"My son, your dear ones, kinsmen and servants cling to you only so long as
you earn. When that is over and when they find that you can be of no further use to them,
your kinsmen will disappear into no where." This caution that Sri Sankara utters is
not to find fault with kinsmen. He only points out the usual course of nature. How are the
poor kinsmen to blame for it?
Sri Sankara says: "Do not cling to
what is not substantial. There is only one thing to which you should attach yourself.
Cling to the feet of Govinda. Forgetting it, you come to grief, attaching yourself to
other things, which are impermanent and unsure. The love that your kinsmen show to you and
their interest in your welfare depends on the benefit they can derive from you. When you
become old and are no more able to earn, they will get away from you. Do not be deceived
seeing people gather round you now." What Sri Sankara says can be found to be true
beyond doubt in every place and in every family. |