Bhaja Govindam | Moha Mudgara | Verse 9-12

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]You have to unmute yourself.

[00:00:13]>> Sorry, sir. Can you make me co-host?

[00:00:28]I'm not able to Guru Brahur Vishnur Mahara.

[00:01:27]Gavin.

[00:01:30]Oh, namaste friends. A warm welcome to session five of the Bhaju Vindam. We have seen verses 1 to 12 of this great text by Adishi Shankarachara where he emphasizes the futility of worldly pursuits, wealth, youth, family and scholarship when detached from devotion and self-nowledge.

[00:01:56]All of these verses urge turning to goinda the divine with humility cultivating detachment detachment and recognizing the inevitability of death as the true wakeup call for spiritual life. Though Adishank is known for adita the path of knowledge he stresses upon devotion as a preparatory step. Vaya is also highlighted where uh impermanent impermanence leads to detachment.

[00:02:27]The hymn is not about abstract philosophy but a direct call to shift focus from transient pursuits to the eternal truth.

[00:02:36]And I now invite Abbyas to lead us into into today's verses while also giving the recap of the verses we studies in we studied in the last class. Over to you sir.

[00:02:49]Thank you.

[00:03:02]Bi guru param going down Fore! Foreign! Foreign!

[00:03:32]Fore! Foreign! Foreign!

[00:03:49]Going down.

[00:04:09]>> Thank you Hindu G. We will quickly recap the four verses that we studied in the last class. The first verse was the importance of satsa and we remember that means by we connect to what is called the ladder of rise. This satwam anything worldly or all the worldly temptations are given up and the mind comes to a state of moat. There is no there is no moa there is no delusion.

[00:04:54]When there is no moa or no delusion it is possible to come to that state of nchala.

[00:05:03]That state when there is stillness and in that stillness we discover our very substratum atma or Brahman and that is leads us to a state of jani while living a very important verse from the bajoinda.

[00:05:25]The other verse was three examples were given. Uh the ultimate message was that means when I get that supreme knowledge when I get to know my true nature instantly something happens. Sam samsara disappears. What do you mean by samsara disappearing? Does the world come to an end? We have to have a clear distinction. What is jagat and what is samsara? Jagat will continue to be because jagat ishwara's creation. But I superimpose on this world my attachment, my uh pre-notions, all forms of conditioning. So all that conditioning that I have superimposed on my belief this is what is called jvashishi and not ishwar shrishi samsara will end but the world will continue the jagat is not a problem it is samsara that is a problem another very popular verse was don't have that ego of youth wealth uh uh or great following they all can disappear just in a moment. Now when these things happen suddenly you understand that this world is all like maya like a magic like just appearances and these are those difficult moments that help us to move from appearances to the substratum.

[00:07:12]What is maya? What is jagat? What is brahman?

[00:07:17]Ya ma maya that which is not but which appears to be there is Maya. What is jagat? Jayishi that which is born that is gone in a moment and which appears to be in all these experiences when we invest so much in the world and suddenly we see our investment vanishing. We need to understand that in this world itself I can discover the substratum of this world which has got satiti bati priya to be discovered in all nama and rupa. And finally an important verse that we discovered or studied in the last class. Time will pass age will come.

[00:08:07]Seasons will come, day and night, time will pass, age will come. But then desires do not go by themselves. We need to discover something higher. What is that something higher? We need to discover. Swami Joanandha reminds us of three things. It is called shika, diksha and piksha. Shiksha means focus on your studies. Brahma vidya. Biksha means follow a very disciplined life. Biksha means to be content with whatever you get. No complaints, zero complaints.

[00:08:47]With that we come to the four verses of today's class.

[00:08:52]Now we in the verse number 13 today will be the last verse of the second part of the bajgovinda. I will explain what are the three parts of the bajowinda. But in the first 12 verses that means actually 13 the first verse is considered separate.

[00:09:11]Then we have 12 verses from Adish Shankara. Adish Shankara specifically said don't rely on your wealth. Don't rely on your family. Don't rely that I have a young and a healthy body. All these things can disappear. What do we rely on? Rely on goinda. Rely on the substratum. Baja goam. Baja goam baja and that is possible through satsa.

[00:09:52]Austin no go in them.

