Gita In Daily Life - Chapter-2 - Part 4 of 4 sThita-prajna; Winds Carrying away Ships

[Guest guest]

"amba tvAmanusandDAmi bhagavadgItE BhavadvaeShiNeem"

 

Namaste all.

 

For Summary till part-2 and part-3 (karmasu-kausalam),

please refer:-

advaitin/message/26382

 

Arjuna enquires about the qualities of a

sThita-prajna.

 

Lord Krishna repiles, 2:55 -

In the Atma alone he remains satisfied with Atma,

casting away kAmAnu (desires) of the mind.

He is called a sThita-prajna.

 

Lord Krishna further explains in detail the qualities

of a sThita-prajna who is thus established in Atma

alone, answering Arjuna's question:

2:56-59, 61, 64, 65, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72.

 

To caution Arjuna, Lord Krishna also explains the

dangers which even a wise person faces.

 

A ship is supposed to go steady on the waters.

However, if strong winds are present, it may be

carried away on waters randomly, in spite of itself.

Thus, the wandering senses carry away the mind even of

a striving person.

Lord Krishna also explains how this happens-

2:62 DhyAyatO viShayAnpunsaH ...

2:63 krODhaDhBhavati ...

 

The root lies in thinking about sense-objects.

In their contemplation, grows attachment.

>From attachment grows longing.

>From longing grows anger.

>From anger grows sammOhaH (confused state or delusion)

>From sammohA, grows loss of smriti (memory)

>From loss of smriti, grows loss of buddhi(intellect).

>From loss of buddhi, results perishing.

2:66,67 show more details.

 

Practical observation:-

The seed for the ship being carried away by the

senses of strong winds lies in thinking about

sense objects.

An aspiring sThita-prajna, must, to start with,

thus, needs to get steady in not going after

sense-objects, setting his wisdom firmly,

and in who the desires enter like waters entering

into full and undisturbed sea. 2:68, 70;

and remaining in Atma satisfied by Atma alone [2:55].

 

 

Lord Krishna concludes, "this is brAhmI sThiti" and

that none attaining this is deluded. By having

stayed in it(sThitvA) atleast at

anta-kAlam (at the hour of death), one

attains brahma-nirvANam. 2:72

 

Practical Observation:- To remain in the state atleast

at anta-kAlam, one needs to get prepared thru

karmasu-kausalam and developing the qualities of a

sThita-prajna and none of the efforts would go waste,

as the Lord says in 2:40.

 

Love & Regards,

Raghava

 

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[Guest guest]

advaitin, Raghavarao Kaluri

<raghavakaluri> wrote:

> "amba tvAmanusandDAmi bhagavadgItE BhavadvaeShiNeem"

>

> Namaste all.

>

> For Summary till part-2 and part-3 (karmasu-kausalam),

> please refer:-

> advaitin/message/26382

>

 

Namaste Raghavji!

 

You have given very succinct summaries of the various concepts from

Chapter 2. May I request that you pause between each topic so that

sufficient discussions can occur? As the topic is 'Gita in Daily

Life', it will be very useful to see how these concepts can be

applied in practice. I am eager to see the responses from the

learned members and hope to benefit from them. Thank you.

 

Harih Om!

Neelakantan

[Guest guest]

Namaste Raghavaji.

 

I am delighted with your systematic foray into Chapter 2.

 

Chapter 2 in itself is akin to an Upanishad as it sets the foundation

of vedAnta. In fact, there are teachers who consider that Lord

Krishna said in Chapter 2 everything that is there to be said. I

can't but agree.

 

However, Vyasa made Arjuna express many more doubts in order to

unravel vedAntic methodology through the words of the Lord. Thus, we

have Srimad Bhagwad GIta continuing upto the 18th Chapter till Arjuna

is doubtlessly convinced.

 

Thus, Chapter 2 has everything for an aspirant to contemplate on

along his way to the `status' of a sthitaprajna. The rest of the

chapters are an aid using which he can scale the ladder.

 

I remember having read Sw. Dayananda Saraswatiji's brilliant

exposition of eleven selected verses from Srimad Bhagawad GItA. Most

of that work had focused on Chapter 2. Unfortunately, I don't have a

copy with me now. It would indeed be a great help if someone among

us can refer to it and list out the verses selected by Swamiji. It

can orientate our current discussion in the right direction and give

it additional impetus. Kathirasanji, perhaps, you can do this.

 

As our Murthyji rightly pointed out to Ramachandraji about death and

such other calamities, it is our attachment arising from false

identities that cause us sorrow. Chapter 2 helps us understand and

remove such false identities through verses like gatAsUnagatAsUmca

nAnushochanti panditAh. Otherwise, we are just prajnAvAdAs like

Arjuna pre-Bhagwad GItA. Incidentally, Swamiji has discussed this

particular verse elaborately in his eleven-verse interpretation.

 

Two more remarks before I close this.

 

In your post # 26383, you made the following practical observation:

 

QUOTE

 

Practical Observation:- To remain in the state atleast

at anta-kAlam, one needs to get prepared thru

karmasu-kausalam and developing the qualities of a

sThita-prajna and none of the efforts would go waste,

as the Lord says in 2:40.

 

UNQUOTE

 

The thought of anta-kAla belongs to non-sthitaprajnAs like most of

us. It is non-existent for one who has drunk the soma of Chapter 2

and knows for sure that he was never born. The birthless doesn't

die. He can't therefore be bothered about the perishing of a body or

false identity which he left long back on the shelves of a moribund

existence in ignorance. To him, it is as unimportant as an autumn

leaf, which he had seen falling long ago.

 

In the same post, in the translation of Verse 2:62 (dyAyate viShayAn

pumsah), may we replace the world `intellect' for `buddhi' as right

discernment, right knowledge or right understanding? The Sanskrit

viveka is more synonymous with buddhi here, as Chapter 2 aims to

bestow nityAnitya vastu viveka.

 

Needless to say, right understanding results from an understanding of

dharma, which we covered in the first leg of this discussion. In my

opinion, there is only one dharma and that is the dharma of `sarva-

dharmAn parityAjya'. (That sounds like a contradiction, eh?). I would

call it Atma Dharma. Srimad Bhagwad GItA, through its rapid course

along its eighteen chapters, sublates all so-called dharmAs to their

basic substratum – Atma Dharma – the dharma of vEdantic spontaneity,

on the altar of which the vedAntin sacrifices all his erstwhile roles

in total abandonment (parityAjya). To the one who has realized this

Atma Dharma, the rest of the so-called dharmAs like kshatriya dharma,

putra dharma, pitru dharma, pati dharma etc. are just toys for his

spontaneity to play with. They are then sustained by Atma Dharma and

bereft of conflicts with which they are otherwise burdensomely

ridden. The realized vedantin gets down and gets out of them at

will, yet remaining firmly rooted (sthitaprajna) in Atma Dharma. He

is available and unavailable for the transactinal at will. Thus, we

see a Mata Amritanandamayi Devi shedding tears hugging a Tsunami-

distressed and, at the same time, ordering Her children to the safety

of the upper floors of Her Ashram when the relentless sea submerges

the bhajan hall. Lo! She is firmly rooted in Atma Dharma like our

epical Rama, separated from his beloved Vaidehi, going lachrymose at

the sight of the full moon over KiShkindA.

 

PraNAms.

 

Madathil Nair