‘Eko Vishnuhu’ - Narayana is all pervading - The God is Narayana, the devotee is Narayana. All this is God’s Leela. On one side, He is Paramathma; on the other side he is jeevathma! In fact, you and I don’t exist. What exists is Narayana Himself! Everything is Narayana. So we are all visible manifestations of Narayana.

The liberation of soul can be attained by learning the fact ‘ I am a manifestation of Narayana. Now don’t stretch things too far! Don’t imagine you can sit in the place of Narayana in the temple. As per the norms of the world around, we are devotees and the lord is Paramathma. Once Sri Rama asked Anjaneya, ‘Who are you?’ Anjaneya answered, ‘Swami! In terms of body, I am your devotee. In terms of life I am a part of you. If you are a vast ocean, I am a drop of wataer in it. In terms of atma in philosophy - ‘tvamevaham’ you are me and I am you because there is no object other than you. The world is a visible manifestation of you! You are the Paramatha, you are the jeevathmas. You dictate terms and you appear to be dictated terms. ‘Sarvam Rama mayam!’ Everything is Rama. This is true vaishnavite feeling. Visualising Vishnu in everything is vaisnav philosophy. Visualising Siva in everything is Saiva philosophy. Learning everything is Paramatha is Govinda Bhaja.

We are ignorant of this all-pervading factor and we fight among ourselves glorifying one God over the other. Our bhajan, prayer - leads to vibhajan - division. Govinda Bhajana is to learn that Govinda is within you. The visible ‘you’ is an incarnation of the invisible Govinda. Whatever path you take sadhana, bhakti the goal is the same. Without attaining these we are wasting our time on unnecessary things. This is not a true method.

Our life purpose is to learn about Narayana! But something is wrong somewhere. So we are slightly deviating from the main path. Not only in the spiritual path, even on the highway you travel if you deviate from the main track, it becomes a devation elsewhere.
Imagine a person travelling on cycle. If he twists the handle slightly, in due course, it becomes a major devation. You observe for yourself! A small deviation is dangerous. For instance, you twist the handle to a great extent; you can feel the deviation immediately. Instead, if you turn it unknowingly, your path and goal get changed in due course.

The same way to fill our life with sorrow, we need not do big mistakes. In fact we can identify big mistakes immediately and change ourselves. So the trivial mistakes we do unknowingly lead to great misery. Theylead us astray from the All Pervading Narayana.
Why are we going to satsangs or bhajans? To attain bhakti or gnana but not to promote groupisms and to fight with others. But in the course of our satsang meetings, the handle takes a small turn unknowingly. The result? Within six months we break into two parties.
That’s why Sri Sankaracharya is repeatedly chanting ‘Bhaja Govindam’ He is addressing as ‘Moodamathe’ again and again to remind us of our foolishness. He doesn’t want us to make a turn. It appears tobe small turn for us but it deviates us so much that it makes us miss the turning point in life. So he cautions us to be very very careful.

We are peculiar people. You know why? We don’t show interest in what should interest us but we are curious in unnecessary matters. We kept aside the important issue that can give us gnana. We learnt a lot of unnecessary things. If the saints tell us, know thyself we care a foot for that! But we probe into the matters of others though nobody ordered us to do so! In fact a C.I.D. officer who is ordered to do so, fails miserably before us. We never bother to learn, We should enquire about the enquirer.

We are within our limits in necessary things but we over act in unnecessary things. The elders proclaimed ‘Ati Sarvatra Varjayeth.’ What ever we over do, causes us a trouble somewhere or other. Now a day’s people are over doing in the fields of religion and philosophy too.
One extra action is treating Siva as different from Vishnu. It is called extra because he learns neither about Siva nor about Vishnu. Talking too much about an unknown thing is ignorance. Instead of involving ourselves in bhajans, kirthans, quest for knowledge for our progress - fighting with others as an all rounder is really foolishness! These foolish thoughts cannot be called spiritual thinking. They don’t help us in our progress too.

A gnani’s true nature is not to make much ado about nothing. He should remember his life purpose and lead his life accordingly, without getting entangled himself in petty quarrels.

