ss

rajna Darshan

- Swami Shanta:ruuufa Purl

Gita’s Sthita Prajna Darshan(A crash course for Moksha)

Parvathamma C.P. Subbaraju SettyCharitable Trust

# 13/8, Pampa Mahakavi RoadShankarapuram, Bangalore - 560 004

Swami Shantananda Puri

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Gita’s Sthita Prajna Darshan(A crash course for Moksha)

Author : Sri Swami Shantananda Puri

© Publisher : Parvathamma C.P. Subbaraju SettyCharitable Trust13/8, Pampa Mahakavi Road,ShankarapuramBangalore - 560 004.Ph. : 080 - 22423011

41516724

First Edition : 6th May 2008

Cover Page designType Setting &Printing : Omkar Offset Printers

1st Main Road, New TharagupetBangalore - 560 002Ph : 2670 8186, 2670 9026e-mail: omkaroffset@gmail.comwebsite: www.omkarprinters.com

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SAMARPAN

This book is dedicated with veneration

to the Lotus Feet of my revered Guru

Swami PurushottamanandajiVasishtha Guha, U.P., Himalayas

but for whose infinite and Divine Compassion

I would not have been able to formulate

my thoughts and put them down

in this book

and

to the thousands of spiritual

Sadhakas all over the world

– Swami Shantananda Puri

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Introduction

Srimad Bhagavad Gita is the best hand bookavailable covering all aspects of spirituality.There again, the characteristics of a SthitaPrajna given in a dozen verses in the 2nd

chapter forms the entire essence of Sadhanarequired for Self-realisation, the ultimategoal of all.

The very term ‘Sthita Prajna’ itself containsthe main sadhana to reach the ultimate blissirrespective of the path - Karma or Yoga, orJnana or Bhakthi. The term, interpreted ina simple way means the one whose mind(Prajna) is ‘still’ - not wavering. The ultimatepurpose of all sadhana is to control andstill the mind - a mano-nasa, an annihilationof the mind. Yoga is defined as ‘Chitta VrittiNirodhah’. It is the mind which hasprojected this illusory world of multiplicity- this so called waking state is also part of

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a dream drama. The entire world is a‘thought’. If you keep your mind bereft ofall thoughts, the dream drama disappearsand you the dreamer alone are left.

All these thoughts of the world are basedon past impressions (vasanas). The vasanashave accumulated through repeated actionsmotivated by desire. The Gita, in the guiseof describing a sthita-prajna gives us themethods by which the vasanas can beremoved; our itching to do some action orthe other is curbed so that we get releasedfrom the great delusion (Moha). Whenevera sadhana or a method is presented to us,where some hard work is involved, wealways come out with an excuse “How canI possibly do all these things? It is verydifficult to treat happiness and sorrow alikeor success and defeat alike and to cultivatean equal vision! It is a rare RamakrishnaParamahamsa or a Bhagavan Ramana whocan do it”. Nothing is impossible for any ofus. Our own negative thinking constitutes

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the biggest mental block and becomes animpediment. It is the mind which has boundus and it is the mind which can release usfrom the bondage. Sincerity, faith and a firmdetermination backing incessant repeatedpractice will surely take us all to the goal.Even by getting by heart and repeating oftenthese verses relating to the Stitha Prajna,we will get inspired one day to put it all inaction.

I had long resolved not to write any morebooks. Mr.D.N.Anand of Bangalore, who isthe real ‘Sutradhara’ behind the publicationof all my books, very casually rang me upone day at Ghazipur (near Benares) andsuggested that I should write on ‘SthitaPrajna’. It just appealed to me and I got aninner command too. The very next day thework was started. My blessings to him.

I must also express my gratitude toSri.Venkatesh Babu of Omkar OffsetPrinters of Bangalore who, thoughoverwhelmed with many orders lucratively

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several times more beneficial, has alwaysbeen kind enough to accord priority out ofhis sincerity, love and devotion to getprinted these books emanating from myhands, using the best paper, designingexcellent cover page etc, and to deliver thempromptly in time.

May the Supreme Lord’s blessings be on usall.

Love and Hari Om

-Swami Shantananda Puri

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Photo ofSwami Shantananda Puri

Sri Swami Shantananda Puri

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Gita’s Sthita Prajna Darsan(A crash course for MOKSHA)

The purpose of life for all beings is toachieve continuous permanent

happiness unadulterated or unmixed withsorrows and sufferings. In this process, deathis perhaps the greatest of all sorrows andwithout an exception, whoever is born is alsosubject to death and vice versa too. So,getting out of the inevitable cycle of birth anddeath and to become immortal is also partof our quest for happiness. The Vedantaphilosophy as also the Scriptures (on whichthe former is based) affirm that ourunhappiness and our inability to bepermanently rooted in happiness is all dueto a delusion which has led to an ignoranceof what we really are i.e. our real nature(Swaroopa) and on the contrary, believingthat we are individual souls endowed with

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limitations of time, space etc. The varioussystems of philosophy have prescribedvarious disciplines and paths (like Jnanayoga, Bhakti yoga etc.) for dispelling ourignorance so that the Ultimate Truth willstand revealed resulting in the achievementof our goal. All these disciplines (Sadhanas)are meant for removal of the shroud whichveils Reality i.e., the various obstacles in theway of realisation of our real Self which isnot to be attained from somewhere but is afait accompli i.e. a thing already attained butnot recognised. Whatever may be the yogapath or disciplines we may pursue forreaching the spiritual goal, our endeavourshould be continuous and stable. A personwith a wavering mind will not be able toconcentrate his mind on the Reality. Furtherhe may adopt Bhakti yoga for a few days andthen he may take up Ashtanga yoga. Furtherhe may worship Lord Vishnu for a few daysand then change over to meditating on theunconditioned attributeless Brahman for afew days. These persons will go on changingtheir decisions often and remain irresolute.

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The one who is decisive and has a stable andfirm mind is a ‘Sthita Prajna’. It is only a‘Sthita Prajna’ who can attain liberation orMukti from all bondages limiting hisfreedom and depriving him of thepermanent bliss which is his real form. Thequalities or characteristics of a Sthita Prajnahave been described in detail in the secondchapter of Bhagavad Gita (Verses 55 to 71).According to various scholars, the termsSthita Prajna and Gun¢teeta are consideredas synonymous. The qualities of a Gun¢teetadescribed in chapter fourteen will be foundto be identical. The characteristics mentionedof a Bhakta (a devotee) in the 12th chapterare also identical with those of a Sthita Prajnaand a Gunateeta. In fact the word‘Sthiramatih’– stable mind – comes also as asine-qua-non for a devotee, in the 12thchapter. All these Sthita Prajnas can also becalled as Jivan muktas (including Videhamuktas and Atyasramis) like Sri BhagavanRamana Maharshi of Arunachala(Tiruvannamalai).

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Obviously, these characteristics of a SthitaPrajna are self evident in those who havealready become Sthita Prajnas. Here, thecharacteristics mentioned in the secondchapter are not simple descriptions. Theseverses in the second chapter can beconsidered as a crash course for the seekersof Self-realisation. They contain the Sadhanato be done for achieving Mukti along withthe rationale behind it. It is a summarisedcollection of various sadhanas which remaindispersed in various chapters like chapter III(verses 34 and 41) chapter V (verses 18, 20,21 to 26), chapter VI (verse 18), chapter IX(verse 28) and chapter XII (verses 13 to 19)of Bhagavad Gita.

‘Brahmavid Brahmaiva bhavati’– a realisedsoul becomes verily the Brahman, theSupreme Being. As the Brahman isindescribable and beyond the reach of bothmind and words, how is it possible todelineate the qualities of a Jivan Mukta? Hewill look so common that if you meet him inthe street you will not be tempted to have a

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second look at him. Many Mahatmas usedto ask “Do you think that a Jivan Muktadevelops two horns on his head?” A JivanMukta is free to behave as he likes. So all thedescriptions of a Sthita Prajna are not reallymeant to recognise a Jivan Mukta. These aredescriptions from our ignorance point ofview but being objective you cannot applythese norms and verify whether a person isa Sthita Prajna or not. For instance, lack offear and lack of anger (veeta raga bhayakrodhah) are two qualities mentioned inGita (2-56). A great saint was sitting in hisAshram along with his disciples when thenews came that a number of armed dacoitswere on their way on horseback to loot thatvillage and while on the rampage it was theirhobby to shoot down the villagers.On hearing the news, all the disciples ranaway in order to hide themselves in thenearby jungle. The Guruji (saint) who hadbeen haranguing them on fearlessness as anessential feature for spiritual seekers, was thefirst to run along with them. The discipleswere thinking that the Guruji was as much

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a coward as they were and did not have thequality of fearlessness which he preached toothers. When they questioned the Gurujiabout it later, he answered - “It is far betterfor me to be ridiculed with derision andcontempt as a coward in the eyes of theworld than for my ego to proclaim and boastlater “See, all people have run away. I amthe only fearless saint who has stuck to hisseat.” So the judgement of the disciples wasproved to be wrong.

