Gita Satsang Resumption - Chapter 2: Sthitaprajna (Verses 54 to 72)

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Sthitaprajna or the Perfect Yogi (Summary of Verses 54 to 72)

 

On hearing all this Arjuna said, The course of conduct you have mapped for me

seems to be beyond my capacity. Not to worry about defeat or victory, not to

waste a thought on the result,-how can one attain such an evenness of temper

and steadfastness in spirit? How does a man with such attainments behave, and

how are we to recognize him?

 

 

The Lord replied, O king, one who renounces all the cravings which torment the

heart and derives his contentment from within himself is said to be a

sthitaprajna or samadhistha (one stable in spirit). He is unruffled in

adversity and he does not hanker after happiness. Pleasure and pain are felt

through the five senses. Therefore this wise man draws his senses away from

sense objects even as a tortoise draws in his limbs. The tortoise withdraws

into his shell when he apprehends danger. But in the case of human beings

sense objects are ready to attack the senses at all times; therefore their

senses must always be drawn in, and they should be ever ready to fight against

sense objects. This is the real battle. Some people resort to

self-mortification and fasting as weapons of defense against sense objects.

These measures have their limited use. The senses do not make for sense

objects so long as a man is fasting, but fasting alone does not destroy his

relish for them. On the other hand that relish may be heightened when the fast

is broken, and a man can get rid of it only with the grace of God. The senses

are so powerful that they drag a man behind them by force if he is not on his

guard. Therefore a man must always keep them under control. This end he can

achieve only if he turns his eyes inward, realizes God Who resides in his

heart and is devoted to Him. One who thus looks upon Me as His goal and

surrenders his all to Me, keeping his senses in control, is a yogi stable in

spirit. On the other hand if a man is not master of his senses, he is always

musing on the objects of sense and conceives an attachment for them, so that

he can hardly think of anything else. From this attachment arises desire; and

when the desire is thwarted he gets angry. Anger drives him nearly mad. He

cannot understand what he is about. He thus loses his memory, behaves in a.

disorderly manner and comes to an ignoble end. When a mans senses rove at

will, he is like a rudderless ship which is at the mercy of the gale and is

broken to pieces on the rocks. Men should therefore abandon all desires and

restrain their senses, so that these do not indulge in undesirable activity.

The eyes then will look straight and that too only at holy objects; the ears

will listen to hymns in praise of God or to cries of distress; hands and feet

will be engaged in service. Indeed all the organs of sense and of action will

be employed in helping a man to do his duty and making him a fit recipient of

the grace of God. And once the grace of God has descended upon him, all his

sorrows are at an end. As snow melts in the sunshine, all pain vanishes when

the grace of God shines upon him and he is said to be stable in spirit. But if

a man is not stable-minded, how can he think good thoughts? Without good

thoughts there is no peace, and without peace there is no happiness. Where a

stable-minded man sees things clear as daylight, the unstable man distracted

by the turmoil of the world is as good as blind. On the other hand what is

pure in the eyes of the worldly wise looks unclean to and repels the

stable-minded man. Rivers continuously flow into the sea, but the sea remains

unmoved; in the same way all sense objects come to the yogi, but he always

remains calm like the sea. Thus one who abandons all desires, is free from

pride and selfishness and behaves as one apart, finds peace. This is the

condition of a perfect man of God, and he who is established therein even at

the final hour is saved (lit. set free, mukta).