanse his mind and make it one-pointed
through the practice of yoga, and only there­
after will he get enlightened through Vedanta
The practicant of yoga may acquire super­
normal powers But these have nothing to do
with realization It cannot be said that it is
only he that has these powers and can curse
or bless people, is capable of realizing the Self
These extra-normal abilities are the fruits of
yoga They have no connection with 3nan a
(wisdom) The jndnT may also be a yogi
That, however, is a different matter Thus,
sajs SvayamprakaSa, realization is only
 £ AN K A R A

through the study, etc , of Vedanta, the purifi­

cation of the xnind and meditation are but
auxiliaries
The present w ork is not meant for the
disputants because it does not contain any
dialectic The Materialists (Carvakas), etc,
do not accept the authority of Scripture With
reference to them, Svayamprakasa relates the
story of the man who, deprived o f his nose,
set about preaching ‘Lo, you m ay behold the
heavenly worlds if you cut off your nose’ Come,
follow me and enjoy looking at these worlds 1’
Some did follow him only to get disappointed
The disputes among the followers of the
different schools, the commentator compares
to the barkings of a dog at its own reflections
in a ball of mirrors So, the disciple is taught,
there is no use in disputation Advaita means
‘ non-quarrel’ Let one first acquire faith in
the teacher and the teaching It is this which
w ill lead one to perfection The present work
is admirably suited to instruct the disciples in
the fundamentals of Vedanta The omniscient
Lord incarnated himself m the form of
Sankaracarya, observes Svayamprakasa, and
first and foremost taught dispassion which is
the means to knowledge, and in this composi-
 BHAJA GOV IN DAM

tion, he addresses the disciple who is his own

external hfe and mind as it were, as ‘O fool P,
even as a father would his son, out of great
compassion (bhagavan sarvapiah sankara-
caryarupena avafirya prathamam jnana-
sadhanavairagyam upadi&an paramakanini-
katvena piteva svatanayam bahthpranacittam
sisyam sambodhayati—mudha . . . . . . ift).
 Bha ja Govindam
(Moha-mudgara')
[1]

o n t f M '<ra n tfo if
=pw l
Hstra ’rrafpr
ft n ft r<jra n

bhaja govindam bhaja govtndam

bhaja govindam mudhamate,
samprapte sanmhite kale ane
na hi na hi raksati dukrhkar
, adore the
Adore the Lord, adore the Lord
inted time (for
Lord, O fool ' When the appo of grammati­
departure ) comes, the repe tition
you
cal rules will not, indeed, save
hymn , and is sung at
This is the refra in of the
other verses, as at the
the end of every one of the
the hymn . As we have already
comm encem ent of
this does not occur in
noted in the Introducti on
comm entar y
Svay ampr akasa’s
to occupy his mind
H ere the disciple is asked
!h such secul ar pursu its
with God rathe r than m
 BH AJA G O V W D AM U.
as the learning of grammatical rules The gram­
matical formula mentioned here, dukrnkarafie, is
from the Dkat.upd$ha in Panini’s work on gram­
mar It stands for all grammatical formulas, and,
in fact, for all secular pursuits that do not involve
any occupation with God In the Chandogya.
Upantaad, the story is told of Narada seeking
instruction from Sanatkumara Sanatkumara asks
Narada to tell him first what he knows already.
Narada gives a long list of the sciences and arts
beginning with the four Vedas and going down to
snake-charming and the fine arts In this list a
high place is given to grammar which is described
as the Veda of the Vedas It is so called because
it is through grammar that one understands the
Vedas by analysing the words, etc (Sankara
vyakaranena ht pad&di-vitih&gasdh rgiedadayo
jnayante) But all the disciplines, of which
Narada is a master, are characterized by Sanat-
kumara as being but names. The Infinite,
bhuman, exceeds these, it is in the Infinite that
true happiness lies, not in the finite Thus,
grammar may be useful as a means for under­
standing the truth But it ought not to be made
an end in itself
What would grammatical knowledge do when
death comes9 If e\en expertise in grammar or
linguistic analysis will not give solace to one at the
time of death, what will other disciplines do7
What, then, should one do7 Sankara’s answer as
is the answer of every sage-teacher, is Adore the
12 A A fiK A R A

Lord' Bhagavan Ramana says in the Ulfadti

Narpadu (Forty Verses on Existence): those peo­
ple who have intense {ear of death seek as their
refuge only the feet of the great Lord, who is with­
out death and birth * Attachment to what perishes
is not the way to release, devotion to the Imperi­
shable can be the only means To imagine that the
finite goods will save one is a delusion Such a
one’s mind is deluded, he is a fool (mudhamati).
It is also a delusion to postpone thinking of God
to the time of death The thoughts that are domi­
nant .in one’s life—it is these that will recur at
the end It is not possible to turn one’s mind to
God when death approaches, if one has not pre­
pared oneself for it through repeated worship and
devotion £ ri Kr?na declares in the Bhagavad-
gita (vn, 5) ‘And, at the time oj death, he who
remembers Me alone and departs, leaving the
body, attains My being, here there is no doubt ’
The forte of the word And (ca) is th at unless one.
has been remembering God earlier, one cannot
remember Him at the time of death As Sankara-
nanda explains, ‘even earlier, and at the time of
death’ (puruam npy antakale ca)
The name of God chosen for adoration in the
present hymn is Govmda Any other name of
God will suit as well A seer of the Rgveda

• See the present writer’s Ramano Mahorshi and HU

Philosophy of Existence (Sn Ramanasramani, Tiruvanna—
malai, 1349), pp 28 ft
 B H A JA G O V IN D A M 13

proclaims The truth is one, and the sages call it

by various names, they call it Indra, Yama, or
Matansvan* (I, clxiv, 46) 6 n Kr?na says in the
Bhagavad~gita (vu, 21) ‘Whichever devotee
desires to worship whichever form of the deity
with faith,—the particular mode of faith of that
particular devotee, I strengthen’ Sankarananda,
commenting on this verse, observes any form of
the deity may be worshipped, it may be Siva,
Visnu, Indra, or any other (straw va visnum
vapindram anyam va)

Govinda is one of the names by which Sri

Knsna is known The name occurs twice in the
Vtsnusahasranama (verses 33 and 71) In his
commentary on this work, Sankara gives the fol­
lowing meanings to the word Govtnda (1) He
who finds or knows the earth, (2) He who is the
lord of cattle, (3) He who confers speech, and
(4) He who is known through the Vedanta texts
Explaining the meaning of the term Govtnda
occurring in the Bhagavadgita, u, 9, Sankarananda
says, 'Govinda is so called because He is obtaina­
ble through the Vedanta texts alone’ (gobhir
vedanta vaLyatr e ta vtndyafe labhyata iti
govmdaJi) In the light of these explanations it
is clear, Govinda stands for the highest reality, the
ground of existence, the goal of life, in a word,
God.
The word bftajrt means ‘adoration, service, wor­
ship’ (hJiaja scvayam') It indicates all the nine
24 SANKARA

grades of devotion (1) listening to the glory of

God (sravana), (2) singing the praise of God
(kiTtana), (3) thinking of God (smarana), (4)
adoring the feet of God (padasevana), (5) offer­
ing worship to God (arcana), (6) making obei­
sance to God (vandana), (7) servitude to God
(dasya), (8) friendship with God (sakhya), and
(9) self gift to God (atmanwedana)
The repetition of the phrase 'bhaja govvn&am*
thnce is for the sake of emphasis

[2]

55 Ipgft fa y r n u 1

f b i 35 PitTHii
mtidha jahtht dhanagamatrsnam
kuru sadbuddhim manasi vitrsndm,
yal-labhase nijakarmopattam
vittam tena wnodaya cittam
O fool ’ leave off the desire for accumu­
lation of wealth, create in the mind thoughts
about Reality, devoid of passion What you
.get—i e what you have achieved through
jo u r past deeds—with that, satisfy your mind
One of the desires that depresses man and de-
 B H A JA G O V IN D A M 15

grades him is the desire for wealth Attachment

to property is the source of endless worry There
is travail in acquiring property, there is strain in
preserving it, and there is pain when it is lost It
is foolish to imagine that wealth will bring in
happiness Man is not satisfied with any amount
•of wealth (Katha Vpanisad, j, 27, na vtttena tar-pa-
niyo manusyah) In the world, it is not observed
that the gam of wealth affords contentment to any
(Sankara no hi loke vtttalabhah ka&yactt trptikaro
■drstah). In the Brhadaranyaka Vpantsad, Mait­
reyi puts this question to her husband Yajna-
valkya *Sir, if this entire earth filled with wealth
were mine, would I be immortal through that 7 ”
Vajnavalkya replies “No”, and adds “Your life
"will be just like that of people of means, but there
is no hope of immortality through wealth”
(amptatvasya. tu n/isisft vtttena II, iv, 2) Even
conceptually (manasapt), says Sankara, there is
no hope of immortality through wealth-produced
work In his Vartika. on the present text, Surei-
vara makes Maitreyi ask Yajnavalkya ‘ If wealth
makes for immortality, why do you want to give
it away7 ” Work, dependent on wealth, cannot be
the means to release, even as fire is not the remedy
for burning (na karma karanam mukter nfipnis
tapasya bhesajaw) And so, MaitreyVs request to
her husband is *Please do not give me the mate­
rial wealth that perishes That Wealth which has
no beginning, middle, nor end, that Wealth which
does not get depleted through enjoyment,—-let that
Wealth alone be given ”
 16 £ ANKARA

