Sthitaprajna - Gita Chapter 2 Verses 62 & 63

[Guest guest]

Verses 62 & 63:

dhyayato visayan pumsah sangas tesupajayate

sangat sanjayate kamah kamat krodho 'bhijayate

 

When a man thinks of the objects, attachment for them arises. From

attachment desire is born. From desire anger arises.

 

krodhad bhavati sammohah sammohat smrti-vibhramah

smrti-bhramsad buddhi-naso buddhi-nasat pranasyati

>From anger comes delusion. From delusion loss of memory. From loss of

memory the destruction of discrimination. From destruction of

discrimination, he perishes.

 

Verses 62 & 63 elaborate the dangers of indulging the mind on sense

objects. When we start drinking a cup of coffee in the morning, we

register the taste of coffee in our mind and soon, we get addicted to

coffee. When we miss our morning coffee, we become angry. One of my

friend, who worked for the state government in India, was a heavy

drinker. His wife had a tough time because he physically and mentally

abused her when he was drunk. The problem with drinking is twofold. The

mind gets agitated with or without the drink and is a no-win situation.

My friend beat his wife if she hid the liqueur bottles beyond his reach

and also beat her after drinking his liqueur quota. One day after a

heavy dose of liqueurs, he died in front of his house ran over by a

truck! The reference "pranasyati" in verse 63 is subtle. The drunkard

loses his "buddhi" instantaneously due to addiction and when the desire

is fulfilled, he loses his "buddhi" and "identity." When "XXX" drinks

and walks on the road, the reference changes to "drunkard" and an abrupt

death of the identity "XXX." XXX no more behaves like XXX but only as a

drunkard! When we attend parties, we can easily see difference between

behavior of a normal and drunkard person.

 

One need not be a drunkard to lose the identity. Last time, when I

visited India, I tried to buy my airlines ticket in Delhi. The clerk

demanded additional twenty dollars bribe to confirm the reservation.

When I refused to pay the bribe, the clerk was angry and abusive. The

corrupt clerk lost his true identity and became a "corrupt" person. This

desire induced corruptive behavior was responsible for him to lose his

buddhi and respectable personality. Does Gita assert that we should not

eat, touch, smell, hear or see? The answer is obviously no! The message

is about developing a flexible mental attitude. When I feel thirsty, I

have the natural instinct to drink some liquid that could be water,

juice, coffee, tea, coke, or sprite, etc. . If I desire to extinguish my

thirst only by drinking coffee then I have the "attachment" problem. If

I am flexible enough to drink any available drink to quench my thirst

then I have "no attachment." Gita only advises us to be "flexible" in

order to be successful and we need to discipline ourselves to be

flexible. The flower plants need water and food to grow and yield

beautiful flowers and they don't demand "specific drinks or food!" We

need to discipline our self to eat food without "attributes." Gita did

not contend it is easy and does not describe prescriptions.