Bhaja Govindam - verse 23

Chanting of Bhaja Govindam - verse 23 (Download the MP3)

Translation

Who are you? Who am I? From where have I come? Who is my mother? Who is my father? Contemplate over this, setting aside the whole unsubstantial world which is just an imaginary dream.

Interpretation

   This verse highlights the importance of questioning in our lives. Because it is through our questions that we look for answers. Our problem is that we let others do the thinking for us while we blindly follow. Here, the master urges us to contemplate and inquire for ourselves and question the value we place on the world around us. Describing the world as asaaram , unsubstantial, and svapnavichaaram , born of dreams, this verse prods us to take a fresh look at our lives.

   The law of life is, “As you think, so shall you be”. We have unconsciously been thinking continuously of the body, mind and intellect and have become physical-emotional-intellectual beings totally at the mercy of the world. We have never allowed ourselves to so much as even suspect the presence of a fourth entity – the Spirit. It is only the Spirit that is immune to the influence of the world and only those who think incessantly of Atman become It. Thereafter they become one with that supreme Power, completely free and independent of the world.

   The starting point is to enquire – who am I? Who are you? Where have we come from? Where am I heading? What is my role in life? As you question, you find that the world is not what it appears to be. This apparently solid, substantial world has no real inherent value. You have imposed an imaginary, inflated value on it. Stripped of the hype the world has no essence. Asaaram.

   The scriptures tell us the waking world that seems so real now is as real as the dream which we now understand to be a mere projection and dismiss. Any state appears real as long as you are in it. The moment you move to another plane it appears a meaningless projection. So is it with the waking state. Though it seems real, it is no different from the dream – a mere projection of the mind. In fact, we reject the reality of the waking state in every dream we experience. Suppose you eat a full meal and go to sleep. You dream you are a beggar who has not eaten for days. If you were told that you have eaten dinner half an hour ago, you would ridicule the statement because you have been starving for days in the dream! The question now arises – is the dream real or the waking? In other words, are you the waker who is imagining the dream world or are you the dreamer projecting the illusory waking state?

   The renowned King Janaka once dreamt that he was a beggar suffering from hunger and poverty. He woke up confused. He called a meeting of his council of ministers and asked them that famous question, “Am I the King who just dreamt that he was a beggar or am I the dreamer now imagining myself as the King?” None of the ministers had even conceived such a question. He instructed them to come up with the answer in a week's time. At the appointed time, the great sage Ashtavakra appeared in Janaka's court and gave the answer and said, “You are neither the King nor the beggar. You are the Self, Atman. ” King Janaka was now inspired and made efforts to understand Atman and relentlessly pursued his ideal.

   The scriptures say that you are neither the waker or the dreamer or the deep sleeper. You are the immaculate Self that is at the core of your being. The reality is the fourth plane of Consciousness, the state of Enlightenment. Even in your own experience, things that are really important to you lose their sheen when you shift them in time and space. A traumatic experience like failure in an exam appears trivial after a few years and you laugh it away. The most pleasurable happening like your 21st birthday is all but forgotten with the passage of time. Apply the same technique to your present infatuations and you will become objective. The exaggerated value to things and beings will drop. You will then see things as they are not what you want them to be.