Govinda namo govinda namo

Purandara Dasaru is a great haridasa who is believed to be an incarnation of Narada. He was fortunate enough to have God coming to his door to remind him about the purpose of life. In this devurunama he talks about all the things which cause one to forget God and at the same time points out the faults with these occupations which once recognised and weeded out can lead to a spiritual way of life with all work being done without the motivation to obtain any form of personal gain and dedicated to the Lord as His worship . All work which is done to please the Lord will lead to the His grace.

goviMda namo goviMda namo goviMda nArAyaNa

govardhana giriyanettida goviMda namma rakshiso

Dasaru says ,” Oh Lord Govinda , the knower and source of the Vedas, the caretaker of the cows of Brindavan, I postrate before you. The word namo conveys to the Lord that Dasaru is doing a sAshaTanga namaskara. By using all the eight aspects in the worship of the Lord. The mouth should extol His glory, the eyes should visualize His roopa or see His roopa in the pratima form and the mind should be in tune with the mouth and eyes ie recollecting the infinite attributes of the Lord. The reamining five are by offering the forehead, chest , hands, legs and knees in submission to the Lord's will. Oh Lord Narayana , the storehouse of all the wonderful infinite attributes and devoid of all defects, I postrate before you.”

Dasaru is calling out to the Lord by recollecting His leela in Krishna avatar where He lifted the entire Govardhana hill with his little finger in order to provide shelter to His bhaktas. Dasaru is entreating the Lord to protect him in the same way that He protected those gopis and gopas of Vrindavan. The storm created by Indra was flooding the entire village and the people were in great fear. At that time the Lord protected them by offering them shelter. Similarly Dasaru says we are being hit with the storm of sense inputs coming from different indriyas. In the BG 2.67 the Lord says,

"indiryANam hi charatAm yanmanoanuvudhiyate

tasya harati prajnA vAyurnAvamivAbhasi II

Just as a ship can be tossed about on the ocean by fierce gales or a storm so also the learning and spiritual awareness of the mind can be tossed and prevent the jiva from concentrating and meditating on the Lord if the senses are not controlled."

Hence Dasaru is entreating the Lord to grant a safe haven for our mind so that it can concentrate and meditate on Him.

It is relevant to note that Indra is one of the abhimani devatas controlling the abhimani devatas for all the respective indriyas and will definitely consent to help us along if we surrender to the Lord whom He also worships as Sarvothama . The mountain is lifted with the tiny finger, shows the immense power of the Lord. Indra being humbled by the Lord shows the superiority of the Lord and His nirvAishamya guNa. Indra being what he was the king of the devas did not matter.It also shows that the Lord is the supreme controller and none can accomplish anything without the Lord's consent, silent and invisible as it is.The great compassion of the Lord is evident in this leela of His.

maMcha bAradu maDadi bAralu kaMchu kannaDi bAradu

saMchitArtada dravya bAradu muMche mADiri dharmava

Dasaru is warning the ordinary man immersed in emphemeral pleasures by saying that none of his material possession like bed, kitchen utensils, mirror or his ammassed wealth will come. Neither will the spouse accompany one on his final journey. The one and only thing that accompanies is the dharmic deeds that one has done during his lifetime. Dasaru is giving a shock treatment by listing the material possessions.

Mancha - bed : pleasure and relaxation for the body

kaMchu – utensils for cooking : associated with the pleasure obtained by eating and tasting

kannaDi - mirro : identifying oneself with the body

saMchitArtada dravya - all the money, wealth, property accumulated in one's lifetime

He is referring to the above jaDa items and one chetana which is the spouse. Dasaru says that even though the married couple may have dedicated their life to their mutual well-being , the dictates of the Lord of death is based on the individual's individual karma on earth and has no concern for these. So if one may claim that he/she is doing things to please the spouse or to accumulate wealth, then it is not enough as these things may give comfort when one is alive and healthy that too only of God;s will, but once out of the body these accumulated means of comforts are not accessable any more, only the dharma that one has done during the lifetime comes along with the soul. So Dasaru is giving the wake up call.

arthavyArige putraryArige mitra bAMdavaryArige

kartruyamanoru eleduoy vAga arthaputraru kAyavare

When one is alive the wealth and sons,relatives may come to one's aid , but at the time when yamadootas come to pull the soul away from the body which it had associated with over the lifetime , if the soul wishes to be saved at that time, then these instruments of worldly comforts will not come in use. Only the chanting of the Lord's name and His memory during ones lifetime can save one from the yamadootas. It is said in Bhagavatham , in the Ajamila incident, the yamadootas were sent back by the Vishnu dootas. When they returned they asked Yama Dharmaraja as to how to discriminate between souls which have to be brought there to Yama loka or otherwise. To that Yamadharma says ,”Don't touch haribhaktas. Don't bring those souls who have chanted the Lord's name even once in their lifetime.” So if we want to be saved we need to become haribhaktas and to become haribhaktas we have to follow the nine-step path to bhakthi taught by Prahlada. Sravanam,keerthanam Vishnoh, Archanam, Vandanam,Dasyam, Sakyam and Atmanivedanam. Time spent in these activities are worthwhile because they are undertaken with the intention to please the Lord.