nadtr ndnto na madkyam va yasya vii^asya

vidyate,
bhoge na ca ksayam yatt tadeva vasu
dvyatam
In the present verse of the Bhaja Govtndam,
Sankara reminds us of the futility of accumula­
tion of m aterial wealth. Passionate attachments
vitiate the mind and render it unfit to receive the
light of truth Hence, the passions should he
removed from the mind One should cultivate
dispassion and detachm ent Non thirst (tntrsna)
should take the place of thirst (trsrm) When the
mind has been emptied of all its passions and
attachments with what should it be filled7 The
answer is with meditations on Reality, with
thoughts about the Real (sat) The Real is th at
which is not altered by tune it is the eternal Self,,
the supreme God Brahman Brahman is eternal,
pure of the nature of consciousness, ever free, it
is the truth subtle, pure existence, all pervading,
non-dual and the ocean of bliss These ten ex­
pressions are used (in the Sarnksepasanraka) to
indicate the nature of Reality
The meaning of the present verse, so far, is
Leaving off the three desires (for son, ivehlth,
and the world), be engaged diligently in listening
to the Vedanta texts, reflecting on their meaning,
and meditating on their truth (Svayamprakasa
e&mitrcLijatn parttyajya sravarta manana-ntdtdh-
j/asanadisllo bfiaua ity arthah)
If one has to give up acquiring wealth, how is
 B H A JA G O VIND AM 17

one to live, it may be asked The reply is let

him live with whatever comes to him as a result
of his past karma Let him offer the fruits of his
present deeds to God, so that his mind may be­
come pure Let him subsist on whatever comes
his way, without coveting
The present verse, as we have seen, is the first
in the text given in Svayamprakasa’s commen­
tary Usually at the commencement of a work,
the author offers obeisance to the chosen deity or
preceptor, and indicates the subject-matter, aim
etc, of the work According to Svayampraka^a,
Sankara the author of this work does this by using
the word sat (in hunt sad-buddhvm) By this
word, observes the commentator, Sankara per­
forms the mangalacarana of the form of remember­
ing the nature of the Self (svarupanusandhSna-
laksanam) Thus, he follows the tradition in this
regard and sets an example to others, although he
himself has no use for such a formality, since he
is an incarnation of Lord Siva Bhagavan
Sankaracarya is the foremost among the cultured
(sistSgra-nir bhagavan SankaracSryah), the pre­
sent work, like the others is for the sake of protec-
mg the good people and the good life (sadhujana-
panpalanartham), which is the purpose of an
avat&ra (incarnation) Moreover, being the ideal
teacher, he practises what he teaches through pre­
cept, and it is thus that he seeks to set others on
the road to good life Hence at the commence­
ment of this work, he meditates on the supreme
2
18 ■SA tfK A R A

Reality by employing the word sat (paramaftcms^-

parturajafoaceryattwd acaryoeiia-dharma. eva pwti-
yate)
Here an objection may be raised According to
Advaita, there is no duality, no world or people
to b e saved, no teacher or preceptor who could
save Since there is no world apart from one­
self, w hat is to be saved, and who is to save’ If
it be said that we have to postulate an illusory
world, and then admit that it is to be saved, such
an explanation, says the objector, is not at all
intelligible When it is said that the world is illu­
sory, what is meant is that the world is not (tasya
■mithyabhutasya nastity-aparaparyayatvSt) Is there
any sense m instructing the dream-world’ To a
man who has woken up from a dream, of what
use is the wedding ceremony performed in the
dream’
The reply to this objection is as follows from
the standpoint of the pupil who experiences bon­
dage and seeks to have it removed, the teaching
is not meaningless From this standpoint, the dis­
tinctions of God and the world, of preceptor and
pupil, caused by nescience, are all quite meaning­
ful When the wisdom-light dawns, then, of
course, there is no duality, no world To such a
one, all this is a dream, but not to the unen­
lightened
The subject-matter of the present work, as of
all works on Vedanta, is Brahman that is now
unknown, and the aim or goal is the gaming of
 N 19
R H A JA G O V IN D A

tam brahma visayam;

Brahman-knowledge (ajnd
m)
jhatani brahma prayojara
131

SSI HUTT ntS & JH I

trefa HR RH qR qiffl ||
namstanabha rana bhidesam
drstv a ma ga mohavesam,
etan-mamsava$adi~vikaram
m.
manasi vicm taya vara m vara
sedu ctive fema le form , do not
Seeing the
sion Tha t (fem ale
la ll a prey to frenzied delu
tion of*3lesh and fat.
form ) is (but ) a modifica
k well thus in you r min d again and again.
Thin (vairagya) is quite
The cultivation of dispassionSelf-knowledge Un­
s
essential for one who seek
the path of pleasure
less one turns away from the good (sreyas) In
(prei /as), one cann ot gam
uit of wealth for the
the previous verse, the pursecated In the present
•sake of wealth was depr against the snares of
ed
•one, the disciple is warn tion here is not to
carnal pleasure The inten are not debarred from
decry womanhood Women e have been great
Ved intic knowledge Ther says Sankara, in his
jndnls even among women,
 20 SA tfKA RA

commentary on the Mantfukya-hankd * What he-

teaches in the present verse, therefore, is that the
passionate desire for the flesh of a woman does
great harm to a man The same would be true
of a woman’s desire for sensual pleasure If man
and woman consider each other to be but a tool
for enjoyment, then each degrades the other
Carnal desire is compared to an evil spirit,,
b y Svayamprakasa When one is possessed by it,,
one ceases to be oneself By incantation this evil
spirit should be exorcised, the incantation in this-
case is discrimination (tam drstva pisaca-grasta.
wo ntohaprasto ma bkava vtvekamantrena ucca-
taya) “Discriminate and discern that there is no-
happiness in the objects of enjoyment” The tech­
nique of such discrimination is called pratipafcsa-
bhSvana in the Yoga system It consists in contem­
plating the opposite "If an object fascinates you,
look a t the opposite side of the object, its ephemeral
and unworthy nature, the harm it does, the evil it
involves, and extricate yourself from it ” Contem­
plating thus only once may not be enough One m ay
be deluded again and again on account of the past
habits and tendencies So, one should contemplate'
again and again till dispassion is generated
“Think in your mind repeatedly of the defective
side of the object of pleasure” (punah punah
manasi dosam emtaya, avartaya)

• See Readings jrcm Sankara (Part Two) (Jayantl Series-

N o 6, Canesh & Co Madras 19S1), pp 134 5
 BHA3A GOVINDAM ZL
The present verse appears as the sixth verse in
Svayamprakasa’s text So, he elaborately dis­
cusses the question as to why there should be a
•discourse on dispassion after jnana has been taught
In jr&na also there are grades In the case of some
jnants there may be lack of dispassion Some may
be active, and may not be free from misery In
the experience of Brahman-bliss there may be
grades In some modes of the mind, the conscious­
ness-aspect of Brahman alone is manifest, in some
■others, the bliss-aspect too is manifest And, in
accordance with the relative purity of the mental
modes, there may be differences in the degree of
bliss-manifestation These matters are clearly ex­
plained by Vidyaranya in his Pancada-si Svayam-
prakasa draws our attention to this explanation In
short, it is this dispassion (yairagya), knowledge
(bodha), and sense-control (uparama) are mutu­
ally helpful to one another Mostly they are found
■together In some cases, however, they may not
be together Hence, the conclusion of Svayam-
prakaJa is that a discourse on dispassion can never
be out of place

[4]

fqfe a m fin ra ra
stq; s II
 gAN K A R A

nahriiddlagatajalam atitaralam1
tadvaj-fivitam attsayacapalam,
vtddkt vyadhy-ahhimana-grastam
lokam sokahatam ca samastam
The water on the lotus-leaf is very un­
steady, so also is life extremely unstable
Know that the entire world is devoured by
disease and conceit, and smitten with sorrow
Here is prattpalcsa-bhavana (contemplation of the-
opposite) in regard to life m general and the world
The first lesson that contemplation on the nature-
of life yields is that life is fleeting Life is as un­
steady as a particle of water on a lotus-leaf It is
as inconstant as the clouds or as the water kept
in a leaky pot (jaladharapatala-bhinnahumbhoda-
fzatat pratiksanam vinSsi) Since life is so un­
certain, one should not postpone endeavour in the
direction of Self-knowledge Svayamprakasa says
"Leave off the false imagination that life is depen­
dable, and begin early to strive for Self-knowledge^
Like a cow which comes to grief by chewing the-
cud when it ought to graze, do not waste your tim e
and later on repent Just as a cat does not spare
a weeping rat, so also Death will not leave you,
taking pity on you, when the time comes” (tasmat
cirasthayiti bJiranhm jxmtyajya atmajnane pruyat-
na7ii sighram eva kuru trnasvtkarana-kdle roman-
thorn kurvan paswriva. pascdd-anartham ma bfiaja-

