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.
Continuing
the lament of the Guru, he regales the listener…
idnyaimNyaE
say< àat>
izizrvsNtaE
punrayat>,
kal>
³Ifit gCDTyayu>
Tadip
n muÂTyazavayu>.12.
Dinayaaminyae
saayam praataH
Shishiravasantau
punaraayaataH,
KaalaH
kriidati gachcchatyaayuH
Tadap
na munchatyaashaavaayuH ||12||
Day and night, dawn and dusk,
Winter and spring, again and again (come and go);
Time sport and life ebbs away,
And yet, one leaves not the gusts of desires.
The
wheel of existence continues to turn, the months steadily glide along and the
flood of time rolls up in waves the years, sweeping all before its
relentlessness. Before we know it we are looking back and asking, 'where did it
go?'
That
which was future becomes present and, in a blink, becomes past. Man, gathering
memories from his past, barricades his present and any vision of future is
blurred by anxieties and anticipations and expectancies. We waste so much time
manoeuvering and negotiating life versus time. We see the lesson taught well by
Nitchketa (Kathopanishad), who succeeds in talking with Lord Yama
("Death") and, when offered many boons by that lord, rejects them;
"even the longest life that you can give is but a trifle - may you keep
to yourself the dance and the music!"
Man
is constantly under the thrall of 'dance and music'… the allure of the external
world of objects and experiences. Life is spent in obtaining more and more of
these stimulations, mistaking in them a happiness. Nothing of it can be carried
with us into the realm of Death… but the desires which have been built up in
pursuit of those things has left imprints - adding to the vaasana account of
the jiiva to be carried forward into a further life. Each life is a chance for
the jiiva to cancel that account, to grasp the true purpose of living and reach
for the Highest Reality… but it will take many lives for the roaming soul to
Realise. Each time the illusion created by Maya's siren call will wreck the
jiiva upon the rocks of existence.
Be
wise, give up desires. Seek the all-satisfying Reality that lies behind the
mental show of change and sorrow. Seek it with mind withdrawn from the fever of
all passions!
