Bhagawad Gita Ch 2. Verses 61-67 [Adi Shankara's commentary]

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61. Controlling them all, one should sit integrated, deeming Me supreme.

Stable is his wisdom who has brought his senses under control.

 

61.1 "Controlling them all", establishing dominion over all of them,

"integrated" i.e. concentrated, one should sit. "Deeming Me supreme", means

that for him Vasudeva, the inner Self of All, is supreme. The idea is that

he should sit, thinking, "I am not different from Vasudeva." The wisdom of

that Yogin, seated thus, is stable. Through the force of repeated efforts

he has brought his senses under control.

 

62.0 Now is pointed out the root of all disaster betiding one who fials

in his efforts ar self-control.

 

62. Attachment to objects is born when one ponders on them. Of

attachment is born desire, and of desire, wrath.

 

62.1 In the case of the man who "ponders on" i.e who thinks of or

contemplates, particular objects like sounds, "attachment to them", pleasure

in them arises. Of that pleasure is born desire or craving. From this

craving, when obstructed somehow, wrath arises.

 

63. From wrath arises delusion; from delusion, failure of memory. Due to

this latter, intelligence perishes, and from its loss total destruction

ensues.

 

63.1 From wrath arises delusion or lack of discrimination between what

ought and ought not to be done. Indeed an angry man, being deluded, rails

even at his teacher. Due to delusion confusion of memory results, i.e. the

fading of those impressions constituting memory which the sastras and the

instructions of teachers have engendered. In other words even when the

causes of its appearance are present, that memory fails to arise. Due to

this failure, Buddhi, the competence of the mind to discriminate between

right and wrong, perishes. Through the loss of this discrimination, one is

wholly destroyed; for a man retains his self-identity only as long as he

retains his power to discriminate between right and wrong. where his power

fails, the man in question perishes, indeed. The sense is that with the

destruction of the organ of discrimination man perishes; he becomes unfit to

realise the ends of life.

 

64.0 The contemplation of objects (desire) has been pointed out as the

root of all evil. Now is pointed out the casue of libration:

 

64. Approaching objects with senses free from attachment and aversion,

and controlled by the mind, the man who has mastered his mind wins serenity.

 

64.1 Indeed, the normal activities of the senses, are impelled by

attachment and aversin. One who seeks liberation, however, approaches

unavoidable objects by means of his senses, ear, eyes etc., which are free

from attachment and aversion. Besides, these senses are under the sway of

the disciplined mind. He whose self, the inner sense or mind, has been

disciplined, attains serenity, which is placidity or Self-abidance.

 

65.0 What happens when serenity is woin? Listen:

 

65. Serenity won, sufferings come to an end; the reason of that man,

whose mind is serene, soon becomes steadfast.

 

65.1 In serenity the three kinds of sufferings of the disciplined sage

come to an end. Also, the reason of the sage, whose inner sense has been

puriifed, soon becomes steady like the sky in all circumstances. The sense

is that it becomes immutable, having been assimilated to the Self. Since

he, whose mind is serene and reason immutable, has achieved his life's goal,

he may approach the unavoidable sense-objects, permitted by the sastras,

with senses free from attachment and aversion. This is the upshot of the

verse as a whole.

 

This serenity is lauded:

 

66. The unintegraed mind has no wisdom; nor can such a person have

yearning (for Self-knowledge). Without such yearning, no peace (is

possible). for one lacking peace, how can there be happiness?

 

66.1 There is not, i.e. there cannot exist buddhi or Wisdom born of the

perception of the reasl Self, for one whose inner sense is 'unintegrated',

or unconcentrated. Neither can such a one have yearning for Self-knowledge.

Without this yearning one cannot gain peace or quietude. how can there be

happiness without quietude? The turning away of the senses from the craving

for enjoyment of object is happiness; it is not the craving for objects.

The latter indeed is pain. So long as there is craving, there cannot be

even the remotest semblance of happiness. This is the sense of the passage.

 

67.0 Why can't the unintegated man gain wisdom? Listen:

 

67. The mind that conforms to the roving senses robs (one) of perception,

just as the wind sweeps the boat off its course at sea.

 

67.1 The mind that follows the senses in their pursuit of the their

proper objects destroys the ascetic's perception, born of the discrimination

between Self and non-Self; for, it is a slave to these senses and their

objects. How? As the wind blows off its course a boat (at sea), so the

mind, suppressing Self-perception, causes one to hurry after objects.