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Bhaja Govindam Verse – 26
कामं क्रोधं लोभं मोहं, त्यक्त्वाऽत्मानं भावय कोऽहम्।
आत्मज्ञान विहीना मूढाः, ते पच्यन्ते नरकनिगूढाः ॥२६॥
Kamam krodham lobham moham tyaktva’tmanam pasyati so’ham,
Atmajñana vihina mudhaH te pacyante narakanigudhaH. – 26
Explanation of Pujya Swami Viditatmananda Ji
Having given up lust, anger, greed, and delusion, the seeker sees in the Self, ‘He am I’. They are fools who have no Self-knowledge, and they, as captives in hell, are tortured.
Atmanam pasyati so’ham. The seeker of self-knowledge is able to see the self for what it is, soham, that I am. I am that Visnu or Narayana, I am that limitless or the whole. When is this seeker able to see the truth about himself?
Tyaktva, having given up, Kamam krodham lobham and moham. Kama is lust, krodha is anger, lobha is greed or miserliness, and moham is the delusion that arises because of these. Tyaktva, do not let yourself come under the sway of this lust, anger, greed, or delusion. Maintain your balance of mind.
It is the demons of Kamam krodham lobham and moham, which prevent me from seeing this truth. In reality, then, where is the obstacle? Is it the world that really harasses you?
No, the obstacles are within ourselves.
Kamam is not merely simple desire, it is trsna or craving. That lust or passion that I have is called kama. When it arises, I lose myself, I come under its sway. So kama or passion arises as a tremendous force within me, and at that time, I lose myself.
Krodha or anger is another avega, impulse. When anger arises, it also comes as a tremendous force from within, and takes hold of me. Again, I lose myself. When I act as dictated by the anger, my sense of discrimination or wisdom does not come into play at all. It is not that we don’t know things. We know all of this, but at that time this knowledge is not available to us.
Everytime lust arises, or anger arises, or whenever there is greed in me, I am causing damage to myself. It is like a heart attack, which leaves a permanent damage on the heart everytime it strikes. Similarly, every time lust or anger or greed comes, it leaves behind damage in the self. Therefore, Sri Sankaracarya says, those who are devoid of the knowledge of the self, atmajñana vihina, have delivered themselves into the hands of kamam, krodham, lobham and are deluded, moham. They are narakaniguhhaH, the captives of hell.
People ask this question, “Swamiji, is there a place called heaven or hell?”
There must be, because the scriptures describe them. Still, we don’t have to go too far to experience hell.
Who has captured the deluded in hell?
It is kamam, krodham and lobham. I live a life of hell, captured by them or dominated by them; there is constant inner suffering. Pacyante means they are cooked. It is said that you may be cooked or fried in hell, in a big cauldron, or you may be asked to embrace burning pillars. You may even be cooked in the oven. We don’t have to go anywhere to be cooked in the fire of hell. Pacyante, we are already being cooked constantly.
Kama, krodha and lobha arise from the ignorance of the Self, which brings about the ego or the sense of individuality. This brings about a sense of insufficiency, which brings desire. When the desire is not fulfilled, it brings about anger. Yet, when the desire is fulfilled, it brings about greed. How interesting! Desire is thus damaging, whether fulfilled or not. This desire leaves behind either anger or greed in its wake. Both of them result in a disturbance of the mind, so I can never have even a moment of leisure as long as I am under the spell of kama, krodha or lobha.
Moha is delusion or the state of intoxication when under the spell of kama, krodha and lobha. It is the stage at which I lose myself; I lose my sense of judgment, and I lose my sense of discrimination. When I come under the spell of anger, I lose my judgment. I act in a manner that is totally unbecoming of me.
That situation is called moha. When lust arises, I become mudhaH, deluded. When krodha or anger arises, I lose all my judgment, and when greed or miserliness arises, then again, I lose myself.
Kama or desire arises because of aviveka or non-discrimination because I do not know that what I am seeking is my own self. I do not know that when I seek happiness or security through the pursuits of the world, that pursuit is never going to be fulfilled because what I am seeking is my own self. Therefore, desire can be handled by educating the mind all the time.
When a desire arises in the mind, ask the mind, “What do you want? What are you seeking?”
The answer will be, “I am seeking happiness. I am seeking security.”
Nobody wants money or power for its own sake; everyone wants money or power solely for the sake of happiness. When you make the mind see that happiness does not lie there, and that the happiness is to be discovered only within one’s own Self, the blind chasing after money, power etc. will slowly come to a stop.
Thus, we have to handle the various impulses of the mind by viveka or discrimination. They can only be resolved by viveka or discrimination. Only by viveka can we make the mind free from kama, krodha, lobha, etc. It is not possible to overcome anger by will or greed by will. That can happen only for a period of time, before they arise again.
When the mind becomes free from these evils, I am able to see myself as I truly am, so’ham. On account of kama, krodha or lobha, not only is my judgment impaired, but my perception of the world is also distorted. Therefore, I should seek to get rid of these devils, slowly creating the ground for the knowledge of the self. The truth about the self is that I am not what I take myself to be today, but so’ham, I am that, I am Brahman. I am a complete being; I am limitless, free, and pure. This truth about the self becomes clear as a result of the teaching of the scriptures. However, the teaching becomes effective only when we have a mind which is receptive. When does the mind become receptive? Only when it overcomes these inner obstacles, kamam, krodham, lobham and moham.
