Day 11, Shivananda
Line by Line summarized meaning of the sanskrit verses in Shivananda Lahari discourse
Day 11 - August 8 - verse 20 and 21
Verse 20
In this verse, Bhagavad pādacharya pleads with the Lord to take his monkey mind completely under Lord’s control. He further suggests that this mind can be used by the Lord to earn alms!
By reciting this verse daily, the ashanti of the mind will be gradually reduced. A mind that thus gets peace will slowly come under the control of the Lord. Yāvat thi pātakam dehe tāvat siddhir na jāyate - Until and unless the mind is cleansed of all impurities, mantra siddhi will not happen.
Sadā mohātavyām carati yuvatheenām kucha-girou,
Nata tyāśā-śākhā-svatati jhatiti swairamabhitah
Kapaalin bhiksho me hridaya-kapi-matyanta-capalam,
Dridam bhakthyā bhaddhā shiva bhavad dheenām kuru vibho.
My heart is-
Sadā mohātavyām - eternally running wild in the huge forest of moha (evil desires).
Carati-yuvatheenām-kucha-girou – eternally wandering up on the body of woman
Nata tyāśa śākhā-svatathi - Natati āśa śākhā vatati - dancing and jumping from one huge branch of desire to another.
It is impossible to catch such a fast paced monkey.
Jhatiti swairamabhitha - according to its free will in all directions (without any discretion)
Kapālin bhiksho me hridaya kapi matyantha chapalam - O Lord Kapāli, please accept as Your bhiksha this heart which is an extremely fickle (chapalam) monkey (kapi).
Kapali is Lord Shiva who holds Brahma’s skull in his hand and goes begging (bhiksha). He comes in the form of the pancha bhootas and unexpectedly arrives for bhiksha.
Dridam bhakthya bhaddha shiva bhavad adheenam kuru vibho – O all pervading Lord (vibho), O Shiva, I request You to tie it tightly (dridam baddha) with the rope called bhakti and keep it firmly under Your control (bhavad adheenam).
Bhavana: My mind is a toy. Take it with You, when you go begging. Beggars take with them some toys to entertain children and thus earn money. Let it dance to your tunes. Bhakti is the rope with which the toy (mind) can be tied. Pleased with the entertainment given by this mind, the people will give alms to Shiva. In this way, Shiva can use this useless mind to earn alms.
You take my mind under Your control. It is Your job. This mind is a monkey. Monkeys willing will never come under anyone’s control. It will play some trick and escape. So You have to put in Your efforts and catch it, O Lord.
This Shivananda Lahari is a wonderful bhakti sutram in which the supreme essence of bhakti flows. It explains the definition of bhakti and propagates the same. It is a beautiful compilation of Narada bhakti sutras, Shonaka bhakti sutras and Bhagavatam. It ties us to the Lord using bhakti as a medium.
Verse 21
Such is Bhagavad pādacharya’s bhakti that He confidently offers a house to the Lord, the creator of the innumerable brahmandas! Through this he teaches that when the Supreme Lord takes the mind under complete control, the mind becomes the suitable residence of that Supreme Lord.
Dhruti-sthambhā-dhārām drida guna nibhaddhām sagamanām,
Vichitrām padmādhyām prathi-divasa-sanmārga-gatithām,
Smarāre macchethah-sphuta-pata-kutīm prāpya vishadhām,
Jaya swāmin shakthyā saha shiva ganai samsevitha vibho.
Dhruti sthambhā-dhāram - The house (tent) is supported by the central pillar called courage/ determination (dhairya, dhriti),
Drida guna nibhaddhām – the trigunas are the rope to secure the house tightly.
Sagamanām - this is a mobile tent (gamana means movement).
The mind is mobile.
Vichitrām - (the house) is a strange one.
Padmādhyām - (mind) is lotus shaped
Prathi divasa sanmārga gatithām - It walks on the good path (sanmarga) every single day.
Smarāre - O Lord who has overcome desires; O destroyer of Smara
Shiva is the enemy of Manmatha (smara). It means that He is over and above desires and he destroys the desires from the mind of His devotees. Desires make us lose our discretion and hence it needs to be destroyed.
macchethah sphuta pata kutim – The chhetah inside the tent is strong and sharp
Chetah, hridaya, manah, antahkarana, buddhi, dhi, dhishaṇa all these words have different meanings in Sanskrit based on the situations. They refer to different stages of modifications of the intellect. For this reason Sanskrit was a very popular for spiritual lessons and for lessons about the self, mind and intellect. Words from other languages do not actually fit into the original Sanskrit meaning.
Chhetah is ‘that which is giving us inner chaitanya’; it is a little different from buddhi. It gives the illumination to all the indriyas.
prāpya vishādham - This house is very vast; like a mansion.
Jaya swamin - You are the Lord of that house and I want to see you seated victoriously there.
Shakthyā saha shiva ganai samsevitha vibho - I beg you to come along with your spouse, family and retinue.
Vibhu means the Lord of all the universes. I invite the Lord, the creator and sustainer of all the worlds, to come and reside in my mind.
O Lord, this chetah of mine is a large mansion suited for your living. It is bound firmly by the central pole called determination and ropes called the trigunas. It is a mobile, lotus shaped, strange tent (house) and it walks on the good path every day. O Lord of the universe, I want to see you seated there victoriously. Hence I invite you together with your family to come and reside in this house of mine called Chetah (mind, intellect).