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
eighteenth stanza is attributed to Sri Subodha, another of the senior disciples
of Shankara-ji.
surmiNdrtémUlinvas>
zYya
_aUtlmijn< vas>,
svRpir¢h_aaegTyag>
kSy
suo< n kraeit ivrag>.18.
Sura-mandaritaru-muulana-vaasaH
Shayyaa
bhuutalamajinam vaasaH,
Sarva-parigraha-bhoga-tyaagaH
Kasya
sukham na karoti viraagaH ||18||
Sheltering in temples, under some trees,
Sleeping on the naked ground, wearing a deerskin;
Renouncing all idea of possession and thirsting to
enjoy…
To whom will not dispassion bring happiness?.
One
who is hypocritical can appear to be doing these things, as has been brought
forth in earlier verses. Now though, it is put forward that those who perform
these tapas - austerities - with right mind and intention of releasing worldly
connection can only expect to indeed find a level of contentment which passeth
all understanding.
Everyone
can point to the other man who, it seems, is happier than they are and put a
measure on it according to worth; but the only one who has the courage to
declare - and truly feel - that he is himself happy is the one who has relinquished the
passions and hungers for the world. He alone is really rich who has no more any
use for the finite joys of this ephemeral world. There may be no home or
shelter for such a one, causing him or her to seek comfort in sacred spaces;
the clothing may be little more than rags and barely more than a walking stick
and a mala may be owned - yet such a one is self-sufficient, holding an inner
contentment which cannot be matched.
If
we renounce externally, but do not address the desires and longing which arise
within us, we will forever be held back in sorrow at what we do not have,
holding an attachment to the external regardless of the illusion of
renunciation. For it to be true, we must have full vairaagya - renunciation
within our very being - to gain the contented joy spoken of by the sages.
Indeed,
one can be a great and true vairaagi even whilst working in the world and even
while living in a comfortable home. It is the state of mind and the intention
of life which is the purpose being pointed out here. No matter how much one
has, if one has true vairaagya it all becomes only oil to the wheels of life
and if it is not there the vairaagi is indifferent to the fact, for the goal is
not physical splendour, it is inner glory.