1 Svayamprakasa lala-Iovo-Iaralam
 23
B H A JA C 0V 1H D A M

ara tva antakas tvam

mda ntam musi kam marj So, one must begin
drstvS. na dayaluh bhavet)
path of Self-knowledge
even now to purs ue the
here even while living
The Self must be realized res the Kena Upanisad,
“If here one knows it”, decla
and if here one knows it not,
*then there is truth ,
(u, 5)
great is the destruction”
too is full of misery,
Even as life is, the world
this world, but the
and is inconstant Not only al
other worlds also Physical disease and ment
grip As the Buddha
conceit hold the world in their all is mom entar y,
ry,
declared, “All is misery, mise duhkham, sarvam
kam
momentary” (sarvam duhk ythin g other than
ksantkam ksan tkam) Ever
ts Even heavenly
Brahman is affected by defec
enjoyment is trans itory So, one should not trust
, one should make haste
what is finite and perishing towards Brahman
to tum one's mind and being
£5]

w fe ’ataraHTO-
OTrfqsrcfarct w I
<tsnsftefa
H II
TOT
j/ai? fld-n ttopS rjnna -snk tas-
h,
tavan -ni-ja -parivaro rakta
pascd'ww a.ti jarja ra-d ehe gehe .
varta m ho’p t na prcc hati
24 SAN KARA

As long as you have the ability to earn

money, so long will your dependents be attach­
ed to you A fter that, when you live with an
infirm body, no one would even speak to you
a word.
Unfortunately, it is a money-centred world in
which we live A n individual is respected and
sought after, usually, so long as he has the power
of the purse The dependents attach themselves
to the wage-earner and the money-getter in their
own self-interest But as soon as the person on
whom they depend is deprived of his economic
power, either due to old age or other circumstan­
ces, they leave him to his fate The disabilities of
old age are well known When penury Is added
to these, life becomes an unbearable burden.
Such a state of things will, however, become a
blessing in disguise, if one contemplates jts signifi­
cance and develops dispassion This will enable
one to cease relying on earthly props, and turn to
the path of Self-knowledge

[6]
totto! fSrrafn

toth tot ??tto

to? iqmfir totor n
 B H A JA C O V IN D A M

ydva t-pavano mva sati dehe

,
tavat-prcchati kusa lam gehe
gatavati vdya u dehdpdye
bhar ya bibh yati tasm tn kaye
in the body , so
As long as ther e is brea th
ehold ask abou t
long do people in the hous
th leaves, on the
one’s welf are Once the brea
on of the body , the depe nden ts drea d
destructi
that very same body
ned to generate dis-
This, again, is a verse desig
disciple It is astound­
passion in the mind of the
of body-worship in the
ing that there is so much
nt of time and energ y
hum an world Wha t an amou of the body’ Turn
on
is wasted in the glorificati
plenty of evidence for
where one may, one discerns
body But this is a
the cult of the physical sadic story of Indra-
demoniacal cult In the Upamof the demons, unde r­
Virocana, Virocana, the chiefthat the body was the
stood Prap pah os teaching
Sunday clothes, embe­
self He attire d himself in ents, and looked at
llished himself with fine ornam of wate r He was
his own reflection in a poolback to his kind in
mightily pleased, and went nothing greater than
was
orde r to preach that there
the body
ct on the constitution
But let us pause and refle market \ilu e of the
and \aluc of the bodj The American Professor,
ding to an
a\era ge man, accor
26 S A tiK A R A

is about 98c When the body is dead, not only does

it have no value, it becomes a positive disvalue
Even the so called near and dear ones are afraid
to go near the dead body One should meditate
on this phenomenon and become free from attach­
m ent to the body

[7]

w is n w tw i
ssstn R p aifra ;!
qi; s im h ?rr ii
balastduat kndasaktas-
tarunastavat tarunisaktah,
vrddhastavac-cintasaktah
pare1 brahmant ko’pi na saktah
When a boy, one is attached to sport?
when a youth, one is attached to a young
woman, when old, one is attached to anxiety,
to the supreme Brahman, no one, sikis, is
attached f
A man’s attachments change from time to time
His obsessions vary in accordance with different

1 Some editions parame

 27
B H A JA G O V IN D A M

hood, his preo ccup ation

periods of life In his child
He hves in the play -
is with toys and trink ets t,
up to sport As an adul
world, and gives himself
beco mes a deniz en of the world of romance
he
al enjo yment occupy his
Courtship, chivalry, carn
grows old and decrepit,
attention. When a man
and fear take possession
feelings of anxiety, dread,
individua l leads an ab-
of him Thus the average the finish He is not
to
rorm al life from the start
thing othe r than himself
himself, he is alw ays some
his worries
his playthings, his family,
a man is draw n to the inne r
It is seldom that
man As the Kath a Upanisad (iv, 1)
Self, Brah
God pierced the openings
puts it “The self-existent
therefore, one looks out­
of the senses outw ard
, not with in ones elf But the wise one (rare
ward
eye within and beholds
as such a one is) turns his
immortality ” Although
the inne r Self, desiring t and desire are used
such expressions as attachmen
man-Self, these do not
with reference to the Brahing One is not attach­
carry their ordinary mean
attached to finite objects
ed to Brahman as one is as one desires things
One does not desire Brahman the SamhandhavSrtika,
As Suresvar a observes in
mok?a. is an interest in
what is called ‘desire for about by discrimination
the eternal Self brought
nt or blind and unthink­
It is not narrow attachme
ing desire
appear in Svajamprc-
Verses 5, 6 and 7 do not
kasa’s text
 AARKARA

[83
SET & SET^I $3!
o n t s s r a r f a frP rr: 1
<eft v t spf sttsrra-
T<ni fsprfjf g f?5 s r a : II
ka te kantd kaste putrah
samsaro’yam ativa vtcttrah,
kasya tvam kah kuta ayatas-
tattvam ctntaya tadiha,12bhratah 8
Who is your wife 7 Who is your son 7
Exceedingly wonderful, indeed, is this empiri­
cal process 1 Of whom are you 7 Who are
you 7 Whence have you come7 0 brother,
think of that tru th here
Family relations and the institution of the house­
hold have only a limited value They have value
in so far as they serve to liberate the individual
from ego-centred existence But when they have
served their purpose, they must be left behind
Family is the home of trial and testing, it is not
one’s destination Hence the teacher seeks to instil
in the mind of the disciple a sense of detachment.
The disciple should outgrow narrow attachments to

1 Other readings tadidam, yadtdam

2 bhrcntak, bhronta
 29
B H A JA G Q V 1N D AM

not mean that he

kindred and dan. This does
them, nor even
should be cruel to them or hate
intere sts What
that he should be callous to their
r regard them
it means is that he should no longe
their prope rty It
as his property, nor himself as that make a
k
is those who have a narro w outloo The
and others
distinction between their own
world to be their
great ones consider the entire
household
d whereby one
The presen t \erse teache s a metho
hmen t It is the
may cultivate a sense of detac Let one inquire
method of discriminat ion, inqui ry
ood, sonship, etc,
who is wife, who is son’ Wifeh
not wife before
are superimpositions The lady was so after sometime
marriage She will cease to be
What happe ns
Where was the son before his birth’ ’ When one
erited
to him if he dies or is disinh
no son, e tc, in
inquires into the truth, there are putrddayo na
reality (utcaryamane tattva drstyiaccount of rnaya
santi) Wife, son, e tc, appea r on
etc, do What is
even as the dream wife, son,
er The world of
called empirical life is a wond
non-dual, uncon­
plurality is an appearance in theas the shape of a
ditioned, immutable Self, even
rances in the sky
vault, blue colour, etc , are appeano one is no one’s
On inquiry it will be found that adrsta-kantdputrd-
Kin (hdntaputTo doyah svapn
somsarasya vat-
dmat maydzasat pratfyanfe ntrvtkare pratiya-
tttrya m ndma asange advituie
pratttimatram
mdnatvdt viyoti tnlam alinod iiat
bandhuJi)
mcaryamone no kasydpi kascid
 30 £ A ft K A R A

L et one meditate on the truth about oneself To

whom or to what does one belong 7 Whence does
one come’ What is one’s parentage 7 What is
one’s source 7 The empirical being that one identi­
fies oneself with is an appearance occasioned by
tooj/5 F o r the true Self, there is no cause nor
source
Adopting the reading ‘tadidam’ (that is this),
Svayamprakasa interprets it as meaning the major
tex t ‘tat team ast’ (that thou art) The meaning
of the last line, then would be Meditate on the
tru th of the major text *that thou art’ The ex­
press sense of ‘that’ is God, the express sense of
‘thou’ is the individual soul But the implied sense
of both the words is the unconditioned non-dual
Self (tad idam-tty-anena tattvamasiti mahavak-
-yarthak prattpddyate vyasti-sama^ti apiana-
dvaya parttyage kevala-caitanyam tattuamasiti
vakyartho bhavatt)

[9]

satsangatve nissangatvam
ntssangatve mrmohatvam.
 31
B H A JA G O V IN D A M

mrm oha tve msc ahta tvam

,
mscahta tve fiva nmu ktih
1

pan y of the good, ther e

Throug h the com ­
t, thro ugh non -attach
arises non -attach men
dom from delu sion ;
ment, there arises free stea d­
, ther e aris es
thro ugh delusionlessness es
dfastness, ther e aris
fastness, thro ugh stea
liberatio n m life
the objects of sense that
It is the association with dly
gavadgita (u, 62-63) vivi
causes evil The Bfca ect sense-objects with
s the link s that conn
describe In a man that contem­
destruction through evil hment thereto is horn,
plates sense objects, attac re, from desire, anger,
s desi
from attachment arise sion, from delusion, there
from anger is born delu memory, from this loss,
arises the loss of good
llect,
destruction of the inte
there comes about the com ­
perishes It is the bad
through this, the man leads him to his doom
that one keep s that a
pan y
to sense gratification is
The road that takes one , although it looks attrac­
stultifying downward path imagine that one would
To
tive at the first sight ish as
uing this path is as fool
•come to good by purs gain immortality by drin k­
to thin k that one would a visa m piba to’m arat-
ing poison (Sankaranand
i^tasya sadg atir no sam b/ia-
vam iva asanm-arge prav
v ati) .

