Shishir-Vasanto Punaraayaatah
Kaalah kreedati gacchati aayuh -
Tadapi na munchati aasha-vaayuh
(Bhaj Govindam:12 - By Aadi Shankracharya)
Meaning:
Day and night, dusk and dawn
winter and spring come and go again and again.
In this game of Time, the entire life goes away,
yet the storm of desires never dies or declines.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day and night - evening and morning - winter and spring repeatedly keep on coming and going - keep on changing.
Gradually, the age keeps increasing - the lifespan keeps on decreasing with this game of time - and eventually, it ends.
But the storm of hope and expectations does not subside - desires never end.
There are two deep meanings hidden in this verse.
Shankaracharya has touched on both - the physical and mental aspects of human beings in this verse- by giving comparative examples from nature.
First - the common, popular meaning:
With each day and night - with the change of each season - the human body's age keeps on increasing.
In other words - the remaining age keeps on decreasing.
But even when the body is old and weak, there is no end to the hopes, expectations, and desires.
The other - Analytical aspect
In nature - day and night - winter, summer, spring seasons keep on changing - they go and come back again and again.
But night after day does not mean that the day is over forever.
The changing of seasons - summer or winter passing does not mean that there will never be summer or winter again.
It is the cycle of time that will keep on going forever.
Just like the game of time-chakra- goes on - in the same way, the game of hope, expectations, and desires continues in the human mind.
Fulfillment or cessation of one desire does not mean that the hope and expectations have ended.
There is no end to them.
If one hope - one wish is fulfilled - then a new hope - a new desire will be born again.
Like the seasons, desires, hopes, and expectations also keep coming and going. They only change - never end.
Like the game of time continually goes on in nature - the game of hopes and expectations also keeps on going in the mind - throughout life.
Now the question is, what is the importance of this analogy in our personal and spiritual progress?
It is not enough to discard this verse - and other such verses simply as a natural problem.
Everyone knows this.
So, the question is - what is the solution?
The matter of consideration here is - that as we know about changing of the seasons. We know that the night, day, winter, summer has not ended completely - that they come and go and will come back again.
So, we prepare ourselves and make some arrangements to avoid dark, summer, cold, etc.
Similarly, if we can apprehend the mind's games, then we can try to find some ways to control it - and be able to avoid sorrow and despair.
' Rajan Sachdeva '
Din - Day
Yamini - Night
Saayam - Evening
Praatah - Morning
Shishir - Winter
Shishir - Winter
Vasant - Spring
Punara - Again
Ayaatah - Come
Kaalah - Time
Kaalah - Time
kreedati - Plays
Gacchati - Goes away
Aayuh - Age
Tadapi - Yet
Tadapi - Yet
Na Munchati - Does not die or decline
Aasha-Vaayu - Wind (Storm) of hopes and desires
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