[00:10:24]Go in.

[00:10:26]Go in.

[00:10:47]What is this verse 13 speaking about?

[00:10:55]Who is your beloved? Why are you so worried about your beloved or about losing your wealth? The key word is do you have somebody as your guide, somebody as your anchor? Isn't there someone that you can rely on? That means if you have somebody like a guru or somebody like God that you trust then where is their worry? Where is they chinta? Atishankara says in all the three worlds it is satsanga keeping the company of good people that satsang this satwam that leads to jan mti bhavar the ocean of samsara to be able to cross is this method only he uses like after muda another very strong word vatula vatula means oh ghost uh oh you know something like an idiot. Why are you worried about your wife about losing wealth? Don't you have faith in God? So the whole message is have faith in God because the moment you have any worry of any sort, it means two things.

[00:12:07]It means you have no faith in God, you have no faith in yourself.

[00:12:13]Uh or you don't have faith in this world is a not a chaos. It is a cosmos. Everything happens as per the will of the lord. And that is why if you have that sense of trust then honestly there is no reason to get worried. Uh and whenever you're worried remember uh you have your faith in god is in check.

[00:12:42]Now this is a verse again. This is the concluding verse by I've written that padmap. It's a mistake. This is a concluding verse by Adishi Shankara in the second part of the bajugoinda. Now the message again is why this endless obsession or concern about your wife or losing wealth. Isn't there a lord who governs all these things? We are living in a cosmos not in the chaos. So invest on satsanga. Let us go through the word meaning once again in a form of a quiz.

[00:13:15]I will ask Dr. Anupama these words.

[00:13:18]Ka what is the meaning of ka?

[00:13:21]>> Ka means what?

[00:13:26]>> Your usually represents a spouse. Object of attachment, banana, >> loss of wealth, >> chinta, >> obsession >> or worry.

[00:13:57]>> Vatula is actually a muda, a fool, or it could even mean a ghost.

[00:14:05]What >> your >> not having uh nor don't you have you know >> this is an important word >> nanta is a actually means a guide it could be a teacher a satsangi it could be god somebody who puts you on the path >> like In the three worlds, >> satana are the virtuous people, dharmic people, >> association in association with >> only one.

[00:15:00]There is exists.

[00:15:02]>> Baba >> bhava means samsara >> means becoming arava >> ocean to cross >> boat.

[00:15:22]That we come to the end of the second part of the bajovindam. Can you see the classification? Bajowind can be classified into four parts. The first part is the verse goind.

[00:15:36]This is used like a chorus after every verse. Then from 2 to 13 are 12 verses by Adish Shankara. As we said, don't invest too much of the world. Focus on Govinda. Focus on satsanga. Very strong hammering words by Adi Shankara. Now he was such a strong inspiration. The part three from now on is various students of Adish Shankara. They will compose a set of 14 verses that is called Chhatur Dasha. Here it is written Merika. It is also called Perika.

[00:16:09]Now because we are now come to the students of Adish Shankara. Let me tell you the uh stories of three of the famous students because these three verses that we are going to study now have been contributed by three of these four famous students of Adi Shankara.

[00:16:27]The first is the story of Padma Pada. He gets his name Padma Pada because Adish Shankara calls him from across the river and he immediately starts walking across not realizing that he's on water but it is said from nowhere there was lotus uh would appear and that would support him and that is why he got a new name called Padma Pada and then he was called Padma Pada. He's basically from originally from what is present day uh Tamil Nadu.

[00:17:01]Uh he discovered Adish Shankare in one of his first uh travels across India. We already stored uh his river crossing. He was known to have special powers. Uh Dr. Anupama, do you know this picture of uh Adish Shankara sitting and discussing with an elderly gentleman? Do you know who this person is?

[00:17:25]I don't know.

[00:17:26]>> This is Vasa and this is a scene in Badri in Badrietra.

[00:17:32]Now normally nobody uh speaks to Adish Shankara in a very aggressive manner.

[00:17:39]There was another sadhu who was speaking to Adish Shankara and he wanted to have a debate with him and he wanted to have a debate with him on a particular verse of Brahma Sutra and it is said this debate lasted for a very long time and seeing the aggressive nature Padmapada who had special powers stood around him and it was actually Veda Viasa seeing Adi Shankara's knowledge on the Brahma Sutra on which he had written a commentary and he gives him sanction to write the commentary and he says is your understanding is some ways more profound than what I have written.

