Sing Always the Song of the Divine
Shankara
- Shankara
- wrote
- the
- first
- verse
- of
- this
- sweet
- song
- when
- he
- was
- passing
- through
- a
- village
- and
- saw
- an
- old
- man
- memorising
- the
- rules
- of
- grammar.
- He
- felt
- pity
- for
- this
- old
- man
- who
- was
- on
- his
- deathbed:
- he
- had
- wasted
- his
- whole
- life
- and
- now
- he
- was
- wasting
- his
- last
- moment
- too.
- All
- his
- life
- he
- had
- never
- remembered
- the
- divine
- and
- even
- now
- he
- was
- busy
- with
- grammar.
- What
- would
- he
- gain
- by
- memorising
- the
- rules
- of
- grammar?Bhajan,
- devotional
- singing,
- kirtan,
- divine
- songs
- and
- dance
- are
- all
- means
- of
- expressing
- feelings.
- Shankara
- is
- implying
- that
- without
- saying
- anything
- you
- yourself
- should
- become
- a
- song,
- a
- divine
- song.
- These
- verses
- are
- very
- simple,
- these
- sutras
- are
- straightforward,
- and
- they
- are
- written
- by
- a
- genius
- like
- Shankara.
- In
- all
- of
- Shankara's
- literature
- there
- is
- nothing
- more
- precious
- than
- Bhaj
- Govindam.
- Shankara
- is
- basically
- a
- philosopher;
- everything
- he
- has
- written
- is
- very
- complex;
- it
- is
- all
- words,
- scriptures,
- logic,
- analysis
- and
- thought.
- But
- Shankara
- knows
- that
- godliness
- cannot
- be
- achieved
- through
- logic,
- analysis
- and
- thought.
- The
- way
- to
- attain
- it
- is
- through
- dancing
- and
- singing
- -
- through
- feeling
- and
- not
- through thinking.