Once Bhagawan Ramana was asked whetherhe could recognise another realised soul, aJivan Mukta on seeing him. He replied in thenegative. For a realised saint, all are everliberated (Nitya muktas) and he sees all ofthem as the Brahman itself. So there is noquestion of even a liberated saint recognisinga ‘Sthita Prajna’. How can words describethe indescribable?

In verse no. 39 of second chapter ofBhagavad Gita, the Lord, while instructingArjuna, starts with Buddhi (wisdom or

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intellect) being the essential factor in anypath (yoga) leading to the Supreme Truth.1

The purpose of all the Scriptures is thepurification of the intellect. The entire Gitawas professedly meant for reforming theintellect of Arjuna and to endow it with rightunderstanding by removing the delusion.Only when the intellect is conditioned withthe right knowledge and understanding, allthe defects which are the cause of grief,delusion and the transmigratory circle willbe removed (Sankara Bhasya of SriSankaracharya). Sankara in his Bhasya underverse 10 of chapter X has defined2 Buddhias the right knowledge of the truth of God(Samyagdarsanam mattattva vishayam)

The importance of the intellect (Prajna) isagain stressed in verse 21 of chapter VIwhere Bhagavan says that the ultimate truthwhich is of the form of bliss can be grasped

1 Efm Vo@{^{hVm gm§» o ~w{Õ`m}JopËd_m§ l¥Uw &~wX²>Ü`m wŠVmo ``m nmW© H$_©~ÝY§ àhmñ`{g && (JrVm 2-39)

2 ‘~w{Õ… gå`½Xe©Z§, _ÎmÎd{df §’

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only by intellect (Buddhi grahyam)3.Similarly in chapter II (Sl. 53), when LordKrishna exhorts Arjuna that only when thebuddhi (mind) gets rid of its wavering andirresolute nature, having been bewildered bythe multifarious teachings of the Vedic textsand remains still to enable one-pointedconcentration, he will be able to attain thesupreme yoga4. In this context, Arjunarequests the Lord to describe thecharacteristics of the person who has reachedsuch a stage of a stable mind. This wasperhaps an indirect way wherein instead ofasking the Lord about the means of gaininga stable wisdom, Arjuna asks about the waya Sthita Prajna behaves and as to how he isdescribed by others. According to Sankara,the meaning of the word ‘Sthita Prajna’ isone whose mind is rooted in the givenconviction that ‘I am the Supreme Being,

3 gwI_mË`pÝVH§$ `ÎmX²~w{ÕJ«mø_VrpÝÐ`_² & (VI-21)

4 lw{V{dà{VnÝZm Vo `Xm ñWmñ`{V {ZíMbm &g_mYmdMbm ~w{ÕñVXm `moJ_dmßñ`{g && (II - 53)

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Brahman’. In his Bhasya against verse no. 55,Sankara has defined ‘Sthita Prajna’ as the onewho has become stabilised in the wisdomborn of discrimination between the Self(Atman) and all other Non-self things(including this world and the other worldsand the body-mind complex)5. Ultimatelyboth mean the same thing. This is thebackground in which the Lord starts givinghis crash course on what characteristics aperson should develop in order to become aSthita Prajna, a sage of stable wisdom6.

Lord Krishna starts with the most importantfactor which is capable of ruining ourintellect and peace of mind by destroying thediscriminative capacity of the intellect. Kamaor desire is that prime factor. It has to beuprooted. There is a verse which a drum

5 pñWVm à{V{ð>Vm ‘Ah§ Apñ_ na§ ~«÷’ B{V àkm `ñ` g…

pñWVàk… & (Sankara Bhashya under verse 54)

6 pñWVàk… pñWVm à{V{ð>Vm AmË_mZmË_{ddoH$Om àkm `ñ` g…pñWVàk… &

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beater sang once while walking through thestreets of a city at night in order to alert thepeople against any thieves entering into thehouse : -

“There are four notorious thieves who arealready inside your body in order to snatchaway your jewel called “Wisdom” (do notbother about thieves coming from outside).They are kama, anger, greed and delusion.Wake up, Wake up.”7

As anger is only a gross manifestation ofdesire (kama), Krishna clubs them together8

and dubs them as our deadly enemies(Gita 3-37). Krishna starts -

“When a person completely renounces alldesires subsisting in the mind and his mind

7 H$m_H«$moYm¡ bmo _mohm¡ Xoho {Vð>pÝV VñH$am… &

kmZaËZmnhmamWª Vñ_m‚mmJ«V OmJ«V &&

8 H$m_ Ef H«$moY Ef aOmoJwUg_wØd… &

_hmeZmo _hmnmß_m {dX²>Ü oZ{_h d¡[aU_² && (3-37)

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is content with the Self, he is called a sage ofstable wisdom. ”9

Most of the religions including Buddhismand Jainism are unanimous in declaring thatdesires are the prime factor contributing toour miseries and sorrows. Desire includeslust, passion and a craving for thecompanionship and intimacy of the othersex. Next in merit to the sexual desires comesthe desire for wealth and money.Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used todenounce desire for sex and money (Kamini-Kanchana) as the greatest obstacles towardsspiritual progress. Even Ashtavakra whodoes not advocate any sadhana (includingmeditation) and does not prescribe anyqualifications is vociferous in deprecatingthe desires for money and sex in no uncertainterms as follows -

“Even after having been established in thefirm knowledge of the non-dual Reality and

9 àOhm{V `Xm H$m_mÝgdm©ÝnmW© _ZmoJVmZ² &

AmË_Ý ¡dmË_Zm Vwf¥… pñWVàkñVXmoÀ`Vo && (II-55)

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intent on getting liberation, it is amazing thatyou become agitated, being overwhelmedwith passion on account of the pastvasanas10.

How can one be so attached to sexualdalliance and get polluted ?11

After having known the non-dual imperi-shable Self in reality how can you whoprofess to be a realised person desire forearning money or wealth?12 (AshtavakraGita).

Unless one makes efforts to renounce alldesires by resorting to Satsang, prayers, Japaand invoking Guru’s Grace etc., it will notbe possible for one to realise the Self. Whena man is mad after money, sex, name and

10 AmpñWV… na_mÛ¡V§ _mojmW}@{n ì`dpñWV… &Amü ª H$m_deJ… {dH$b… Ho${b{ej`m && (Ashtavakra Gita III - 6)

11 CnñWo@Ë`ÝVg§gº$mo _m{bÝ`_{YJÀN>{V (Ashtavakra Gita III - 4)

12 A{dZm{eZ_mË_mZ§ EH§$ {dkm` VÎdV… &VdmË_kñ` Yrañ` H$W_Wm©O©Zo a{V… && (Ashtavakra Gita III - 1)

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fame etc. and is unable to get them throughhonest means, then he resorts to dishonestand fraudulent means to achieve his end.Such an one is always beset with the fear ofbeing detected and punished. His mind willnever be at peace but will remain agitated.Thus unless the desires are abandoned, one’smind will always be wavering and onecannot become a Sthita Prajna.

If desires are our main enemies, we shouldknow whether they come from outside or arepermanently imbedded inside our body-mind complex. Lord Krishna says that thesedesires reside in the mind. They are not realbut are purely psychological feelings. Theyare, in other words, our imaginations orthoughts. We are the Self (Atman) anddesires have nothing to do with the Self.When once we recognise that they are allonly imaginations we should be able toabandon them by repeating to ourselveswith a stern conviction that “these desiresdo not belong to me. I have nothing to dowith them. The pleasure I got by the

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fulfilment of the desires is very momentaryand is purely mental.”

Further, some people think that by indulgingin the desires, like sexual pleasures, theirmind will get satisfied and no more desirethere - for will arise. In practice, this is notthe case. In Srimad Bhagavatam there is astory of King Purooravas who was so madafter sexual pleasure that when he was besetwith old age resulting in his inability toenjoy, he manages to exchange his old agewith the youth of his youngest son and thuscontinues to enjoy his sexual pleasures forthousands of years. One day he awoke to thefact that this desire is insatiable and the moreone feeds it with fulfilment, the more itincreases. Hence it is that Lord Krishna callssuch desires as “Mahas’anah” (III-37) – theone whose voracious appetite never getssatisfied. The King Purooravas sang a songas follows13 -

13 Z OmVw H$m_… H$m_mZm_wn^moJoZ emå`{V &

h{dfm H¥$îUdË_}d y Edm{^dY©Vo && (Bhagavatam IX-19-14)

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“At no time desires get extinguished by theirfulfilment through enjoyment. Just like thefire whose flames shoot up further bypouring of the oblations of ghee, they willgrow more and more.”

The Upanishads go to the extent of saying14

that when once a mortal gets rid of all thedesires which reside in his heart, he becomesimmortal and attains the Brahman here andnow. What further guarantee do we want ?