[00:18:14]Uh there is another story where certain Kapalika attacked uh threatened to kill Adish Shankara where Padma assumed the Narasima avatara and was able to kill that Kapalika. So it is said there are a lot of special powers. There was also stories all fascinating stories when Adishankara temporarily leaves his body and again Padmapada protects his body.

[00:18:40]He is a great scholar in himself. He has written commentary on Adi Shankara's on Adi Shankara's basham on the Brahma Sutra particularly the uh the four first sutras called Chhattasutri uh and uh once Adishankara started the four matas the first mata which was on the riga in uh Puri Puri Jaganat that is where he became the matadipati that is the story of the great Padma pada. Then we have the story of Toakachara.

[00:19:18]Totachara was discovered by Adish Shankara in his tracks near Shingiri.

[00:19:24]Remember Shringa Giri and his original name was Giri and Giri became a great devotey of Adish Shankara and he his guru bacti was phenomenal and all he would do is very sensitive to the guru Adish Shankara and he was doing all forms of guru sa and it is said that he was not too much interested in studies and one day when all the Great disciples of Adish Shankara were sitting and waiting for a class. Giri had not yet come and uh they waited for some time and then one of the illustrious students casually mentioned to Adish Shankara that whether he comes or not it makes no difference because he does not seem to understand anything.

[00:20:14]Adish Shankara suddenly got an idea and he had a salpa. Let him get spiritual knowledge. It is said even that salpa of Adish Shankara suddenly transformed.

[00:20:27]This giri who started who was actually washing Adishankara's clothes comes back singing in a particular very difficult Sanskrit meter called to Kashtaka. This is the name of a meter kilashra suda jalad. It is an extremely beautiful composition by Giri. And after that Adishankara named Kotakara based on the meter of this particular Babas Shankara, Dishika a set of eight verses praising Adish Shankara. And later on when he decided to make four matadi he made toka the uh the matadiati of the badri jotiretra in the north and that is the story ofaka child.

[00:21:21]Then uh we come back to Kuluru near Kuluru when Adish Shankara was again visiting the Koluru temple. It is said a family brought uh a young boy who had never spoken at all and they said there's something wrong with her son. He is not normal at all. But when Adish Shankara asked him who are you? He suddenly made 12 brilliant compositions which is perhaps one of the do most difficult verses in Vedanta. If you have some very profound text and that is what is husta malaka adishankara had to write a commentary on it. He asked him who you are and he gave eight verses and the chorus was I am that eternal I'm the nature of atma and Adishankara said this is a realized soul there is no need to be with him let let him come with me and in and later on he made him matadipati of the duaraka pitha and the veda for the dwaraka pa is sama Veda. Now that is the story of these three great teachers.

[00:22:34]Now in the verse that we are going to study today Jatilo Mundi the emphasis is real renunciation is inner transformation. It is not wearing oer robes or various forms of austerities.

[00:22:50]Uh if the mind continues to have strong likes and dislikes then there is no internal change. And also in the subsequent we will verses we will see just because we become old it does not mean our desires will go away. So true spirituality is where one recognizes what the problem is within me the solution is also within me. And again Madish Shankara emphasizes the importance of satsanga.

[00:23:24]Fore!

[00:23:34]Foreign! Foreign!

[00:23:43]for go.

[00:24:04]Go down.

[00:24:12]Here we are talking about the abuse of various outward symbols like jata shaven head plucked hair and ochre robes and so on.

[00:24:37]So jati laha matted hair mundi shaven dunita plucked out or kashia these are various disguises although a person is seeing he's not able to see that all these are various forms of disguises for the sake of the belly only for the sake of free food so uh this is Padma Palad Sharia's verse.

[00:25:08]He talks about certain hypocrisy just by having matted locks, shaven head, plucked hair or ochre robes. Uh these are all signa or symbol of external uh renunciation.

[00:25:24]If there the passion for money and sense pleasures had not been removed then these are only various forms of uh roles for the sake of to respect to expect uh name and free food from the community is trying to tell us external transformation is easy internal transformation is more difficult. Let us get the words right Dr. Anupama please.

