Meaning and the Import of "sthirata nahi nahire" Song

Translating this classic song into English is not easy. I’ve to search and look around for the right word to communicate correctly what the great composer meant exactly. Foremost I humbly bow to my guru and parents. I offer heaps of tree Jasmine (Millingtonia hortensis) flowers at their feet.

O (hapless) mind! How can you get steadiness? There is no way out of distractions. There is no peace. (No easy way out to get peace in life.) 

1. In the mundane world, we humans will come across three principal sources of despair or anxiety. We cannot easily get over them or avoid them, however best we may try. They’ll singe and sear our hearts. These are: a) afflictions (problems) related to the physical (i.e., biological) corporeal body. b) Problems due to the five (earth, fire, wind, water, and sky) material elements. c) Problems that are caused by fate (karma), curse, or an act of ‘devata’. So, the accumulated pain caused by these three types of “burning fire” is limitless like an ocean. If by mistake we let ourselves (or forced into) into this ocean, then there is no chance for tranquility. In such situations the mind cannot stay alert and steady; like a lamp in stormy wind it waves and flickers violently. Further what happens if we add two more elements like pride and ego? Now it is impossible for the mind to get any peace or be steady with courage in such terrible situation. Instances like losing a tooth or getting stuck in a tornado/cyclone do happen in real life. Similarly getting involved in crippling road accidents or drowning in fast moving streams is also a fact of life. 

2. Objects enter into our consciousness through sound, touch, form (shape), taste, and smell (olfactory sense). Such objects (or things) wrap around human consciousness (mind) like powerful ropes or (unbreakable) shackles. O mind, how can such people with entanglements have any tranquility? In such circumstances, how can the mind be calm and steady to focus on prayer, meditation, or any worthwhile endeavor?

What is unnatural or perverse wisdom (cleverness)? Mistaking what is real to be false and believing some thing inherently unreal as real – that is indeed strange; the composer is gently hinting us the core problem. Identifying oneself with the physical body and not recognizing the ‘self’ as the real ‘oneself’ – that is the major blunder in our thinking. We also refer the ‘core self’ as ‘atma’. So, with such distorted thinking, how can we ever have any peace in life? How can the mind find any grip and steadiness in its pursuit? How can it focus?

3. Sri Sadasiva Brahmendra’s Swami’s guru was (is) Sri Parama Sivendra Saraswati (1539 – 1586 A.D.). The last stanza says thus: For those who discard (eschew) the yogic path of Paramahamsa Sivendra Swami, there is no respite in life here on the earth. However great they may be, the earthly carnal pleasures (borne out of the senses) are fleeting; there is no permanence to them. We have such powerful stories like Pururuva and Urvasi. Or, consider the story of Ahalya (wife of king Pradyumna) and Indra (from Yoga Vasistham as expounded by Sri Shanmukha Sarma). So, if one is entrapped in such transient pleasures there will not be peace. O mind, be watchful for such missteps and dangerous slippery path. In that path, O mind, you’ll not find peace or steadiness. Listen to the guru’s (here it refers to the afore mentioned esteemed Sri Sivendra Swami of Kanchi Mutt) gentle advice in these difficult complex matters. The complete lyrics and audio links were given in the previous post here. Copyright 2022 by the author