When a child wants to play with someundesirable object, the best way to divert itsmind is by proffering something morealluring. If we want to divert the mind fromall desires, the best thing we can offer to it isour own Self. No joy or happiness evercomes out of any worldly object. If a sweetdish like burfi or gulab jamun gave youimmense pleasure on your eating it, thepleasure did not at all come from the sweet

14 `Xm gd} à_wÀ`ÝVo H$m_m o@ñ` ö{X {lVm…AW _Ë`m}@_¥Vmo ^dË`Ì ~«÷ g_ýwVo &&

(Kathopanishad II -6-14)

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dish but was attributable to the pastconditioning of your likes and dislikes. Allthe Bliss is inside you. Your Self is verilythe Bliss, the source of all the happiness inthis world. The Self is the substratum of theentire world and its objects. All the objectsand the world have been super-imposed onthe Self which is identical with the Brahman(the Supreme Being). The Self itself took onthe appearance of all the objects due to super-imposition just like a rope in darknessappearing like a snake. With this convictionif we can turn our mind to meditate on theSelf with one-pointed concentration, we canget such a non-pareil bliss with which nohappiness derived from any object likemoney, sex etc. can be compared. Thus bythe satisfaction derived by constantmeditation on or remaining as the Self itselfin pure consciousness (i.e. in the sheerawareness of one’s existence as ‘I AM’) onewill be able to get rid of all desires resultingin stable wisdom (Sthita Prajna). Thus thefirst two factors necessary for becoming aSthita Prajna are – renouncing all desires and

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remaining always content in oneself withoutdepending on external objects for hissatisfaction.

Now Lord Krishna moves over to two otherfactors. He says that “The one whose mindremains unperturbed by any sorrow orsuffering, whose attachment to pleasure iscompletely gone and who is free fromattachment, fear and anger is called a sagewith stable wisdom.”15

Sorrows or miseries are categorised intothree kinds –

1. Adhyatmika (personal) – where thecircumstances for the unhappiness werecreated by you personally. For instance,you overate a lot of sweets inspite ofbeing a diabetic patient. You got stomachache. This sorrow was caused by your actof folly.

15 Xw…IoîdZw{Û½Z_Zm… gwIofw {dJVñn¥h… &drVamJ^`H«$moY… pñWVYr_w©{ZéÀ`Vo && (II-56)

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2. Adhibhoutika (inter personal) – wheresomebody else was apparentlyresponsible for your sorrow - for exampleburglary of your house by thieves,yourself being stung by a scorpion etc.

3. Adhidaivika – (Acts of God) – where anearthquake resulted in the collapse ofyour house and loss of property, floodsor tsunami etc. causing damage.

We can see that we will not be able to preventthe occurrence of the circumstances leadingto the miseries and sufferings. Even greatsaints like Bhagawan Ramana, RamakrishnaParamahamsa and Ma Anandamayee goteither cancer or other serious diseases in theirlast days. Such events like death in thefamily, loss of money etc. go on happeningand we cannot prevent them. But we candevelop insensitiveness and indifference tosuch happenings so that we can remainunperturbed. Joys and sorrows are alltemporary and transient. They come and

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go.16 We should be able to developforbearance. Here again Lord Krishna hadalready told that a person who develops animmunity against his reactions towards joyand sorrow and thus looks at both of themwith an even mind becomes fit indeed forimmortality17. While it is understandablethat one should avoid sorrows, what couldbe the objection in our enjoying the pleasuresof life? It is told that when a man getsenjoyment of pleasures, he gets inebriatedand tends to transgress the laws of decorumand good conduct as also the ethical andmoral laws. Secondly, the more he enjoys,the stronger his conditioning becomes. Hebegins to crave more and more for thosepleasures and is prepared to use fair or foulmeans to achieve his end. When he is unableto get his desire satisfied, he will becomeangry too. All these tend to unsettle his mindwhich gets disturbed.

16 AmJ_mnm{`Zmo@{ZË`mñVm§pñV{Vjñd ^maV (Gita II-14)

17 § {h Z ì`W`ÝË oVo nwéf§ nwéff© &g_Xw…IgwI§ Yra§ gmo@_¥VËdm` H$ënVo && (II-15)

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Further, the happiness and sorrow we getare only mental imaginations and there isnothing concrete about it.

An old businessman found one night thathis entire fifty-years old factory building wasin conflagration and was being consumed inthe fire. As he had not insured the factory,he began to ululate and weep at thisunexpected calamity. Just then his first soncame to him and reminded that in the samemorning they had finalised the sale of theentire factory to one Mr. Banerjee to whomhis brother had gone to collect the cheque.On hearing this, his father became jubilantand began to dance with glee. In another tenminutes, his second son arrived on the sceneto inform him that Mr. Banerjee had changedhis mind regarding the purchase of thefactory and has refused to give any cheque.Again the old man began to wail and weep.Now while the circumstance of the burningof his factory remained the same all through,the old man became unhappy at first butbecame joyful when he thought that the

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factory had been sold. Again the joy turnedinto sorrow. So the factory building was notresponsible for his sorrow or joy. The entiregamut of the quickly changing feelings of joyand sorrow was purely an imagination, athought.

There is another illustrative story, Ram andKishan were two good friends who lived ina village in U.P. in India. Both went awaytogether to America to find their fortune.Even though their parents in the villagenever got any news of or communicationfrom them for a long time, they were happyin the hope that their sons were busy earningmoney. Nearly after ten years, a resident ofthe same village, Mr. Govindan who wasgoing to America was commissioned by theparents of Ram and Kishan to contact theirrespective sons and to bring news of them.When Govindan met Mr. Ram, the latter toldhim about the sad demise of Kishan soonafter his arrival in America. He further saidthat his own business was prospering verywell and he proposed to return to India

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within a few months. When Govindanreturned to India he was confused about thenames of the two persons (Ram and Kishan)and so he told wrongly Ram’s father that hisson was dead long back and told Kishan’sparents that their son was prospering verywell and was planning to return to Indiasoon. This was exactly the reverse of whatwas factual. In Ram’s house the parents weregrief - stricken bemoaning the loss of theirson, even though Ram was quite alive. InKishan’s house it was all merriment andcelebration as they were all very happy aboutthe welfare of their prospering son who hadin fact been long dead. Now Ram who wasalive was not responsible for the sorrow ofhis parents nor was Kishan who was dead,responsible for the joy of his people.

Hence joy and sorrow are onlypsychological states of the mind for whichno object is responsible. It is thus possible toreason with one’s own mind and make itimpervious to the reactions of joy and sorrow

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so that the mind could remain undisturbedand stable.

It will also be seen that the feeling of sorrowor joy is based on ego i.e., on theidentification of oneself with one’s body. Weare all the Atman and it is the same Atmanwhich pervades all the bodies. Atman is inno way related to the body just like theelectricity pervading all the bulbs, not beingaffected by anything which happens to thebulb. So the circumstances which lead tosorrow like the death of a close relative relateto the body as the relatives are attached tothe body and not to the Self. This is all dueto ignorance of who we are in reality. Whenonce a person gets the knowledge of theSupreme Being (Brahma Jnana or AtmaJnana) from the Guru and the Scriptures, heshould be able to develop immunity tosorrows and joys.

The next in importance of the factors whichmilitate against the stability of wisdom is athree-in-one. They are attachment, fear and

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anger. Attachment or liking includes itsopposite which is aversion, hatred or enmitytoo. Perhaps hatred is stronger than evenattachment.

Once a young rich lady (unmarried) went toa market for purchase of some things, whereshe was bitten by a rabid dog. She wentahead with her purchases which took a longtime and she began to feel a lot of uneasinessin her body. She drove her car to the houseof her family doctor, which was quite far off.The doctor, after examining her declared thatit was too late and the poison had alreadyspread in her body. As she would begin tobehave like a dog in a few hours barking andbiting people, he suggested that she shouldwrite her will and handed over a sheaf ofpapers and pen. The lady went on writingpages after pages. When the Doctor, whowas surprised enquired about it, she coollysaid that for her own remembrance she waswriting out the names of people whom shehated and whom she would like to bite whenonce she began to behave like a dog. This ishow hatred is stronger than attachment.

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It was because of his attachment to hisrelatives, cousins and his Gurus like Dronaand Bhishma that Arjuna became confusedand was bewildered about what his dutywas – whether to fight and kill them orwithdraw from the battle. If it were any otherpeople who were arrayed in the battleagainst him, he would have had nocompunction in exterminating them in a jiffy.

As per Valmiki Ramayana, when Ravanawas lying dead in the battlefield, andVibhishana was standing unconcerned at adistance, Rama advises him to makearrangements for the final rites of Ravana asall enmity or hatred should cease atleast onthe death of the enemy.