[00:25:55]Matted hair, >> bald head, >> plucked hair, >> oar robes, various types.

[00:26:22]disguises >> in spite of seeing >> and not >> he does not see >> means to see >> the deluded person >> only for The purpose of um food >> various disguises are used only for the purpose of uh earning some money please.

[00:27:19]Fore!

[00:27:28]Foreign! Foreign!

[00:27:42]Pom go wind Another beautiful verse which says uh you know I may get old my limbs have become dilapitated the hair is turned gray No teeth.

[00:28:43]There are no teeth within the mouth.

[00:28:49]The person has now become old and is leaning onto a stick.

[00:28:56]In spite of all these changes in the body, the desires do not go naturally.

[00:29:02]So toachary is saying the limbs may become weak, the hair may become gray, the mouth has gone free from all the teeth. But and the person has become so weak that he's gripping on to a staff.

[00:29:14]Even then the desires do not go. That is why Swami G reminds us Brahman reminds us of this verse limbs >> uh dilapidated deteriorated >> graying the scalp the hair Head >> teeth >> without >> exists.

[00:30:02]mouth.

[00:30:08]>> The elderly person >> moves around >> holding on to >> a stick.

[00:30:26]>> In spite of that, >> no.

[00:30:30]>> No.

[00:30:33]gives up.

[00:30:36]Asha >> desires >> pendom >> bundle.

[00:30:43]>> Good.

[00:30:57]John big sher.

[00:31:35]Sher Go win them. Baja go.

[00:31:42]Go down.

[00:32:03]Go.

[00:32:22]All these verses tell us how importance of a guru. It is only a guru who tells us what is your true nature. Once you discover your true nature that I am not a limited being then what happens?

[00:32:47]And all these forms of vishas and all those desires vanish by themselves.

[00:32:53]Otherwise without a guru a person goes into agre that means there is fire in the front and sun at the back. That means a person is exposing him to excessive amount of heat or sometimes exposing too much cold.

[00:33:14]shivering in the cold and because it is so cold he's putting his chin on his knee.

[00:33:25]Take he does not even have a begging board. If he has to accept some food, it is only in his hand which is under a tree. Now he's going through all these forms of austerities.

[00:33:37]But if you do not know your true nature, Asha Asha Asha or desire has such a strong noose around you that it is not going to leave you so easily. A verse by Husta Malik Malakia who paints a picture of a syasi sitting before a fire sun at the back knees drawn up to the chin begging with his palms sheltered under the tree. Yet the desires have never left him. What does syasi mean? One who has given up possessive possessions, obligations, relations and transactions and does not have a split personality between his lifestyle and who his inner nature is. Dr. Anopama, please let's get the words right. A >> in front >> behind >> the sunro >> in the night.

[00:34:44]The chin >> samarita >> is brought up to supported by >> resting on >> the knees.

[00:35:01]The palm of the hand.

[00:35:04]>> Bika.

[00:35:06]>> Biksha is like a begging bowl >> at the foot of the tree.

[00:35:17]>> He resides.

[00:35:22]>> In spite of that, he does not >> give up.

[00:35:30]Asha >> the the desire which is like a nose around his neck >> think with that we are done we'll have your questions Dr. Please >> Shri Guru Pyam Maha a quick recap as a quiz. Now you have brought the answer.

[00:35:50]This first mantra first verse kanta tells us the virtue of >> the virtue of satsang.

[00:35:59]>> That's right.

[00:36:01]So uh uh what do you know about satsanga? Which of these is true? Which of these is not true? Please tell me. Is satsanga sjana sana is it a physical and emotional proximity to a guru? Is it intellectual proximity? A connection through vision, concepts and noble thoughts. Does satsanga gradually steer a person from arakama to dharma moka lifestyle? Does it shift one from materialism to spirituality? Is it a shift from prayers to shray?

[00:36:36]I will answer I will answer from behind.

[00:36:39]Satsenda should help us to move from prayers to shray to help us to move from materialism to spirituality to move us move away from arakama to dharma moka to make a connection through thoughts concept and noble thoughts. It is intellectual proximity with the guru and sajjana sana but it is not nec not just physical or emotional proximity to the guru. You may be very close to a guru but that does not make all the difference. That is not true satsanga.