taMdu baMdare tanna puruShage baMdi balavide eMbolu

oMdu dinadali tAradiddare haMdi nAyAgi bogalolu

In the above stanza , Dasaru said that the spouse who is considered the most related person,and one who is supposed to be unselfish, always keeping the interests of the spouse at heart is also amenable only when self interest is met. If the mutual interests are in conflict then there misunderstandings and fights. Such is the case of worldly dampatya. So Dasaru says that one cannot be complacent that one has a spouse who will look out for him/her, but should utilize the sandhana shareera given by the Lord out of His compassion towards the jeeva to take a few steps towards spiritual upliftment .

prANadollabhe tanna puruShana kAnade nillalAralu

prANahogalu muTTalaMjolu jAne karadere bAralu

Dasaru is saying that the same spouse who could not live without seeing her husband during his lifetime, will not want anything to do with the mortal coils after the soul departs. The same holds true for the husband too. Instead of spending an entire lifetime in gratifuying the spouse it is befitting to use it in acquiring knowledge about the Lord and developing devotion towards His Lotus feet. Basically the point made is that however much attached one may be to one's spouse it is still only for one lifetime at the most. After that the soul percieves that it is alone on its journey. This loneliness can be overcome only when the soul understands that the Lord is the constant companion who will never abandon him/her at anytime.

oDave Asege oDalu kicchige maDadi bennali bAhale

hiDidu yamanoru yeladu oy vAga uDugi bidditu nAlige

Dasaru is citing a few reasons why one may keep one's spouse happy . It is because each others mutual needs are met. But Dasaru asks the common man to consider if it is alright to keep at satisying one's desires instead of chanting the Lord's name with the tongue . The most important difference between the lower lifeforms and human beings is the ability to think and communicate.Unless we use this to the maximum capacity to think about God and communicate with Him, we would not be doing justice to this sadhana shareera.And when the time comes for leaving the body, the tongue is off limits and cannot be used for anything. So Dasaru is pointing out the fleeting nature of worldly occupations,pleasures and relationships and advises us to use this birth which is obtained after many many births.

halavu yOnigallali tirugi tolali aMjiganAdeno

malada mutrada madhyada mAMsAlayakke arasAdeno

One may ask what does it matter if it is after many births.Anyway we would have been born as human beings and enjoyed life. But Dasaru says that this is not so. He says that after thousands of births in thousands of species the pain of going through the process of obtaining a body . This process is described in detail by Lord in His Kapila avatar to His mother ,Devahuthi. The Lord says that a jiva undergoes much suffering and travails in becoming an embodied being.Surely no one in his right senses would be keen to go through the process again and again.

In Srimad Bhagavatham 3.32.21, the Lord in His Kapila rupa discloses the highest spiritual teachings to His mother Devahuti, about purpose of life,why sadhana should be done .

Lord Kapila says ,"

tatas te kShIna sukritAh

punar lokam imAm sati

patanti vivashaH devaiḥ

sadyi vibhram sitodayaH II

Those who undertake worldly activities instead of utilizing thier human form for doing sadhana , they will enjoy in the upper worlds till thier good karma is exhausted. (Here worldly activites refers to any activity done with an intention to secure something, it could be material form or pleasure form.) Once the store is exhausted then they are thrown back into the world ,O Pious Mother Devahuti. They are tossed down by the higher power which governs thier very existence. Just as a person in power or a person with wealth suddenly loses power or wealth, and has to be thrown down from the position he occupied due to that possession, similarly if a soul had been given a position by virtue of his good deeds done without the dedication to the Lord, he will definitely be tossed down. "(pravutta karma -doing good deeds without the proper anusandhana and without the thought of dedication to the Lord.)

diTTatanadali paTTavAdana meTTidUDida pAdava

muTTi bhajisiro diTTA puraMdara viTTAleshana pAdava

Dasaru exhorts us to leave pride of posession, things, people, property etc and pride of doership and instead concentrate all efforts to worhship the Lord with complete surrender.It implies the understanding that every one of our thoughts and action are controlled by the Lord and that He is the doer, we are the agent and that whatever we are being made to do or say, we do or say as a worhip of our Lord. He is saying,”Worhsip the feet which stamped on the head of King Bali in order to crush his pride of position. Surrender to Him so that He may crush all our pride and instil devotion in us. " DiTTa means firm. Just as the Lord did not hesitate even for a second to crush King Bali , similarly if we open our hearts and minds in prayer to Him, He will lead the path that is best for our spiritual uplitment. There is not an iota of doubt.

The difference between activity with the intention to obtain some fruit and the activity engaged without any motivation of fruit but as a service to the Lord is highlighted. A person who engages in the latter activity has no fall whereas the person who engages in the former is sure to fall. It is also said so by Lord Kirshna in the BG.(Abrahma bhuvanAr loka......) ie however pious his deeds may be if they are having the motivation of fruit then he may go even upto Brahma loka but will be thrown out upon exhaustion of punya whereas one who does NishkAma karma will be uplifted by the Lord's grace and will sure reach Him upon completion of sadhana. 'mAm upetya tu kaunteya punar janma na vidyate."8.16

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