Shloka 4

shloka:
nalinIdalagata jalamati-taralam
tatdavajjIvitamatishaya chapalam
viddhivyaadhyabhimaana-grastam
lokam shoka hatam cha samastam


Brief meaning:

This verse of Bhajagovindam simply says - Just like a water droplet on a lotus which is uncertain and unstable, our life is also very uncertain and unstable. Can anyone predict what's going to happen next in our life? No. It's not in our control. More over, our life is full of diseases, sorrow and pride. So, when we are in this situation of uncertainty, in the middle of many diseases and riddled with sorrow, time is of essence. So, acharya says, don't waste time, do it now and do it here - that is "Seek Govinda".

The analogy given here is that of a Lotus in the water and a drop of water on a Lotus that's uncertain. Can a Lotus exist outside of water? No. Lotus grows and perishes in the water that arose from a tiny seed that was at the bottom.  It's nothing but an expression of water. Thus if we think of water as the infinite consciousness, divine and that pervades everything (Brahman) and the drop of water (Atman) which is expressing through the lotus of the intellect, we find a deeper meaning here. When the Lotus perishes, the drop of water which is the Atman merges with the waters of infinite consciousness (Brahman)

It is exactly what's said in the Maha Vaakya - "THOU ART THAT" or "Tat Tvam Asi" (You are THAT)

and Brahman without Maaya and Atman without Avidya are one and the same.

Shloka 3

After giving a warning in the first 2 slokas against the arrogance of knowledge and insatiable greed for acquiring wealth, Jagat guru Adi Shankaracharya sternly strikes at the evil of lust, as being one of the most intractable (stubborn) and destructive.

The 2 utmost forbidden things our elders warned us from the days of the Upanishads is, Kaanatha or Kaminee, that is wealth and the other one being Kaanchan, that is woman. He exhorts (strongly urges) both men and women to resist the temptation of getting into external appearance of beauty of the body. Biologically, attraction for the opposite sex is natural, but this temporary attraction or enjoyment will always lead to misery, sorrow and destruction and hence has to be controlled, disciplined, purified and sublimated (changed).

Sri Shakaracharya comes with a most efficient and natural antidote. He wants us humans, to analyze and perceive mentally the reality of the body (Pratipaksha Bhavana). Body is nothing but abhorrent flesh and fat, packed in a bag of skin and nine holes, and one day this filth-filled body will perish.

He reminds us of our multiple lives and being lived through these two passions. This very manav janma attained due to some punya karma, is not to be wasted,  but to be utilized to reach the lotus feet of the Lord. He urges us to maintain the practice of ‘varam-varam’, the art of balancing and focusing the mind on the Lord, because mother maya is always ready to strike us with her fatal attraction of the world of objects around us.

We gaze at the world splashed all over with our own limited, veiled and conditioned mind. He instructs us to see the world with close observations, diligent inquiry and discriminatory powers in its most natural form and beauty, opting for Shreyas ( path of right and good) rather than Preyas ( path of immediate pleasure).

Shloka 2

Transliteration of Shloka 2

 

mUDha jahiihi dhanaagama tRishhNaaM


kuru sadbuddhiM manasi vitRishhNaam.


yallabhase nijakarmopaattaM


vittaM tena vinodaya chittam. .. (2)

 

Condensed Meaning

Oh fool !  Give up your thirst to possess wealth. Create your mind, devoid of passions, thoughts of reality.  With whatever you get (as rewards of the past) entertain your mind (be content). 

 

This shloka essentially gives you a quick three step process towards channeling your mind towards contentment and ultimately self realization.

 

The first step is for us to give up our “thirst” for wealth.  Here wealth is used to define all worldly and sensory objects.  All worldly things by definition attract us more towards “samsara” and away from the lord.

 

After we have given up this thirst, and cleansed our mind of passions, our mind will be clearer to meditate upon reality.   This is the second step, where in we open our mind to thoughts of brahman and reality.   The more you do this the less your thirst for wealth becomes.

 

The final and third step in this process is to then become content by enjoying the “rewards” of our past actions.    The implication is that we view all of the results of our past actions as “rewards”.  This means we should not have “regrets” which typically leads us to desire to possess more material objects and the “jiva” gets caught in the cycle of moha and ignorance and then comes misery.

 

It has been very simply explained here but as we all know it takes a lifetime (if not more) of discipline and conditioning of the mind to achieve what has been said in four lines!  Therefore the persuasion by all our scriptures that it is never too soon to start on this path!

 

There are references to this attitude within our other scriptures.  Such as in the Kathopanisad the young boy, Naciketa, in his answer to his teacher, Lord of Death, has poignantly expressed this idea – “Man is never satisfied with his possessions alone”.

 

Also, Sankaracharya in his Vivekachudamani quotes the famous statement in Brihadaranyaka Upanisad, which says that, “the dealthless and the imperishable can never be hoped to be gained by the possession of wealth”

 

There is also a wonderful verse in Isavasyopanisad: “Renounce and Enjoy, covet not others wealth.”

 

That right there I think sums up the second verse!