Hari
OM
Application - that is what 'Workings-days' are about!
The text under study is BHAJA GOVINDAM, song of despair of time-wasting, by Sri Adi Shankaraachaarya.
To
move through life, most of us find we attach to one thing or another;
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Baalastaavvat-kriidaa-saktaH
Tarunastaa-vattaruni-saktaH,
vRddhastaavat-chintaa-saktaH
Parame
brahmani kopi na saktaH ||7||
So long as one is in one's boyhood, one is attached to
play; so long as one is youth, one is attached to one's own young woman; so
land as one is in old age, one is attached to anxiety; no one, alas, is
attached to the Supreme Brahman!
The
teacher continues his lament. Man has been gifted the glory of an intellect,
but does he grasp this precious tool and wield it well in attempts to better
himself and the lives of those around him? Does he understand the full
potential? No he does not. Instead, the lures and traps of the external world
work their siren wiles upon him. Hoodwinked with all the desires which also
arise within, the poor human critter becomes damaged, ravaged, fatigued and falls to earth again still wondering
whatever is this life about.
Here
the teacher, the one who has made good use of the intellect and has understood
the urgency but has also seen the folly of his fellow man, cries out in
desperation in an attempt to shake the 'mere mortal' out of attachment to
the passing world.
Age
is no barrier to folly, either, says the teacher. Do not think that grey hair
and wrinkles necessarily equals wisdom! Conversely, we can find true wisdom in
a child.
No
one who is born can hold back the play of time and its effects upon the
material body; neither can they be immune to the desires and passions which
manifest in it. However, with appropriate training of the intellect, it is
possible to drop the attachment to the worldly. This is what separates mankind
from the rest of the animal kingdom. The ability to discriminate and exercise
decision based upon sound analysis.
In
truth, it is very few indeed who ever truly succeed in raising themselves into
the transcendental condition - but this is no excuse not to try!