[00:37:11]>> That's right sir.

[00:37:13]So how does satsanga help us navigate through samsara? What is the link between satsanga and samsara?

[00:37:22]>> In the last class we discussed in detail about the ladder of fall and the ladder of rise. Now normally when you attach yourself to material things vishayan pumsah one leads to another. On the other hand if you are in satsanga anything worldly is gradually you give less and less importance the world has less of a sway on you and when there is less of the sway and so on.

[00:37:52]>> Absolutely. So we see that the world is not attractive anymore because we have got a kind of biraam. Satsanga has created nitsa. It's as if we are wearing an armor of bayam and we now become a receptacle a patra for gurushupa.

[00:38:13]This is the power and greatness of satsanga.

[00:38:18]Next slide sir.

[00:38:24]So in this verse especially he says it's the only thing that helps us cross this ocean of samsara. So that is the importance of satsanga in this very last verse of dwatasha mjuri shankarachara is telling us satsanga should be the primary anchor in our lives. Next slide.

[00:38:52]So in this verse, what is the word kanta mean? How is it derived?

[00:39:00]>> The word kanta comes from the root karma that means desire. So the object of desire, the one that you care for very dearly usually refers to the spouse.

[00:39:14]>> Yes. So it could be an object. It could be sense objects, sense pleasures, people, things or situation. So the root as you said is come or desire. And in Sanskrit can is the feminine form. It means wife. If you say can like Lakshmi can it means husband and can in neuter gender means magnet. Anything that draws and dana means wealth. So can plus dhana is arakama which we should move out of next slide.

[00:39:49]So why does shankarachara say what is the meaning of nanta?

[00:40:02]>> It's very nice that you you know kept a question for nanta. Now the entire verse surrounds nana. Nyanta is like ma. It is somebody whom leads you to uh somebody who leads you like an altar in your life. Somebody whom you have a great reverence to. It could be guru. It could be the lord also. Now if there is somebody whom you have great reverence to uh pari like my lord and my guru then what happens? You have faith in guru faith and it is this faith which will help you to be free from worry. But if there is not no such altar then life becomes chind.

[00:40:50]>> Yes sir. Really nothing to say. Nanttha is a controller a guide guru or even god. So shankarachara is saying isn't there someone to restrain your indulgence in these sense pleasures.

[00:41:04]What we are supposed to do is do our best and leave the rest to God. Whenever we worry, it means we lack faith in God, faith in ourselves and even faith in the people who are trying to help themselves. We have seen in Bhagat Gita Krishna says I will take the burden of your well-being just leave it to him leave it to meas have faith in me think remember me and think about me all the time next slide sir >> I'd like to touch on this verse ana That means a person who able to rely on the Lord, the Lord will take care of you.

[00:41:59]He says, "I'm going to carry you in moments of difficulty."

[00:42:05]>> Yes sir.

[00:42:14]So what is the connection between the company that we keep and samsara company could be satsanga or danga? If it is satsanga we have the ladder of rise. It is dusa or nisa it is the ladder of fall.

[00:42:30]>> That's right.

[00:42:33]Next slide sir.

[00:42:36]>> Aren't you going to explain this?

[00:42:37]>> Yeah. Basically what how can we define samsara?

[00:42:42]Samsara is a sense of incompleteness within us which is not true because of the delusion of incompleteness. We seek dependence on something and the only thing that we are awake to is the perishable world. So this is a very erroneous way to live. So if we can switch over from arakama to dharma moka from the perishable anatma to the imperishable atma we are actually crossing the ocean of samsara. So when we are in association with worldly people we feel motivated to change the world which is really not possible but when in satsanga the perspective changes to elevate ourselves spiritually which is more practical and beneficial. So spirituality is called adhyatma shastra.

[00:43:34]Why? Because adhi means pertaining to and atma is self. So spirituality is knowing the problem is within ourselves.

[00:43:44]So we have to try to change it from within. Next slide.

[00:43:49]>> Oh you go. I'm very tempted to emphasize what you said. Now depending on the type of company that you keep that if whenever we are with all the worldly people and when we interact suddenly we find so many problems in the world and how I should do something to change the world. You will see what a different perspective is when you are in satsanga with a guru. The focus is not on changing of the world on changing myself. how I can be more devoted, how I can serve better, how I can make certain internal changes and that is the big difference on the type of company that we keep.

