Bhaj Govindam 

Verse 21

पुनरपि जननं पुनरपि मरणं, 

पुनरपि जननी जठरे शयनम्। 

इह संसारे बहुदुस्तारे, 

कृपयाऽपारे पाहि मुरारे॥

Punarapi Jananam Punarapi Maranam

Punarapi Jananijathare Sayanam

Iha Samsare Bahudustare

Krpaya pare Pahi Murare

बार-बार जन्म, बार-बार मृत्यु, 

बार-बार माँ के गर्भ में शयन, 

इस संसार से पार जा पाना बहुत कठिन है,

हे कृष्ण कृपा करके मेरी इससे रक्षा करें॥

The Twenty-First verse said to me - Shruti Says🌷

Repeatedly being born and repeatedly dying,

Repeatedly having to stay in the womb of the birth giver.

This world is brutal and freeing the self from he clutches of Maya is so difficult,

Oh Murare, please have mercy on me and help me cross this ocean of mundane existence, it is possible only with your help.

———————————

There is this beautiful story of Ramji and Kevat (The Boat Man). Ramji wanted to cross the river to get to the other side. So he requested Kevat to help him cross. Now, the kevat was very clever, or should I say enlightened. He said, I am not going to let you step into my boat till I wash your feet. The dust of your feet is dangerous, he continued to say, just the way that stone became a woman (Ahilya), what if my boat becomes a woman, what will I do. Lakhman was very angry, but Ramji started laughing and said, do what you need to do to save you boat. He washed the Lords feet. It is said that in his previous birth he was a small creature in the milky ocean, and when he tried to get near the feet of the Lord, Seshnag (currently Lakshman) with his tail threw him far and he died. So, he first fulfilled his desire, to touch the feet of the Lord.

Now, Ramji boarded the boat with Ma Sita and Lakhmanji, this Kevat was not only rowing the boat slowly, but also as soon as they would be close to the other side, he would row them back to the middle of the river and again move towards the other side and again back to the middle of the river. This kept on happening and finally Ramji asked, what are you doing. It has been so long, why are rowing us around in circles and not letting us cross the ocean. To this kevat said;

My Lord how does it feel, I am giving you the taste of your own medicine. This is what you do to all of us right. You make us go in circles from one birth to another, from one specie to another. There seems no end, 84 lakh species we roam in and then again we repeat the cycle. You dear God, are feeling giddy with this small little trip as we are going in circles, but do you ever think how we feel? How miserable we get? How tired it must be for us poor souls? 

Lakshman was fuming, how dare he talk to Ram bhaiya like this, no one has a right to do this. Now, Ramji could not stop laughing, he said, ‘I understand now how all of you feel. Please, get us to the bank on the other side now.’

This was not the end Kevat wanted to make a very important deal also. When they got to the bank and Ramji, Sitaji and Lakhmanji got off, Ramji wanted to pay Kevat, he was given a ring by Ma Sita, to pay for the trip. Now, Kevat refused, he said I will not take anything from you. God kept pleading and he kept refusing. He said, people from the same profession don’t take money from each other. Now again, Ramji asked, how are we from the same profession. 

Kevat said, ‘I take people from one side of the river to this other side. You also do the same thing, you help people cross the ‘Ocean of Mundane existence’, you help them cross this Bhav Sagar. My Lord when I come to your bank, just make sure you don’t take any fare from me, and help me cross the ocean just like I helped you.’

Ramji with tears in his eyes hugged his innocent devotee, his dear dear Kevat. 

By fare kevat meant don't take into account the sheet of my Karmas. It is so difficult to have a clean slate. Even if the slate is clean, and vices have been erased, this Ego of Satva does not leave us. Reaching the Gunateeth avastha is very hard and if one reaches also, staying there in that state without oscillations rare. Many a sages, have slipped. Kings like Raja Bharat who were able to denounce the world and riches, have been trapped by you, in attachments, as trivial as the love for a deer.

Kevat knows that self effort is needed but, no amount of effort is enough, without Bhakti and surrender all else is waste. Can anybody find the way to the one nobody knows. The one who can not be found, is not reachable. It is he who reaches out, it is when he wants to be found can a Sadhak even take the first step.

Only God can help us cross this painful Bhav Sagar we are trapped in, there is no other way. Maya and her magic has enticed us so much that we are unable to reach the end, unless and until God is merciful it is impossible to get out of this unending cycle of birth and death.

Today we might feel, What is so bad in the cycle of life?

Life is good, that is why.

On top of all, God has also increased the level of difficulty by giving us Vismrati -forgetfulness.

We tend to forget the suffering we go through when we are in the womb of the mother. The suffering of the soul is unbearable, it is the worst hell and the agony indescribable. The soul pleads for release from the womb and pledges to turn towards God, and never sway. Had we remembered this pain, would we be enticed by maya and would we ever have wanted to be trapped in the womb again?

There are species where death is gruesome. Had God not given us a good life, starvation, illness, torture etc had been inflected, would we still have wanted this cycle of brith and death. If we had a miserable tortures life. If we were born in a species where the mother was eaten alive over weeks by its own off-spring (spider, scorpion etc). Had we remembered this painful death, would we still want to be born again?

The problem is we forget.