Once a gentleman asked Sri Ramana Maharshi to define maya. The great Maharshi did not respond immediately. He sat in silence. The devotee read somewhere that though the Maharshi sat silently, he conveyed some meaning through his silence. So he bore patiently for nearly an hour. Just then Sri Sarvepalli RadhakrishnanPandit arrived there. All the devotees, who were seated before the Maharshi rushed towards him. Even the said gentleman ran towards him.

Radhakrishna had the darsan of Maharshi and left the place. Then Ramana Maharshi broke the silence and asked the gentleman-seated beforehim, ‘What did you ask me earlier?’ The man replied, ‘About maya’, Maharshi smiled and said, ‘This is maya.’ The man looked perplexed. Then the Maharshi clarified the situation. ‘Why did you come to the ashram? To see Radha Krishna or me?’ The man answered innocently, ‘You!’ So, forgetting the purpose of visit (to the world) and doing something else is maya’ answered Maharshi.

There is no point in doing anything else ignoring the actual purpose of life. There is no point in reading the sastras too. A haphazard way of reading these sastras lands us into troubles. ‘Sabdajalam maharanyam chitta bramana karanam’ - If there is a gambling of words it becomes a thick forest. We may come out of the thick forest successfully, but if we are lost in the gambling of words, we can never come out of it!
‘Vaidushyam vidusham bhuktaye na tu muktaye’ - ‘Such high sounding words may fill the stomach of a pandit since they display his knowledge of words but they do not liberate our souls’ says Sri Sankaracharya. So, we should not go to an extreme end to attain moksha.

Over action - Utter failure
Listen to this story - Once upon a time; four friends proceeded to Kasi together. Each one was well versed in his own field. One was an astrologer, one was a doctor, one was a musician and the other was a logician. In those days there was no proper mode of conveyance. They had to go on foot! So the people walked in the morning, rested for the night somewhere, cooked food there and proceeded the next morning. They continued their journey thus. The four friends also followed the same method. The first day, they travelled a distance of 50 kms. Then they wanted to have their food and planned to cook the rice they brought along with them. They distributed the work among themselves.
The musician had to cook food. The doctor went to purchase vegetables. The astrologer offered to bring leaves to eat upon. The logician agreed to bring ghee and curds from the town. Each one was deeply engrossed in his work.

The musician started his work by pouring water in earthenware pot and by adding rice to it. After sometime rice began to cook. It gave out a melodious sound - Dhaka - tuka - Dhaka - tuka! You should see the reactions of the musician! He was delighted at the sound ‘Oh! How nice! How good the pot is’, he exclaimed and he was putting the tala to rhyme with it. After sometime the rhyme in the pot changed. The sruti has changed. The musician could not bear the apasruti. He became very angry. He tried to adjust the location of the pot but no avail. This irritated the musician. He got angry at the pot. What a stupid pot it is! There is no sruti or laya in it. So saying he picked up a stick and banged the pot angrily as if to punish it. The result? The pot broke and rice spilled all over. ‘My God! What am I supposed to do now?’ How do I answer my friends? ‘He sat down with his hand over his head.

The astrologer, who went to get the leaves to eat upon, went to a moduga tree. As he was about to cut down the leaves of the tree, he saw a camoflauge pass by from left to right. He wondered if it was a good omen. He calculated something on his fingers.
‘My God! It is a bad omen. If we cut leaves at this time and have our food we will die. I should wait atleast for three hours. If we go against astrology and its predictions, it is nothing but inviting troubles with open hands. Added to it, it is a pilgrimmage to Kasi. So, come what may, I will pluck leaves only after 3 hours.’ He roamed around aimlessly for sometime. In the meanwhile, he saw a donkey inthe process of delivery.
‘Why was this atma born as a donkey? What sins would he have committed inthe previous janma?’ he began to calculate again. It took him four hours to find out the secret of birth of the donkey!

The doctor who went to buy vegetables could only read diseases into the vegetables. After filtering out all the vegetables, he would decide upon leafy vegetables. Whatever you eat, except leafy vegetables, causes ill health. Moreover it is a pilgrimage to Kasi. So he bought only leafy vegetable and on his way back he came across his astrologer friend who was lost inhis calculations regarding the donkey. He was taken a back and asked what he was doing.

