When Lord Yama knocks one's door!

Giridhar giridhar at CHEMENG.IISC.ERNET.IN
Fri Jan 8 21:26:44 CST 1999


Thanks, Ravi, for posting the first verse of Bhaja Govindam and
the subsquent commentary for you and Gummuluru Murthyji.
You had previously requested me to post my notes on Bhaja
govindam, but I thought it would be too elementary for the list.
Anyway, let me post it..

        Shri Shankara advises all sadhakas,not to waste time in trifles
but to strive for realizing one Self. The grammar rule i..e,
the sutra DukR^iJNkaraNe is from dhatupat of Panini's
Siddhanta koumudhi. Here, it can be referred to all secular
knowledge.

        Shankara requests us to remember Govinda. It can mean
one Guru (Shankara's guru was Govinda), Lord Krishna
or the Self/Atman/Brahman. However, ultimately, there
is no difference between them.

                Man is the outcome of the past, so by intellegent use
of the present, one can fashion a better future for himself.
Development is two-fold. The external development, acquiring
material prosperity, produces pleasure and pain continually.
However, only mental refinement and sensory control, leads to
internal development and happiness and ultimately to Self realization.

                The request to remember the Lord always is a plea
found in Bhagavad Gita 8.7 also.  Bhagavad Gita also explains
how the last thought constitutes the future birth and thus if
one remembers God all the time, the person will remember
God at the end of his life also.

                But how to go about remembering Govinda all the time ?
What steps should one take and what steps one should avoid ?
Shankara explains these steps in the forthcoming verses, starting
with verse 2, where vairagya is emphasized.

namaste

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