The background of Bhaja Govindam is worth examining. Though sung as a Bhajan, it contains the essence of Vedanta and implores the man to think, Why am I here in this life ? Why am I amassing wealth, family, but have no peace ? What is the Truth ? What is the purpose of life ? The person thus awakened gets set on a path to the inner road back to the God principle. It is classified as a prakarana grantha, a primer to the major works. Bhaja Govindam is one of the minor compositions of the spiritual giant, Adi Shankaracharya. The above is an excerpt from the book ‘Adi Shankaracharya’ by Pavan K Varmaīhaja Govindam was written by Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya.

Surrender to a personal God-in this case Govinda or Krishna is the first step in moving towards that wisdom. It is only when death approaches do we understand the mirage we treasured, and by then, very often, it is too late to pursue the path of jnana that alone can give us lasting happiness and contentment.įor Shankara then, the learning of grammar, as an end in itself, without realising the nature of our finite lives, is a metaphor to highlight the imperative need to acquire that wisdom in the light of which alone we can achieve lasting happiness. We surround ourselves with coordinates of assurance-family, children, wealth, fame, youth, and considering them permanent, spend a lifetime seeking to preserve the inherently ephemeral and momentary, while shutting our eyes to the inevitability of death. The Bhaja Govindam invokes a strong mood of vairagya or renunciation given the transience of the reasons of human pride. Under the rubric of apara vidya, or practical knowledge Shankara endorsed such outpourings of devotion as a preparatory step to the para knowledge of Brahman. The conventional modes of religious practice, if sufficiently suffused by the yearning for spiritual grace, had his sanction. However-and this is the important point – he never forbid prayer and worship animated by the spirit of self-surrender and bhakti. The jnana marga was, indeed, the path that Shankara believed to be the most efficacious in the search for knowledge of Brahman, and consequently of moksha. This composition, like many others, written by Shankara, wherein he underlines the importance of devotion and surrender, and pours his heart out in obeisance to a deity in the Hindu pantheon, may surprise those who associate him only with the jnana marga or the path of knowledge to salvation.

This song is also known as Moha Mudgara (the hammer that destroys delusion). It is presumed that the first twelve verses came spontaneously from Sankara (hence the hymn bears the title dvādaśa mañjarikā stotram – a hymn composed of twelve-verse-blossoms) and that each of the fourteen disciples contributed one verse each. Its basic refrain is that surrender yourself to Govinda, the Lord, for the rules of grammar will not profit you once the hour of death draws near. The legend is that Shankara spontaneously composed this hymn in Varanasi on being irritated by the sound of an aged person loudly trying to learn the rules of grammar by rote.

The hymn is steeped in the emotion of bhakti, urging the need for devotion to the Lord as against mechanical acquisition of conventional knowledge. Subbalakshmi For all verses of Bhaja Govindam with word by word meaning please use this link.īhaja Govindam (Praise Govinda/Repeat the name of Govinda), is one of the most popular hymns penned by Shankara, that is still sung and recited by millions of Hindus every day. Note: For the popular version of Bhaja Govindam by Smt.

Bhaja govindam meaning pdf