Bhajagovindam Part 4: In the Blink of the eyes, its all gone

मा कुरु धनजनयौवनगर्वं, हरति निमेषात्कालः सर्वं। मायामयमिदमखिलम् हित्वा ब्रह्मपदम् त्वं प्रविश विदित्वा,Verse 11

maa kuru dhana jana yauvvana garvam harati nimeshhaatkaala sarvam maayaamayamidam akhilam hitvaa brahmapadam tvam pravisha viditvaa

I am going to approach these slokas a bit differently. I shall explain them with stories of great women who renounced beauty and dedicated their lives for the attainment of the Truth. First we have our very own tamilzh Avvai paati. Avvayyar was born in a very rich family. But right from childhood she was immersed in praying to Lord Ganesha. So much was her devotion, that when her parents wanted to get her married, she prayed that the Lord may take away her beauty and turn her into an old woman that very instant. She felt that if beauty and youth were the only things that stood between her and God, she would renounce them that very moment. She turned into an old woman instaneously and ever since then there was no looking back. She completely dedicated her life in the pursuit of truth and attained salvation. Some of her works are considered to be as great as the Vedas.

The second story for today is that of another great woman saint by the name Akka Mahadevi. Akka Mahadevi belongs to karnataka. She was so true to the purpose that she even declared that she was a woman only for the name and that her entire body and soul belonged to Lord Shiva. In a conservative society of those times, Akka Mahadevi was a revolution, a storm, a phenomenon. She was so fierce in her devotion that she refused to wear clothes, something that only male ascetics did. It is believed that due to her true devotion, her whole body was covered with hair, protecting her from the remarks of the society. Here is a translation of one of her verses

People,
male and female,
blush when a cloth covering their shame
comes loose

When the lord of lives
lives drowned without a face
in the world, how can you be modest?

When all the world is the eye of the lord,
onlooking everywhere, what can you
cover and conceal?



It is a previlege that we are born in a country where such great saints lived and continue live and where the the goal of life is attaining the Truth, nothing less than that. Every aspect of life was designed for that, be it education or entertainment. Unfortunately, we pay so much importance to beauty and wealth losing sense of this purpose. Lets wake up folks!

Translation: Do not boast of wealth, friends, and youth, these can be taken away in a flash by Time . Understanding that the wolrd is in the illusion of Maya, you try to attain the Absolute.