Adi Shankaracharya (788-820?) advises us to worship Govinda, pointing out to us fools ‘मूढमते’, the illusory nature of life on earth.
पुनरपि जननं पुनरपि मरणं पुनरपि जननी जठरे शयनम् – Once again birth, once again death, once again lying down in the womb of a mother.
The Below is a selection of the 31 original verses sung by MS Subbulakshmi as a Ragamalika
Raga : Yamuna Kalyani
bhaja gOvindam, bhaja gOvindam, gOvindam bhaja mUDHamatE
samprAptE sannihitE kAlE, nahi nahi rakshati DukRanKaraNE ॥ 1 ॥
Raga : Brindavana Saranga
mUDHa jahIhi dhanAgamatRshNAm, kuru sadbuddhim manasi vitRshNAm
yallabhasE nija karmOpAttam, vittam tEna vinOdaya chittam ॥ 2॥
Raga: Pantuvarali
yAvadvittO paarjana saktah, taavannija parivaarO raktah
paschAj jeevati jarjara dEhE, vArtAm kOpi na pRchCHati gEhE ॥ 4॥
Raga : Bageshri
mA kutu dhana jana yauvana garvam, harati nimEshAt kaalah sarvam
mAyA maymidam akhilam hitvA, brahmapadam tvam pravisha viditvA ॥ ११ ॥
Raga : Behag
sura mandira taru moola nivAsah, shayyA bhootala majinam vAsah
sarva parigraha bhOga tyAgah, kasya sukham na karOti virAgah ॥ 18॥
Raga : Nadanamakriya
bhagavad gItA kinchidaDHItA, gangA jala lava kaNikA pItA
sakRdapi yEna murAri samarchA, kriyatE tasya yamEna na charchA ॥ 20 ॥
Raga : Kapi
punarapi jananam punarapi maraNam, punarapi jananI jaTHarE shayanam
iha samsaarE bahudustArE, kRpayA paarE pAhi murArE ॥ 21 ॥
Raga : Mohanam
gEyam gItA naama sahasram, dhyEyam shrIpati rUpamajasram
nEyam sajjan sangE chittam, dEyam dheena janaaya cha vittam ॥27॥
Raga : Senjurutti
arTHamanarTHam bhaavaya nityam, nAsti tatah sukhalEshah satyam
putraadapi dhana bhaajAm bhItihi, sarva traishA vihitA rItih ॥ 29॥
Raga : Sindhu Bhairavi
gurucharaNambuja nirbhara bhaktah, samsArA dachiraadbhava muktah
sEndriyamAnasa niyamAdEvam, drashyasi nija hRdayastham dEvam ॥ 31 ॥