Verse 8
kate
kanta kaste putrah samsaro'yamativa vicitrah |
kasya tvam kah kuta ayatah
tattvam cintaya tadiha bhratah || 8 ||
Who is your wife ?
Who is your son ? Strange is the (way of the) world; Of whom are you? From
where have you come? Brother, now ponder over these truths.
In this verse Sri
Sankara deals with the process of enquiry that will help one to get out of the
intense mental bondage concerning the immediate family members. He is not denouncing the physical attachment
that forms the moral foundation of society and which the scriptures uphold. But
one should not mistake family life to be the end and aim of life. So one should analyse all the things one is
attached to including one’s own self and one’s family. Detachment is the removal of selfishness,
demands and expectations. It is the dropping of the sense of “my-ness”. Analyze all the things one is attached to.
What is one’s about the son, daughter, wife or husband? They are individuals
with their own distinct personalities, life goals and aspirations. Let one
analyse; “Before my birth, who I was, where I was? Who was my wife before our
marriage? She was a daughter of
somebody. One fine morning she entered my life. Like this, I have no clue who
were my sons or daughters. After death, all these relationships will come to an
end, whether I like it or not; whether I accept it or not. Yet I foolishly think
all this is permanent.” The more one enquires on these lines the more one will come
closer to truth and realize the transient nature of these relationships which
will be a good beginning for spiritual life leading to samsara-nasa. This Sri Sankara gives as a brotherly advice
for one’s spiritual well-being and so he addresses the other person as brother.
Verse
9
satsangatve nissangatvam
nissangatve nirmohatvam |
nirmohatve niscalatattvam
niscalatattve jivanmuktih || 9 ||
From the company of
good and holy people, one develops a state of nonattachment; from this comes
freedom from delusion; This leads to a state of tranquillity of mind, which
enables one to attain Liberation from samsara.
In earlier verses Sri
Sankara indicated to one how to detach from sensual and worldly pleasures
through the Pratipaksha Bhavana.
In this verse he is giving a helping hand by showing a ladder of
progress carefully climbing which, one can reach the spiritual heights of
self-realisation that is Liberation or Moksha even before shedding the body.
The first step is
keeping satsangh: the company of holy people, saints, good men and women. It is a well-known fact that good character
is developed from the company of good people and the opposite is sure to follow
from keeping the company of the wicked. The light of satsang slowly lifts the veil of delusion that
clouds our intellect. From that point onwards spiritual life begins in earnest.
Satsangh helps one to know which is real and which is maya, which is
permanent and which is transitory and which leads to God and which takes away
from God. With this knowledge the mind can be weaned away from false
attachments. This attitude of renunciation of worldly pleasures and charms is
required for further progress. Through
this knowledge and in the company of good, one slowly starts to develop an
attitude of non-attachment to things of the world. From non-attachment comes
freedom from delusion that the worldly objects provide happiness. Once the veil
of delusion that clouds one’s intellect is lifted one develops the firm
understanding of oneself and with an unwavering and steady mind marches towards
the goal of Self-realisation and gets liberated-in-life.
The message of this
verse is: “With satsang, the foundations of ajjnanam
start crumbling. Satsang is at the start of the “chain” which
if pursued with devotion and dedication
leads to Liberation (Moksha). The successive steps as given in the verse is:
Satsang à Non-attachmentà Non-delusion à Self-realisation à Liberation.”
Verse
10
vayasigate kaḥ kamavikarah suske nire kaḥ kasaraḥ |
ksinevitte
kah parivarah jnate tattve kah samsarah || 10 ||
What good is lust
when youth has fled away? What is the use of a lake that has dried up ? Where are
the relatives when wealth is gone ? Where is samsara, the
worldly life, when the Truth is known ?
In this verse Sri Sankara using
the analogies of youth, water and wealth explains that when truth is realized, samsara dissolves for that person.
1.
When youth is gone and there is no sexual
vigour, lust becomes ineffective ;
2.
When water is all dried up, the lake loses
its utility and also its form and existence;
3.
There will be no relatives hanging around,
when one runs out of wealth;
In the same way there
will be no samsara for one who has attained Self-realisation. God alone is Truth and with God-realisation
one understands the world is a delusion and God is the unchanging eternal
principle behind the ever-changing mortal world. The driving force in life is the worldly desires. When one succeeds in curtailing them and the lake of worldly desires
dry out, there is no samsara for him. The material world loses its attraction as
he has understood its hollowness and also discovered the durable and fulfilling
thing. The darkness of ignorance vanishes with the light of knowledge of the
Self and mundane matters with their anxieties and sorrows have no impact on
him. In the words of Sri Ramakrishna
Paramahamsa “What remains in the man from whose mind lust and greed are
entirely eliminated? The bliss of Brahman beams in him”
Verse 11
ma
kuru dhana jana yauvana garvam harati nimesatkalah sarvam |
mayamayamidamakhilam
buddhva brahmapadam tvam pravisa viditva || 11 ||
Do not take pride in
wealth, friends, and youth. Time takes away all of these in a minute; give them up
having known that all these things are nothing but delusion, and enter the state
of God realization and merge in Brahman.
Sri
Sankara in this verse cautions one against becoming proud and egoistic with the
false sense of security provided by youth, wealth, one’s relatives and friends and
other worldly possessions. One should not forget that there can be a change to
this status that comes from wealth and influence in the society if the wealth
is lost. One should always remember that youth is not
everlasting and neither is wealth. Money can be lost in many ways; misfortune,
theft, cheating, quarrels, ill health, etc. If the wealth is lost, friends and relatives
will desert one, sooner than later. So the power and pomp, prestige and privilege
one experiences due to wealth, friends, relatives, age and position at any time
is not permanent and the appearance of permanence is only maya. So Sri Sankara warns that one should not
dissipate one's energies in these false vanities. Instead, realizing the
illusory nature of the world of objects, one should concentrate on spiritual
path and realize the true nature of one’s Self as Brahman, that will
not only destroy samsara in this birth but also will give relief from the
vicious cycle, of birth and death, itself for ever.
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