1 Some editions msc alata tve

32 S A tiK A R A

In the present verse, the way out of this impasse

is shown J u s t as one removes the thorn that has
entered into one's flesh with the help of another
thorn, one m ay rid oneself of had associations
through association with the good—good people,
good thoughts, good deeds While association with
sense-objects reinforces bondage—the more the
association, the stronger the attachment—, associa­
tion with the good promotes detachment Since
attachment is the parent of delusion, detachment
begets the opposite of delusion, viz. wisdom When
one is free from delusion, one becomes steadfast
in wisdom (sthtta prajna.') Such a one is firm in
the wisdom of the form *1 am Brahman’ He is
free from the three root-desires, viz desire for son,
desire for wealth, and desire for the worlds H e
is one who has renounced these He enjoys in the
Self, he sports in the Self (Sankara on the Gitd,
11, 54-55 athita prati&tha akam asmi param brahma
ttt prajna yasya sak. stJuta prajnah tyaktaputra-
vittalokaisamah samnydsi atmarama atmakndah
sthttaprajhah) Such a one is a jivanmukta (one
liberated while living) I h e continuance of the
body is not a hindrance to moJcjs Sankara ob­
serves in his commentary on the Brah.masv.tra,
“How can anyone object to the heart-felt experi­
ence of one as possessing Brahman-knowledge
even while tenanting a body’ ” (katham. hy ekasya
sva-hrdaya-pratyayam brahma vedanam deha--
dhdranam ca aparena prahLseptum sakyate)
 B H A JA G O V IK D A M S3

Bhagavan Ramona has rendered this verse into

a stanzA m Tamil, which is the first in his supple­
ment (Anubandha) to Forty Verses on Existence
(Ufiadu Natpadu) The following is an English
translation*
“B y association with the good (the real, the
true), attachment to the world will go, w hen
attachment goes, the modification of the m ind (w*ith
Its cause, moya) will he destroyed, those who are
free from m ental modification are those who a re
one with the changeless (reality), they are those
who h a \o attained release while In mg (in the
body) C herish them company'”*

[10]
*6*.
’O t 38 T ram i
?Jt3i 38 i f a n ,
a f t < rn 3 : f o n , h

v a y a si ga te l.oh fcama t .,ji Q r .

s u s U r tr c k c h J ^ ^
k sln c v ittc Loh pcnre r o ’
Jinfitc ta ttle Ufc „„ .
iamsaroh.
34 SAtfKARA
lake is there'’ When the money is gone, wbat
dependents are there 7 When the truth is
known, what empirical process is there 7
Here are four epigrams to illustrate the trut’
that when the cause is removed the effect p en sl
that when the ground is taken away the conseo
cannot stand
T he lustful attitudes go with a y o u th h /
When youthfulness leaves the body, these j
also disappear It has already been
■when a youth one is attached to a you;
(see verse 7)
T he next epigram offers a n iXtasb
constitutes a lake is the water, and not
or the bund When there is no
lake
What draws dependents to
When that gets depleted, the n
depart (see verse 5)

The cause of the empirical

is ignorance about the truth o f /
that engenders the perception <f
consequent misery When tM
then it is seen that there is n /
cycle of birth and death f

Verses 9 and 10 do not occ,

text
 B H A JA G O V IN D A U 3S

m
’ll 55

’T T O W fe^ fer! f t^ n
SWI5 53 u fo j H R F tr II
tnd kuru dhanajanayauvanagaruam
harati m m esat katah s a n a m ,
mdydmayam tdam akhtlam hitva 1
brdhmapadam tta m pravisa vtdttva.
Do not be proud of wealth, kindred, and
youth, Time takes away all these in a moment.
Leaving aside this entire (world) which is of
the nature of an illusion, and knowing the
state of Brahman, enter into it
What bind man to the empirical process are his
false conceits bom of ignorance He is deluded
into thinking, feeling, and acting in terms of ‘my
property, my people, my youth’, e tc , as if these
are really his and will sa \e him These cannot
even stand against time, being ephemeral What is
the use of trusting them’ Conceit Is an obstacle
to knowledge and so one should g i\e it up com­
pletely (cbhunanayya jnlnaprohbflndhakatrdt
*3kalycna fans pentyaje) Wealth, kindred, and

1 Svavaropraki'a buddht 1
36 &A fi K A R A

yo u th are the tools for sense-enjoyment But, we

have seen that such enjoyment ends only in evil
So, one should not feel proud on account of wealth,
etc W ealth is notorious for its inconstancy People
follow the way of wealth Youth does not last very
long Who but a fool would chng to them’
This world is an illusory appearance The follow­
ing is the inference proving the illusory nature of
th e world this world is illusory, because it is an
object of experience, hke nacre silver (idem
jagan-mithya, drsyatwt, Suktikarupyavat) Hence,
one should inquire into the nature of Brahman and
realize it Brahman nature is not alien to us- It
is our own being We are Brahman (it is not
th at we have to become it) , even as Raghava was
Visnu, K am a was a son of Kunti and the tenth,
man, in the story of the ten travellers, was not
lost in the river floods

[12]
hft rrra:
f a f $ r r r a ;# r 'jto'ih: i
hg a w r a r a g : n
dinayamtnyau sayam pratah
sisiravasantau punar-aydtah,
kalah kndati gacchaty-dyus-
tadapi na muncaty-dsavayuh
 S7
S U A JA COV JND AM
daw n, w inte r
Day and nigh t, dusk and
g com e repe ated ly, Tim e sports, life
and sprin
ing, yet one does not leav e the wind s
is fleet
of desire
so do dawn s and
Days and nights alternate, The
the years roll
dusks, the seasons change,
es these are, revol ves
wheel of tune, whose spok revo lutio n,
With each
incessantly and inexo rably
the longest life is short,
life gets shorter; and even
is at tune ’s mercy But
lim e plays with life, life
and he builds for the
man does not realize this,
that life is fleeting, he
future Not remembering
desires in the hope of
goes on multiplying his
-objects which he de­
satisfying them. The sense
not worth the trouble
sires to possess, after all, are
in order to gain them.
which he puts himself to in his mouth. lake
The best of things turn to ashes
which Marica took in
the form of the golden deer glitte r and look fine
ts
order to allure Sita, the objec
man into the quagmire
in order to drag the unwary vigilant and resis t the
of the w orld So let us he
of desire Let not the
temptation of the objects
our feet Let us not
winds of desire carry us off of tune
es
fall a prey to the vicissitud
 S A lfK A R A

dvadasamanjankabhiT-osesah
kaihtto vaiyakaranasyatsah,
vpatMo’bfiud vtdyantpunaih
srtmacchamkara bhagavaccara'naih
A t the end of this, there is the following colo­
phon
th sn-guru-sankaravijaye snmacchankara bhaga-
catpada-uaiyafcarana samvade paramahamsa pan-
vrajakaoaryavarya swnacchanfcardcaryopadista-
dvadasamanjankd-stotram

P3]
<7>T
fr. f t ’Fvn i
f ts n f ir g s r r o n f i f t n
*rrfr JFtnrwr n
ka te kanta-dhana-gata-cinta 1
valuta ktm tava ndsti myanta,
injagati sajjana-sangatir efca
bhavati bhavamava-tarane nauka
Why worry about wife, wealth, e tc , O
crazy one, is there not for you the One who
ordains 7 In the three worlds, it is only the
association with good people that can serve as

