O mind, heed this urgent call: worship Govinda, worship Govinda, worship Govinda! Do not be deceived, for when the final moment approaches, all your learned rules of grammar will be powerless to save you. Let go of your endless craving for wealth, and instead nurture noble understanding and contentment within your heart. Find satisfaction in whatever wealth comes to you through your own actions, and do not chase after more. Be wary of delusion—do not be entranced by the outward form of a woman’s body. Remind yourself again and again that it is only a modification of flesh and fat, nothing more. Just as water on a lotus leaf is unstable, so too is life itself fickle and uncertain. Recognize that this world is afflicted by disease and pride, and everywhere sorrow reigns. While you are busy earning wealth, your family clings to you. But once your body is worn out with age, no one in your house even asks after your well-being. As long as breath remains in your body, your family cares for you; but when breath departs and the body falls, even your wife fears to approach that very body. In childhood, you are absorbed in play; in youth, you are absorbed in the company of women; in old age, you are absorbed in worry. Yet, throughout all these stages, no one is absorbed in contemplation of the Supreme Brahman. Ask yourself: who is your beloved? Who is your son? This world is indeed strange. Whose are you? Who are you? Where have you come from? Reflect deeply on this truth, O brother. Through association with the virtuous, detachment arises; through detachment, freedom from delusion comes; with freedom from delusion, steadfastness in truth is gained; and from steadfastness in truth, liberation is attained even while living. When old age arrives, where is the agitation of desire? When water dries up, where is the lake? When wealth is gone, where are your companions? When truth is realized, where is worldly existence? Do not be proud of your wealth, your people, or your youth. Time destroys all in an instant. Understand that everything is pervaded by illusion, renounce it, and enter the state of Brahman. Day and night, evening and morning, winter and spring return again and again. Time plays on and life passes, yet the wind of hope refuses to leave. Why worry about your wife, your wealth, or your possessions? O deluded one, is there no one to guide you? In all three worlds, the company of the good is your sole refuge; it is the boat that will carry you across the ocean of worldly existence. Some grow matted hair, some shave their heads, some pluck out their hair; they don ochre robes and assume many disguises. Yet, though they see, the fool does not truly see; all these actions are done merely for the sake of the stomach. The body grows old, the hair turns gray, the mouth becomes toothless, and the head bald. The old man walks with a staff, yet even then, the bundle of desires does not leave him. With fire in front and the sun behind, at night with knees pressed to the chin, begging with hands for alms and dwelling under trees—even then, the bondage of hope does not release him. One may bathe in the Ganges or the ocean, observe vows, or give charity; but without knowledge, according to all authorities, liberation is not attained even in a hundred lifetimes. Dwelling in temples of the gods or beneath trees, sleeping on the ground or wearing a deerskin, renouncing all possessions and enjoyments—what happiness does detachment not bring? Whether one delights in yoga or in sense pleasures, whether one enjoys company or lives without it, he whose mind rejoices in Brahman truly rejoices, rejoices, and rejoices indeed. He who has studied even a little of the Bhagavad Gita, drunk even a drop of Ganges water, or worshipped Murari even once—of him, Yama, the lord of death, has no concern. Again birth, again death, again lying in a mother’s womb; in this world-cycle, so hard to cross, O Murari, boundless in compassion, protect me. Wearing a patched garment made from rags found in the street, following a path beyond virtue and vice, the yogi, his mind absorbed in yoga, delights like a child or a madman. Who are you? Who am I? From where have I come? Who is my mother, who is my father? Reflect on this thoroughly; everything is unsubstantial. Abandon the world, consider it as a dream. In you, in me, and elsewhere, there is only one Vishnu. In vain you are angry with me, impatient one. Be even-minded everywhere, if you wish soon to attain oneness with Vishnu. Do not strive to create conflict or alliance with enemy, friend, son, or relative. See the Self in all, and everywhere abandon the ignorance of division. Having abandoned desire, anger, greed, and delusion, contemplate the Self, asking, “Who am I?” Those who lack self-knowledge, being deluded, are cooked in the hidden hells. Let the Gita and the thousand names of the Lord be sung; let the form of the Lord be meditated upon constantly; let the mind dwell in the company of the good; let wealth be given to the needy. Pleasures with women are enjoyed happily, but later disease arises in the body. Though death is certain in this world, still one does not abandon sinful actions. Contemplate always that wealth is a source of misfortune; truly, there is not even a trace of happiness in it. Even the wealthy fear their own sons; this is the way of the world everywhere. Practice breath control, withdrawal of the senses, and discrimination between the eternal and the transient. Along with recitation and the method of meditation, perform these with great attention and care. One who is deeply devoted to the lotus feet of the Guru is quickly liberated from worldly existence. By self-control of the senses and mind, you will behold the divine dwelling in your own heart. Some foolish grammarian, burdened with study of rules like ‘ḍukṛñ’, was instructed by the blessed Śaṅkara, the divine teacher, to awaken his understanding. Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, worship Govinda, O foolish mind! Truly, we see no other means for crossing over worldly existence than the remembrance of His name.