The astrologer was thrilled at his discovery and was happy at the unexpected listener and so made him sit beside him. He spoke elaborately on his discovery. Both of them were lost in their discussion. The donkey, being tired after the labour pains, ate the leafy vegetables along with the bag. The doctor’s vegetables were gone. The astrologer’s leaves were gone and the musicians rice was gone. Now we are left with the logician’s role.

Let’s see his scheme of action. The logician impressed somebody with his talent and got ghee and curds in two leafy bowls. He was holding those bowls in both the hands. Then he had a wonderful doubt. Does the bowl depend on the ghee or curds or do they depend on the bowl? What is dependent and what is the main element (Adhara - adheyalu) If the ghee or curds was not poured into the leafy bowl, it would have been blown into the air, but if the bowl was not there, the ghee or curds would have flowed down his hand. In logic such a phenomenon is called Anyonya - srayam - interdependence. The logician could not understand it. He learnt in logic what is dependent - adheyam - goes away leaving the independent adharam. So he turned the bowls upside down. He lost the curds and the ghee. So what! He was glad he learnt what was independent and what was dependent.

Though those four people were well versed in their fields, they had to sleep without food, that night. In fact because they wanted to overdo their talent, they had to starve. Music, grammar.. whatever is the field you are talented in, you should make use of it only as much as required. Anything stretched too far is not good for life. That’s what is happening in our lives - we are better informed than our elders, but we lack mental peace and happiness. We are blessed with the life of human being to seek moksha. Instead of seeking the most essential moksha we are seeking everything else. If we think with a little maturity, we get the desire for moksha mumukshtvam. Sri Sankaracharya has explained wonderfully to attain this desire inthe following sloka.

30. Pranayamam pratyaharam
Nityaa nitya vivekavichaaram
Japya sametha Samadhi Vidhaanam
Kurva avadhaanam mahadavadhaanam [Bhaja Govindam]

Do pranayam, eat pratya - ahara, analyse what is permanent, what is transient, practice with concentration. Do sadhana blended with meditation and balanced mind.

After explaining Gnana from various angles, Sri Sankaracharya is explaining here how to attain it. See what we should do to attain Gnana. In simple words we have two steps to follow - pranayama, pratya - ahara.
‘Pranasya ayaamam pranayamam’ - pranayama should be done with great interest. Many people entertain a misconception that pranayama is helpful only to cure diseases. Patanjali yoga sastra begins with ‘Adha yogaanusasanam’. If what people think is true, it should have begun with ‘Adha Yoga chikitsaa vidhanam.’ Anusasanam means discipline.

Yoga-Disease
Pranayama could have cured you of your diseases because pranayama has so much of impact! It doesn’t mean pranayama could cure disease alone.

Some yogacharyas also preach yoga is meant for curing diseases. They should explain the purpose of yoga and its advantages. They should not belittle yoga or pranayama for curing diseases alone. Yoga may cure diseases but that is not the only achievement of yoga.
When we extract sugar cane juice, the sugar cane is finally turned into pulp. The pulp is thrown as food to the cattle. If you get the pulp as a result of extracting juice, there is some meaning in it, but if you churn the sugar cane in the machine, only to extract the pulp is not a wise action. You ask for juice, you get the double benefit of both juice and the pulp. The same rule applies inthe case of yoga or pranayama. If you practice these you obtain good health. But the objective of yoga is not merely for attaining good health.

Everything has a purpose to fulfil and we should use them to attain their purpose. One who has physical strength is a demon. When yoga is used only to obtain physical strength, it provides the demon’s stength. So yoga should be utilized properly. Instead of achieving its purpose, we are belittling yoga to body and we assume that is the purpose of yoga sastra. This mistaken identity makes us feel ‘yoga is for roga’ (for diseases).

Once I invited somebody for dhyana. He said, ‘Why? I don’t require it because I don’t have any health problem.’ Some people go to the other extreme. They spread the news that through meditation you can get cured of your diseases, you will attain great powers and you can travel in space too! This is another extreme and even this is wrong! Dhayana is one step. Pranayama is another step. Can you call steps as house?

‘Pranasya ayamaha’ - This helps the seekers of knowledge a lot. It is because; nobody can understand Vedanta all of a sudden. The reason behind it is, our mind is wavering. This wavering mind will be caught and controlled by pranayama.

