The Dharma Shastras keep telling us: control the mind, control the senses, do tapasya, enjoy with restraint. Why? Why? Why so many restrictions on my life, behaviour, actions, speech and thoughts?
After pointing out to control the desire for more and more knowledge, wealth and curbing the desire for carnal pleasures, Adi Sankaracharyaji drops another hammer on our delusions in Bhaja Govindam. The delusion is that our life span is very long, and so we can enjoy as much and squander away our personal power and energy. Is life for sure? Well, it is as uncertain as a drop of water on a lotus leaf. That is the amazing instability of life. Why do we live for 100 years or even more? I hear you ask. Well, what is mentioned is not from our gross physical point of view, but from the standpoint of infinity. From the vast expanse of infinite time, our life span of even 100 years is just like the size of a feather flying in the wind, compared to the size of the vast blue sky.
Even in that short span, what indeed is our lot? Know that too says the sage—we are all the time held by physical disease, false pride and ignorance of our true self. Everything in this world is covered with sorrow. So what? If that question arises, we go back to the refrain of the song—‘Seek Govinda, Seek Govinda, Seek Govinda’. Here Govinda does not exactly refer to the blue boy of Vrindavan with but to that consciousness within to which all our senses go outward to return and rest. There are many more reasons for which we must devote our time to seek the self. The master here points out to a general nature prevalent in the world. We are wanted only as long as we have enough money and wealth to go by. Wealth here is not only in terms of money, but our ability to help others with our knowledge, soothing and comforting words or actions.
The true surrounding of people we can expect to have around is only as long as we have the capacity to earn and have savings too. Alas, if a person has lost this capacity and he still continues to live, the body has become weak, emaciated and old, then even at home, there is not a person to ask, “How are you? Is everything fine with you?”This is not a verse to scare or crib about the nature of personal relationships, but this is a forewarning lest we get too excited about maintaining relationships and forget the main and only goal of life—realisation of the self through purification of the mind and intellect.
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