BHAJA GOVINDAM - 17. Swami Sri Adi Sankaracharya.

Chinmaya International Foundation (CIF)

Sanskrit is more than just a language – it is the key that unlocks Bharatiya culture! 🇮🇳

The benefits of learning Sanskrit are infinite✨

Learning Sanskrit develops self-confidence and a stronger cultural identity, with a sense of pride in India’s rich heritage. It also facilitates a global outlook through linguistics! As one of the oldest languages in the world, learning Sanskrit even makes mastering other languages such as English, French, Spanish etc. easier.

Sanskrit is a way of life, and the Easy Sanskrit Kit is your first step to mastering it with ease. Special offer valid while stocks last. bit.ly/42JxS7W 

#ChinmayaInternationalFoundation #CIF #Publications #CIFKochi 

========================================================================

Chaturdasha Manjarika Stotram

PART III – Slokas : 14-27

“Where Is Happiness?”

========================================================================

Friday, 17 Jun,  2023. 05:30. 

Song - 17: Fooled by Moderation :

=========================================================================

Song - 17: Fooled by Moderation :

1 

kurute gangaa saagara gamanam  =   One may do pilgrimage to the end of Ganga; 

2

vrata- pari- paalanam- athavaa  =   daanam; or observe vows; or distribute gifts in charity.

3 

jnaana vihheenah sarvam- atena  =  All authorities are equivocal that without the experience of Truth, 

4 

bhajati na muktim janma- shatena.  =   he gains no release even in a hundred lives.

========================================================================

The same situation that in song 15 was worsened by indulgence, and in song 16 not 

resolved by physical austerity, is here attempted to be resolved through following the path 

of moderation. If the extremes have failed, will the moderate path succeed? – that is the 

logic being pursued.

1-2 

In the belief that moderation will succeed, people adopt the simple philosophy of

“a little of everything”. There is no doubt that what they are doing is good in itself. There is 

nothing wrong or harmful in what is being described here. Indeed, the scriptures themselves 

have suggested these methods for people at certain stages of their spiritual life. However, in 

themselves they do not free us from desire, not even by an inch.

In a country like India, millions of people are on pilgrimage at any one time. 

Pilgrimaging has become a huge industry. The point being made here is that even this 

apparently moderate path fails to bring one to liberation. Why?

The truth that desires have to be rooted out in the mind is escaped even in this 

method. It is conveniently bypassed by focusing on all the external purificatory means given 

in the Shastras. All the pilgrimages, all the vows, all the charity will not avail if one does not 

educate the mind to give up its habit of seeking pleasure in outer objects.

4 

This is the Vedantic view of Sadhana, and it has time and again proven itself to be 

correct by numerous saints and sages who took this advice seriously. Other schools of 

philosophy also agree on this point that desire is a mental phenomenon, except that some 

of them use that very fact to deify the mind!

None can get liberated by bypassing the essential step of disciplining the mind and 

purging it of all desires.

If the dirt is inside the house, how does it help to go on washing the outside? 

Songs 15, 16 and 17 are a clear message to all earnest seekers that freedom from 

desires is obtained by bringing one’s mind under control. There is no escape from this 

Sadhana. Any other technique is destined for failure.

*****

Next

Song - 18 : The Man of True Dispassion

To be continued

=========================================================================