Govinda-ashhTaka - 3

[Anand Hudli]

Shankara's Govinda-ashhTaka - 3

 traivishhTapa-ripuviiraghnaM kshhitibhaaraghnaM bhavarogaghnaM
 kaivalyaM navaniitaahaaram-anaahaaraM bhuvanaahaaraM  |
 vaimalyasphuTa-chetovR^ittivisheshhaabhaasam-anaabhaasaM
 shaivaM kevalashaantaM praNamata govindaM paramaanandaM || 3 ||

 traivishhTapa -  god
 ripuviiraghnaM - killer of the mighty enemies
 kshhitibhaaraghnaM - destroyer of the burden of the earth
 bhavarogaghnaM - destroyer of the disease of ephemeral existence
 kaivalyaM - mokshha, liberation
 navaniitaahaaraM - eater of fresh butter
 anaahaaraM - without food
 bhuvanaahaaraM - eater of the world
 vaimalyasphuTa- made clear by purification
 chetovR^ittivisheshha - a characteristic of the mind activity
 aabhaasaM - reflection
 anaabhaasaM - without reflection or fallacy
 shaivaM - auspicious
 kevalashaantaM - the nondual and calm
 praNamata -  bow to
 govindaM - Govinda
 paramaanandaM - the highest bliss
 Bow to Govinda, the Supreme Bliss, who is the destroyer of mighty
 enemies of gods (ie. the demons), who (thereby) eliminates the
 burden of the earth, who is the destroyer of ephemeral existence,
 who is the state of liberation (mokshha), who is (fond of) eating
 fresh butter (even though, in reality) He is without food, who
 consumes the worlds (at the time of destruction), who is reflected
 in the mind characterized by purification (even though) He cannot
 be reflected, who is auspicious, non-dual, and calm.

 Krishna as the ParamAtmA is present in  everyone. As the
 MuNDaka upanishhad says, there are two birds (dvaa suparNaa),
 the individual soul and God in the body. One of them (the individual
 soul as the intellect or viGYAnAtmA as per Shankara's sUtra-bhAShya) eats
 the fruits of happiness and misery brought by actions (karmaaNi). The
 other bird (ParamAtmA) looks on without eating, anashnan.h anyaH
 abhichaakashiiti, and remains as a witness.

 Taking the sense of eating as experiencing the fruits of actions,
 ParamAtmA, the Self, does not eat. But, taking the sense of eating
 as destroying, ParamAtmA eats or destroys the world at the time of
 destruction. Says the KaTha upanishhad:

 yasya brahma cha xatraM cha ubhe bhavata odanaH |
 mR^ityuryasyopasechanaM ka itthA veda yatra saH ||


 Who knows where It is That for which the brAhmaNa and xatriya (and the
 rest of the creation) is food (rice) and Death is like curry?

 Although Govinda, the nondual Brahman, cannot be reflected or
 manifested in the mind, yet He becomes reflected in the mind of
 one who is pure. As the MuNDaka again says, the Self reveals Itself
 to the mind which has become purified, yasminvishuddhe vibhavatyeshha
 AtmA.


 Anand

--
bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

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