Chapter II (Verse 55)
Sankhya Yoga – The Yoga of Knowledge
CHAPTER II
(Verse 55)
प्रजहाति यदा कामान्सर्वान्पार्थ मनोगतान् ।
आत्मन्येवात्मना तुष्टः स्थितप्रज्ञस्तदोच्यते ॥ २-५५॥
When a man completely casts off, O Partha, all the desires of the mind, and is satisfied in the Self by the Self, then is he said to be one of steady Wisdom.
By narrating thus the inner and outer life of the ‘man-of-Self-realisation,’ Geeta helps us to detect for ourselves, the right type of Masters from the charlatans who, though wolves, wear a goat-skin and enter the fold of the faithful. Apart from this, these passages have a direct appeal to all sincere Sadhakas inasmuch as this section gives them an easy thumb-rule as to what types of values and mental attitudes they should develop, during their practice, in order to realise the ever-effulgent Divinity in them — the Pure Awareness.
This very opening stanza in this section, is a brilliant summary of all that we should know of the mental condition of the Perfect. The words used in this stanza can be understood fully, only when we remember the significant fragrance of these words as they stand dancing among the hosts of other blossoms in the Garden of the Upanishads. He is considered a Man-of-Wisdom who has completely cast away ALL DESIRES from his mind. Reading this stanza in conjunction with what Krishna has so far said, we can truly come to enjoy the Upanishadic fragrance in these inspired words of Vyasa.
An intellect, contaminated by ignorance becomes the breeding-ground of desires, and he who has relieved himself of this ‘Ignorance’ through ‘Right-Knowledge’ gained in Perception, naturally, becomes ‘desireless.’ By explaining here the absence of the EFFECT, the Lord is negating the existence of the CAUSE: where desires are not, there “ignorance” has ended, and “Knowledge” has already come to shine forth.
If this alone were the distinguishing factor of the Man-of-Steady-Wisdom, then any modern man would condemn the Hindu Man-of-Wisdom as a rank lunatic; a Hindu wise-man would then become one who had not even the initiative to desire. Desire means a capacity of the mind to see ahead of itself, a scheme or a pattern, in which he who desires will probably be more happy. “The wise-man seems to lose even this capacity, as he goes beyond his intellect and experiences the Self,” — this is a criticism that is generally heard from the materialists.
This stanza cannot thus be condemned since it adds in its second line that the Perfect-One is “blissful” in his own experience of the Self. A Perfect man is defined here, therefore, not only as one who has no desires, but also as one who has positively come to enjoy the Bliss of the Self!
When one is an infant, one has one’s own playmates, and as one grows from childhood to boyhood, one leaves one’s toys and runs after a new set of things; again, as the boy grows to youthfulness, he loses his desires for the fancy things of his boyhood and craves for yet a newer set of things; again, in old age, the same entity casts away all objects that were till then great joys to him and comes to demand a totally different set of objects. This is an observed phenomenon. As we grow, our demands also grow. With reference to the new scheme of things demanded, the old sets of ideas come to be cast away.
In one’s ignorance, when one conceives oneself as the ego, one has a burning desire for sense-objects, a binding attachment with emotions, and a jealous preference for one’s pet ideas. But when the ego is transcended, when the ignorance, like a mist, has lifted itself, and when the finite ego stands face to face with the Divine Reality in him, it melts away to become one with the Infinite. In the Self, the Man-of-Steady-Wisdom, ‘SELF-SATISFIED IN THE SELF,’ can no more entertain any desire, or have any appetite, for the paltry objects of the body, or of the mind, or of the intellect. He becomes the very Source of all Bliss.
Such a one is defined here by Vyasa as the ‘Man-of- Steady-Wisdom’ (Sthita-Prajna), and as the words come out from the mouth of Krishna they gather the divine ring of an incontrovertible Truth.
Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga – The Yoga of Gunas
CHAPTER XIV
Verse 25
मान-अपमानयोः तुल्यः तुल्यः मित्र-अरि-पक्षयोः ।
सर्व-आरम्भ-परित्यागी गुणातीतः सः उच्यते ॥ १४-२५॥
The same in honour and dishonour; the same to friend and foe; abandoning all undertakings — he is said to have crossed beyond the GUNAS.
If the above has drawn a flat picture of the Man-of- Perfection, herein we have added strokes that shade the outlines and give them a rounded beauty to depict them vividly for our keener observation and closer vision.
THE SAME IN HONOUR AND DIS-HONOUR — The sense of equanimity in honour and dis-honour is described here as one of the definite signs of perfection attained. Rooted in his own lived experiences of divinity, a man of Vision is not afraid of life and its rewards, because, such a Perfect One looks at things and happenings from his own special angle. The egoistic evaluation of life tends to respect honour and shun dishonour.
Even in ordinary life, we have found martyrs courting what others consider as dishonour. They energetically love and serve their generation in spite of the insults and disgrace piled upon them by ignorant people. For Archimedes, running along the streets naked from his bath-tub crying “Eureka,” “Eureka,” might have been a dishonour on any other day except on that day of his discovery! Honour and dishonour are the evaluations of the intellect that change from time to time, from place to place. To one who has transcended the ordinary planes of egoism and vanity, both are the same; a crown of thorns is as welcome as a crown of roses!!
THE SAME TO FRIEND AND FOE — To one who treads the Path of Wisdom and has risen above the gunas, there is no foe in the world; nor is he attached to anyone in earthy friendships. My right hand is never a foe to me; nor is it merely a friend; it is myself. Another, other than myself, alone can claim enmity or friendship with me. When I have realised the ONENESS of my spiritual nature, Infinite and All-pervading, as the Spirit, I have no relationship with the world outside; I live my vivid personal experience: “THEY ARE I.”
ABANDONING ALL UNDERTAKINGS — The man of tranquility, living in God-consciousness, has no more ego in him, nor is he pestered by the endless ego-centric desires which are the sorrows of life. Desire-motivated activities, undertaken with an anxiety to earn and to acquire, to possess and to hoard, to aggrandise and to claim ownership are indicated by the term “undertaking.” All these are possible only when the ego is there. When the limited ego-sense has volatilised in the realisation of the Infinite, all ego-motivated activities also end. Thereafter, he, the God-inspired, works in the world as a God-man.
HE IS SAID TO HAVE GONE BEYOND THE GUNAS — The above three stanzas together paint the complete picture of one who has transcended the gunas. These three stanzas answer Arjuna’s second question.
Shankara recognises in these three stanzas “A RULE OF CONDUCT LAID DOWN FOR THE SAMNYASIN WHO SEEKS MOKSHA.” These qualities are to be cultivated by every SEEKER who is trying to live the Hindu-culture. Once the seeker has gained inner freedom, these become the characteristic features of his nature. They form the essential marks that indicate one who has risen above the gunas.