Adi Sankara Mahaperiyava
Moha Mudhgara aka Bhaja Govindam 14-Humility!
Bhaja Govindam contains Pearls of Wisdom,of all the Upanishadic Saramsams with Sankara & His 14 Followers have, during His Varanasi Vasa, has written down.These 25/26/27 verses said to be written by a Disciple Sumati,also is a repetition of “How we should get out of attachments which is the biggest Obstacle on our way to achieve Moksha aka Brahma Gyanam!”
If we analyse closely our experience in our Day to day life, all problems due to Kamam…extreme attachment!Mahaperiyava explains this Kamam in a simple example of a Rubber Ball:
“If you throw a Rubber Ball,if there is No Obstruction, like a Wall in between, Ball will not Return to you.But if Obstructed with a Wall, it will Return back to you!The faster you throw the Ball,the Faster it will hit you back!That’s Kamam..more intensive,like Ravana,the more disaster for you..Remove the Wall of Attachment..Life will be smoother!Kamam gives way to Krodham..if unfulfilled ,Intensive Kamam gives to extreme Anger,which makes a Man Really Mad!”(Here Kamam is any type of attachments)
śatrau mitrē putrē bandhau
mā kuru yatnaṃ vigrahasandhau ।
sarvasminnapi paśyātmānaṃ
sarvatrōtsṛja bhēdājñānam ॥ 25 ॥
“Strive not ,waste not your energy to fight against or to make friends with your enemy,friend,son or relative.Seeking the Self everywhere,lift the sense of difference(Plurality)born out of Ignorance!”(Chinmayananda)
kāmaṃ krōdhaṃ lōbhaṃ mōhaṃ
tyaktvā”tmānaṃ paśyati sō’ham ।
ātmajñānavihīnā mūḍhāḥ
tē pachyantē narakanigūḍhāḥ ॥ 26 ॥
“Leaving desire ,anger,greed,&delusion,the seeker sees in the Self, ‘He am I’.They are fools those who have no Self Knowledge&they (consequently),as captive in hell,are tortured!”(Chinmayananda)
gēyaṃ gītā-nāmasahasraṃ
dhyēyaṃ śrīpati-rūpamajasram ।
nēyaṃ sajjana-saṅgē chittaṃ
dēyaṃ dīnajanāya cha vittam ॥ 27 ॥
“The Bagavad Gita&Sahasranama are to be chanted; always the form of the Lord of Laxmi is to be meditated upon;the mind is to be led towards the company of the good;wealth is to be distributed with the Needy!”(Chinmayananda)
A wise man’s life style is quite systematic and well disciplined,reading Bhagavad Gita,Chanting Vishnu Sahasranamam daily! We can easily identify such a man by his empathy for the downtrodden & the poor.By nature,he is humble despite his Education &comfortable Living!
Humility is one of the Greatest Virtues,as this story of King Nimi would reveal:
King Nimi & a Sage:
King Nimi was the Grandfather of Janaka Maharaja of Videhi KIngdom & was known for his great Knowledge of the Vedas& Reverence for Vedhic Scholars!
One day when King Nimi was walking in a village,he saw a Rishi in deep Meditation on the Gandaki River Bank!King Nimi immediately got down from his Chariot & went to the Sage & prostrated in all reverence,putting his head on the Sage’s Feet!After getting the Blessings ,he continued his journey but his Coterie of Ministers didn’t like their Chakravathi, doing such a thing,by prostrating to an unknown Sage!
After returning to the Palace,the MInisters advised King Nimi : “Respected Chakravarthi!We feel ,such a Great King as you are,shdn’t have fallen at the feet of an unknown Sage!”
King Nimi smiled and told them:“ You will know my answer sooner!”
After a few days he asked the Ministers to get him the heads of a Goat,a Tiger & a Human!
Immediately they brought the same.
Then King Nimi asked them to go to the Main Market & try to sell all the three heads at the best Prices!
They were able to sell the Goat head to a Butcher,the Tiger Head to a Wealthy Man, who wanted to decorate his Wall but none was willing to buy the Human Skull!
They returned and told King Nimi the same.Then King Nimi asked them to take the Human Skull & put up a Board in the Market: “Please take this for FREE”
But after several days none came forward to even take the Human Skull For Free & they came &told King Nimi the same!
Then King Nimi told them : “See even dead Goats,Dead Tigers have some values, but once we are dead, we don’t have any Value at all!The other day when I prostrated before that Sage,you all had doubts as to Why?We put our heads on such holy Men’s feet only to Remind us that one day this Head will be useless! So,as dutiful King,I pray in all Humility, for my People’s Well Being, every second of my Life!We prostrate before such Great Saints, not for their Greatness but to imbibe Humility…which is the Fundamental principle in our ancient Culture!”
The Ministers Prostrated putting their heads on King Nimi’s Feet!
(Bhaja Govindam will Continue)
God & I 