मा कुरु धन जन यौवन गर्वं
हरति निमेषात्कालः सर्वम् ।
मायामयमिदमखिलं हित्वा बुध्वा
ब्रह्मपदं त्वं प्रविश विदित्वा ॥ ११॥
maa kuru dhana jana yauvana garvaM
harati nimeshhaat kaalaH sarvam
maayaamayamidamakhilaM
buddhvaa
brahmapadaM tvaM pravisha
viditvaa
(maa = do not; kuru = do / act; dhana = wealth; jana = people;
yauvana = youth; garvaM = arrogance / haughtiness; harati = takes away / steals
away; nimeshhaat.h = in the twinkling of the eye; kaalaH = Time; sarvaM = all;
maayaa = delusion; mayaM = full of / completely filled; idaM = this; akhilaM =
whole / entire; buddhvaa = having convinced; brahmapadaM = the state / position
of Brahma / God-realized state; tvaM = you; pravisha = enter; viditvaa = having
known / realized.)
(dhana jana yauvana garvaM
maa kuru = do not boast of wealth, youth and friends (because); kaalaH
nimeshhaat.h sarvaM harati = In a moment Time steals everything; idaM akhilaM
maayaa mayaM = all this is just delusion (Maya); buddhva = having convinced;
tvaM brahmapadaM viditvaa, pravisha = know the Brahman and enter into It and
merge in It.)
The false sense of security provided by youth, wealth, one’s
relatives, friends and other worldly possessions often make a man proud and
egoistic. Such people are so arrogant because of their wealth or influence in
the society that they refuse to believe there will be a change to this status
later. They do not hesitate to insult others and harm innocent people. With
money power, they build a fortress of strength around them. Unfortunately,
there is a very powerful army who can break into this seemingly impenetrable
citadel: the all-destroying Time. It stealthily comes and steals away all this
in a moment.
Sri Sankara cautions against this wrong attitude of man, which
causes a lot of avoidable misery later for him and those around him. For him,
he will soon understand that the great destroyer Time changes the whole
situation overnight. Youth is not everlasting. Neither is wealth. It doesn’t
take long for a poor man to get rich or a rich man to reduce to rags. Wealth
doesn’t remain constant with anybody. Money can be lost in many ways:
misfortune, theft, cheating, quarrels, illhealth, etc. With money gone,
relatives and friends desert. Most relatives and friends surround us only for
our money, hoping to enjoy a little of the good fortune. If the purse is empty,
no friend or relative will stay with us for long. Fortune and misfortune come
and go. What we experience is not permanent.
The transitory nature of the world and its pleasures should awaken
us from our slumber. We must apply our intelligence and know that these things
are in essence just illusions (Maya). “What is Maya? It is none other than the
desire that obstructs the spiritual growth of an aspirant”
Our goal should be to know the Supreme principle Brahman and to
merge our little consciousness in it. The Atman, which resides inside us, is
the true and everlasting principle.
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