Bhaj Govindam 

Verse 6

Yāvatpavano nivasati dehe tāvatpr̥cchati kuśalaṁ gehe,

Gatavati vāyau dehāpāye bhāryā bibhyati tasminkāye.

The sixth verse said to me - Sruti Says🌷

Only till the life breath dwells in our body, that is till one is alive, do people check on our well-being.

The minute this breath leave, the body starts to decay, even the wife(spouse) gets scared of the same body, whom she was attached to just moments back.

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Sankaracharyaji is repeatedly trying to bring our attention to the temporary and transient nature of our existence. He tells us that not only, will the material possessions not last, but also the relations that we cherish will all pass. 

At that time one feels, in this ever rapidly changing world, this body is my permanent companion. However, is it also not perishable? From the day we are born, one thing is certain that this body will go back where it came from. From dust it came and dust it will become, it is just a matter of time.

Ever changing is the body, from a baby, to a toddler and all the way from young to middle aged and then old, this body is rapidly deteriorating and nearing its end. The body too is as unreal as all the other bodily relation and possessions that we cherish.

Even those rare few people, who truly care for our well-being, even our life partner, whom we have had the most intimate of relationships with, will be in a desperate hurry to get rid of this same body, when the life force disappears.

When this life-less piece of flesh and bones starts to decompose, neither can it command any space in it’s one cherished home, nor can it take along the once guarded wealth or the once loved people.

Khali haath aaya tha,

Khali haath jaega,

Maati ka putla 

Tu maati mai mil jayega.

This compels us to think, 

• If it was not the body that everything belonged to, who did it belong to?

• If it was not the body that the love was directed towards, who was the love directed towards?

• If this body is not real, and it ages, deteriorates and perishes, who is this that is always the same?

• Who is this, never changing, never decaying, never ending, ever real and permanent entity - who witnesses all that is happening?

These same questions, reverberated in the mind of that 16 year old Venkataraman. 

One day in the upstairs room in his uncles house, a violent fear of death over came him. He just felt he was going to die. This shock absorbed him and all he could think of was some vital questions;

• What does death mean?
• What is dying?
• Who dies?
• Is the body that dies?

He would dramatise the event, and would hold his breath and let his imagination take him to the cremation ground. He would wonder, even when the body dies, I still feel the force of this divine energy. 

• Who is this ‘I’, Who is this divine energy?

• If I am not the body, Who am I?

Venkataraman held on to this one inquiry, Who am I? Repeatedly he asked himself, Who am I? This one true inquiry made this boy Venkataraman into whom we all know today as Bhagwan Ramana Maharishi - who realised that he was the deathless spirit. 

This enquiry also arise in each one of us when we witness the death of near and dear ones, especially when we are a part of the so called, last journey. This is also known as the ‘Shamshan Vairagya’. At this point momentarily we escape the clutches of Maya, and question the futility and the fleeting nature of the material life. 

Sages like Ramana Maharishi hold on to ’Shamshan Vairagya’ and liberate. Other, feel a detachment momentarily, but let it pass, and return back to their mundane existence. 

If only a constant reminder, would keep us from slipping into samsar again. The story below, demonstrates the same vividly;

It so happened that once a man saw four people carrying a dead body to the cremation ground. He heard all the people loudly chanting;

Ram naam satya hai, Hari ka naam satya hai.

• In utter confusion he asked people around, ‘What is happening?’

• What a ridiculous question they thought and answered, ‘Don’t you know this is a dead body and we are taking it for cremation.’ 

• He exclaimed, ‘Why are you saying, Ram naam satya hai, Hari ka naam satya hai to a dead man? He can’t hear what you are saying.’

• The so called wise people retorted, ‘It is not being said to the dead man you fool, but to the people who are around and are going to cremate him. It is a reminder for all the ones who are alive that death can not be avoided and god is the only truth.’

This thought stuck to him. This man held tightly to this wisdom, and wished to serve the mankind. What better way he thought, I will always remind them of this ultimate truth. 

So, whenever he would meet people he would greet them by saying, Ram naam Satya hai, Hari ka naam satya hai. People thought that he was crazy and started avoiding him.

Who was the real lunatic here?

The reality is our relationship with all is fleeting and temporary and so is this body. Detach, Detach, Detach.

But, while we have the ‘Deha-Body’, nurture it well not for the world, but because this is the only instrument we have to help us cross the ocean of mundane existence and free us forms the painful cycle of brith and death. Attach, Attach, Attach to God.

Kyoki Bus,

Ram Naam Satya Hai, Hari ka Naam Satya hai

Hari Om🙏