BHAJA GOVINDAM - 15. Swami Adi Sri Sankaracharya.

Swami Chinmayananda :

Sannyasa is renunciation of all ego-centric activities and all anxieties or cravings for fruits of actions. These two effects would be natural in one who is striving diligently in the world as an expression of his love for the Lord, and only to dedicate in the end all the results unto the Lord as "offering". King Janaka was one such phenomenal example!

First word that comes to your mind when you hear ‘’Sannyasa’’? Tell us in the comments! 👇🏽 

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Friday, April 14, 2023. 06:00. 

Song - 15 : Fooled by Desire

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Chaturdasha Manjarika Stotram

PART III – Slokas : 14-27

“Where Is Happiness?”

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Song - 15 : Fooled by Desire :

1 

angam galitam palitam mundam   =  With body worn out; head turned grey;

2 

dashana viheenam jaatam tundam;   =  and mouth that has become toothless;

3 

vriddho yaati grihitvaa dandam   =  the old man goes about leaning on his staff.

4 

tadapi na munchaty-aashaa pindam   =  Even then he leaves not his desire-bundle.

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Sri Shankaracharya highlights Nature’s brilliant ‘hide-and-seek” strategy in the next 

three verses. The aim of those described is to overcome Desire.

i) v15: The first one thinks he can overcome it by satisfying it.

ii) v16: The second thinks he can overcome it by denying himself completely.

iii) v17: The third thinks that he can follow the moderate path to overcome it.

None of them succeed. Acharyaji explains why:

Many people have been tricked into the belief that by fulfilling their desires they will 

be able to bring them to an end. No one has been able to get rid of desires by fulfilling them. 

That philosophy has deluded many people. We think if we have the last cigarette, the 

craving will go away. It never does; in fact, it gets more intense.

And look at the price one pays for trying this fruitless experiment: -

1-3 

These 3 Padas show the physical signs of over-indulgence in one’s body. 

And the desire to enjoy even with a derelict body can be seen in the effort made by 

people to look young, feel young, rejuvenate themselves, bolster their energy levels with 

artificial drugs, etc. People will lift heaven and earth to find some way of enjoying pleasures. 

No one accepts that decay, old age and death are part of the package we were born into. 

Our slavishness is unimaginable! 

Instead of finding satisfaction, people merely find addiction. Not only that, they lose 

the power of their senses. Their bodies take the strain by appearing ragged and aged years 

before the proper time. 

4 

Even then the desires have not dwindled one bit! We find an 80-year old man 

wants to get married to a teenage girl. The price of indulgence is enormous. This verse 

makes us pause and question, “Is it really worth it?” 

The lesson here is:

i) Desires can never end by fulfilling them: And the reason?

ii) Desires Belong to the Mind: the mind can still be ‘young’ in an old body. Desires 

live with us till death, and are taken with us into our next birth! For they are not a function 

of the body but of the Mind.

*****

Next 
16: Fooled by Austerity
To be continued

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