1 Svayamprakasa kantZ-’dhara gata-cmta-

 D AM
B H A lA G O VIN
the sea of
car ry one across
the boat tha t can .
sychos is)’
bir th (m etemp the first ver se
According to some editions, this is
said to be the
manjartka-stotra
of the Caturdasa of San kar a
t com pos itio n of fourteen disciples
join
ibu ted to Pad ma -
se is attr
This particu lar ver
pad a. is a consti­
yam prakasa, this
According to Sva das amanjanka, and
so its
of the Dva he says
tue nt ver se odu cing this verse, a bur n­
is San kar a Intr
author de
se a man asleep insi
Jus t as one may rou , etc , and enable him to es­
ting
ing house by bea out of gre at com passion,
teacher,
cape, ^ven so the iple und ers tan d (pradipta-
disc
again, makes the vd calayttvd
kim janam tddaytt
grhdntar gadha-sup dfiam bakir-ntssarayatt yatha,
pSd aka rSdtna pra bud ah bodha-
dc&ry&s tatha pun
paramakdrumkatvad
yan ti)
cares about life,
Of what ava il are anxieties and prakasa’s read­
ording to Svayam
wealth, etc Acc
9
uld be why rum inate over the
ing, the meaning wo 9 By me dita ting on
objects of
bps of you r lad y ting one ’s tim e From the
onl y was itation is o
sense, one is
aph ysic al stan dpoint, such med l punish his
met teacher may wel
punishable act The reb ukes the disciple by call­
He ng fools
disciple for this nin g ‘O crest-jewel amo
ing him votttlo, meak of sense-objects’ (itfa yapara-
tha t con stan tly thin to desist
and commands him
mudha-firomonc), med itation
and mil
from this \ain
40 & A 8K A R A

W hat is the remedy for this disease7 How may

one cross the sea of samsara (metempsychosis)’
One of the potent means is association with the
good Such association is a safe and sure boat
which will transport one across the samsorc-sea
The good and wise ones repeatedly teach the need
for cultivating devotion, knowledge, dispassion, etc
They are the great ones who remind us of this
need again and again (tnjagati sajjaiwnam sanga-
tth bhava cvarrutvah. bhavamavah samudrah tatta-
rane eka mukhya nauka bhavati bhakti-jnana-
vairagyGdi punah punah smarayanti bodhayanti ca
■mahantah) Svayamprakasa quotes a verse ac­
cording to which quiescence (sama), inquiry
(vieara), contentment (santosa), and the company
of the good (sadhu-samagama) are the necessary
means for gaining release (See verse 9)

_ [14]

||
jattfo 1 m u n d t lunchitakesah
kdsayam barabahukrtavesah,
■pasyannapi ca na pasyati m udho
hyudaranim ittam bahukrtavesah.
1 Vam Vilas edition jattK
 41
B H A JA G O V 1N D AM

, the one
The ascetic with matte d locks
hairs pulle d
■with his head shaven, the one with
disgu ises him­
out one by one, the one who
ured robes—
self variously with the ochre -colo
h seeing, does
such a one is a fool who, thoug
ise is for the
not see Indeed, this varie d disgu
sake of the belly
This \ erse is ascribed to Totaka
pseudo sanny&sin,
Here is an indictment of the
of a yati for the
the one who has donned the garb
In the case of such
purpose of deluding the world do but become
of renun ciatio n
a one, the insignia d
a trade mark The tonsure of the head, matte
other features lose
locks, jellow robes—these and
ed for deceiving
their significance if they are adopt duty of the house­
the people While it may be the
if he merel y bore the
holder to honour a person as the ochre-
cuter marks of renunciation such the person
’s staff,
coloured robes and the monk
is not worthy of
who receives the honour, if he perdition He is
to
it, if he is an imposter, will go
that too a pro­
like a character in a drama—and a sanm/asin Such
fessio nal who acts the part of
for livelihood, e\ cn
a deportment becomes a means outfit does Nay,
as a factory uniform or military the other profes­
it is much worse In the case of
en deser t and
sions there is correspondence betwe o-sannyfoin
pseud
dress, whereas in the case of the the case of the
ation at a ll In
there is no correl
42 S A tiK A R A

actor sanngasm in a play, the audience knows that

h e is not a sannyasin in life The venom of the
pseudo sannyasvn lies in the fact that he passes for
a genuine sannyastn He sees the hollowness of
it all, yet he does not w ant others to see it The
classical example of such a one was Havana who
assumed the guise of a sannyasin, to carry Sita
away to Lanka.
[15]
31K nfcJcT trfsvr 5°^
5TET I
’Ig'ten w

angam gahtam pahtam mundam

dasanavihxnam jatam tundam,
vrd d h o y a ti grhitva dandam
tadapi na muncaty-asdpindam
The body has become decrepit, the head,
has turned grey, the mouth has been rendered
toothless, grasping a stick, the old man moves
about Even then, the mass of desires does
not go
This verse is ascribed to Hastamalaka.
The greatest tragedy of life is that the more one
grows the more one grabs, that the desires multiply
 G O V IN D A M
43
B H A JA
e ratio betwe en
wilh age There is almos t an invers filling of the
the
the dilapidation of the body and
tragic that when the
mind with desires. Is it not enjoyment, the
body has become unfit 7for sense-
-enjoyment has a
mind should crave for it Sense of the sense
double sting it takes off the edge
sets the mind afire
organs by making them blunt, it
more of the same
by making the mind desire for
ment, but the
enjoyment. The mind wants enjoy
dual is made to
body cannot take it Thus the indivihis own desires
in
bum at both ends, he is roaste d
fort and dis­
Desires are at the root of man’s discomy when they
They are the source s of miser
quiet unfulfilled
are
are fulfilled as well as when they
.
By his own desires, man is bound
[16]

h 5 ^ i i 5 i r o : It
agre -uahnth prsth e bhanii h,
ratra u cubuk a-sam arptfa -jduu
fcarat alabh tksas taruta lauas as-^
fadap i no munc aty-dsapasaFi
there is
In front, there is fire, nt the back,
ic sits) w ith
th e sun, in th e night , (th e ascet
he receiv es alms
th e knees stuck to the ohm,
 44 S A fiK A J IA

Jn his palms, and lives under the trees, yet the

bondage of desire does not leave him
This verse is ascribed to Subodha
Verse 34 dealt with the pseudo sanwycsm. Ih e
present verse tells us that mere asceticism, even
where it is genuine will not do We hear, in the
Puraijas, of Rak?asas who performed severe penan­
ces fo r nefarious purposes Even otherwise, austeri­
ties by themselves will not lend to release One may
starve the senses, but the mind may be extremely
passionate The Bhagavad g ttd fells us that he is
a hypocrite (mithyacara) who merely restrains
his organs of action but sits contemplating In his
m ind the sense objects (u 6) Examples of self-
denial are not wanting today Political parties,
ideological alignments scientific and technological
pursuits, and training for space-travel—all require
a great measure of austerity But, do they lead to
perfection and peace’ Tapasya (austerity) may
yield power hut this power may be used for gain­
ing either good or bad ends To avoid bad ends,
one must become desireless Desirelessness is the
result of inquiry into the truth, it is the fruit of
Self knowledge
r in
’IKrai’R’IMH
sraiRT rantpra I

gfW> h w a ft n
 AU 45
B H A JA G O V 1N D
nam
kuru te gangasagaragama
ddnam,
vratapaTipalanam atha va
,
jhan avih inah sarvamatena
asatena
m ukti m na bha jati janm
goes on a pilg rima ge to the place
One
the sea,1 or observes
where the Gan ga join s
care , or offers gifts
the religious vows with
ledge, he does not
But if he be devoid of know
g to all schools of
gain release,—accordin
dred lives
thought,—ev en in a hun
to the Vartikak ura, 1c
This verse is ascribed nent because what is
Suresvara It is quite perti
m the pres ent vers e, viz that knowledge is
taught of
se, is the central theme
the direct means to relea is a verse from the
Sure£vara’s writings Here
Sambandha-vartika (18)
eva
praty ag ySthatmya dhir
pralyag-ajnana hinilept,
patti to nany ad~
sa c d tmot
atc
dhva nta-d hvasiZvapcks
natu re of the Inner Self
“Knowledge of the true the Ignorance regarding
alone is the destroyer of
requires nothing othe r
the inne r Self And, it destroy the darkness (of
than its own generation to
ignorance) “*
pilgrimages toGa nga
1 This may also mean Homes', yam (Setu)
and the ocean, I c KMI and P 1°-
rsity ratio n (1353).
• S e e the Madr as Unive
46 6 AN KARA
According to SvayatnprakAAa’s text, the present
verse is the lost verse of the Df&dalamanjanka,
nnd to, it Is n composition of Sankara’s.
Pilgrimages to holy places such as K&Sl and
lUmesvaram, religious observances on occasions
such ns Sri Jay anti and SivarStrl, acts of chanty
ruch as digging a tank and budding a hospital—
those and other pious deeds may purify the mind
and make It one pointed But, they do not con­
stitute the direct means to release Except through
the knowledge '1 am Brahman', i e except through
the knowledge that is the result of inquiry, one
does not gain release, even In hundreds of lives
(aham brahmSsmill jnanavihtne vicfira^anya-
jnana-rahife purufc muktir na sambhavet
jnanam vinA ananta-janmabhir va muktir na bha-
eati) Why Is it stated that through deeds release
canpot be gained’ Because deeds are not opposed
to ignorance (katham karmana muktih na bhaved
tl, vacyam ajhanaviruddhatvat tasya) As has
already been explained, work, worship, etc, effect
the cleansing of the mind and the concentration
thereof (karmopasanadeh citlaiuddhih tadekdyrye
phalatvat) Ignorance however, is removed only
through knowledge If a stump is mistaken for a
thief, and a rope for a snake, these delusions are not
destroyed by ringing a bell or by uttering the
Caruda-mantra As Sankara says (Gita-bhasya,
iu 1), *Release results from knowledge alone This
is the conclusive teaching of the Gita and all the
Upant?ads" (tasmat kevalad eva jnfinan mok?a ft*
 41
B H A JA G O V lN D A lt
su co).
cso’-rthah tufeito gitfisu sarvopani?at
which is the
At the end of the prese nt verse
asa’s text, the
twelfth and the last in Svayamprak
following pholfl-sruti is added
dvadasamanjankabhtrascsas-
sisyanam fcatfufohyupadcsaTi,
yesam natta karoti vxvckam
te pacyanfe narafeam anekam
in the Intro­
As we have alread y pointed out the gramma­
to
duction, there is no reference here
rian and the grammatical rule
[18]

w r ga h q x ira v r a n u
suramandtratarumulamvasah
sayya, bhuta lam ajtna m vasah,
sarvapangrahabhogatyagah
kasya sukha m na karoti viragah
of trees,
Livin g m temp les or at th e foot
g deer- skin,
sleep ing on th e groun d, w earin
s and their enjoy ­
renou ncing all posse ssion
dispa ssion bring
m ent— to whom will not
happ^ r : :
s e
, ^ ^ t o N ny ^ » a a
<3 S A f iK A X A