In the present situation we are in, pranayama is in our reach. But is the knowledge of the self in our search? To attain Brahma gnana our mind needs a greater concentration. Pranayama is the best method to attain concentration. If pranayama is one step, a step ahead of it as prana vikshanam. When Sri Sankaracharya referred to pranayama, pranavikshanam also is implied in that.

‘Pranayamam prana gatyaa gatya pratyabhi vekshanam’ - Pranayamam stabilizes the mind. We attain a sort of peace. There is no doubt about it. We don’t have to do anything. Even if we sit silently and watch our breathing, we feel very happy. But how long should we watch our breathing? Only as long as to have a control over our mind. The pranayama or the meditation, which is a means for an end, is misunderstood as the end itself. There lies the entire problem. The pranayama helps you to concentrate or to control your mind. So it is not your end but it is only a step in your end. You should climb these steps and go ahead instead of sitting on those steps. If you stop there, you can’t reach your goal.

Pranayama and pratyahara go together. Pratyahara means bringing back the mind from unnecessary things. Our tension shoots up when the mind is centred round unnecessary things. Our mind has too many avocations ever since we wake up and take up a newspaper to read. There is no point in sitting for meditation with a sack full of thoughts. We should eliminate unnecessary thoughts.

What are unnecessary thoughts? However much we brood over some things we cannot do anything in those matters. Such thoughts should be avoided. If we feel we can do something, then there is a reason in thinking over that issue deeply. The greater is the periphery of the mind’s wandering, the deeper is the tension. Follow this point for instance.

Do you know the reason why an innocent villager leads a verypeaceful life, when we the wise city dwellers lead a restless life? The saying goes, ‘men who know the most are most gloomy. The villager’s awareness is very limited. He lives like a frog inthe well. He knows only about his village, his house, his cattle, and his family... that’s all. That’s his world. So however much his mind roams around, it roams around this small circle! That’s why he is so peaceful.

Where as we? We know everything under the sun. That’s the old saying. Today we know everything in the space too! Our mind roams from America to Africa. Since there is a traffic jam of our thoughts in the mind, we are not at peace. Every unnecessary thing, speaks about our samskara. That’s why Sri Sankaracharya is suggesting this pratyahara. We should bring back the mind that is entangled in the world around. No amount of pranayama will help, if pratyahara doesn’t join hands with it. We bought a ticket but didn’t get into the bus. How then can we expect to get the benefit of travel?

Pranayama and pratyahara, by themselves can’t provide mukti. They only help us to increase our capabilities. Along with pranayama and pratyahara, we require ‘nityanitya viveka vichara. This leads our bus to its destination. ‘Nitya nitya vastu viveka means the teaching. What is permanent? What is transient? This can also be termed, ‘Atmaanaatma viveka. Drukdrusya viveka.’ ‘This awareness give us liberation.
We are tied down to the world due to our ignorance. So, we can liberate ourselves by driving out our ignorance. Without trying for liberation through reasoning power and inquisitive nature, there is no point in thinking ‘Aham Brahmasmi.’

To do the reasoning as to what is permanent, what is temporary we need a calm, stable and able mind. To attain a calm mind, we should follow the life style proposed in the yoga sastras. But this life style is only a means to an end, but it is not an end by itself. If we think it liberates us and we stop there, we can’t reach our goal. That’s why; Sri Sankaracharya adds ‘nitya nitya vastu viveka’ along with pranayama and pratyahara.

Vedanta says ‘Avicharakruto bundhahe vicharena vinuktihi.’ So viveka vicharam has a great prominence.
‘Japya sametha samadhi vidhanam - samadhi vidhanam means yoga vidhanam yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratya hara, dharana, dhyana, samadhi - This is the astanga yoga handed down by Patanjali. Sri sankaracharya wants us to practice this astanga yoga carefully.

We require Eswara Krupa also
Some people feel that those who do yoga/ meditation need not pray to God, but that is not a practical solution. It is because our mind is wavering even as we do yoga/ meditation. When a small lad starts learning to walk, he falls down at almost every step he puts forward. To make him walk properly, father or mother walks behind him. It is inevitable and it is a must.

