Yagna on “Bhaja Govindam” – Jul 2015

The monthly series of Yagna started with a grand spiritual take-off as Swamiji set everyone thinking through his lucid explanation of Shri AdiShankaracharya’s powerful composition.

Key Points from the Discourses

(Gyan Yagna conducted from 1st Jul till 6th Jul, 2015)

Day 1

Bhaja Govindam Yagna

Here are a few potent snippets from the first day’s talk…

BhajaGovindam is called ‘mudgar’, meaning the “mace” of words which hits our mind hard, shatters our delusions, challenges our false notions and brings us face to face with the reality of this ephemeral world.

In the journey of life, our experiences about the world, about relationships, about God, all these experiences should change, and evolve in their stature. If there is no change, then we have not progressed in the true sense.

Graceful ageing means we evolve with time in our choices, in our behaviour, in our thinking. If desires are not reducing with time, then it means we are only becoming older, but not becoming mature.

All of us have problems and issues which are often out of control. But these difficult issues tend to pave the way for the Lord to walk towards us!

Day 2

Bhaja Govindam Yagna

Inspirational nuggets from Swami Abhedanandaji’s discourse

The magic of Bhaja Govindam is that each verse shakes & reprimands us for all our wrong notions. Adi Shankaracharyaji comes to our rescue, to break the shackles of our delusions which we have unconsciously woven around ourselves.

We all aspire for stability. But we don’t make the right choices in life. Only the Lord must be at the center of our life, and all other elements must be in the periphery. We cannot expect to have a stable life when our center of life is money, or fame, or prestige, or family; because each of these are unstable and transient.

The Lord has taken such a beautiful form & name to captivate our hearts, but we fail to realize this because we are too engrossed in our own petty joys and sorrows, attachments and aversions. The real purpose of life should be to have a heart that longs for the Lord’s love, have eyes that search for His form, and have ears that yearn to listen to His leelas!

We have never earnestly aspired to perceive our true nature. We are someone more deeper, more diviner and more softer, than what we think we are!

Day 3

Bhaja Govindam Yagna

Swamiji’s captivating discourses continue on the third day of yagna. Here are some of the highlights…

Our life is like an imaginary journey… constantly jumping from one hope to another hope. From one desire to another desire. From one ambition to another ambition. Even if we fulfill one hope, or desire or ambition, the next one is ready and waiting in the queue.

This world is not a place to fulfill hopes; rather it is a hope-buster. When hopes are quashed time and again, we should realize the worthlessness of this desperate clinging, and question ourselves why should we become a beggar in front of the world, when within us is the limitless ocean of joy.

The so-called love of people is very transactional, short-lived and fragile. This world teaches us that anyone whom you hold on to, he alone becomes the cause of your sorrow and downfall.

Dispassion from the world can come only when we have developed passion for the Lord. Our desires & false hopes would decrease only when we start expecting from the Lord and start depending on Him alone!

There is no bigger lover, no better giver, no one more charming than the Lord. Make your Lord thirsty for your devotion! There is much more joy in making the Lord thirsty for you, rather than you becoming thirsty for the world!

Day 4

Bhaja Govindam Yagna had Swami Abhedanandaji lighting the listeners’ hearts with the illumining fire of dispassion, detachment and devotion. Here are some noteworthy points to whet our spiritual appetite:-