[00:44:26]Yes sir. So, so in this verse we are saying now what happens if we are in an extremely materialistic society where there are no mahatmas. I mean there is no person who values anything but material achievements in life and there is such a rat race for that. Are you willing to step out of it? In such a situation, how can you get on to some spirituality? How can you realize that there is more than this materialistic world? Next slide. Some Yeah, this is that. So, how can you shift out of the world?

[00:45:15]And what is wrong with this world? Isn't it God's creation?

[00:45:22]>> There are two forms of creation. One is called ishwaraishti which is God's creation. However, because we have a very creative mind, we are able to superimpose on the existent creation. We are able to superimpose our own creation. For example, God created woman but the husband creates a wife superimposed on her. And the moment a woman becomes a wife, there is so much of uh the way you see the woman now becomes so much more different. Now this is what is uh an example to make a distinction between jvashishi and ishwaresishi.

[00:46:02]In inharesi there is no problem. All the problems come in jvashti.

[00:46:11]>> That's right. Absolutely right. There's nothing wrong with this world if we know that it is ishwarasishi. When I superimpose attachment in the form of aankara, mamakara and generate a kind of delusional possessiveness, attachment, desire, I get trapped into this world and become dependent. And therefore we know from everyday experience that the things around us are unstable, unreliable, uncontrollable, unsustainable, unpredictable. We can add infinite number of adjectives. This is samsara and it is sjana sana that draws us out of this delusional state. Next slide.

[00:47:01]In this uh next section it is called chartpa pjarika stotrum. What is the meaning of chartpa and punjarika?

[00:47:11]>> Uh on the surface it looks very you know why you have given such terms. Word charta really means rags and pjarika means a mesh or a net but essentially it is the students who are giving a bouquet out of shreddanjali out of love for the guru. Each of the students are offering one verse film on the same meter as what Adishi Shankara started in the Baja Govindam. Please elaborate. Yes sir. The word charpata previous slide please.

[00:47:42]Can you put the previous slide? Uh chpata has got two meanings. The first meaning is it it could be an offering a form of namaskarum gurubi anjali or shradhanjali.

[00:47:56]So here in the form of shloka kusuma an offering which students are given giving which takes us closer to govinda in actually giving us di sat. Next slide.

[00:48:08]Jarpata also means rags. It means that we are as valless as tattered rags which bind ourselves to this samsara and put us into a cage punjarika which is metaphorical reminding us that we are trapped in this maya ego or the cycle of punari janam punari maranam. Next slides.

[00:48:35]So this first verse for today or the second verse written by Padma Padma Jatila Mundi Luna is giving us a description of what?

[00:48:48]>> Of a pseudoasi.

[00:48:49]>> That's right.

[00:48:52]So this pseudo he this person we call a pseudoasa syasi because he has not evolved from >> arakama to dharma moa. That's right. And he may dupe the whole world but not the >> God or he cannot dup himself.

[00:49:12]>> He he does not even think he's duping any. He's deluded but he cannot dupe the adiagny within God.

[00:49:23]So he's not even bothered about he does not even think he's duping anybody but he's just anyway a similar reference to pseudo syasi in Bhagat Gita. You remember >> in Bhagwat Gita third chapter in karma yoga there is a verse about a certain sasi who might may have controlled his sense organs but his mind is uh you know reelling on various thoughts and he calls them a mity >> that's right that's right please put the next slide I'll just go through the answers with it so this person has not evolved from arakama to dharma moka that's why he's pseudo And he thinks he's cheating the whole world. He's deluded. But he certainly cannot cheat God. And in Bhagat Gita, Krishna had saidi meaning having wrapped up or restrained all his um uh length of action means he has taken himself off all his responsibilities, duties and jobs and retired into one corner. a he remains manasaran fantasizing within his mind about what indria all the objects that he's pretending to renounce. Therefore this mudhatma Krishna says sahuch has to be called a mity a hypocrite. It's a quite a strong word.