Accordingly, we are stepping into spiritual path just now. We too need the blessings of Lord Siva. How do we seek these blessings? Eswara Krupa flows to us inccessantly as the bright rays of sun. ‘Tameva bhantam, anubhuti sarvam - If you shine, the world around will shine! So Eswara Krupa is always with us. If it is so, whythen should we pray or meditate. Only to open our eyes. The true prayer to God is opening our eyes! It is given to us already we should just open our eyes and receive it. This is how we should follow japa bahita samadhi state.

We should never speak ill of bhakti. Bhakti gives us self-confidence. When you are in the midst of a great misery, just think. ‘Paramesa is with me. Don’t you feel highly relieved? The chanting of the name of Eswara releases your worry and leaves you at peace. You feel as if God is assuring you, ‘Why fear when I am here?’ That acts as a tonic for you.

How did Vasudeva cross the Yamuna River when the tide was high? He had Krishna Paramatma in a basket on his head. What do the words, Paramatma in the basket on the head mean? It means retain Paramatma in your head, inyour mind! Eswara samarpana, japa, dhyana.. Mean the same!

‘Tadeva brahmatvam viddi, Vedam yadidam upaasate’ - The rishis well versed in Upanishads proclaimed profoundly. ‘What you are praying to is not Brahma.’ But the very same rushis handed down to us with love and affection bhakti, yoga etc. that would help us in our initial stages of travel over the spiritual path. We should understand their importance inthe right level but we should not behave ignorantly. This is the message of sanathana dharma vani.

‘Kuru avadhanam mahadhavadhanam’ - Do all these wholeheartedly. We should not do it as if we are forced to do it. They help us in our spiritual path. So Sri Sankaracharya is advising us to follow these with interest and to be blessed by it.

31. Gurucharanaambuja nirbhara bhaktaha
Samsaraa dachiradbhava muktaha
Sendriya maanasa niyamaadevam
Drakshasi nija Hrudayastam Devam [Bhaja Govindam]

Be devoted to the lotus feet of the Guru, get liberated from the bonds of samsara, and control your mind along with the indriyas. Then you can see God seated in your own heart.

Sri Krishna proclaimed inthe Gita, ‘Tasmaat yogee bhavarjuna’ - Oh Arjuna! Become a yogi! Similarly here, Sri Sankaracharya is blessing us with these words - ‘Mukto Bhava.’

‘Guru charanambuja nirbhara bhaktaha’ Sri Sankaracharya is suggesting that we should surrender to the feet of the Guru with total faith in him. He wants us to serve him wholeheartedly and to attain liberation from the samsara through the knowledge we acquire from him. You must have already heard the statement; you can’t attain mukti without the help of a guru.
Guru

Guru means big. Guruvu means a big man. It means ‘Varistudu’. Anybody attains ‘varistatvam’ only through Brahmagnana. So Guru means Brahma gnani. A guru teaches to the people who cling to them. That teaching is called Gurupadesam. The upadesam given by a guru, who is a Brahma gnani, becomes Brahma gnana Upadesam. This Brahma gnana liberates our soul. So, we should seek a guru and should have utmost faith in him and serve him with undaunted faith.

One aspect needs a clarification here. Some people feel that we don’t require a guru at all. Even Jiddu Krishna Murthy proclaims so. But we should also understand the level of his teaching. When he said, we don’t require a guru; he attacked the chota gurus who get along as gurus. Here in this sloka, the guru mentioned is a true bramin guru! If we don’t require a guru, who will correct us if we go wrong? So it is foolishness to do away with a guru.

‘Sadvidvanupa - srupyatam’ is the message of Sankaracharya. We should seek the blessings of the Guru who is a Brahma Jnani.
Dhyaanamulam gurormurthihi poojamulam gurorpadham!
Mantramulam guror vakyam mokshamulam guror krupa

Some people keep preaching ‘Guru is everything’ taking this sloka as the standard. If the statement we don’t require guru is meaningless, the statement Guru is everything is equally meaningless!

‘Guru charanaambuja nirbhara bhaktaha’ - Ambuja means lotus flower. It is born in muddy water, but it blossoms forth without being attached to it. Similarly Gnana blossoms forth without being attached to the samsara. Guru is an incarnation of Gnana. Every movement of his is a visible expression of gnana! The surrender to such gnana is indicated in the words ‘guru - charanaambuja nirbhara bhakta. When we prostrate before the feet of the guru, we should fill our hearts with such a feeling.

