JOIN USThe work, in five hundred and eighty one verses, in the form of a dialogue between a preceptor and his pupil expounds on the importance of acquiring the right knowledge to discriminate between the eternal and the transient and thereby, attain the ultimate goal of existence which is liberation from the cycle of repeated births and deaths.
Sri Shankara, in the second verse speaks about the importance of taking birth as a human being. Sri Chandrashekara Bharati, the revered past pontiff of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham, who has written a lucid and masterly commentary on this work, has this to say on the point mentioned in verse two.
“To those who take birth, being born as a human being is difficult to get. Therefore, man must be steadfast in pursuing the path of righteousness. Knowledge of the difference between that which is eternal and that which is only illusory or transient must be obtained through effort. The first step in this process is understanding that there is a soul which is independent of the body.
One goes through many successive births. Birth means combination of the soul with the body. The soul successively combines with many bodies in different births. Just as the thread on which several flowers are strung together is separate from them, just as the body that wears around itself several garments is different from them, the soul that acquires different bodies in different births is different from them. Therefore, since birth is the conjunction of the soul with the body, a person must try to obtain a body which produces happiness and avoid that which gives grief. The former can be obtained only through good deeds, while bad deeds give rise to the latter.
The scriptures clearly mention the prescriptions for meritorious deeds as also the prohibitions. One takes birth as a human being by a mixture of good and bad deeds.
In other words, a person acquires different kinds of bodies in different lives depending upon his performance of good, bad or mixed deeds. This accounts for the varieties of joys and sorrows seen in this world.
Sri Shankara further reinforces this truth in verses three to seven. He categorically states that “these three are difficult to obtain: to be born as a human, to have the longing for liberation and to be associated with great souls.
He, who, having somehow obtained human birth does not strive for liberation is a fool who kills his own soul.