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Bhaja Govindam bhaja gOviMdaM bhaja gOviMdaM Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, worship Govinda, Oh fool! Rules of grammar will not save you at the time of your death. mooDha jaheehi dhanaagamatRRishhNaaM Oh fool! Give up your thirst to amass wealth, devote your mind to thoughts to the Real. Be content with what comes through actions already performed in the past. naareestanabhara-naabheedEshaM Do not get drowned in delusion by going wild with passions and lust by seeing a woman's navel and chest. These are nothing but a modification of flesh. Fail not to remember this again and again in your mind. nalineedala-gatajalamatitaralaM The life of a person is as uncertain as rain drops trembling on a lotus leaf. Know that the whole world remains prey to disease, ego and grief. yaavadvittOpaarjanasaktaH So long as a man is fit and able to support his family, see what affection all those around him show. But no one at home cares to even have a word with him when his body totters due to old age. yaavatpavanO nivasati dEhE When one is alive, his family members enquire kindly about his welfare. But when the soul departs from the body, even his wife runs away in fear of the corpse. baalastaava-tkreeDaasaktaH The childhood is lost by attachment to playfulness. Youth is lost by attachment to woman. Old age passes away by thinking over many things. But there is hardly anyone who wants to be lost in parabrahman. kaa tE kaaMtaa kastE putraH Who is your wife? Who is your son? Strange is this samsAra, the world. Of whom are you? From where have you come? Brother, ponder over these truths. satsaMgatvE nissaMgatvaM From satsanga, company of good people, comes non-attachment, from non-attachment comes freedom from delusion, which leads to self-settledness. From self-settledness comes the ultimate liberation. vayasi gatE kaH kaamavikaaraH What good is lust when youth has fled? maa kuru dhanajanayauvanagarvaM Do not boast of wealth, friends, and youth. Each one of these is destroyed within a minute of time. Free yourself from the illusion of the world of Maya and attain the timeless Truth. dinayaaminyau saayaM praataH Daylight and darkness, dusk and dawn, winter and springtime come and go. Time plays and life ebbs away. But the storm of desire never leaves. kaa tE kaaMtaa dhanagatachiMtaa Oh mad man! Why this engrossment in thoughts of wealth? Is there no one to guide you? There is only one thing in three worlds that can save you from the ocean of samsAra, get into the boat of satsanga, company of good people, quickly. dvaadasha-maMjarikaabhirashEshhaH This bouquet of twelve verses (2-13) was imparted to a grammarian by the all-knowing Shankara, adored as the bhagavadpada. jaTilO muMDee luMChitakEshaH There are many who go with matted locks, many who have clean shaven heads, many whose hairs have been plucked out; some are clothed in orange, yet others in various colors -all just for a livelihood. Seeing truth revealed before them, still the foolish ones see it not. aMgaM galitaM palitaM muMDaM Strength has left the old man's body; his head has become bald, his gums toothless and leaning on crutches. Even then the attachment is strong and he clings firmly to fruitless desires. agrE vahniH pRRishhThE bhaanuH Behold there lies the man who sits warming up his body with the fire in front and the sun at the back; at night he curls up the body to keep out of the cold; he eats his beggar's food from the bowl of his hand and sleeps beneath the tree. Still in his heart, he is a wretched puppet at the hands of passions. kurutE gaMgaasaagaragamanaM One may go to Ganga river, observe fasts, and give away riches in charity ! Yet, devoid of the true knowledge, nothing can give mukti even at the end of a hundred births. suramaMdira-taru-moola-nivaasaH Take your residence in a temple or below a tree, wear the deerskin for the dress, and sleep with mother earth as your bed. Give up all attachments and renounce all comforts. Blessed with such vairgya, could any fail to be content? yOgaratO vaa bhOgaratO vaa One may take delight in yoga or bhoga, may have attachment or detachment. But only he whose mind steadily delights in Brahman enjoys bliss, no one else. bhagavadgeetaa kiMchidadheetaa Let a man read but a little from bhagavadgItA, drink just a drop of water from the Ganges, worship but once murAri. He then will have no altercation with Yama. punarapi jananaM punarapi maraNaM Born again, death again, again to stay in the mother's womb! It is indeed hard to cross this boundless ocean of samsAra. Oh Murari! Redeem me through Thy mercy. rathyaacharpaTa-virachita-kaMthaH There is no shortage of clothing for a monk so long as there are rags cast off the road. Freed from vices and virtues, onward he wanders. One who lives in communion with god enjoys bliss, pure and uncontaminated, like a child and as an intoxicated. kastvaM kO.ahaM kuta aayaataH Who are you? Who am I? From where do I come? Who is my mother, who is my father? Ponder thus, look at everything as essence-less and give up the world as an idle dream. tvayi mayi chaanyatraikO vishhNuH In me, in you and in everything, none but the same Vishnu dwells. Your anger and impatience is meaningless. If you wish to attain the status of Vishnu, have samabhAva, equanimity, always. shatrau mitrE putrE baMdhau Waste not your efforts to win the love of or to fight against friend and foe, children and relatives. See yourself in everyone and give up all feelings of duality completely. kaamaM krOdhaM lObhaM mOhaM Give up lust, anger, infatuation, and greed. Ponder over your real nature. Fools are they who are blind to the Self. Cast into hell, they suffer there endlessly. gEyaM geetaa-naamasahasraM Regularly recite from the Gita, meditate on Vishnu in your heart, and chant His thousand glories. Take delight to be with the noble and the holy. Distribute your wealth in charity to the poor and the needy. sukhataH kriyatE raamaabhOgaH He who yields to lust for pleasure leaves his body a prey to disease. Though death brings an end to everything, man does not give-up the sinful path. arthamanarthaM bhaavaya nityaM Wealth is not welfare, truly there is no joy in it. Reflect thus at all times. A rich man fears even his own son. This is the way of wealth everywhere. praaNaayaamaM pratyaahaaraM Regulate the prANa-s, life forces, remain unaffected by external influences and discriminate between the real and the fleeting. Chant the holy name of God and silence the turbulent mind. Perform these with care, with extreme care. gurucharaNaaMbuja-nirbharabhaktaH Oh devotee of the lotus feet of the Guru! May thou be soon free from Samsara. Through disciplined senses and controlled mind, thou shalt come to experience the indwelling Lord of your heart! mooDhaH kashchana vaiyaakaraNO Thus a silly grammarian lost in rules cleansed of his narrow vision and shown the Light by Shankara's apostles. bhaja gOviMdaM bhaja gOviMdaM Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, worship Govinda, Oh fool! Other than chanting the Lord's names, there is no other way to cross the life's ocean.
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