"Full many a ray of purest ray serene the dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, and waste its sweetness to the desert air."
from "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" by Thomas Gray

Friday, November 18, 2011

Bhaja Govindam - 20

भगवद्गीता किञ्चितधीता गङ्गा जललव कणिका पीता ।
सकृदपि येन मुरारी समर्चा क्रियते तस्य यमेन न चर्चा ॥२०॥
(भज-गोविन्दं भज-गोविन्दं)

bhagavadgītā kincitadhītā gangā jalalava kanikā pītā |
sakrudapi yena murārī samarcā kriyate tasya yamena na carcā ||20||
(bhaja-govindam bhaja-govindam…)

भगवद्गीता = Bhagwad Geeta, वा = or, गङ्गा = the river Ganga, जललव = enjoying company, कणिका = living a solitary life, पीता = whose, सकृदपि = Brahman, येन = to revel in, मुरारी = mind, समर्चा = to enjoy, क्रियते = only, तस्य = whose, यमेन = Brahman, = to revel in, चर्चा = to revel in

Literal Translation:
Whether living a life of self-control or a worldly life, a social or a solitary life, if one’s mind revels in the Brahman, he enjoys and only he enjoys.

Interpretation:
Nityananda adds to the four prior verses by saying – a person whose mind dwells on the Brahman, enjoys life regardless of whether he lives with self-control or apparently in worldly comfort, whether he lives as a recluse or in the midst of the world, and he adds that only a person whose mind dwells on the Brahman is in bliss.

There are texts that give full freedom to a Man of Perfection. Such a person is not limited by social mores, and is untouched by the actions he performs. Does this mean that such a person can sin at will? No. Just as it is only a trained surgeon who is permitted to perform surgery, and a person trained in arms who is permitted to carry a weapon, so it is only a Man of Perfection who is permitted to determine the right course of action, regardless of the rules of society because such a person is incapable of acting unethically.

Gurudev says that to a person of Realization, after an experience of the Infinite, there is nothing more real than the Brahman. Such a person does not depend on the world for sense-gratification. With true joy from within, it is immaterial if this person lives among people or alone in a cave.

Refer to Mundaka Upanishad (3:2.9) where the sages tell us that a person who sees the Self, sees the Self in all. and Mundaka Upanishad (3:1.4) describes a realized saint as reveling in the Self and serving the world.

Refer to Bhagavad Geeta (2-66). Krishna asks where is the joy in a mind that is not at peace. So long as the mind is gurgling with desires, passions and attachments, the joy gets ruffled out from the surface. But a person who has realized the Self and does not see the world of plurality defined by name and form, his indeed is true joy.

Reference text: Bhaja Govindam by Adi Shankara, commentary by Swami Chinmayananda

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