‘Moksha mulam guror krupa.’ Don’t take this line superficiality! It doesn’t mean the guru puts his hand on your head and proclaims. ‘Right! You areliberated now. Go! it means the guru should teach Vedanta to the disciple who comes to him in real quest of knowledge. He should teach him tat-twam asi, to the disciple. That is guru krupa.

To teach the ‘sruti vakya’ krupa is verymuch required. It is because the disciple repeatedly asks the same doubts till he gets them clarified. Even if he asks thus, the guru should not get vexed at his questions, but should answer them clearly from various angles. To do so, the guru needs lots of understanding. This is what is called Guru krupa. Through Guru Krupa we get liberated from the shackles of life. So we should have faith in guru and surrender ourselves to him. Only when we have sraddha and samarpana - faith and surrender can we learn anything.

Tatwiddi prani paatena pariprasnena sevaya
Upadekshyanti te gnanam gnaninastatva darsinaha!

Sri Krishna proclaimed in the Bhagavat Gita that we should prostrate ourselves before gnanis who attained Brahma Gnana. We should serve them and attain the gnana from them.

Why prostrate?
Some people immediately raise this question, ‘why prostrate before the guru? ‘If they raise this question it simply means that it is their ego that is raising it! Because we are bound by ego, this way of showing our respect is becoming mandatory. Let us say, you go to a lake to drink water because you are thirsty! Canyou tell the lake, No, I won’t bend before you. I will stand erect! ‘The lake won’t jump to your mouth to make you drink. You have to bend! There is no other way out! ‘Bend your head, drink water’ is the philosophy of life.

It is left to you to drink water ornot! Without bending your head, even if you stand at the bank of the lake for 100 janmas with folded hands, you can never get water into your hands. If you want water - you have to bend your head and you have to surrender yourself. There is no other alternative. So Sri Sankaracharya is advising us to liberate ourselves from the samsara by humbling ourselves at the feet of the Guru.
‘Sendriya maanasa niyamaadevam’ - sendriya maanasam It is a beautiful teaching - Normally, even if we control your indriyas (sense organs) mind does not get controlled. If we control the indriyas without a proper understanding the mind keeps loitering in the bazaar. This problem is a perinnial problem. That’s why he said, SA indriya manasam. We should control our mind along with our indriyas. How is it possible? It is possible, if we control it with our intelligence.

Suppose you hear the fact that there is poison in the food you eat, your indriyas and your mind leave the food at once! Why? The intelligence accepted that the food is poisonous. When intelligence accepts it, without any second thoughts, the indriyas and the mind also accept it.
Take yet another example. Let us imagine that you are doing some electrical work. You receive an electric shock. The next minute your mind and the indriyas recede. Now let us imagine that only the mind comes back but the indriyas remain where they are! Do know what happens. You reach samadhi stiti. It is samadhi in which you will be buried. So controlling the mind along with the indriyas means use your intelligence and act wisely.

We are different from other creatures by virtue of our intellect. What’s the use if we don’t make use of it ? So, we should use our intelligence and control our mind. Through controlling the mind thus, we should seek Atmagnana. We should digest the great truth tat-twami-asi (that art thou) properly and arrive at the state ‘Aham Brahmasmi’ (I am Brahma). This is the liberation of soul. This is described in the lines ‘drakshya sinija hrudayastam devam by Sri Sankaracharya.

Drakshyasi means see. We are tired of seeing objects. We can get param shanti only by seeing Paramathma. Where should we seek Him? Nija hrudayastam - Not anywhere else, in our own heart! Paramathma’s permanent address is our heart itself!
Gita also supports this statement through the words! Hruddese Arjuna tistati! ‘What is the shape of the paramathma in our heart? Devam - dyotanatmakam devaha Parmatma is prakasa swaroopa. Prakasa here doesn’t mean light. It means Chaitanya. Just as we can see the objects clearly by prakasam - light, we can understand the world filled with objects containing a name and shape through Chaitanya. That’s why chaitanya is compared to light.

Chaitanya prakasam is natural light. It means the light does not depend on anything else! The Paramathma, who is seated in our heart on His own, is shining verybrightly. The Acharya is asking us to see this Divinely light within us.