In Svayampral'JLsa’s text, the present verse U

the sixth.
In verse 1C. we were told that there was no
virtue in m ere asceticism. What is essential is
desirole-sness—freedom from passion and attach­
m ent In lhe present verse, the teaching is that
if one Is free from desire and attachment, one
would naturally ovoid all pomp and pleasure.
One’s life would then be simple and unostentatious.
The addition of things only increases one’s dis­
comfort One should travel light. The more one
accumulates, the more one has to suffer. If a dis­
criminating person visits a Super-market, he w’ould
bo astonished to find the endless unnecessary
things with which it is stocked. The num ber of
manufactured goods that one can conveniently do
without is, indeed, legion Dependence is always
painful Having become dependent on many
things, if even for one day a thing is lacking, one
feels miserable True happiness lies in indepen­
dence. The really happy person is the one who is
free from desires Happiness comes through
giving up (tyage sarvCfSm sukham bhavet).

[13]
’TtTOTt S t S t T O f S t
HWWt SI |
w tra fa w r m
 M «
BH AJA GOV1NDA
ato vd
yogarato vd bhogar
ihvnah,
sangarato vd sangav
ate cittam
yasya bra hm am ram
daty-e va
nandati nan dati nan
one
cen tration , or let
Let one pra ctise con Le t one find
se- enj oym ent
indulge in sen alo ne
y, or in solitud e
pleasure in compan d
hap py, ven ly hap py, wh ose min
is happy,
revels m Bra hm an
d to Ana nda giri
This verse is ascribe
one who
is an eulogy ol the
The presen t ver se an Concentration or sense-
has realized Bra hm
Society and
difference to him
enjoyment makes no to him Standing at Tunes
e
sohtude are the sam living in a Himalayan cave
or
Square, New York in him The reason is tha t
produces no change
rea l, onl y Brahm an is
these are not
nmukta.
tain tex ts of Scr ipture say tha t a fivaas steal­
Cer acts
s, tha t even such
may live as he like not affe ct him
ryo etc , do
ing killing an emb uld not be interpre
ted literally
These passages shoto be eulogies, and should abe
They are me ant n o t ^ a t a fi
v n-
vely It is
understood figuratimit crimes By his very nature,
mu kta wou ld com 1 Pors’n
mal on <m > n™ > He has
he cannot be a cnm ral und er constraint
Only he Is not mo his vision,
good and evil To
gon ebe yon d relative
50
nothing is real other than Brahman He revels in
Brahman, he lives in Brahman, he is Brahman

[20]

n ^ fq g u fta w
HFTft (TFT q f a H II
bhagavadgita kincid-adhita
gangajalalavakamka pita,
sakrd-api yena murart-samarcd
krtyate tasya yamena na carca 1
For him, who has studied the Bhagavad-
gita even a little, who has drunk a drop of
the Ganga-water, and who has performed the
•worship of the Destroyer of the demon Mura
(viz Sri Krsna) at least once, there is no tiff
with Yama (the lord of death).
This verse is ascribed to Dr^habhakti
The need for consecrating one’s life is stressed
here By leading a consecrated life, one conquers
death The conquest of death means freedom from
the fear of death.
1 Alternative reading kurute tasya yamo’p*
■na caream.
 51
B H A JA G O V IN D A S l
the
ed here are studying
The three acts mention the Ganga-w ater, and
Bhag avad-cpta, drin king
■worshipping the Lord
Sri
the teaching which
The Bfiapauad-pita. is na the
ld, having made Arju
■Krsna gave to the wor San kara , the Gita -
ds of
^astrument In the wor the teaching of all the
of
-scstra is the essence a-sd rasa n-
samasta-vedarth
Vedas (grtasastram of
it contains the crea m
Qrakabhutam) Because f called ‘Upanisad’ (San-
■the Upamsads, it is itsel m).
iwinntni brah mav idya
karananda gitopanisan- s (meditation-verses)
loka
One of the dhyana-s the
msa ds to cows, Sri Krsna to
compares the Upa ,
man , Arju na to the calf, the Gita, to the milk
anlk s of
people to the part aker
■and the good and wise hatinya says that even a
the nulk The Gita-ma li studied with devotion,
,
little portion of the Gita
will lead one to release
to he supremely sacred
The Ganga water is said heavenly rive r Ganga
the
The Purdnas tell us that to the eart h by Bhagiratha
was made to descend stors
r that his dead ance
through tapa s in ordePious Hindus believe that
might he sanctified ga wate r will pun fy
the
even a drop of the Gan
hody and the min d
nt
Lord is the most pote
The worship of the the 'I-am -the -bod / idea
means for overcomingdestroyer of the demon of
The Lord-God is the al take s refuge in the Lord,
ecoitv If the individu the fear of death for him
■no longer will there he
52 AASKARA

[21]

5RK SHIN O T
5*nr*T I
$S ?’ »
o t w iris w ii
punarapi jananam punarapt maranam
punarapi janani-jathare sayanam,
iha samsare bahu-dustarc
krpaya’pare pahi murare
Repeated birth, repeated death, and
repeated lying in mother’s womb — this
transmigratory process is extensive and diffi­
cult to cross save me, 0 Destroyer of Mura
(O Krsna), through your grace 1
This verse Is ascribed to Nityanatha
The transmigration of the soul (jn a ) consists-
in recurring birth and death, and the consequent
travail in the mother’s womb before birth and in
the world of toil after that Bharatitirtha-Vidya-
ranya says in the Paiicatiasi that the jtta is driven
from birth to death and from death to birth in a
continuous cycle of empirical existence, like a
worm that is dragged in a rushing stream from
one whirlpool to another (i, 30), or like the
weaver’s shuttle that is tossed back and forth from
 53
B H A JA G O V IN D A M

Compelled by the
■one side to the other in a loom
the jTua trave ls from
■force of its own delusion, of samsara seems
ss
death to death The proce
ning or end It ap­
to be perpetual, with out begin
But redem ption is pos­
pears to be a shoreless sea
It is the divine grace
sible the redee mer is God
soul safely across the
that will take the struggling
surging waves of samsara
a verse of the .Siua-
Appealing to Lord Siva in
“Me, who am whirling
■rcandalahari, Sank ara says away from my goal
in puerile samsara far far
lack of discrimination,
on account of delusion and
infinite grace Who
you must save through your your grace than I?
■can he more deserving of
refuge to me, m all the
And, who can be a grea ter rt in
are the best expe
three worlds, than you who 9
ss, O Pasu pati ”
saving those who are m distre
the appellations o f
‘MurSri’ and ‘Pasupati’ are oyer of the demon
the same God He is the destr souls
of
of ignorance He is the lord

[22]

«fI3l U
M S A SK A JIA

T ath y& ^ aT pata'V iT acita-kan th ah

punyapunya-ttvarpta-panthah?
yogi yoga-myopta-citto
ramatc b a fo n m a tfa ta d -ev a
He v, ho wears n dress made of rags that
he about in the streets, he who wralks in the
path that is bejond merit and dement—the
yogtn whose mind is given up to yoga revel*
(in Brahman) just as a child or as a mad-man
This verse is ascribed to Yogunanda
O f the jicanmuf tas it is said that they m ay be­
h ave like children, mad men, or ghosts (M(on
m altaptsacaval) There is no rule for them, they
d o not live under constraint, they are no longer
bound with the chain of cause and effect They
are perfectly free—totally and absolutely free
T heir outer appearance may often be misleading
T hey m ay be repulsive to look at T hey m ay be
u tterly foreign to drawing-room manners Their
w ays of behaviour may be m jsten ous and unpre­
dictable T hey m ay not conform to any conven­
tion- 'Right* and ‘wrong’ do not apply to them
‘merit’ and ‘demerit’ do not belong to them They
are beyond the three punas of P rakrti, and so
prescriptions and prohibitions have no relevance
in their case (nistraigu-nye pathi vtcarotam ko

1 Another reading pantfiSh,

 B R A JA COVINDAM 55
vtdhih ko nisedhah). They are not victims to the
vagaries of the world- They are Brahman-mad.
They have no bodies. It is the unenlightened that
attribute bodies and activities to them.

