Govindanukku Aatpatta Kudumbamamma… #6 (Family beholden to Govinda!)
(The getting together of devotees (satsanga) is the prANa of Bhagavata Dharma. Shall we see that in this episode?)
kUDi kUDi pEsiDuvOm,
ADippADi kaLitthiDuvOm – avan
aDiyArgaLai thEDi thEDi,
ODi ODi paNindiDuvOm || gOvindanukku ||
We shall get together and speak about Him We shall sing and dance joyfully We will go in search of His servitors And running to them, fall at their feet
What we are attached to is what decides whether we get caught and struggle, or if we attain jnana and enjoy bliss, is the upadesa that is given by Sri Kapila Vasudeva in Srimad Bhagavatam to his mother, Devahuti.
How simply and easily our Srimad Bhagavatam presents deep concepts! If we are attached to worldly things like name, fame, position, post, desires, sense pleasures, then we will be left with only attachment, sorrow, desire and fear.
But the nature of the mind is to be attached to something, isn’t it? So Sri Kapila Vasudevar says, “Keep that attachment to devotees of Bhagavan. Then that attachment itself will become the cause for freedom from sorrow and will bestow bliss and joy!”
Isn’t it this profound Vedantic truth that Tiruvalluvar also shared:
If we are attached to true devotees who neither want anything nor ‘not want’ anything, then that attachment itself will uproot attachment to worldly things and bestow peace and divine bliss.
This principle of our Sanatana Dharma has also been proved in many ways by modern psychologists. They say, “The state of your mind is affected to a large extent by those who you keep company with.”
During the times when we had not yet come under Govinda and our Sathguru, we who ran here and there thinking where can I go to fulfil worldly joys, who should I catch hold of so I can earn name and fame, what can I do to further my self-interest; now haven’t we amazingly transformed into those who wonder where will we get satsangam, where will we be blessed with the service of sadhus!
It is true that holy rivers and kshetras purify us by removing our sins and inner filth. There is something in common between these and sadhus. Sadhus also purify us through their association. Hence we need to run and find and attain these. But there is also a difference between them. Sadhus are greater than holy rivers and kshetras. Srimad Bhagavatam says,
na hyammayAni tIrthAni na dEvA mricchilAmayAha |
tE punantyurukAlEna darshnAdEva sAdhavah || SB 10:48:31
Holy rivers and kshetras will take a long time to purify us. But doesn’t the mere darshan of true sadhus purify us immediately?
In this way, we who know the greatness of sadhus, “avan aDiyArgaLai thEDi thEDi, ODi ODi paNindiDuvOm!” (We will go again and again in search of His devotees, run and fall at their feet!)
The greatness of sadhus is such that it is not just we ignorant people who run after them. But it seems Bhagavan Sri Krishna Himself seeks them and goes behind them, desiring the dust of their feet. Sri Bhagavan Himself says this,
“I constantly go behind those devotees who are not in the least attached to worldly pursuits, who subdue their mind entirely and are devoted to Me, those who are peaceful, who see everything as equal and as Me,” says Sri Krishna. When Sri Krishna Himself goes in search of sadhus and seeks their association, we too “avan aDiyArgaLai thEDi thEDi, ODi ODi paNindiDuvOm…”