Source: /ahambrahmasmi4.wordpress
This post is for sharing knowledge only,no intention to violate any copy rights
कामं क्रोधं लोभं मोहं, त्यक्त्वाऽत्मानं भावय कोऽहम्।
आत्मज्ञान विहीना मूढाः, ते पच्यन्ते नरकनिगूढाः ॥२६॥
Kamam krodham lobham moham tyaktva’tmanam pasyati so’ham,
Atmajñana vihina mudhaH te pacyante narakanigudhaH. – 26
Explanation of Pujya Swami Viditatmananda Ji
Having given up lust, anger, greed, and delusion, the seeker sees in the Self, ‘He am I’. They are fools who have no Self-knowledge, and they, as captives in hell, are tortured.
Atmanam pasyati so’ham. The seeker of self-knowledge is able to see the self for what it is, soham, that I am. I am that Visnu or Narayana, I am that limitless or the whole. When is this seeker able to see the truth about himself?
Tyaktva, having given up, Kamam krodham lobham and moham. Kama is lust, krodha is anger, lobha is greed or miserliness, and moham is the delusion that arises because of these. Tyaktva, do not let yourself come under the sway of this lust, anger, greed, or delusion. Maintain your balance of mind.
It is the demons of Kamam krodham lobham and moham, which prevent me from seeing this truth. In reality, then, where is the obstacle? Is it the world that really harasses you?
No, the obstacles are within ourselves.
Kamam is not merely simple desire, it is trsna or craving. That lust or passion that I have is called kama. When it arises, I lose myself, I come under its sway. So kama or passion arises as a tremendous force within me, and at that time, I lose myself.
Krodha or anger is another avega, impulse. When anger arises, it also comes as a tremendous force from within, and takes hold of me. Again, I lose myself. When I act as dictated by the anger, my sense of discrimination or wisdom does not come into play at all. It is not that we don’t know things. We know all of this, but at that time this knowledge is not available to us.
Everytime lust arises, or anger arises, or whenever there is greed in me, I am causing damage to myself. It is like a heart attack, which leaves a permanent damage on the heart everytime it strikes. Similarly, every time lust or anger or greed comes, it leaves behind damage in the self. Therefore, Sri Sankaracarya says, those who are devoid of the knowledge of the self, atmajñana vihina, have delivered themselves into the hands of kamam, krodham, lobham and are deluded, moham. They are narakaniguhhaH, the captives of hell.
People ask this question, “Swamiji, is there a place called heaven or hell?”
There must be, because the scriptures describe them. Still, we don’t have to go too far to experience hell.
Who has captured the deluded in hell?
It is kamam, krodham and lobham. I live a life of hell, captured by them or dominated by them; there is constant inner suffering. Pacyante means they are cooked. It is said that you may be cooked or fried in hell, in a big cauldron, or you may be asked to embrace burning pillars. You may even be cooked in the oven. We don’t have to go anywhere to be cooked in the fire of hell. Pacyante, we are already being cooked constantly.
Kama, krodha and lobha arise from the ignorance of the Self, which brings about the ego or the sense of individuality. This brings about a sense of insufficiency, which brings desire. When the desire is not fulfilled, it brings about anger. Yet, when the desire is fulfilled, it brings about greed. How interesting! Desire is thus damaging, whether fulfilled or not. This desire leaves behind either anger or greed in its wake. Both of them result in a disturbance of the mind, so I can never have even a moment of leisure as long as I am under the spell of kama, krodha or lobha.
Moha is delusion or the state of intoxication when under the spell of kama, krodha and lobha. It is the stage at which I lose myself; I lose my sense of judgment, and I lose my sense of discrimination. When I come under the spell of anger, I lose my judgment. I act in a manner that is totally unbecoming of me.
That situation is called moha. When lust arises, I become mudhaH, deluded. When krodha or anger arises, I lose all my judgment, and when greed or miserliness arises, then again, I lose myself.
Kama or desire arises because of aviveka or non-discrimination because I do not know that what I am seeking is my own self. I do not know that when I seek happiness or security through the pursuits of the world, that pursuit is never going to be fulfilled because what I am seeking is my own self. Therefore, desire can be handled by educating the mind all the time.
When a desire arises in the mind, ask the mind, “What do you want? What are you seeking?”
The answer will be, “I am seeking happiness. I am seeking security.”
Nobody wants money or power for its own sake; everyone wants money or power solely for the sake of happiness. When you make the mind see that happiness does not lie there, and that the happiness is to be discovered only within one’s own Self, the blind chasing after money, power etc. will slowly come to a stop.
Thus, we have to handle the various impulses of the mind by viveka or discrimination. They can only be resolved by viveka or discrimination. Only by viveka can we make the mind free from kama, krodha, lobha, etc. It is not possible to overcome anger by will or greed by will. That can happen only for a period of time, before they arise again.
When the mind becomes free from these evils, I am able to see myself as I truly am, so’ham. On account of kama, krodha or lobha, not only is my judgment impaired, but my perception of the world is also distorted. Therefore, I should seek to get rid of these devils, slowly creating the ground for the knowledge of the self. The truth about the self is that I am not what I take myself to be today, but so’ham, I am that, I am Brahman. I am a complete being; I am limitless, free, and pure. This truth about the self becomes clear as a result of the teaching of the scriptures. However, the teaching becomes effective only when we have a mind which is receptive. When does the mind become receptive? Only when it overcomes these inner obstacles, kamam, krodham, lobham and moham.
Source: /ahambrahmasmi4.wordpress
This post is for sharing knowledge only,no intention to violate any copy rights