But, the scriptures remind us, they tell us how difficult it was to reach this Human Birth. In the human birth also to get life which is conducive for Sadhana, is a result of a lot of Tapasya and Kripa.

Our situation is like the horse, who has been given water but refuses to drink. It is said that, we can get a horse near water, but we cannot make him drink it.

Ramji gave Kevat the temptation of the extremely precious ring, but Kevat refused. He did not get lured by Maya Pati’s Maya. Are we able to keep our focus on the feet of the lord, or the comforts of the world are more appealing for us?

In this verse, the tiring cycle of birth and death is being mentioned. Repeatedy being born, repeatedly dying, to be born again and to die again. This never ending cycle, is painful and agonising. It is so difficult to break the cycle, to free one form the tight hold of Maya. How do I break free God, it is only your kripa that can help.

As Ramana Maharishi says;

If the unripe mind does not feel his grace, it does not mean that God's grace is absent.

How to become ripe for his Kripa?

Kripa is always there, it is not partial, it is not biased it just flows. But, we are unable to hold it and internalise it. The sun shines equally at all, but if some decide to close the curtains, is it the fault of the sun. We have also put thick curtains of Samskaras, Vasanas, Vrittis and Karmas on the window of our heart and hence, the Kripa being there, is not reaching us. 

How do we remove the thick covering, which is stopping us from breaking the cycle of birth and death? 

It can happen by getting free of all our past Samskaras. But, how?

Samskaras - Samskaras are impression made on our chitta. This happens when we carry out any act consciously. As the photographs are developed from the negetive, so too memories are developed from the Samskaras. We have multiple such impression from not only this life, but from the previous lives also.

Vasanas - The are tendencies, these are the effects of our Samskaras. These are the inclinations we have because of our impressions called as Samskaras. It is difficult to identify the Samskaras, but it is possible to identify the Vasanas. In Lanka Kand, when Ramji reached the shores of Lanka, all the trees started bearing fruit, forgetting the season. Trees bear fruits according to the season, right. Well, the seasons, they are just like our Vasanas. Take a bottle of pickle, no matter how many times you wash it the smell remains. Special measures have to be taken to remove that stench. Hence, a residual impression of our Karma, good or bad tendencies which is carried forward birth after birth is Vasana.

Vrittis - These Vananas or tendencies create the thought in our mind. These are feelings that arise in us and we work towards fulfilling these urges and desires.

Karma - These Vrittis finally lead to our words and deeds. With the thought, word and deeds we start inculcating karmas. These karmas are of many types, but the three main types are Sanchit Karma, Aagami Karma and Prarabh Karma. Imagine a person bow and arrow; 

• The arrow when shot, and has left the bow are our Prarabh karma. What is happening in our life today is a result of this.
• The Arrows in the quiver is the accumulated past karmas, which have already been accumulated and we will have to face the results eventually.
• The Arrow not yet shot is the aagami karma which have yet not been incurred and we can still avoid them.

These Karmas form impression that are the Samskars, these Samskars give rise to Vasanas, these vasanas lead to vrittis and these vrittis again lead to Karma. This cycle continues, it is a vicious cycle. As in Vidhur Niti it is said;

‘Old age destroys beauty, 

Temptation destroys patience, 

Greed spoils the malicious man, 

One’s good nature sours as a result of servicing the wicked, 

Lust destroys shame and

EGO destroys EVERY THING. 

But, it can be ended, this cycle can be broken.

Ego this I (Me and Mine) can be eliminated by self-enquiry and practice. We can’t work on Samskaras or Vasanas. We can work on our Vrittis and our thought, words and deeds. Our focus should always be on the virtues. 

• Instead of saying I am trying to control my anger, one should say I am trying to be every loving. 
• Instead of thinking to oneself, I am trying not to lie, one should keep thinking about being truthful.

Thinking about the negative is like watering the roots of the plant and keeping it alive. On the contrary, thinking about the positive action that needs to be undertaken is like, letting the vicious plant, dry and die on its own. 

This is also know as the art of Sublimation, as opposed to suppression. If we hold the feet of God(Murare) with both our hands we are unable to hold anything else. All falls off on its own. When we have not put in effort to shrug the negative, even Ego does not bloom, as it was not our effort, but by grace of God that we were able to move beyond. When we focus on Sattva, Rajas and Tamas falls off on their own, and to get rid of Sattva becomes a great problems, as we feel it is good, why let go of the good. 

When we hold the feet of Murare (the killer of demon Mura - the five faced monster) and ask him to work the magic of his grace, we are not bound by satva and satvik ego also. As there was no effort, it was the the sunrise that scared the darkness away and not the candle I lite. 

Note: Mura - The five faced monster. Our Ego is also a five faced monster, it feeds itself thought the five senses.

‘No gardener can make even one flower. The flower must come from the plant. The gardener can shake up the roots a little, feed it properly, water it, protect it from animals, expose it to the sun, or put it in the shade when necessary. Thus, outside service can be done, but the flower cannot come from the gardener.

In the same way, the textbooks, the masters, and the rishis are all gardeners.

The flower of knowledge must come from you.

The flower of knowledge blossoms with grace of God.

In the light of knowledge all doubts end. 

Hari Om