  • There is nothing called “sorrow” or “fear” for the One who is established in Self knowledge. He fears none, and he worries about nothing. Whether he is on the seat of meditation or toiling out in the field of action, whether he is secluded in contemplation or enjoying the pleasures of life; in and through all his experiences He is reveling in his own Self. This should be the goal of one’s life.
  • Discovering the laws of God is the field of ‘Science’… Science is about perceiving the One in many. ‘Art’ is manifesting many from one so that the manifestation can give joy to many. The art of living is in manifesting our inner creativity through whatever role we play in life. We ought to forget ourself, and lose our individuality while playing that role. Such an individual who has merged himself in totality, is called the Artist of life.
  • Having emotions is good. But being emotional is not good. One should have complete freedom over what emotion to display when, where & how. This intelligence in exercising our freedom comes from dispassion. Dispassion is ‘Keeping your freedom alive.’
  • The Lord has a thousand ways to give. He gives so much, so whole-heartedly that we cannot even contain it. This feeling of been laden with the Lord’s uninterrupted love is a very rich and sublime feeling. When we realize how much the Lord has given us, then we also want to give, if not too much, then at least one flower everyday. Archana is a method through which I say to the Lord, “You have right in my life.” Remember… the One who gives a lot, He has the right to take away too.
  • From time to time, everybody is lonely on some issues; issues which are out of his control, which he is confused about. The place where we feel lonely, that place becomes our satsang hall. The satsang hall is not an external structure, it is made inside our hearts where the Lord Himself is the teacher giving us lessons of life. The outer satsang is just a small representation of what satsang goes within.
  • Express your love to the Lord. Talk to Him & repeatedly ask Him, “How can I make You happy?” Bhakti is the emotion when one wants to give a lot of joy to the Lord!

Day 5

Bhaja Govindam Yagna

In yesterday’s uplifting satsang, Pujya Swami Abhedanandaji rekindles the fading hopes of all devotees who are tossed by the fleeting joys and sorrows in life, desperately searching for support to stay afloat in this ocean of samsaar.

Here are a few pointers for making our lives purposeful…

  • Bhaja Govindam is like a loving mother to a devotee who is lost in the fleeting joys and sorrows of this world. On one hand, the text makes a scathing attack on our delusions, but on the other hand it also applies the soothing balm of the Lord’s devotion. “Ras” or Joy alone prompts all endeavors, be it worldly or spiritual. Dispassion for the world can be sustained only when there is “Ras” in that dispassion. And that “Ras” comes only when we have a strong source of unending Joy, which is none other than the Beautiful Lord!
  • In life, we must know when and where to be soft-hearted or hard-hearted. Those who are soft towards their attachment, they are hard towards the Lord. We should be hard towards our wrong attachments, wrong values & wrong attitude. Such a person alone can be soft towards the Higher! Bhagawan Adi Shankaracharya’s verses in Bhaja Govindam are meant to melt our hardness towards the Truth, and soften our nature to receive the Lord within.
  • The Lord has purposefully made the experience of birth and death as painful. One should go to three places to get the right perspective about life – Cremation ground, Hospital and Temple. Only when we truly realize and understand the extent of pain in life, then alone we will make attempts to get out of this endless cycle of birth & death.
  • A “Jeeva” is forever helpless, on all fronts. There is only one avenue where he is strong, and that is – when he calls the Lord, the Lord comes to him! Lord alone creates a situation for our liberation. He does not want us to go through the same delusion and suffer again & again! Who else is there to save us other than Him?

Day 6

Bhaja Govindam Yagna

On the penultimate day’s talk of Bhaja Govindam Yagna, Pujya Swami Abhedanandaji doled out the precious gems of happy living. Here are some of those gems for us to collect and preserve…

  • Life becomes a joyful music when our actions bring out the melodies & sweetness from within. Learn to love and live, don’t merely exist.
  • Just as a starved pauper craves for food, similarly one should crave for the Lord.
  • Our biggest pain can become our sadhana. Learn to see all your pain as Lord’s sweet teasing & pinching. Use it to remember Him and to forget the world. Then the pain would transform into Sadhana.
  • Everyday withdraw a little from the world, do a little bit of jap, little satsang, little pranayam… Gradually and incrementally, you will see the quietness growing within. And you will come to discover that which you have been missing for so long.
  • No matter how much sadhana one does, it is very difficult to control the mind or to find peace. But one can find that solace in the Lotus feet of the Guru (Guru Charan). Just as an infant is fully dependent on it’s mother, we need to be completely dependent on the Guru, who alone can help to overcome our weaknesses.
  • The Lord is pleased only upon those who love and worship their Guru, and who see the Guru as an embodiment of God. To have this special intuitive sense to feel what is required by the teacher, and to go to any extent to fulfill the Guru’s wish; is Bhakti in true sense!