Bhaja Govindam Part 2

Note: I am providing the sanskrit verses so that the reader may practise reading aloud.

मूढ जहीहि धनागमतृष्णां कुरु सद्बुद्धिं मनसि वितृष्णाम् . यल्लभसे निजकर्मोपात्तं वित्तं तेन विनोदय चित्तम्

Mooda Jahihi dhanagamthrushnam Kuru Sadhbuddhim Manasi vithrushnam Yallabhase Nijakarmopaartham Vittam tena vinodaya chittam

In this sloka, Adi Sankara talks about the shallowness of merely leading ones life to amass wealth. The Puranas and Ithihasas are filled with stories of people who were focussed only on wealth and pride and we also see how they had to struggle to lead a happy life.However, we shall look at the sloka in a different angle i.e about people who actually lived a life of contentment and devotion.
The Periya Purana(Tamizh) is full of stories of the Bhaktas of Shiva. Most of the Bhaktas described were wealthy merchants but had no attachment to wealth. Each story depicts how the Bhaktas put this money into useful pursuits and how Lord Shiva blessed them. We shall see one such beautiful story
Ilayankudi Mara Nayanar was one such wealthy merchant, at the same time an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva wanted to show the world, the devotion of this Nayanar. So he laid out a plan. Each day the wealth of Ilayankudi seemed to deplete. He and his wife were left with nothing, not even a morsel of food to eat. The most wealthy man in town became a pauper. But his devotion to the Lord seemed to increase everyday.
One day there was another Bhakta who came to their house and asked for food. It was raining heavily that day. Ilayankudi was worried that they had nothing to offer. His devout wife suggested that he pick up the grains they had sown that very day in their fields. It was pitch dark but luckily the rains made the grains float and Ilayankudi could easily pick them up in the dark. The wife cooked the grains. When they were about to wake up the guest, the guest disappeared and Lord Shiva appeared in the sky. He blessed them with a place in heaven forever.
Read the Story at Ilayankudi Nayanar

This story may appear as a far-from-true story to the modern mind, which is ever focussed on earning money and pride in this world. I often face this question in class from students, "what's wrong in earning money? We don't have any bad intentions!". There is nothing wrong in earning money but we can we can clearly see from the lives of many people around us that even though they have lots of money, they are not happy..even though they may be CEOs of companies they are not contented. That's because, they start feeling the limitedness and shallowness of such a life and yearn for deeper things.
A sort of dissatisfaction and boredom sets in. Some things like money, recognition seem to give happiness for some time but after that they seem monotonous, lacking color.

To deal with this, Sankara says that channelling our pursuits on more meaningful things and helps. When we understand the significance of things we do(rather than compulsively doing it), we become more contended and satisfied.

Translation: Oh fool! Give up the desire to amass wealth. Focus your mind on contentment and reality. be contented with whatever you get as the result of your past actions, entertain your mind with noble thoughts!

Related Story : Dandamis and Alexander