Verse (Roman transliteration)
Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja Govindam,
Govindam Bhaja Moodhamate
Sampraapte Sannihite Kaale,
Na Hi Na Hi Rakshati Dukrinkarane
Translation
Seek Govinda, seek Govinda, seek Govinda, O fool! When the appointed time — death — comes, grammar rules will not save you.
The teaching
Shankara opens with a thunderclap. He sees an elderly scholar obsessively memorising grammatical rules and cries out in compassion. All your intellectual achievements, credentials, and technical mastery are meaningless at the moment of death. Only devotion to the divine — to something larger than yourself — offers true refuge.
Living this today
Illustrative example: Imagine choosing between another certificate and an evening with someone you keep postponing. Ask what each choice serves. Learning can matter without becoming the whole measure of a life.