Divine Words of wisdom by Sathya Sai Baba – On Bhaja Govindam 1. Who is victorious in life? Questions Shankaracharya: With beautiful analogies Your browser does not support the audio element. 1992-04-04 Document Download Audio Social Share Facebook Twitter Youtube Instagram Description Shankaracharya questioned, “Chitam jagatyeva?” meaning who is the winner in the world. Each student replied differently– “Winner is the great warrior who wins over the enemies with courage in war.” “A person who climbs the Himalayas and mounts a flag there is the winner” “Crossing the mighty oceans proving one’s valour and courage is the real warrior.” —in this manner the students gave their own interpretation. Shankaracharya replied with a smile, “O students! You are viewing success on a physical plane, where anybody can achieve success. When two animals or birds fight one of them is victorious. Birds too cross the mighty oceans and fly high above the Himalayan Mountains. Do you think it is the victory that they have achieved? No! ‘Manohiyena’- meaning victorious is the one who has mastered the mind. To think that one gained victory without mastering the mind is mere delusion. The mind is like the moon. “Chandrama manasojathaha, chaksho sooryo ajayatha” – Moon reflects the mind and sun is the presiding deity of the eyes. The mind, which is compared to the moon, cannot shine independently. The moon shines at the night. How does it shine? The Sun light falls on the moon causing it to shine. It is essentially the sun shine that one sees in the night as the reflection from the moon. One needs to ponder on this properly. The sun light is very intense and bright. One cannot bear the intensity of the sun light. But the moon light is cool and soothing. Though the light from the moon and the sun is the same, what is the reason for the brightness and intensity of sunlight and coolness of the moon light? The mind is full of desires and is tamasik in nature. Darkness is the characteristic aspect of tamas. It means that when the desires are fulfilled the mind is at peace but becomes restless when the desires are not fulfilled. It is never hot. This is the nature of mind. Nobody can restrain the mind. “Sankalpavikalpatkam manaha” means mind is a conglomeration of good and bad thoughts. It is not possible to stop the thoughts even for a second. Just as the waves move in the ocean incessantly so also thoughts exist and arise in the mind incessantly. He, who understands and arises above the mind with all its thoughts, is truly victorious in this world.   2. We need to uphold the teachings of Adi Shankara Your browser does not support the audio element. 1973-05-22 Document Download Audio Social Share Facebook Twitter Youtube Instagram Description For the verse Bhaja Govindam, Govindam Bhaja, there are varied interpretations given by many learned scholars; and the word Govindam has been assigned several meanings. But the real meaning of Govindam is that it refers to one who looks after the cows or tends the cows. The inner meaning is that it refers to one who has control over the animal nature in man. There is some animal nature which is remaining as a residue in man. This residual animal nature of man has to be changed and transformed. One who is able to transform this animal nature in man is Govinda. For an animal, human nature is inaccessible as a goal, but for man, Divine nature is accessible as a goal. However, as mentioned earlier, there is a residual animal nature in man and we have to enquire what is meant by this animal nature. When we show green grass to an herbivorous animal, it is attracted, comes close and expresses its pleasure by moving its tail. The same animal runs away if you take a stick and go to beat it. In this manner, man today is attracted, comes close if you show him some money, but if you are angry and shout at him, he runs away. Is this not animal nature in human beings? On the other hand, as human beings, we should not be afraid nor should we cause fear to others. We are not cattle to be afraid and we are not animals to cause fear to other. However, when some wrong deeds come to our notice or when something false is said, then to expose the truth separated from untruth and punish the persons responsible for such misdeeds should be the accepted qualities of man. These cannot be the qualities of an animal. So when we utter the word Govinda, we must understand and discriminate between wrong and right and punish the person for his wrong deeds and reward him for his good deeds. To carry on the improvement of human nature so as to move closer to the Divine is thus the aspect of Govinda. Every day you have to think of Govinda, utter His name and develop faith and confidence in Him. It is not possible to do otherwise and yet be happy. Another meaning of the word Govinda is that it is an uttered sound. Whether it is for the words that are uttered by man or for the sounds that are produced by animals or for what has been said in the Vedas, there is only one base. There may be superficial differences in the quality, but the base is the same sound for all of them. Therefore, this alternative meaning enables us to look at Govinda as the personification of sound or sabda. Gam or cow, Bhumin or earth, Ved or Vedas and Swarga or heaven: He who represents all these things is Govinda. This word Bhumin also gives us the meaning that Govinda is at the back of all the drama of this world that is enacted on the earth. In the word Swarga, we get the meaning that He is the Lord of the place