Drakshyati doesn’t mean we can see it literally with our naked eyes. It means we can experience it. This is called ‘Aparoksha anubhuti’. This aparoksha anubhuti makes us experience Brahmanubhooti. To experience this we should pray to Govinda.

A true prayer to Govinda is one, which makes us experience this Brahmanu bhooti. If we don’t experience it, it means we are doing something temporarily, for time pass, in the name of prayer! One man goes into pitch darkness singing some songs loudly. We are impressed by his courage. We feel, ‘My God! He is so brave! He is going into darkness singing away songs happily!’ In fact, he is not bold. He is as scared of darkness as we are! The only difference is, he is trying to forget his fears through his songs.

Exactly like the coward, we are also chanting, Govinda, Rama, Krishna, Siva... Our prayer is taking birth from our fear. Sometimes we pray to attain the comforts ofHeaven. But now we understood the sastras. We have attained the blessings of sadguru through his discourses on sastra. So we can’t continue to remain thesame ignorant people as of yore.

You start your journey from wherever you are. If you wish to start it from somewhere else it only lands you in trouble. You lead yourself in the righteous path, recollecting every word of Sri Sankaracharya!

Nobody can lead us forward in our journey in spiritual path. To long for somebody to lead us forward is proof positive of our weakness and our lifelessness! So what has happened has happened. So long we have walked with the support of somebody! We have depended on others so much that we have almost become paralytical! This is not at all a healthy sign. So, let’s start walking on our own.

We may fall down many times in this attempt. No problem. Let’s try again and again. Let’s be inspired by children who try again and again to walk. We will face some upheavals. No problem. Only when we continue our journey, can we attain gnana. We cannot attain it if somebody holds our hands and helps us walk. It is nothing but the truth.

The guru may hold your hand and lead you forward. But that is only in the initial stages. Later you should walk on your own. You derive a great pleasure on such an independent effort. This is the true definition of spiritual journey. In the present day world, we are walking along holding the hands of many - parents, teachers, our desires, our feelings, our ego.. Now atleast let us try to walk on our own.

One gentleman asked me, ‘I am Lord Krishna’s staunch devotee. Do I get rid of my sorrow if I follow his footsteps?’ I said, ‘No!’ He was surprised at my answer and asked for a clarification. I replied, the one who walks behind Krishna doesn’t lose his sorrow, one who walks like Krishna loses his sorrow. One who walks behind doesnot follow the actions of Krishna. Behaving like Krishna is true bhakti of Krishna. Krishna has led his life with great valour and with great gnana. If we also lead our life thus, then we can call ourselves to be following Him.’

Please remember this point - Spirituality means walking on the righteous path all by yourself. Advaitam means remaining yourself as yourself. Sri Sankaracharya is proclaiming vehemently that we can see God inour hearts. When such a big Acharya is assuring us so much, why should we doubt? Whom should we doubt? So come on, let’s walk!

Our responsibility
To the best of my knowledge, there is no other culture except sanathana culture, which analyses man’s life, which teaches him his life purpose, which encourages him in those lines and motivates him to lead a righteous path. Even if there exists such a culture, I feel that culture would have had its roots in Hindu culture.

Please understand our dharma properly. It is not to help somebody else! To liberate yourself! We are really blessed to be born into this sanathana Dharma. Let us put one step forward to attain gnana atleast for being born into this dharma. In the course ofthe journey one may chant the name of Siva and the other may chant the name of Narayana. Let it be. Don’t give rise to differences. Don’t fight for the supremacy of one God over the other. Let’s walk united holding eachother’s hands forgetting our petty differences.
The irony is - the dharmas which have no foundation are insulting our dharmas. They are preparing a ground for themselves here, in our country, and are proving themselves great. We are losing track of our true dharma. The only solution to this sorry state of affairs is - Bhaja Govinda Bhodha! Let’s direct the fool inour body to chant Bhaja Govindam.

The lectures I gave should encourage you and should lead you towards God. These words should help you in every step you put in life. I pray to God to bless you in your effort to walk on the righteous path. I thank God for blessing me to give this lecture. I also thank you for providing me this golden opportunity to chant and understand Bhaja Govindam once again with you. I bow my head toyour feet and I humbly put an end to my discourses here.

Bhaja Govindam Bhaja Govindam Govindam Bhaja Moodamathe!