Bhajagovindam

It is believed that the great shankaracharya took pity upon an old man who was trying to learn rules of grammar in sanskrit and spoke to him these words which is now popularly known as Bhajagovindam. This incident took place in his mature last days at Kasi. Bhajagovindam consists of 12 verses spoken by Shankaracharya and 14 verses each composed by his 14 disciples. Here is the first 12 verses spoken by the great saint.




Worship the Lord, worship Govinda, Oh fool ! Rules of grammar will not save you at the time of your death.

Oh fool! Give up your thirst to amass wealth, devote your mind to thoughts of Real. Be content with what comes through actions already performed in the past.

Do not get drowned in delusion by going wild with passions and lust by seeing a woman's navel and chest. These are nothing but a modification of flesh. Fail not to remember this again and again in your mind.

The life of a person is as uncertain as rain drops trembling on a lotus leaf. Know that the whole world remains a prey to disease, ego and grief.

So long as a man is fit and able to support his family, see what affection all those around him show. But no one at home cares to even have a word with him when his body totters due to old age.

When one is alive, his family members enquire kindly about his welfare. But when the soul departs from the body, even his wife runs away in fear of his dead body.

The childhood is lost by attachment to playfulness. Youth is lost by attachment to woman. Old age passes away by thinking over many things. But there is hardly anyone who wants to be lost in Parabrahma

Who is your wife? Who is your son? Strange are these relations,the world. Of whom are you? From where have you come? Brother, ponder over these truths.

From satsanga, company of good people, comes non-attachment, from non-attachment comes freedom from delusion, which leads to self-settledness. From self-settledness comes liberation.

What good is lust when youth has fled? What use is a lake which has no water? Where are the relatives when wealth is gone? Where is samsaara, the world, when the Truth is known?

Do not boast of wealth, friends, and youth. Each one of these are destroyed within a minute by time. Free yourself from the illusion of the world of Maya and attain the timeless Truth.

Daylight and darkness, dusk and dawn, winter and springtime come and go. Time plays and life ebbs away. But the storm of desire never leaves.