“Shri Manache Shlok” — Shloka/Verse 146 — a Dialogue With Our Mind
By: Shashi Kulkarni
Tags: Spirituality, God, Lifestyle, Mindfulness, Life

Introduction

Samarth Ramdas Swami teaches us how our mind is our friend, our enemy, and how it can be our Guru.

Note that this is focused on our own internal dialogue, with ourselves, with our mind, so wherever there are references of God, it will still apply to every human being, irrespective of religions and beliefs about God. Just replace the name of God with the one from your own religion, and if you don’t believe in one, talk with your mind.

Marathi Language Phonetics Transliteration

Refer to my article on the Marathi language phonetics transliteration — which is being used in these shloka explanation articles.

Shlok/ Verse # 146 from “Shri Manache Shlok”

Shloka in Marathi (Verse in the Marathi language)

दिसे लोचनी ते नसे कल्पकोडी।

अकस्मात आकारले काळ मोडी॥

पुढे सर्व जाईल कांही न राहे।

मना संत आनंत शोधुनि पाहे॥१४६॥

Shloka/verse in English

Dise locanī te nase kalpakodī

Akasmāta ākārale kāḷa modī

Puḍhe sar̥va jāīla kāhī na rāhe

Manā saṅta ānaṅta śodhuni pāhe — 146

Meaning

Whatever we see with our eyes, is not going to last for millions of eons. Whatever has come into existence, will get suddenly destroyed over time.

Everything will go away, nothing will remain. Hence oh my mind, search for that which the saints have described as infinite and all-pervading truth.

Keywords and their meanings

दिसे — Dise— appears; लोचनी —locanī — to the eyes; ते — te— that; नसे — nase— not be; कल्पकोडी —kalpakodī — millions of aeons

अकस्मात — Akasmāta— unexpectedly; आकारले —ākārale — took form; काळ —kāḷa — death/time; मोडी — modī— destroys

पुढे —Puḍhe — later; सर्व — sar̥va— all; जाईल — jāīla— disappear; काही — kāhī— whatever; न — na— not; राहे — rāhe— stays

मना — Manā— oh my mind!; संत — saṅta— sages; आनंत —ānaṅta — infinite; शोधूनि — śodhuni— search; पाहे —pāhe — see.

निरूपण — Explanation or conceptualization

For the next five shlokas including this one, Samarth Ramdas Swami asks our minds to search for the infinite truth. He repeats the last line — मना संत आनंत शोधुनि पाहे — Manā saṅta ānaṅta śodhuni pāhe — in every shloka until the 150th shloka.

In this world, whatever we can see, is not going to last forever. As it is said, change is the only permanent thing in this world. Everything will either change, or get destroyed.

Everything has a life — a term, a duration, after which it no more exists, whether that is a place, an object, or a living being.

The mother nature has caused sudden changes and damages numerous times, with earthquakes, huge fires, tornadoes, tsunamis, storms and the likes.

Who would have thought at the start of 2020, that the year will change the world as we were used to see it before. Many lost their lives suddenly.

If we have attachment towards anything which exists or lives, there will be one day when all of that will impact us. Suffering in the life is caused by the attachments.

Hence Samarth Ramdas Swami is asking our minds, to search for the eternal truth, which is infinite, and then devote ourselves towards it, the God.

Vedas describe Brahman as सत्यम ज्ञानं अनंतम — Satyam, Dhnyanam, Anantam. Many saints and Swami’s have explained this in detail.

अंत — aṅta— means limit, and आनंत — ānaṅta — means that which does not have a limit, which is infinite.

The limits can be of three kinds: space, time and objects.

Something which exists at a particular location, does not exist elsewhere. We have divided the universe into stars, planets, galaxies. The Earth has been divided into continents, countries, states or provinces, cities. Even the oceans have been divided into multiple oceans and bays and so on.

But Brahman is everywhere, it is not limited by space. There is no place in this universe where it does not exist. It is all — pervading, omnipresent.

Something which has a start and an end, has the limit of time, duration. Living beings are born and they have limited life. Objects are created and destroyed over time. The existence of those is with that period of birth and death, or creation and destruction.

But Brahman was, is and will always be there — without any limit of time — infinite. It is eternal.

Something which has a shape or a form, is limited by that shape and form. Every entity is different — a building, a lake, trees, palaces, living beings.

But Brahman is in all entities, there is no entity separate from it. It is non-dual.

Let us have a quest to search for this eternal truth and we will have a long-lasting happiness instead of temporary pleasures which are the result of satisfaction of our desires.