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.
The
Guru presses on with examples of how the body is nothing.
yavTpvnae
invsit dehe
tavTp&Cdit
kuzl< gehe,
Gtvit
vayaE dehapaye
_aayaR
ib_yit tiSmNkaye.3.
Yaavatpavano
nivasati dehe
taavatpRchcchati
kushalam gehe,
Gatavati
vaayau dehaapaaye
Bhaaryaa
bibhyati tasminkaaye ||3||
As long as there dwells breath in the body,
So long they enquire of your welfare at home.
Once the breath leaves, the body decays,
Even the wife fears that very same body.
It
is imperative that one evolves a detachment from the blind affection of the
world and the objects of hollow enjoyment. There is a realism, or practicality,
in Vedanta; for as long as we are not Realised (and that is the majority of us
the majority of the time), we still have to interact and deal with having
family and friends and work commitments and such. However, following the
philosophy also demands that we understand our proper connection to these and
that with our very own body. There is something of a relentless honesty in this
verse.
Due
to excess body-centred focus of the human species, death becomes something to
fear. What death? Even aging and the impending nature of death are a terror to
many. We care for someone deeply - until we are challenged with seeing the
ravages of time and the loss of their personality as they fade into the
twilight of life.
However,
if we adjust our focus to the spirit, the essence of being which is the
unifying factor between us all, we come to understand there is nothing at all
to fear. To meditate on this fact, to develop a healthy disregard for
body-vanity and to build the spirit of detachment, is to bring oneself ever
closer to the loss of that fear. This is not to say that we must ignore the
body. Certainly the health ought to be attended, and basic hygiene observed,
all social conventions as to that attended; but remember at all times it is
only a vehicle for the spirit. The vehicle will eventually require trading in,
but the spirit is eternal.
Know
the body for what it is; no more, no less.