[23]

' R v l 'ptsg 3JTO3:

$1 i f 5T3HI ir TOT; I
ir a q fin iT O n q q r n t
IT O r W I^ I V -fU p M K H II

kastvam ko’ham kuta dydtah

ka me jnnarii Jro m e taiah,
iti paribhauai/a sarvam asdram
visvam tyaktva svapnavicaram.1
W ho are you? Who am 1? "Whence have
I come? "Who is ray mother? W ho, m y father?
Thus enquire, leaving aside the entire world
which is comparable to a dream, and is'
cssencelcss.
This verse is ascribed to Surendra.
The world el waking is non-real like the dream­
world, from the metaphysic.il standpoint Although

1. Alternative reading:
ill pflf»l>Mr»ta-«U«»em»5reh
sarrm” fyaVrd rropnanedrah.
56 $ AtfKARA

from the empirical standpoint there are differences

between the waking world and the dream-world,
they are, both of them illusory from the stand­
point of the absolute Self The things that consti­
tute the waking world are the objects of percep­
tion, even as the dream-contents are, and what
are perceived are illusory In his commentary on
the M andukya-kanka (u, 4), Sankara puts the
argument in the form of a five-membered syllo­
gism the things seen in waking are illusory
(pratijnn), because they are seen (hetu), like the
things seen in dream (drstanta), as m dream there
is lllusonness for the things seen, so even in
waking the characteristic of being seen is the
same (hetupanaya), therefore, even in waking the
lllusonness of things is declared (ntgamana)
Another reason for classing the world of waking
with the dream world is that it too is evanescent
W hat is non existent in the beginning and at the
end, is so even in the present Anandagin gives
the following argument the world of waking is
illusory, because it has a beginning and an end,
like the dream world, e tc; what has a beginning
and an end is illusory, like mirage, etc *
L et one realize the illusory and essenceless
nature of the world by asking such questions as
Who am I 9 Who are you 9 Wherefrom are we’
Who is my mother and who my father 9 Are the

• See the present w riter s Gxudapoda A S tu d y in EarJV

A dvaita (University of Madras, third edition, 1960), p 122.
 BHAJA GOVINDAM 57

dream ego and non-ego real’ Are the dream-

parents real? Are the dream-birth and death
facts’ Ftoper inquiry on these lines will reveal
the vanity and emptiness of the world

[24]
nPr f^ -
^ '-5 JMHRWj! I

tvayi mayi canyatraiko visnur-

vyartham kupyasi mayyasdhisnuh,
sarvasmwnapi pasyatmanam
sarvatrotsrja bhedajndnam
In you, in me, and elsewhere too, there
Is but one Visnu (God) Vainly do you get
angry with me, being impatient See the Self
in all things, and leave off everywhere
ignorance which is the cause of difference
Svaj*ampr a ^ a s "1 combines the first half of the
present verso with the second half of the next
verse In his tevt, this is the eleventh verse
In some printed editions, this verse (ic 2-Jab-f-
■25cd) is ascribed to MedhStithi
gyoj ajnpnhuia introduces this verse in a rather
58 S A f iK A R A

interesting m anner The disciple gets tired of the

teacher, and of having to listen to the same in­
struction over and over again. He develops a
sense of disgust, or even a feeling of anger This
is a case of familiarity breeding contempt (atipan-
cayad ovajnd jfj nyayat) The present verse is
addressed to such an angry discipJe (kupitam
sisyam pratt KopasSntim upadtiati).
If the truth of the omnipresence of the Lord
is known, who can get angry with whom’ One
cannot be angry with oneself One cannot hate
oneself ‘ F or the one who sees oneness every­
where”, declares a scriptural text, “what delusion,
is there, and what depression’ ” It is the one
Reality, Visnu, that pervades all beings In ‘you’,
i e in the body of the disciple, in ‘m e’, i e in the
body of the teacher, and in the bodies of others
such as Devadatta, there resides the one Vi$nu
‘Visnu’ means the ‘all-pervading* reality He is the
inner ruler, immortal (tvayi stsyasanre mayi guru-
sari.re anyatra devadattasarire eko vi$nur vartate
visnur vyapakasitah sarvatrantaryamirupena anu-
vartate)
So, the teacher says, see the same Self every­
where, give up ignorance which is the cause of
plurality

[25]
5U t P i t

*TI TO I
 SH A JA G O V IN D A M 59

TO W l HTO TO
TOw jroq. II

safrau mitre putre bandhau

md kuru yatnam vigrahasandhau,
bhaua samacittah sarvatra tvarn
vdnchasyacirdd yadi utsnutvam.

Make no effort to be either at w ar with, or

in league with, enemy, friend, son, or relative.
If you want to attain the status of Vi?nu
(Godhood) soon, be equal-minded towards alt
things.
In one printed edition, the first half of this verse
>s combined with the second half of the previous
verse; and this is described as mohamudgara-scsa,
ie . a ‘surplus’ verse of the Mohamndgara.

I f there is only one Self, then who is foe and

who is friend, who is son and who is a relation?
If there Is no duality, how can there ho unions or
partings, friendly meetings or warlike encounters?
I f anyone is to be regarded as friend or foo at
all, then, we must say that self is the friend of
self, self is the foo of self (G ita , vi, 5* fitmatva hy
atmeno bandhuh, dttnaiea npur dtmanah).

Realizing the sameness (soma) or the one Real­

ity everywhere is the final human goal This is
not something uhieh is to be neuly accomplished.
 SA8K A RA

It is the eternal nature of the Self I t is gained in

th e sense in which a forgotten ornament round
one’s neck is said to be gained Soulhood (jivatva)
is illusorily superimposed on Brahman, even as
thiefhood is superimposed on a stump When
through realizing the meaning of the major text
‘That thou a rt’ the delusion is removed, the self-
established Brahman alone remains

The one who has realized this has an equal-

mind, (sama ctttah) This means (1) To him,
friend and foe are the same (samam satmmttrc
vtsaye ctttam yasya sah samactttah), (2) he whose
mmd has taken the form of Brahman which is
the plenary unmodified reality (san ntrvtharam
brahma purnam samam ity ucyate), his mind is
endowed with the contemplation of the form ‘I
am always in the plenary reality, Brahman’, and
thus it attains Brahman (tadakaram ctttam part'
purnasmy-aham sada t i t bhavana-taiat brahma
prapyate)

[26]

q r o rfm s W q t?

’n w i
s t w r a fkstnT q a -
& T O f t s m : ||
 B ffA J A G O V IN D A M G1

kamam krodham lobham moham

tyaktvd'tmdnam bhdvaya k o’ham,1
dtrnapianavihina mudhas~
te pacyante rmrakanigudhdh.
Leaving off desire, anger, greed, and delu­
sion, make self-inquiry Who am I 7 They
are fools who are without Self-knowledge as
captives in hell, they are tortured
This verse is ascribed to Bharativamsa
In Svayamprakasa’s text, this is the eighth \erse
“Desire, anger, and greed are the thieves resi­
dent m the body, ready to carry away the know­
ledge-gem, so, be vigilant, be vigilant’”
Joam aJikrodhas ca lobhns ca
dehe tisthanti taskarah,,
jfianaratnapaharaya
tasmaj^jagrata yigrata

‘Desire’ is the longing for objects When that

longing is obstructed or frustrated, there arises
‘anger * If these two are given up, one becomes
eligible for pursuing the path of meditation
(feamafc tccha visayesu, tasya pratihatau jatd cttta-
vrttxh krodha tty ucyate tadubhayapantyage

1 Svayamprakasa httuatmanani pasyata so*

fiam other readings pasyatt so'ham, pa&ya
’ovmoham
€2 & A$ K A R A

dhyanakari bhavet) ‘Greed’ is the inability to

h e a r the giving up of objects Erroneous know­
ledge is ‘delusion’ it is mistaking the non-real for
the real and the real for the non-real (tyagasahis-
•nufa lobhah, wparitabuddhir mohah, atasmtms tad-
buddhir tty arthah). One should leave off anger,
e t c , and engage oneself m Self-inquiry. Let one
seek the answer to the question ‘Who am I ’ ’
Bhagavan Ramana puts the essence of Self-
inquiry in these words
naham deham ko’ham soham
“I am not the body Who am P I am He ”
If it be asked, "How can the jtva and Brahman
b e identical’ Surely, the cow cannot be the horse",
the reply is ‘‘When the conditioning adjuncts are
removed, the consciousness-self is one and the
same Parviscience in the case of the jiva and
omniscience in the case of Isvara are adventitious
adjuncts When these are given up, the Self is
realized to he non-duaL As in the case of ‘This is
th at Devadatta’, or the ether of the pot and the
hall, the pure consciousness which is the Self is
distinctionless”
Without this knowledge, one is a fool Such a
one suffers in the hell of samsara He is a deceiv­
e r of the Self (atmavaiicaka) who does not know
the real nature of the Self “The effort required
is very •’mail the fruit is release even here Yet,
men do not wish for the supreme non-duality”
 B H A JA G O V IN D A M 63

cyasa^tayad-fltyaZpali
pftolam mukttr thatua tu ,
tatfuipt paramadvattam
nawa tAncfcantt wdnaufiJi

