Go Away, Dasa!

Madhumati Pushkarini devi dasi

The lines of the poet William Davies who wrote in the early 20th century, “A poor life this is if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare”, resonate with us now more than ever. People are getting busier than ever before. We are busy to the extent that we are racing with our own lives going far ahead of our own feelings and needs. It is also fashionable to be busy; modern life is meant to be busy, busy accumulating information, degrees, money and ‘likes’ on social media. There is indeed no time to stand and stare at anything that may evoke our finer senses of kindness, compassion, empathy or love. Sparing some time for reflective thinking and spiritual practices seems hardly compelling.

Srila Prabhupada, the founder acharya of ISKCON, writes in the Bhagavad Gita, “So death is sure. Still, people are madly accumulating money and working very hard all day and night, not caring for the eternal spirit. This is madness. In their madness, they are very reluctant to make advancement in spiritual understanding. Such people are very lazy. When they are invited to associate for spiritual understanding, they are not much interested”.

Saint Purandara Dasa, an ardent devotee of Lord Vitthala from the Madhva sampradaya, pens a beautiful song for us, busy people of Kali yuga, to contemplate on. Composed as a sattire, Purandara, takes on the role of a busy householder lady who has no time for the Sadhu who has come to her door for ‘madhukari’ or alms. Literally meaning ‘the profession of the bees’, madhukari is the act of saints humbly begging for a little food from different houses like the honeybee gathers honey from different flowers. But they are not ordinary beggars, incapable of earning or lazy to work. They are devotees of the Lord who are fully engaged in spiritual practices themselves and also going door to door educating the people at large about spiritual values. In the song, translated below, there is this Sadhu or Dasa (servant of the Lord) at the door of this lady who is presenting a myriad reasons why the Dasa should leave because she is so busy! Hidden behind the simple words, Purandara Dasa conveys profound philosophical message so relevant to all of us.

The apparent and superficial meaning of the song is as follows:

I am unable give you any alms now, my hands are still unwashed after eating

My little children are crying, you go away, Dasa!

I am now cleaning the house, washing the pots and there is no one in the house; you go away, Dasa!

My sons are crying, why are you troubling me?

Without standing here even for a moment, you go away Dasa!

I have to take the rice stored in the attic,

My stomach is hurting, I am unwell and there is nobody in the house; you go away Dasa!

I brought some sweets with borrowed money and that is not even enough for my little baby, you go away Dasa!

You are so greedy; I am full of faults and there lies the Lord Purandara Vitthala, the Lord of Purandara Dasa, on Ananta Shesha!

The inner philosophical meaning of the song is explained as below:

We are unable to pay any heed to the words of selfless devotees, despite having the inherent intellectual capacity because of our strong conditioning. Hands are there to give but the hands are said to be unclean and unwashed after eating; our continuous indulging in sense gratification makes us incapable of paying heed to spiritual matters.

Our senses, like little children are constantly crying for attention and they are never satiated, dragging us in different directions, making it impossible to pay attention to devotees.

The cleaning of the house and pots implies cleansing the body and the mind therein; It seems a daunting task to clean this pot that is compared to the mind, which is full of dirt. Though I am engaged in the cleaning process, all those who I identify as mine or in relationship with my body (sons etc.) cry for my attention incessantly. This makes me irritated and impatient when I am around devotees trying to give me spiritual advice.

Digging for the grains in the attic signifies the attempt of awakening some good samskaras deep in our hearts and somehow make use of them to understand spiritual topics but unfortunately any pursuit for higher truths is halted by our sins in the form of illnesses and diseases. And there is nobody in the house means there is no Guru or spiritual master. No inspiration or good sense can come from within without a Guru, giving rise to an offensive attitude. Such an attitude casts us under the illusion that only we are right, making us hard hearted and harsh towards devotees.

In the last stanza, the sweets bought with borrowed money that are insufficient for the baby implies that sometimes we may make half-hearted attempts to gain some knowledge in bhakti. However, it is insufficient to understand anything about the Supreme Personality of Godhead who lies in the form of a baby sucking his toe! He is described in the Kathopanishad as “Aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān”: “The Lord is smaller than the smallest and greater than the greatest.”

Finally, the beautiful hymn ends with Purandara Dasa crying out to Lord Vitthala, exclaiming how devotees are very greedy but unfortunately we are full of faults yet fault finders in others; not being able to develop any taste for devotional service.

As stated in the Chaitanya Charitamrita:

kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa-bhāvitā matiḥ
krīyatāṁ yadi kuto ’pi labhyate
tatra laulyam api mūlyam ekalaṁ
janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate

‘Pure devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot be had even by pious activity in hundreds and thousands of lives. It can be attained only by paying one price — that is, intense greed to obtain it. If it is available somewhere, one must purchase it without delay.’

Saints like Purandara Dasa, who are greedy to serve the Lord and His devotees, have composed heart touching bhajans like these. They are appealing to the busy people of this age to pause and reflect upon the meaning and purpose of our lives; to give up our arrogance and pay heed to the words of selfless devotees in our own self-interest.