Vairagya series-1

Hari Om!
Over the next few blog entries, I'll try and write on some of the greatest stanzas from Vairagya Shatakam, a wonderful treatise of a hundred verses on vairagya that resulted from viveka, out of disgust of worldly things, of kAminikancan, to Bhartrihari, elder brother of King Vikramaditya. I've refered to the translation of Sw. Madhavananda of Ramakrishna ashram.
kshAntaM na kshamayA gRhocitasukhaM tyaktaM na saMtoSataH
soDhA duHsahashItavAtatapanakleshA na taptaM tapaH
dhyAtaM vittamaharnishaM niyamitaprANairna shaMbhoH padaM
tattatkarma kRtaM yadeva munibhistaistaiH phalairva~ncitAH (VS-6)
We've forgiven, but not out of forgiveness (but out of our incapacity to right our wrongs); we've renounced the comforts of home life, but not out of contentment after satisfaction (but as an exile from home in quest of riches); though we've suffered inclemencies of weather, cold and heat so difficult to bear, still they are not religious austerities that we've undergone; with subdued vital forces, night and day have we brooded on money and not on the feet of Siva; thus we've performed those very acts which the saints do perform, but of their good effects we've deprived ourselves.
We sin a great lot, but justify it to social order and circumstances and in comparison to others, we think of ourselves as a superior lot. With that thinking comes self-forgiving attitude to overlook all our wrongdoings and considering ourselves pure-hearted thence, instead of leaving the bad once and for all and taking to satsanga. Most of us, rather people like me, consider leaving home and hearth as a great sacrifice. But shameful as it is, its not done to be content with what little we may find outside home, but to earn riches and better home into luxurious living. Even so, the temperature variations that we cope up with in our yearning for more money has nothing to do with titikshA that needs to be developed in seeking the feet of the Lord. Bhartrihari then goes on to say that we've done in bits all that saints do but with a pathetic intention and therefore, neither does it term as any kind of tapas nor does it bring good results.
om tat sat

Justuju jiski thhi

While going through some old backed up data, I found the song Justuju jiski thhi from Umrao Jaan. I don't remember having heard this song at all earlier, but I liked it so much as to listen to it over and over again. For some reason, I feel this song also talks of my wasted life in the past 2-3 years. There's a difference in how I listen to songs versus the way others do, perhaps, wherein I see the philosophical depth of the song even where it doesn't belong. Bilgi, a friend of mine, once said that he listens even the love songs as if they were dedicated to Sai! This is akin to the Sufi culture where the Lord is perceived as the beloved.

Justuju jiski thhi usko toh na paayaa humne
Is bahaane se magar dekh li duniyaa humne
Justuju jiski thhi...
Tujhko rusvaa na kiyaa khud bhi pashemaan hue
Ishq ki rasm ko is taraah nibhaayaa humne
Justuju jiski thhi...
Kab mili thhi kahaan bichdi thhi hume yaad nahi
Zindagi tujhko toh bas khwaab mein dekhaa humne
Justuju jiski thhi...
Ae adaa aur sunaaye bhi toh kyaa haal apnaa
Umra kaa lambaa safar tay kiyaa tanhaa humne
Justuju jiski thhi...

Strange and contradictory as it may seem to the above song, I also came across another song that stands for the ray of hope for each and every individual on his journey. I came across this song, Woh subah kabhi toh ayegi, first in the movie Sangharsh (where the villain sings it) and didn't know that it originally belongs to Phir Subah Hogi. The song goes as:

Woh subah kabhi toh aayegi
Woh subah kabhi toh aayegi
In kaali sadiyon ke sar se
Jab raat ka aanchal dhalkegaa
Jab dukh ke baadal pighlenge
Jab sukh ka saagar chalkegaa
Jab ambar jhuumke naachegaa
Jab dharti nagme gaayegi
Woh subah kabhi toh aayegi
Woh subah kabhi toh aayegi

Jis subah ki khaatir jug jug se
Hum sab mar markar jeete hai
Jis subah ke amrit ki dhun mein
Hum jeher ke pyaale peete hai
In bhuuki pyaasi ruuhon par
Ek din toh karam farmaaegi
Woh subah kabhi toh aayegi
Woh subah kabhi toh aayegi

Maana ke abhi tere mere
Armaano ki keemat kuch bhi nahi
Mitti kaa bhi hai kuch mol magar
Insaano ki keemat kuch bhi nahi
Insaano ki izzat jab jhuute
Sikko mein na toli jaayegi
Woh subah kabhi toh ayegi
Woh subah kabhi toh ayegi

Thoughts 94

94. The mind is trained by freewill in the waking hours, by destiny (karma) in dreams and is put to rest in deep sleep.