Fear is another factor which disturbs themind. The Upanishads as well as Bhagavatasay that the origin of fear is duality. So longas we think that each one of us is anindividual and one is different from theother, there will be fear from other personsor things. It is the same Lord who appears

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in various forms. If, in a cinema, one and thesame actor takes the role of a traveller as alsoa dacoit who accosts him on the road, whowill be afraid of whom? In recent times wehave heard of Bhagavan Ramana havingbeen threatened and beaten by thieves whilehe was standing fearlessly. Even when thelatter were caught and brought before himby the police he refused to recognise any ofthem.

Even in the biography of late TiruchiSwamigal of Bangalore an incident isnarrated where, in his young days, while inSri Lanka, he subdued a mad elephant in rutrunning amuck in a crowded place andabout to trample a group of Buddhistmonks/nuns, just by looking at it. Fear canbe overcome either by the firm knowledgethat it is the one Self which pervades all thebodies and objects of the world and there isnothing apart from the Self which can causeany harm to it. Alternatively, in Bhaktimarga, when one knows that it is the same

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God who appears in all the forms or has firmfaith that God will protect him at all times,all fears will vanish.18

As regards anger, we have already clubbedit with desires (kama) as it is the concomitantof desires. Whenever any obstruction comesin the way of fulfilling the desires, one getsangry. The mind of a person who gets angrygets so befuddled that he does not knowwhat he says or does. He would say suchunspeakable things for which he regretslater. Many murders are also committed inanger. In the Sundara Kanda of Ramayana(of Valmiki) there is a long soliloquy ofHanuman on the evils of anger when hereflected on his impetuous act of setting fireto the entire Lanka forgetting, in his anger,the fact that Sita was also in Lanka and mighthave well perished in the fire. Unless a

18 ^ § {ÛVr`m{^{ZdoeV… ñ`mV² B©emXnoVñ` {dn © mo@ñ_¥{V…Ÿ&VÝ_m``mVmo ~wY Am^OoÎm§ ^ŠË ¡H$ oe§ JwéXodVmË_mŸ&& (XI-2-37)

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person is able to free himself from thethraldom of attachment, fear and anger, hecan never reach the state of a Sthitaprajna.

Now Lord Krishna goes to the next factor.He says –

The wisdom of that person is stable, who hasno clinging attachment to those occurrenceswhich redound to his good and neithergreets the good nor shuns the evil that befallshim.19

A similar idea has been expressed byAshtavakra also :

“By leaving off the preferences or choicesbased on the concept of ‘this is good’ and‘this is bad’ I live happily.”20

19 `… gd©ÌmZ{^ñZohñVÎmËàmß` ew mew _² &Zm{^ZÝX{V Z Ûo{ï> Vñ` àkm à{V{ð>Vm && (II-57)

20 ew mew o {dhm`mñ_mXh_mgo `WmgwI_² &&(Ashtavakra Gita XIII-7)

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Any attachment is an obstacle to spiritualprogress. This subject has already beendiscussed earlier. This Gita verse has beeninterpreted also to mean that one should notpraise when something is favourable nor oneshould condemn that which is unfavourableor bad. Greeting or praising an act or aperson etc. and rejecting or shunning orcondemning an act which is bad, should allbe abandoned. In using your choice to selectthe good things, your eyes will always belooking for and weighing the merits, virtuesand the defects of another person or things.This will result in differentiation andfavouritism. Further, whatever happens ina programmed cosmic play of the Lord andwhether good or bad, it is all His will. Anydeprecation of what is bad will betantamount to a criticism of what is willedby the Totality. All these things will disturbthe mind. It is also told in Srimad Bhagavatathat one should not tell whether somethingis good or bad, nor should one think thatsomething is good or bad. A sage should be

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insensitive to good or bad and be like aninsentient thing.21

So far, Lord Krishna has told that firstrenunciation of desires, then satisfaction inone’s own self, remaining evenly withoutany reaction in both sorrow and happiness,and leaving off attachment, fear and angeras the prime factors to cultivate stability ofmind. Krishna moves further on to thefourth factor namely control over senses. Hesays –

The wisdom of that person is stable whowholly withdraws his senses from theirobjects just like a tortoise withdrawing itslimbs (into its shell) from all sides.22

Do not allow your senses to rove over therespective objects. For instance, when a very

21 Z Hw$`m©Þ dXoV² qH${MÞ Ü`m oV² gmÜdgmYw dm &AmË_mam_mo@Z`m d¥Ë`m {dMao‚mS>dÝ_w{Z… &&

(Bhagavata 11-11-17)

22 `Xm g§haVo Mm § Hy$_m}@“mZrd gd©e… &B§{Ð`mUrpÝÐ`mW}ä`ñVñ` àkm à{V{ð>Vm && (II-58)

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well dressed person of opposite sex iswalking on the road, immediately withdrawyour eyes as otherwise you may get attractedby the other person or it may induce a desirein you to purchase a similar dress for yourlife partner. Thus it will agitate your mind.Similarly if some voluptuous, vulgar anddirty songs are being sung in a transistor ina shop on your way, you shouldimmediately withdraw your ears fromhearing such music which will induce badvibrations in your mind at that time as alsolater whenever its memory recurs. Whenevera tortoise moving on the road encounters anyobstruction it will immediately withdraw itshead as also the legs into the shell. In thesame way, whenever one encounters anyform, sound, taste, touch etc. one shouldimmediately withdraw the respective senseslike the eye, tongue, etc. from thoserespective objects, otherwise they will bedisturbed not only at that time but later toobecause of the impressions those actionsleave.

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It is told that a monk who was learning underMahatma Buddha for ten years wanted toleave in order to preach the Dharma andpropagate it in different parts of the country.While bidding farewell he asked Buddha forsome parting advice. The latter told him -“If ever you meet a member of the oppositesex, turn your eyes away and do not look ather.” Ananda, Buddha’s favourite discipleintervened and asked him - “Master, he hasto see well enough to know whether theperson is of opposite sex or not.” Buddhareplied - “O.K. Even if you see, there is noproblem, but never touch that person ofopposite sex.” Again Ananda protests - “Doyou mean to say that if a person of oppositesex is drowning in a river, the Bhikku (monk)should not rush to her succor and drag herto the river bank or if a person on the roadfalls unconscious, the monk should not makeefforts to revive her ?” Buddha pondered fora while and said - “yes, in such specialcircumstances there is no harm in touchingthe other person. But one thing is a must. Be

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always fully conscious.” The moment atortoise comes across any object whatsoever,immediately it shinks back into its shell. Thesame thing a seeker should do. In VivekaChoodamani, Sankara says that while poison(visha) kills a person only when it is drunkand tasted, the objects (vishaya) kill a person(spiritually) the moment he looks at them orcomes into contact with them. Thus thetortoise is a symbol of firmness of the mind.In the Bhagavata, the story comes of the godsand demons churning the milky ocean inorder to get ambrosia. When the Mandaramountain used as the churning stick refusedto stay still and was oscillating vigorously,Lord took the form of a tortoise(kurmavatara) and became a firm base forthe mountain.

Even a man who is badly sick has no reactionon seeing food or other attractive objects andhis senses are withdrawn. Does it mean thathis mind will become stable ? No, eventhough the senses may be withdrawn andstarved of their food namely the various

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objects like form (roopa), taste (rasa), smell(gandha), touch (spars’a) and sound (s’abda)the mental attachment to the objects does notleave so easily. Abandoning of attachmentalso is a necessity as stressed by LordKrishna earlier. So Bhagawan continues –

“In respect of a person who starves his sensesof their respective objects, no doubt theobjects fall away on being repulsed but thesubtle taste or the impression of the joy inthe objects persists. This subtle taste alsowanes once for all only on realisation of theSupreme Reality.”23

Every seeker would have experienced theenjoyment of various objects in his life andthat earlier experience of joy would have leftan impression of that taste in his mind. Justas the jar which contained asafoetidacontinues to retain the smell even after the

23 {df`m {d{ZdV©ÝVo {Zamhmañ` Xo{hZ… &agdOª agmo@ß`ñ` na§ ÑîQ‰>m {ZdV©Vo && (II-59)

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jar is emptied of its contents, even if we pushaway the objects by averting our senses andrefuse to see, smell or touch anything bywithdrawing into a shell like a tortoise, thetaste (rasa) or joy in the object remainsimpressed in the mind. Even a moment’scontact, a casual glance or a touch may besufficient to leave a taste.

There were two monks who were travellingtogether. They had to cross a river where thewater was flowing hip-high. A youngattractive woman was standing there withher hands full of luggage. She had to go toher husband’s house on the other bank andwas perplexed as to how to cross the river.She requested the younger monk to carryher and leave her on the other bank alongwith her possessions as she did not want toget wet and soil her sari and present herselfin a dishevelled condition before herhusband. The younger monk complied withher request while the other monk waslooking at it with disapproval. Both themonks spent the night in a traveller’s guest

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house on the other side of the river. For along time the elder monk was thinking as tohow wrong it was on the part of the othermonk to break his vow of celibacy bytouching and carrying the young woman inhis hands. In the morning, as he could notcontain his resentment, the elder monk justbroached the subject by asking the other oneas to whether the girl whom he carried tothe other bank of the river was very heavy.The younger monk replied - “I carried heronly for a few minutes but you should knowbetter as you had carried her (in your mind)all through the night.”