[00:50:54]He's hypocritical and it's so easy to fool benign people who respect the ochre robe. Next slide. Sir, >> these are not real persons. No AI generated images because we should not criticize any syasi and >> we not criticizing any syasi. We are criticizing these pretentious people who are misusing the uniform of a syasi. So in this jatilo mundi four disguises of a pseudo syasi are described and what is the purpose of this deceptive behavior.

[00:51:29]>> So jata shaven head plucking your hair or the amara va that means the saffron cloth is uh you know for own to get respect from society to be able to get free food and so on.

[00:51:43]>> That's right sir. Next slide.

[00:51:46]So Jatilo mundi as you have said matted hair plucking all these things although he's doing primarily the internal sasa has not happened he has not renounced ara and karma he's disguising to cheat the world bahuka vaha just for udaniutam the purpose is as beggars he's trying to make a living knowing full well that sasis are very respected and exalted members in the society. He's not doing the difficult internal renunciation.

[00:52:21]Syasa is not an escape from regular responsibilities. Here we should know syasis are definitely not being criticized. But those who take up this external vasa of syasa without re renouncing worldly pleasures, it's such people who are being criticized. Next slide. So the previous one please. So what is the need for syasis to have this distinct external appearance?

[00:52:51]>> Now uh it is important for a syasi himself to remind himself all the time that I have renounced the world and all the worldly life is uh I have given up to myself. It is to constantly remind yourself and also when he interacts with all the other people or the worldly people they know that he is now a sasi and need to be able to treat him not like any one of them but to treat him little differently hopefully in a more exalted status because a person is now a renunciate.

[00:53:22]>> That's right. So the shastra educates us about our four stages of our lives and in each a certain transformation. So starting from brahachara to syasa it's a gradual evolution from arakama to dharma moka.

[00:53:38]It cannot happen suddenly like a metamorphosis. And this external dress code is called linga dharana. It's an outer appearance is to protect themselves from the world. So it is a kind of a a a kind of a a way of showing the society where you stand and they also need to remind themselves of what their purpose that's what a uniform in any sector of uh society does. Next slide sir. So we have this syasa ashrama is supposed to be the most exalted of all. The external kashai of astrum has the color of glowing embers which um which signify knowledge and rdrahan is also there. The internal pursuit of nyanam. So dharma moka pradhana lifestyle a change in appearance without change of character is therefore mityara.

[00:54:38]So in this verse Padma says means he sees and he does not see. Can you please explain?

[00:54:50]>> In medicine there is a phrase what what the what the mind does not know the eyes do not see. That means the moment you know something you you're able to pick it up immediately. Now when a person is so deluded, when the mind is so confused, even though it is so blatantly in front of them, it is obvious to everybody because of the mental delusion, although I am seeing in front of me, I am not able to appreciate.

[00:55:23]That's right, sir. Though obvious, he remains oblivious as a ma.

[00:55:31]So they are obvious. They are oblivious of the anitywa status of this world although its perishable nature is evident every single moment of our lives. Next slide sir. So in the Bhagat Gita in many instances Krishna has used this verse.

[00:55:55]So in the 15th chapter he has said whether we are on the verge of death whether we are alive whether we are experiencing the three goodas we mudha nanashanti this muda will not see will not see what who seesanti it is only the ghani who can see through that chakshu of knowledge he sees And what is this saying? He says in this other verse he says it is only the procriti in that person who is the doer of all the activities and thei sees atmaaram he sees himself the atma as an aarta. So when you can distinguish atma, anatma, vivea and not think that you are the doing doer of any action, it's only then that you are seeing otherwise you're not seeing. That's the meaning of now in this ang clinging on to >> even though a person is getting old and the body is dilapitated desires are not given up. That's right.

[00:57:24]Next slide sir. So we know that satsanga is the primary anchor to facilitate the shift from ara karmama to dharma moka purushara.

[00:57:33]This verse specifically tells us what we should do if we are stuck in a very materialistic society where there is no concept of god scriptures or mahatmas.

[00:57:46]How can you have a perception of reality when such kind of uh um facilities are not available?

[00:57:56]>> That's right.

