I used to listen to the song Bhaja Govindam sung by M S Subbulakshmi (an amazing singer and role model). Must have listened to it more than a thousand times.. and the the lyrics were in Sanskrit, was able to understand bits and pieces of it! One of the verses made me think and read more about it.. Sharing the song and what I learned..!
Anyone who hears her sing will be mesmerized by her voice and diction, it took some time for me to get to the underlying devotion and lyrics.
One of the lyrics goes like this…
“Satsangatve Nissangatvam, Nissangatve Nirmohatvam, Nirmohatve Niscalatattvam, Niscalatattve jivanmuktih”
Simple translation of words means
Being in good company you get to understand detachment, Being detached you understand how to be free from delusion, Being free from delusion you uderstand absolute steadfastness, and in absolute steadfastness lies liberation in life!
The way to spiritual enlightenment is indicated in stages so beautifully in the two verses.
I wanted to learn more… and I continued digging deeper..
Life is composed of three broad transactions:
- Receipt of input from the world
- Reaction within
- Response into the world
The first of the three (Receipt) is covered by Satsanga (being in good company), means company of good people. It covers all types of inputs we receive, including those seen by eyes, heard by ears, felt by touch etc. Also different types of emotions pour in through your mind. Variety of thoughts and ideas reach your intellect. These can be good or bad, virtuous or vicious… My mind started automatically connecting to the Swan and Gayathri manthra on how we should be able to filter out the good and bad and retain and absorb the good within. One small change from our end, being in good company brings about such a big difference in our lives.. that was amazing to realize!
A. Parthasarathy has beautifully explained this in his book “Bhaja Govindam & Atmabodha”… those who are interested in knowing more about the process will enjoy this book 🙂