The Penultimate Line of “Maitreem Bhajata” song by Sri Maha Periyava has one of the important messages from Brhadaranyaka Upanishad.

The last two lines of the song are:
दाम्यत दत्त दयध्वं जनताः (dAmyata datta dayadhvam janatAH)
श्रेयो भूयात सकल जनानाम् (shreyo bhUyAt sakala jananam)

Here is a story in the Khila-kanda…
Click Link For Reference: Deivathin Kural

Once, people from all three lokas (devas, manushyas and asuras) did tapas to the creator (Brahmaji) for gaining Knowledge from Him.

Brahma appeared before the devas and said, “I will give you only instruction”, and spoke one word “Da”. Then asked them, “Do you understand?” The devas said, “Yes”. Brahma was happy, “Very good! Follow this instruction for the path of knowledge”.

He then appeared before the humans, and said, “I will give you only one instruction and you must follow it” and said, “Da”. He asked “Do you all get this?” The humans thought for sometime and said, “Yes, we understand.” He said, “Very good, now follow this instruction.”

To the asuras, he did the same thing. “Da” he said, and asked if they followed the instructions. They said, “Yes.” Brahma said, “Go and follow this instruction”.

So, all he spoke was, “Da, Da, Da”

The devas are people in Indraloka and they revel in sense pleasures. No old age, hunger, thirst etc. So, their instruction was Da = dAmyata, i.e., restrain your sense pleasures.

For human beings, the disposition was to be greedy and grab everything. So, the instruction for them was Da = datta, i.e., give in charity.

The asuras were cruel and used to harm others. So, they were instructed Da = dayadhvam, i.e., be merciful to others.

So, in his Maitreem bhajata song, Maha Periyava gives all three instructions to us, as we are mixture of all the above qualities. We never did any tapas to get these instructions, nor do we have any mind to interpret it if he just said “Da, Da, Da.” But still, He gave us these instructions because of His concern for us.

And immediately, He also shows the compassion and blesses us “shreyo bhUyAt sakala jananam!”

Do we even need to ask for anything more other than just remembering Him and seeking His Smarana Deekshai!

सकृत्स्मरण मात्रेण भवरोग विनाशके |
श्री चन्द्रशेखरपादाब्जे भासेताम् हृदि मे सदा ||

Article Courtesy: Chandrasekharan Raman