The taste left behind by the objects is actuallyan attachment to the objects concerned. Eventhis subtle attachment has to go but it can beremoved only when one realises theSupreme Reality as “I am verily thatReality.” No seeker should think at any stagethat he has become immune to all theattractions of objects until and unless hereaches the stage of final realisation. The onewho has had the realisation becomes the

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Brahman and remains as one. Hisindividuality no longer remains to enablehim to think that he has reached. Whileremaining away detached from the objectsis a must, it is not enough. One has also toroot out the attachment or taste for theobjects as otherwise it will unstabilise themind. Eternal vigilance in this respect isneeded. To say on the one hand that allattachment and vasanas are to be uprootedfor getting Self - realisation and on the otherhand to insist that all attachment will go onlyon Self - realisation becomes a vicious circle.Most of the attachment must be and ispossible to be removed at the sadhana stageby our own efforts and by the grace of theLord and the Guru. It has been my ownexperience that Satsang (company ofspiritually evolved persons) Mantra Japaand Prayers to the Supreme Lord or anypersonal God of our choice are definitely ofpositive help. Whether you call it as Self orSupreme God or Siva or Vishnu, andirrespective of whether it is inside or outside,that consciousness, called by any name

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responds to our sincere prayers. At theSadhana stage, whenever any obstacle ordoubt arises, Prayers positively help inremoving them. I have personally hadseveral experiences in this direction. Whenonce the mind is concentrated on the Self asa result of severe sadhana, all vasanas willbegin to wane away without our being awareof them. The very subtle taste which is leftout even after all the Sadhana will behibernating in a seed form without beingactive but it can at anytime be aroused bythe least intimacy or contact with objectsunless we keep alert all the time.

Now, Lord Krishna goes on to emphasise theneed for control of the senses (samyama)without which the right knowledge (samyagdarsan) which is the essence of stablewisdom will remain an impossibility. Hesays24 : -

24 (a) `VVmo ø{n H$m¡ÝVo nwéfñ` {dnpíMV… &

BpÝÐ`m{U à_mWr{Z hapÝV àg § _Z… && (II-60)

(b) Vm{Z gdm©{U g§ å` wŠV AmgrV _Ëna… &

deo {h `ñ opÝÐ`m{U Vñ` àkm à{V{ð>Vm && (II-61)

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“Oh Arjuna, even if a learned person ismaking all the efforts, the senses are sopowerful and capable of thoroughly shakingthe man to the core that they forcibly drivethe mind astray (away from thecontemplation of Atman).

The mind of a person who keeps his sensesunder control by withdrawing and subduingthem by means of uniting his mind at alltimes with the Lord and being completelyengaged in Him with devotion (yukta) isconsidered as stable or well-established.”

Even though this factor had been dealt withearlier, Krishna wants to stress on itsimportance. The Lord draws our attentionagain to the necessity for controlling thesenses in verse 68 also of chapter II.

At no time of Sadhana can a seeker becomplacent that all his attractions to theobjects have ceased. The senses bide theirtime. In Valmiki Ramayana, Valmikidescribes how Mandodari wept on seeingher husband Ravana lying dead on the

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battlefield with all his glory ‘shrunk to thislittle measure’. She said – “Oh Ravana, youhad conquered all your senses long back(while performing austerities) and that iswhy you won suzerainty over all the threeworlds. As if they were biding their time forrevenge, in an unguarded moment of yournegligence, they have brought disaster onyou.” Never for a moment relax your reinsover the senses but continue doing theSadhana till your ‘I, the seeker’ disappearsso that there is nobody to think that ‘I amkeeping my senses under control’.

I have heard of a story of Sage Vyasa. Oncesage Vyasa was explaining the followingverse to his disciple Jaimini.

“The various senses are so powerful thatthey drag him down even if he be a man ofknowledge.”25 Jaimini repudiated itvehemently that the verse ought to havebeen – “No doubt the senses are very

25 ~bdm{ZpÝÐ`J«m_… {dÛm§g_{n H$f©{V &

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powerful but they cannot drag down aVidwan (a man of knowledge).26 I am myselfan example of it.” Vyasa did not contradicthim. Vyasa went out of his cottage whichwas situated in a dense jungle, for a few daysleaving Jaimini incharge of his residence.That night it began to rain very heavily. Thatsame night at about 9 p.m. there was a knockat the door of the cottage and when Jaiminiopened the door, he found a young beautifuldamsel standing with her body shaking withcold and with all her clothes wet and stickingto her body. She requested shelter for thenight as she had missed the way to her houseand Jaimini who was standing enrapturedwith her beauty readily admitted her inside.He gave her dry clothes to wear, offeredsome fruit and milk and arranged a bed forher to sleep inside while he himself lay downon the verandah outside the door of thecottage. Thinking of the beauty of the girl,Jaimini could not sleep. At midnight he

26 ~bdm{ZpÝÐ`J«m_… {dÛm§g§ Vw Z H$f©{V &

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climbed up the roof, made an opening in itand jumped into the room in front of the girlwho got up in consternation. When Jaiminitried to embrace the girl, he found his handentangled in somebody’s beard. To hisshame, he found that it was his beardedGuru Vyasa who was standing in place ofthe lovely maiden. Vyasa asked smilingly“Do you still think that the sloka wediscussed the other day requires theamendment you suggested?” Jaiminianswered - “yes sir, it does require anamendment but a different one. It should be“The senses are so powerful that theydefinitely drag down even a man ofknowledge.” 27 The way to fight it down isconstant remembrance of God or Self. Letyour mind be totally engaged in the Lordwith sincere love and devotion so that youare ‘yukta’– integrated in Him. Thedefinition of the term ‘yukta’ is given in verse8 of chapter VI of the Gita as follows : -

27 ~bdm{ZpÝÐ`J«m_… {dÛm§g_{n H$f©{V H$f©{V H$f©Ë od &

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He is called a Yukta (an integrated one) whois content with the knowledge gained fromscriptures and the experience gained byputting them into practice, who isunshakable and with all his senses controlledwith an even attitude when he looks at botha clod of earth and a piece of gold as equalin all respects. It is told that Sri RamakrishnaParamahansa used to take a few gold coinsand some mud and throw them in the riverGanges alternately saying that ‘this is gold’and ‘this is mud’. The intention is that oneshould cease to have any value for anythingin this world, let it be gold or mud.

In a dream, an elephant and a mouse or awoollen suit and a kerchief cannot havedifferent values as they are not real and serveno real purpose. Similarly, a spiritual seekerhas no attraction or value for anything exceptfor God and God alone. In the presentcontext ‘yukta’ means the one who one-pointedly concentrates on God. Love for Godshould replace the love and devotion toworldly objects.

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As self control is highly essential in order tobecome a Sthita Prajna, Krishna goes on toexpound and expatiate on the disaster whichbefalls a seeker who fails to control hissenses. He says28 :

(a) “By going on pondering over senseobjects a person develops anattachment towards those objects. Onaccount of the attachment, desire arises.The desire gives birth to ire (anger).

(b) Out of anger arises delusion. Thedelusion results in loss of memory andloss of memory results in destructionof intelligence. From the destruction ofintelligence, utter ruination of theperson occurs.

Seeing an object, hearing an obscene songor touching a young person of opposite sex

28 (a) Ü`m`Vmo {df`mÝnw§g… g“ñVofynOm`Vo &g“mËg§Om`Vo H$m_… H$m_mËH«$moYmo@{^Om`Vo && (2-62)

(b) H«$moYmØd{V gå_moh… g§_mohmËñ_¥{V{d «_… &ñ_¥{V «§emX² ~w{ÕZmemo ~w{ÕZmemËàUí`{V && (2-63)

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etc. casually is not so harmful as going onpondering about those objects and mentallyreliving that past event thinking of thepleasure the objects gave you etc. By thuscontemplating on the objects, attachmenttowards those objects grows. By adoptingthis principle, if we go on continuouslycontemplating and remembering God wewill develop love towards Him and finallywill merge in Him. It is told in Bhagavata“By going on contemplating on worldlyobjects, the mind gets engaged in thoseobjects. The mind of one who thinks of Me(God) continuously will get merged in Me.”

It is not only pondering over an object whichcreates attachment that leads to desires buteven keeping company or contact with theobject for some time continuously can createattachment. If you had never liked westernmusic, let you begin to hear it everyday for1 or 2 hours for a year. You will begin tolove it. Supposing you never liked pigs, geta small piglet and allow it to grow in yourhome. Play with it daily for an hour or so.

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Within a few months you will begin to loveeven that ugly animal and you will sorelymiss it if it runs away.

