BajaGovindam

From the Bhakti List Archives

• April 10, 1996


Dr. Rangachar's comments on my quoting him:
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Hi.

I just saw Krishna Praba's comment on the Bhajagovindam kriti which is
nowadays used very popularly for prayer. I wish set right some of the wrong
impressions which you might get about what I said to him when we were
discussing it the other day. My comment was that Shankara perhaps never
intended that this should be a preyer that every body may sing and certainly
not women. It was originally meant for use to create deatchment from the
Samsara in the minds of young aspirants who were intending to take on the
Sanyaasa vows. Many stanzas in it are definitely unsuitable for women and it
would be humorous to hear a woman reciting a line such as
"naarii-stana-bhara-naabhii-desham....etc,., because they are attracted by
male feature .
I do not subscribe to the other comments of Krish on this kriti. As a matter
of fact, I consider this as a very capable poetic piece, which attests to the
poetic creativity of Shankara's genius. He was an outstanding grammarian too.
As a philosopher, he is ofcourse a great leader. I admire him greatly.


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Krishna Praba