[00:57:59]If you don't have a mahhatma or you don't have satsanga, we can be very sensitive to our own life's experiences. The pleasures, the pains, the losses, failures, every failure should help us introspect. If nothing else the process of aging when we see that there is loss of teeth, loss of hair, physical and mental faculties when they are on the decline at least then we should get the message whether we are sasis or not whether we are old or young that it's very very important to give up desires and we should also know that desires just don't go away spontaneously with aging. We should introspect parika locan karmachan and then some extent of viragya should come when we think that we are ready when we are ready the guru comes next slide some then we have to wake up to this reality not easytra know the atma somehow okay if we are going to renounce family friends or give them less importance What about our dear inner circle, our first family, our friends? Do we give them up also?

[00:59:18]>> We should realize that everybody thinks of themselves first.

[00:59:26]So be careful in all your investment in relationships.

[00:59:30]That's all exactly at each person loves themselves unconditionally and love for anybody else whether if it's a parent or even a very dear person only as long as you can earn something once you can't once you are a useless less person to your society. Nobody cares for you. We should know ultimate and permanent source of love and care is God. And where is this God?

[01:00:10]Very much within ourselves. So in this galam everything is gone.

[01:00:19]Why is that so?

[01:00:24]That means desires do not go by themselves. We have to make an effort and it is only through spiritual awakening uh desires will go otherwise that avidya karma karma the grantin will be there. Yes, at every stage of our lives, just put the next slides up.

[01:00:44]We have not been able to dilute like in yesterday's class somebody said don't remove. We can never take away but at least attempt to dilute aara mamakara shift from jasi to ishwarasi. We have not been sensitive to the impermanent nature of the world around us. We always treat God as a means not as an end. We have made not enough effort to associate with Mahatmas or learn scriptures through recordings through books.

[01:01:15]Instead of inculcating dharma, moka, purush and spirituality, we have postponed it as if we can do it later in life and later in life we only find that our mental faculties have become so weak. We cannot see here or perhaps even understand. Next slide. Sir I think we'll skip this is it late?

[01:01:39]Yeah. So in this last one agre describes a vityarias.

[01:01:47]Next slide sir the question we'll go to.

[01:01:49]So this verse describes some extreme forms of tapus. Can you please enumerate?

[01:01:54]>> These are extreme forms of exposing to heat too much cold uh fasting living under the tree and all that. uh unless there is internal change just doing all these extreme form of uh tapas is uh tamasik >> absolutely so agre so he's torturing his body thinking that he can dispel desires by doing this sitting with fire in front and the scorching sun behind uh he's putting himself into extreme discomfort for goodness knows what purpose when uh he has does not have the basic knowledge of uh what he is and what is the world. So also samarpita janu without using any blankets which are very easily accessible he struggles in the cold curling up in the niche chin to dispel.

[01:02:51]So also this person who thinks the palm of his hand is enough and the other one who wants to tarun tarut tala nasa he resides under the foot of a tree. The they are inflicting torture upon themselves. So despite all this tapas he's still called a sudo syasi. Why?

[01:03:11]>> Because he has not been able to give up strong likes and dislikes. The mind still is a mity. desires have not I mean internal changes and purwama has not dawned in it.

[01:03:23]>> That's right.

[01:03:25]So that's what he said. He's not being able to he in his mind he's still reing in all those worldly desires unfulfilled. He's not given up port and clasp controllership anxiety and special prayers for his port. He has not dedicated any time for shraanity.

[01:03:44]Therefore he's practicing only nity.

[01:03:47]He's still under the bondage of desires.

[01:03:51]Next slide sir. So Krishna had said he's torturing his body and what is the purpose of this torture when he has not evolved mentally. All tapus and austerities work only if the mind is disciplined. These activities may strengthen the body but what is the purpose? If desires are not given up, they are only Thank you very much dear sir Anupa ma'am and Indu ma'am for this very systematic explanation the helpful questions the beautiful illustrations and the soulful singing of these bhajuam verses and of course the inspiring stories of adishankarachara's great disciples each class teaches gives us this priceless wisdom of life. To quote from this class, true spirituality is when one realizes that both problems and solutions are within me. We are eternally grateful to the blessing of our gurus to be able to study this glorious text. Let us meet again on the 22nd of May where we continue the study of the selected Gita verses for daily living. We shall conclude with a shanti.

[01:05:47]Shanti hurry.

[01:05:57]Hurry.

[01:06:00]Thank you.