In many episodes in the Puranas (epics) it istold that whenever a sage did intensepenance (tapasya), Indra, the king of godsbecame apprehensive that the sage wasundertaking those austerities so that hemight occupy Indra’s post. He, therefore,used to send a bevy of divine nymphs to goand dance before the sage in tempting posesso that the sage should fall a prey to theircharms and be enticed away from histapasya. Once a sage called Soubhari wentdeep down into the ocean in order to avoidthe company of people and in that lonelyplace sat in meditation/samadhi forthousands of years. One day when heopened his eyes and saw around him shoalsof fish playing with each other in couples andalso with their children, that single glancewas sufficient to arouse in him a surgingwave of a desire to marry and enjoy with a

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wife and children born out of the latter. Hisyears of self-control were swept off in thatone moment. He got up and went to a kingcalled Mandhata who had one hundredyoung daughters and sought the hand of oneof them in marriage.

Anger being a concomitant of kama (desire),one completely loses consciousness of whatone is talking or what one is doing. Theperson concerned does not become angry butbecomes anger itself. He completely getsidentified with anger. Later towards theclose of the third chapter in Bhagavad Gita,Arjuna asks Krishna “Impelled by what,does a man commit sin? Even though all hisspirit rebels against doing such sinful acts,it seems as if some ghost or evil spirit hastaken possession of him and forcibly compelshim to do it.” Krishna29 answers that it iskama (desire) and krodha (anger) born ofRajoguna (dynamic tendency to go on

29 H$m_ Ef H«$moY Ef aOmoJwUg_wØd… >&_hmeZmo _hmnmß_m {dX²>Ü oZ{_h d¡[aU_² && (III-37)

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performing actions), which are ourredoubtable enemies, that are responsible forsuch sinful actions.

When once we have understood theseriousness and the deleteriousconsequences of kama and krodha, the mainquestion which arises is how to tackle andexterminate them. No doubt Lord Krishnahas given the ultimate solution in the secondverse quoted in this context and repeats it inmore detail in verses nos. 41 and 43 of 3rdchapter. 30

As kama stems from the contact of the objectwith the respective sense (say the smell ofmasala dosa smelt by the nose), the senseshave to be controlled first so that they maynot be enticed by attractive objects. As thesesenses pass on the information regarding the

30 (a) Vñ_mÎd{_pÝÐ`mÊ`mXm¡¡ {Z`å` ^aVf© &nmß_mZ§ àO{h øoZ§ kmZ{dkmZZmeZ_² && (III-41)

(b) Ed§ ~wÕo… na§ ~wX²Üdm g§ñVä`mË_mZ_mË_Zm &O{h eÌw§ _hm~mhmo H$m_ê$n§ XwamgX_² && (III-42)

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object and the mind goes on thinking of theobject (say, masala dosa), the mind has to bediverted from these thoughts and it has tobe fixed firmly on the contemplation of theSelf. Especially in the modern days ofmultiple diversions, plentiful entertainmentsand eye-catching advertisements, it may notbe possible for all to adopt this methodsuccessfully.

Desires and especially lust and passion arethe last things to leave a sadhaka inspite ofall the sadhanas. Even when a personbecomes very old, the vasana of kamaexpresses itself in apparently innocuousways. Speaking with young persons of othersex in privacy, cracking jokes to make theother sex laugh, fondling them by touchingtheir heads, cheeks etc. as if in benediction,conferring the blessings and other suchapparently innocuous acts have beendubbed as equivalent to the ultimate act(ashtavidha maithuna) of sexual dalliance.So one should avoid such situations. Assensually exciting pictures are published in

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various magazines one should avoid evenseeing such pictures and events inmagazines, cinema theatres and also incertain channels of T.V. which deal withmatters suggestive of pornographic orobsence songs, talks etc.

Even in food one should be careful not totake foods of Tamasic and Rajasic categoriesas defined in the 17th chapter of the Gita(verses 8 to 10).

There is a verse somewhere31 that even thegreat saints like Visvamitra and Parasarawhose only food was air (cosmic energy fromthe air) and water, being unable to resist thecharms of beautiful damsels, fell intodelusion by just a single glance at them.What is there to say of people taking suchfood with ghee, milk etc ! - If they can have

31 {dœm{_Ì namea à ¥V`… dmVm§~w nUm©eZm…Ñï>m ór_wI n‘>O§ gwb{bV§ VÌ¡d _moh§ JVm… &emë`Þ§ K¥VXw½Ynm`g wV§ o w§OVo _mZdm…Vofm§ BpÝÐ`{ZJ«hmo `{X ^doV² {dÝÜ`ñVaoV² gmJa_² &&

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self control, Vindhya Mountain will float onthe ocean.

Those who are not able to concentrate on theAtman should chant the Guru Mantra asmany times as possible everyday without failand engage themselves in Puja or havan.Seek the company of saints (satsanga). Dailypray to the Lord sincerely to rid you of alldesires including lust. Prayers are extremelyeffective. Engage yourself in the reading ofthe biographies of saints, both ancient andmodern, so that the intensity of longing theyhad, the austeries they performed etc. willall inspire you to emulate them. Last but notthe least is Guru Krupa. The grace of theGuru is something par excellent andinfallible. It is said that one of the primedisciples of Sri Ramakrishna rushed to hisGuru pleading for help to erase theimpersonal lust which had suddenly arisenin him. Ramakrishna asked him to extendhis tongue and wrote on it the bijakshara‘KLEEM’ which is called the ‘kamabija’

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which was capable of erasing ‘kama’. Thatdisciple did not have any recurrence of it.

Whatever may be the path we adopt (KarmaYoga, Bhakti Yoga etc.) the ultimate sadhanais to remain in the Pure Consciousness of theentirety of Existence (in ‘I am’, I being thetotality where the Atman has merged in theall-pervasive non-dual Brahman, thesupreme being). It is both the Sadhana(means) as also the goal – the destination.Any of the paths prescribed in the scripturesis sure to lead one to the ultimate Reality.

Gita is a beautiful synthesis of all the mainYogas. All these qualifications or attributesof a Sthitha Prajna are from Jnana Yoga(Sankhya Yoga) point of view. Bhagawan SriKrishna deals with the same subject from thepoint of view of the constituent buildingblocks namely the three Gunas (Sattwa,Rajas, tamas). At the end of the chapter XIV,Arjuna asks an exactly similar question asto how to recognise a person who has gone

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beyond the control of the three Gunas(Gunatita), his conduct in life and as to themeans of reaching that state (chapter XIV -21). We will find from the reply of Bhagawanthat all the description of a ‘Gunatita’ talliesexactly with that of a Sthita Prajna.

One of the main attributes32 of a Gunatita isto be even - minded and not to be agitatedby joys or sorrows, to look at a clod of mudand a golden coin as equal and having novalue, having no likes and dislikes (that isattachment or aversion) and treating alikecensure and praise. A Gunatita shouldalways remain in his Self (swasthah) and notgo after outside objects. These are all thedescriptions of a Sthita Prajna also as givenin verse nos. 55, 56 and 57, and dealt with indetail earlier in this text. Only when a personbecomes a Gunatita33 by transcending the

32 g_Xw…IgwI… ñdñW… g_bmoï>mí_H$m#mZ… &Vwë`{à`m{à`mo YrañVwë`{ZÝXmË_g§ñVw{V… && (XIV-24)

33 (a) g JwUmZ² g_VrË ¡VmZ² ~«÷ y m` H$ënVo && (XIV-26)

(b) OÝ__¥Ë wOamXw…I¡{d©_wŠVmoo@_¥V_íZwVo && (XIV-20)

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influence of all the three gunas does he getliberated and attain immortality (XIV-20).For a Sthita Prajna also Krishna34 says thatthis is the final state of Brahman and the onewho gets established in it even at the lastmoment of his death gets liberated andreaches the ultimate Reality.

After having spent the entire life in earningmoney and in engagement of sensualpleasure, if one dreams of becoming a SthitaPrajna at the death bed, one will find itimpossible. One has to do sadhana all thelife which may fructify at the last momentof death or he must have done a lot ofsadhana in his previous births.

Now, Bhagawan continuing the descriptionof a Sthita Prajna says: -

“Continuing to allow the senses to moveamong objects but without attachment or

34 Efm ~«m÷r pñW{V… nmW© Z¡Zm§ àmß` {d_wø{V &pñWËdmñ`m_ÝVH$mbo@{n ~«÷{Zdm©U_¥ÀN>{V && (II-72)

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revulsion and keeping a control over themwith his mind, one attains eternal peace.”

