Bhaja Govindam - verse 19

Chanting of Bhaja Govindam - verse 19 (Download the MP3)

Whether devoted to yoga (spiritual practice) or delighting in bhoga (sense indulgence), fond of company or solitude, only the one whose mind rejoices in Brahman is happy, revels, exults.

Interpretation

   Having explained the way to happiness through renunciation in the previous verse, this verse of the Bhaja Govindam speaks about the glorious state of Self-Realization. It clarifies that the state of Enlightenment does not depend on one's lifestyle or mode of living. What determines your spiritual status is the state of mind. Whether you are engaged in spiritual practices or you are indulging in the world is irrelevant. What matters is where is your mind? If you have physically removed yourself to an ashram or place of pilgrimage but the mind is still in worldly enjoyments you are still a sensual person. On the other hand, you could be in the world but the mind firmly anchored to the higher aspects of life. This makes you a spiritual person.

   A person of Realization may revel in yoga , spiritual practices, or bhoga , the material world. Such people may be in solitude or in the midst of a crowd. They are in constant ecstasy because they revel in the thought of Brahman or God within. The word nandati is mentioned thrice because we seek happiness through the avenues of the body, mind and intellect. A Realized soul zeroes in on Atman in and through the transactions of the body, mind and intellect.

We learn two things from this verse:

1. To evolve spiritually all you have to do is shift your thought to Atman. It does not matter what you do.

2. Once you reach the state of Realization you can do anything. It will not take away from the exalted state you have gained access to.

   The difference between the Self-Realized person and us is the extent of dependence on the world. While almost every one of our joys is dependent on the world, the Self-Realised person lives independent of the world. This is why he can be at peace in any situation. Be it a serene hill-station or a bustling mall, Self-Realized people remain unaffected by their environment.

   The Upanishads speak of a village in which the river is in flood and a man manages to climb onto a tree to escape the flood. While sitting on a branch of the tree nervously, he notices a bird on the neighbouring branch singing and chirping away cheerfully. He understands that it is his dependence on the branch that takes away his joy. His fate depends entirely on that weak and brittle branch. The bird, on the other hand, may be sitting on the branch but is totally independent of it. If the branch gives way it takes to its wings.

   So is it with us. Your joy is always dependent on your own little branches. Your happiness depends on that next appraisal, the car you've always dreamed of owning, or a relationship. The world we depend on for our happiness is as fragile as that branch in the story. It changes constantly. Therefore, basing our happiness on something as temporary and fleeting as the world makes the happiness itself tenuous. Instead, we need to base our happiness on that which is permanent, dependable and enduring, the Self or Atman within. This is why the verse ends with the words nadati eva which mean only (eva) a person who seeks and identifies with the Self enjoys (nandati). Not the rest who chase the ever-changing material world.