[27]

M i¥ i
< ta H F T *1 II

&eya?n gitanam a& ahasram

d h y e y a m sripatw rupam a jasram ,
n e y a m sajjana~sange c ttta m 1
d e y a w d in a ja n a y a co v itta m

The Bhagavadgita and the Sahasranama

should be sung, the form of the Lord of Lak$mi
(Visnu) should be always meditated on, the
nund should be led to the company of the
good, and wealth should be distributed among
■die indigent
This verse is ascribed to Sumati, the last of the
fourteen cksciple s

1 Alternative reading
neyam saijana^sangatim amsam
 SANKARA

A four-fold discipline is recommended here (1)

study of the sacred texts (2) meditation on the
holy form of the Lord, (3) association with the
good, and (4) sharing of what one has with those
people who are in need
According to some editions, this is the last verse
of the Caturdasamanjankastotra The following
verse is added here, wherein are mentioned the
authorship and occasion
mudhah kascana vatyakarano
dukrnkaranadhyayana dhuratah,
srimacchankarabhagavacchtsyair
bodhtta astcchoditakaranah
This is followed by the colophon
it* Sri guru-sankaravtjaye snmacchankara-bhaga-
vatpada-vaiyckarana samwdc paramahamsa- pan-
vrajakacaryavarya. Srimac-chankaracarydjnapta-
st^yopanyasta-caturdasamaniankd-stotram

[28]

gift itn,' i
’rafq to to

sukhatah knyate ramabhogah

pascaddhanta sartre rogah,
 CS
BH AJA G O VIN D AM
nam
yady api loke m aran am sara
nam.
tadap t na m unca ti pdpa cara
enjoy men t;
One easily takes to carn al
se of the body.
afterwards, lo, there is disea
is the refug e,
Although, in the world, death
sinfu l ways.
■even then one does not relin quish
(tamasasufcha),
The pleas ure of the lowest typeis that whic h is
•according to the Bliagavad-gita,
very painful in the
enjoyable at the beginning but results in un­
end Sense-indulgence inevitably
body and mind
pleasant consequences to the
course of action is
One knows that a partic ular
avoid it One knows
sinful Yet, one does not
one does not keep
that death is inevitable Yet,
deeds Such is the
•oneself away from wrongful
play of maya*
[29]

•W O T

f tf p n f i f e u
nitya m
artha itt anar tham bhav aya
m
ttdsti tctah sukh alesa h satya
h
putra dopt dhan dbha jam bhiti
sarvatrat?d vthtt a rilih.
to SASKARA
Wealth is no good thus reflect always,,
there is not the least happiness therefrom this
is the truth For the wealthy, there is fear
even from a son everywhere this is the regular
mode
This is the second verse in Svayamprakasas
text.
The evil nature of wealth has already been ex­
plained The present versa confirms it by saying,
th a t on account of property even ones own son,
etc may become mimical

[303
mniFTra IFPn^K

•rb s jR II
pranayamam pratyaharam
nttyanityavivekavtcaram,
japyasametasamadhtvtdhanam
kurvavadhanam mahadavadhanam
The regulation of breath the withdrawal
of the senses (from their respective objects)
the inquiry consisting in the discrimination
between the eternal and the non eternal the-
 BHAJA G0V1WDAM
ciated w ith the
method of mind-control asso
of man tras— perf orm thes e w ith
muttering
great care
for Self know ledge,
In order to gain eligibility
with inqu iry The
one should practise yoga along al of the senses
draw
control of breath, the with repetition of the
the
from their respective objects
tion of mind, the dis­
sacred mantra, the concentra
from the non-etem al—
crimination of the etern al
with devotion and
the'e should be performed
faith
nta, see the chap ­
For the place of Yoga in Veda
adast
ter ‘Dhjanadipa’ in the Paiic

[31]

-bhG V ah
puni carn ndm buja -nirb hara
TnuLfah,
sani sdra d-ac irod -bha va
ad-c vam 1
scnd nya^ ndna sa-n tyarn
am dcva m.
drak iyas i n\)dliTdayasth
 SAtf KAR A
the lotus-feet
Being devoted completely to
sed soon from the
of the Master, become relea
, through the
trans migratory process Thus
-control, you will
discipline of sense and mind
in your heart
beho ld the Deity that resides
according to the
This is the concluding verse
text adop ted here In this verse , the need for
ed. It may he noted
devotion to the Guru is stress
of Sank ara’s Guru
th at Govinda was the name
ring secular know­
Even in the m atter of acqui
a prece ptor is indis­
ledge, it is well know n that that the mstructiba
said
pensable Need it then be
tial for one to gain
of a prece ptor is quite essen
ledge ’ The Chan dogya Upantsad dec­
sacre d know ptor know s the Self
lares that he who has a prece
xiv, 2), and gives the
(ocar yauan puru so veda, vi, who when left
hara
analo gy of a citize n of Gand
coun try blindfolded, gets
in a stran ge uninh abited
the help of a gentle­
his bandage loose ned with
lies in this direction,
man who tells him 'Gand hara e to village, and finally
asks his way from villag
And, the Upamsad as­
arrive s at his destin ation is only such, knowledge
serts emphatically that it that is the best
prece ptor
as is learn t from the
sadfastham prapatt,
(acaryaddka-ivu vidyS viditd Upan tsad teaches that
w, ix, 3) The Mund aka
knowledge, one shoul
for the sake of the highest .) who 15
ptor (guru
go, fuel in hand, to a prece
and established &
learn ed m the scrip tures enting on this terf.
Brahman ( I n 12) Comm
 B H A JA G O V IN D A M C9

Sankara says, “Even a well read person should not

aim at gaining Brahman-knowledge indepen­
dently” (sastrajno’pi svatantryerui brahmajnanan-
vesanam na kuryat) In fact, no difference should
be made, the sastras tell us, between God and the
preceptor The Svetasvatura Upamsad ends with
this note *These matters which have been de­
clared become manifest to one who has the highest
devotion for God, and for the preceptor even as for
God ” According to another interpretation “Even
matters that have not been declared (in the Upa-
msad) become manifest to such a one ”
And so, in the last \ erse of Bhaja Govindam, de­
votion for guru is stressed He who has this devo­
tion attains release in no time What does the
guru teach’ The quintessence of his teaching to
his disciple is ‘ Control your senses and mind
inquire and discriminate and you will behold the
Supreme Reality that resides in your Heart ’’
 Appendix
D V A D A S A M A N J A R IK A

[T he te x t according to Svayamprakasa Svamin

(or Y a ti), author o i the Dvadasamanjarika-vtvnrana.
Svayamprakasa is also the author of commentaries
on the Efcastofcl, the Pancikarona, and the Daksrna-
murti-stotra ]

1 m udha jaktht dhanagama-trsnam

k u ru sadbuddhim manasi vitrsnam,
yallabhase nijakarmopattam
vittam tena vtnodaya ctttam

2 artham anariham bhavaya m tyam

nasti tatas sukhalesas satyam,
putrad-api dhanabhayim bhitth
sarvatraisa vihita ritih

3 ka te kanta kas-te putrah

samsaro’yam ativa vicitrah,
kasya tvam kah kuta ayatah
tattvam cintaya tadiha bhrantah

4 nalmidalagata-jalam atitaralam
tadvaj-yvitam atisaya-capalam,
viddht vyadhyabhxmana-grastam
lokam soka-hatam ca samastam.'
 BUAJA GOVINDAM 71

5. ma kuru dhana-jana-yauvana-garvam
harati nimesat kalah sarvam,
mayamayam idam akhilam buddhva
brahmapadam tvam proviso, viditva.
6. naristanabharanabhidesam
drstvd ma ga mdhavesam,
etan-mamsa-vasadi-vikaram
manasi vicintaya vdram vdram.

7. suramandira-taru-mula-nivdsah
sayya bfiutalam ajinatn vdsah,
sarvaparigraha-'bhoga’tydgah
kasya sukham na karoti viragah.
8. kamam krodham lobham moham
hitvatmanam pasyata so’ham,
dtmajnanavihind mudhds-
te pacyante narakamgudhah.
9. dinaydminyau sdyam pratah
sisiravasantau pmar-iyatah,
kalah krulat, gacchaty ayus-
tadapi na muhcaty a&pasafi.
10. fed te ttn ta ’dhara-gata-ctntS
vatula )£■* t a v a n a s ti ntyanta,
trijagati s aiiana-sangatir-s kd
bhavoti bbavamaua-tarane nauka.
72 SANKARA

11 tva yi m ayi cai^atraiko visnur~

vyartham kupyasi mayyasahtsnuh,
bJiava samacittah sarvatra tvam
vahchasyacirad yadi visnutvam

12 kurute gangasagara-gamanam
vratapanpolanam athava danam,
jhana-vihinah sakalamatena
m ukttm na bhajatt janmasatena.

dvadasamoh^ankdbhir asesah
sisyanam kathitohy upadesah,
yesan-nawa karoti vivekam
te pacyante narakam anekam