This is just a summary of what has alreadybeen told so far. So long as we are in theworld, we cannot sit for 24 hours a daythroughout life shutting our eyes and earsand not coming into contact with any objectwhatsoever. Just as Gita speaks of a skill orexpertise in doing action but escaping itsrepercussions or fruits, there is a skillin moving with the world and its objects.Allow your senses to move among theobjects of the world, which perforcecome in your way but ensure that they areneither attracted nor revulsed with anyobject35. Let it be a choiceless perception ofobjects without exercising any prejudice foror against as a result of likes and dislikesimbedded in our Chitta due to past latenttendencies (vasanas). Normally, if we come

35 amJÛof{d wŠV¡ñVw {df`m{ZpÝÐ ¡íMaZ² &AmË_dí ¡{d©Yo mË_m àgmX_{YJÀN>{V && (II-64)

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across a purse containing golden coins welike to possess it. That desire causes anagitation in the mind as we want to find outthe means for surreptitiously appropriatingit. On the contrary, if we have unwarilytrodden over an old and dirty rag with bloodspilt on it we get a revulsion and we want towash our feet clean with water and dettol.This has also agitated our mind. In order tokeep the mind steady and unwavering, oneshould be indifferent to the objects andaccept all without any like or dislike. Whenone keeps the senses and the mind underone’s control, the mind is at peace (Prasada)and all sorrows are obliterate.

The word ‘Prasada’ has been translated bySridhara as ‘Shanti’ i.e. peace or security.Sankara has translated it as “prasannata orswasthyam” which means ‘satisfaction’or a ‘healthy feeling’. Some havetranslated ‘swasthyam’ as self-abidancewhich, in my opinion, does not fit in hereeasily.

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In verses 65-66 Krishna does not give anynew qualification or a new technique but hasjust told what benefits accrue by the‘Prasada’ – the serenity of mind36. He saysthat when the mind becomes serene, allsorrows disappear and the mind becomesfirm and steadfast. If the mind is notconcentrated or one pointed (ayukta), sucha person cannot have the wisdom born ofthe perception of the real self nor can he have‘Bhavana’. Again the word ‘Bhavana’ hasbeen interpreted by Sridhara as meditation(dhyanam) while Sankara has interprettedit as ‘Atma- jnanabhinivesah’ i.e. yearningfor Self-knowledge. Again, in this context,Sridhara’s interpretation seems to fit inbetter.

Krishna goes on to tell how the senses andthe mind work together to unstabilise themind.

36 àgmXo gd©Xw…ImZm§ hm{Zañ`monOm`Vo &àgÝZMoVgmo ømew ~w{Õ… n ©d{Vð>Vo && (II-65)

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“While the senses are moving (amidst theobjects), the mind (which has not beencontrolled) follows the senses and it sweepsaway the perception or wisdom (born ofdiscrimination between the Self and non-Self) just like a boat sailing on the waters isthrown off its course by the wind. ”37

First the eye sees a nice sweet dish like gulabjamun, the mind goes behind it and desiresto have it. The mind is so taken up with thesweet that it has forgotton about the highblood sugar content and the diabetes theperson was suffering and that the money hehad at the moment was meant only forpurchase of medicines for his ailing mother.The mind was only intent on thinking of howto procure the gulab jamun and eat it. Onehas to be alert at all times and keep both thesenses and mind under control.

After having discoursed on the importanceof having control over the senses, Krishna

37 BpÝÐ`mUm§ {h MaVm§ `Ý_Zmo@Zw {dYr`Vo &VXñ` ha{V àkm§ dm wZm©d{_dmå^{g && (II-67)

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winds it up by affirming that “stability ofwisdom can be ensured only bywithdrawing the senses on all sides fromtheir respective objects.38” The man of stablewisdom is always awake to the SupremeTruth and abides in it while the rest of theignorant world is immersed in the darknessof ignorance.39 You may say that in respectof the spiritual goal while a Sthita Prajnaremains vigilant keeping his senses andmind under control, it is night or darknessfor the ignorant who indulge in the materialdesires being unaware of the UltimateReality. As regards the enjoyment of theobjects and the pleasures of the materialworld to which the ignorant world is fullyawake and sensitive, a wise sage is utterlyindifferent to them as if he is asleep. He isno longer interested in the activities of the

38 Vñ_mÚñ` _hmdm~mo {ZJ¥>hrVm{Z gd©e… &BpÝÐ`mUrpÝÐ`m }ä`ñVñ` àkm à{V{ð>Vm && (II-68)

39 `m {Zem gd© yVmZm§ Vñ`m§ OmJ{V© g§ _r &`ñ`m§ OmJ«{V yVm{Z gm {Zem ní`Vmo _wZo… && (II-69)

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world as his senses have been withdrawnfrom all the objects of the world.

The gains and losses in this world, like anddislike towards objects etc. cease to have anyinterest as if they are all happening in adream. While the world ignores the state ofSamadhi where the senses and mind ceaseworking and which looks like a state ofinactivity, the man of stable wisdom revelsin the transcendental state of samadhi.

Krishna started his discourse by stressing theneed for renouncing all desires – the root ofall evil and now ends it also on the samestrain by devoting two more verses.

“Just as more and more waters flow40 intothe ocean which is being constantly filled inby the various rivers but which still remainsstable and unmoved (by the inputs), whenmore and more desires flow into the mind

40 Amny ©_mU_Mbà{Vð>§ g_wÐ_mn… à{depÝV `ÛV² &VÛËH$m_m § à{depÝV gd} g empÝV_mßZmo{V Z H$m_H$m_r &&

(II-70)

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of a wise man without affecting his stability,such a person alone begets the final peacei.e. the state of liberation and not the one whois full of desires.

A person who abandons41 all desires andmoves about without any attachment,without any ego and without any sense ofpossession (‘mine’, ‘mine’) is bestowed withthe ultimate peace (which is known asliberation).”

The question arises that as a person has tomove in this world and cannot avoidperforce coming into contact with the objectsof the world, how does a Sthita Prajna dealwith it? For explaining this Krishna cites theexample of the ocean.

When I go to the banks of a river, I see somany stones lying on the ground but I do

41 {dhm` H$m_mÝ`… gdm©Ýnw_m§íMa{V {Z…ñn¥h… &{Z_©_mo {Zah‘>ma… g empÝV_{YJÀN>{V && (II-71)

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not even look at any of them specifically andnone of them raises any ripple of thought inmy mind. On the contrary, if I happen to seea gold chain lying on the sands, it excites myinterest so that I rush nearer to have a closerlook at it and ultimately a desire to possessit arises. My mind gets agitated. This isbecause of the past conditioning and latenttendencies of like and dislike or impressionsof attraction and aversion developed in thepast and lying imbedded in the archives ofthe mind. So the sight of the chain provokesthose vasanas which express themselves asdesires. As regards the stones lying on thesand, they neither provoked my admirationnor dislike. I was thoroughly indifferent.You cannot prevent the objects from enteringinto your mind. Certainly, by effort, logicand reasoning you can conquer your reactionto it so that you will remain in the neutralgear neither desiring the object nor rejectingit. Yours is an attitude of indifference. Youcan control your reactions to the input witha firm mind. For example, the ocean is

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always getting filled up by the waters ofhundreds of rivers and if on account of heavyrains etc. more waters enter into it, the oceandoes not get inundated nor overflows. Itcontinues to remain still and unaffected.Thus a Sthita Prajna allows all the objects ofthe world to enter into his mind (it cannotbe helped) but as he has developed an evenmind without any preferences or aversionsto different objects, he can control his mindand remain impervious to the influence ofthese objects. No desires or aversions arisein his mind. No impressions of like or dislikearise. Thus all the objects (i.e., in the form ofform, taste, touch, smell and sound) enterinto his mind and get absorbed withoutprovoking any reaction. Such a person isbestowed with ultimate peace and bliss – astate which is called Moksha or Liberation.A man of desires can never aspire for thisstatus.

Now, in the other verse mentioned above,Krishna gives a concise sadhana capsule for

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getting God-realisation, which alone can takea person to his destination.

There are actually two types of desires – onewhere I want to procure and possess certainobjects which either I do not have at presentor I have them in an inadequate measure(apraptasya praptih). For example, I may notpossess a ball pen and I may desire toprocure one or I may have one ball pen withme but I may desire to have two more pensas one is insufficient and I want to have oneor two in reserve. The second type of desireis to protect and maintain what I alreadypossess because I want it to remain with mefor a long time in an undiminished state ofefficiency (praptasya samrakshanam) and Ido not want any harm to befall them. As Iam attached to my house, wife and childrenas a householder, the least damage to myhouse due to rains or earthquake, the loss ofmy wife, any ailment to my family membersetc. perturb my mind. Further I want to keepthem in great comfort by adopting anystraight or crooked means – say through

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smuggling, taking bribes etc. which will allunsettle the peace of my mind. Thisattachment or desire is called ‘Sprha’, whilethe other desire to procure objects notpossessed by me is called ‘kama’.

What is the basic root cause for all the desiresmentioned above? The basic cause is theignorance of what we are and wronglyconsidering this body of ours as ‘I’ while weare the Atman (like the electricity inside azero watt bulb identifying itself with the bulbas ‘I’). As naturally we begin to love our bodyas ‘I’, anything connected with the body viz.,family members, property, other possessionsall become objects of our love andattachment. It is ego or I identifying itselfwith an inert matter as a body, while beinga conscious energy which is all pervasive,that gives rise to desires. This ego, on accountof the desires, performs activities to fulfil thedesire considering itself as the doer of thoseactions (karta). The activities may berighteous or may involve crooked meansleading to papa (sin) or punya (merit) which

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results in another birth in order to earn thefruits (good and bad) of these activities. Thusthe ego becomes the experiencer (bhokta).

Hence the way to abandon desires is toabolish the ego, which can be done byleaving off the doership (agency) andexperienceship as also all sense of possession(‘mine’). The main point to understand is thatthere is no individual packet of electricity ineach of the various bulbs which shed light.The light we get in each bulb comes fromthe Totality of Electricity emanating from theGenerator and passing through all the bulbs.There is no individual packet of electricitywhich can claim that it is the doer (karta).There is no individuality or ego separatelyfor each body. All actions in the world aredone in Totality and each body is a helplesspassive instrument through which theConscious Totality which pervades allbodies gets the action done. Thus byacquiring the correct understanding throughthe Guru and the Scriptures andcontemplating on them, when once we getconvinced that we are not individuals but

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the only Totality that exists, we get rid of theego and the sense of possessions. When theocean has entered into the drop of water andabsorbed it, the individuality of the dropdrops and there is nobody to desire. Thusby getting rid of the sense of ‘I’ and mine,when all desires and attachment drop, it isbliss and freedom from all bondages.

What can be a more direct path to liberationthan this encapsulated sadhana which LordKrishna himself has given.

If I were asked to select one verse out of theentire Bhagavad Gita, representing itsessence I will unhesitatingly point out to thepenultimate verse of the second chapterdiscussed in the last few pages, starting with“Vihaya Kaman yah sarvan” (verse 71).Supplementary to it is the last verse (verse72), where the compassion galore of MotherGita is revealed. Gita is rightly addressed as‘the Mother’ in the Dhyana42 verse. What

42 ‘Aå~ Ëdm_Zwg§XYm{_ ^JdÒrVo ^dÛo{fUt &

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about people who in their death bed havinglived a full life of sorrows and enjoyment inthe material world are extremely desperateto get Moksha? A case in point is that of KingParikshit who knew that he was to die onthe 7th day and desperately wanted to knowas to what he should do to attain liberationwithin those seven days. The compassionateMother Gita says43 that even at the lastmoment of life if one could leave off alldesires and attachment and remains withoutego and sense of possesson, he would reachthe highest stage of Brahmanhood, a stagefrom which once reached a person neverslips down to delusion. As a result of satsang,prayers or grace of God, if only a dyingperson were to will himself strongly to leaveoff all desires and surrender himself to theLord ignoring the doctor, the medicines andall the near and dear ones surrounding himhe could fulfil the requirements of verse 71.

43 Efm ~«m÷r pñW{V… nmW© Z¡Zm§ àmß` {d_wø{V &pñWËdmñ`m_ÝVH$mbo@{n ~«÷{Zdm©U_¥ÀN>{V && (II-72)

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This is not impossible as I have, in my ownlife, come across such cases. A young friendof mine (Mr. Gupta) who was working in aCo-operative Bank at Meerut some yearsback and suffering from some illness wasbeing taken one night in a car to Delhi forimmediate blood transfusion. One Swamijiwas accompanying him in the car andMr. Gupta was lying down in his seat.Mr. Gupta’s parents, his wife (married fouryears earlier) and his child about 2 years oldwere also travelling in another car which wasgoing in front. Half-way to Delhi, Mr. Guptarequested his car to be stopped, raisedhimself to a sitting posture and asked theSwamiji to ensure that none of his parents,wife etc. would come anywhere near his carfor another half an our. He asked the Swamijiand the driver to go out and stand at somedistance. He sat alone inside the car inmeditation and breathed his last in another20 minutes or so. In his lifetime, thoughdevoted to Sri Ramakrisna, Mr. Gupta, to myknowledge, had never done much of

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sadhana but was living an ordinaryhouseholder’s life. Even at the last minutesif only one is convinced that he is the onlyReality, the All - Pervasive Pure Conscious-ness and has nothing to do with the body,there will be no desires or ego left.Remember that all your desires never getfulfilled. Unexpected events torpedo all yourplans and well planned programmes in notime. Did the illustrious Rajiv Gandhi or JohnF. Kennedy ever imagine that they were tobe blasted or shot dead? The entire life is adrama whose script has already beenwritten. So every event in your life has beenwilled and controlled by the Lord. Atleastat the last moment surrender yourselfcompletely to the Lord. You have absolutefree will to keep your mind on the Lord orthe World. At that moment no power, nomoney, no relatives or friends can help you.Lord is the only guaranteed refuge.Concentrate all your love on him and prayto him. If you cannot pray at the last moment,mentally repeat ‘Maa, Maa’, ‘Lord, Lord’,

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‘Ram Ram’ or any favourite name. If youcannot do that also, keep a pre-recordedcassette and get it played on a transistor byyour side, which will be repeating severaltimes the names of the Lord or any prayerof your choice. For devotees on the BhaktiMarga, the aforesaid method of surrender isthe ultimate sadhana as advised by LordKrishna in verses 65 and44 66 of chapter 18.Even if the entire Gita and all the scriptureswere to be lost except for these two verses(65 & 66 of ch.18) and the last two verses ofchapter II, they alone are sufficient to guideand uplift the entire humanity to thepinnacle of BLISS.

The direct path need not be the simplest pathfor all. Simplicity or complexity depends onone’s own subjective view coloured with theprevious conditioning of the mind. Many

44 (a) _Ý_Zm ^d _ØŠVmo _ÚmOr _m§ Z_ñHw$é &_m_od¡î`{g gË § Vo à{VOmZo {à`mo@{g _o && (XVIII-65)

(b) gd©Y_m©Z² n[aË`Á` _m_oH§$ eaU§ d«O &Ah§ Ëdm gd©nmnoä`mo _moj{`î`m{_ _m ewM…&& (XVIII-66)

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may have a psychological blockage whichwill not allow them to surmount theirpresent convictions. For them, the way toabandon ego is by resorting to satsang, japaof the mantra given by the Guru, meditationand intense prayers to the personal God ofone’s choice (which is not apart from theSupreme Being) and complete surrender tothe Guru or the Lord. This will ultimatelyresult in getting rid of the ego and the senseof possession, thus uprooting all the desires.The ultimate factor for success is Lord’sGrace or Guru’s Grace. This is a commonfactor in all the paths irrespective of whattype of sadhana we adopt. This does notcome from ‘nowhere’ all of a sudden. TheGrace has to be invoked by our efforts and adeep longing to attain the Lord or Self.

The one who has been termed as ‘SthitaPrajna’ in the Jnana Path has been describedagain calling him as Gunatita in chapter XIV(as discussed earlier) based on the threeconstituent Gunas - viz. Sattva, Rajas and

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Tamas. In the Bhakti marga again they arere-termed as ‘Bhaktas’ and all the qualitiesdelineated below are for the Bhakta (chapterXII - verses 13 to 19)

1. To be always self-satisfied2. Being rid of ‘I’ and ‘mine’3. To have an even mind towards joy and

sorrow4. Having control over the mind and

being firm in his decisions5. To be rid of anger; fear etc.6. Indifference to events and objects7 No attachment and no aversion,

abandoning all desires8. Being alike in censure and praise

Whether a person reaches the SupremeReality by Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga or othermeans, the same qualities as dscribed abovehave to be cultivated irrespective of whetherhe is called a Sthita Prajna, Gunatita or aBhakta. Even chanting repeatedly the verses55 to 72 of II chapter of Gita with proper

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understanding will help us in intensifyingour spiritual sadhana and lead us to the goal.

The main key factor in becoming a SthitaPrajna is renouncing of all desires/attachment by controlling the senses and themind and getting rid of ego i.e., consideringthe body – mind complex as ‘I’. When oncethe desires are quelled and the ego is got ridoff, all the other qualities like choicelessperception, removal of anger and fear,even - mindedness etc., will all follow. It is aquestion of ‘Detach and Attach.” When themind desires for worldly objects detach itfrom them and attach it to the Lord. Lovethe Lord dearly. Be sure that the Lord’s Gracehas been with us ever since we were bornand it is with us during every moment ofour sadhana. It gives us all activeencouragement and help and ensures thatwe reach our destination. A princess lost hergolden necklace and she was searching forit everywhere with concern and worry. Atlast when somebody among the courtierspointed out that the necklace was already in

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her neck, the princess became happy. It wasnot a case of finding the necklace but she hadonly to recognise the necklace which wasalready with her. Same is the case with theSelf (Atman). All the search is meant torecognise the Self which has always beenwith us. We are that ‘Self’. BhagawanRamana calls this illustrative story as a storyof “Kantabharanam” (the ornament whichwas already in the neck).

May we all became Sthita Prajnas and haveSelf-realisation in this very birth.

Hari om