Panchajanyam hrsheekesah-Man of realisation

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Having heard of the state when the intellect becomes firmly

established in Brahman or Atman , Arjuna now asks the question

already created in his mind by Krishna. He wants to know the

definition of  Sthitha prajna. sthithaprajnasya kaa bhaasha

samadhisthasya Kesava ,sthithadheeh kim prabhashetha kimaseetha

vrajetha kim? Arjuna wants to know  the signs by which he can

identify the man of realization and asks Krishna to tell him the way

such a person speaks, sits and walks. This is not as absurd as it

looks when translated literally. One may ask - what will be the

difference between the way an ordinary man of the world speaks,sits

and the man of stable mind sthithaprajna? He will also walk with two

legs , speak in the same language of the human beings , and sit as we

do. But what Arjuna means exactly is as follows:-

The sthitha prajna has no interest in things which matter most to

people in general. So what will he talk about.

Where will he reside? Will he stay amidst others or will he go away

to some solitary place?

How will he carry on his life in general?

 

These questions are answered by Krishna in detail:

Prajahaati yadhaa kaaman sarvaan Partha manogathaan

atmanyaivatmanaa thushtah sthithaprajnastatdochyate. One is known as

sthithaprajna when he gives up all desires that arise in his mind and

rejoices in his own self. Let us see what this means.  Thushtah means

happy and contented. When does a man become so? Let us take, for

example an instance where one learns that he has become a father of a

boy. He has been desirous of getting a child so long and now the

desire is satisfied. So he is happy but only until he starts

desiring for some other thing , like providing for his son etc.

Hence the joy lasted only as long as no other desire has started in

its stead. This proves that happiness comes not out of satisfying a

desire but only in the absence of any other desire. Therefore if one

wants to remain happy he should lengthen the gap between one desire

and the next

Swami Chinmayananda used to give an equation for happiness as

follows:

Number of desires fulfilled

---  & = the quotient of happiness.

Number of desires entertained

..

When the denominator becomes zero the value of the quotient is

infinity. So it follows that only the absence of desire will result

in infinite happiness. This can be verified through experience.

Generally one's childhood is always remembered as the happiest part

of our lives except for some unfortunate beings. If we analyse as to

why it was so,  we could see that in our childhood we had very few

simple desires which were mostly fulfilled. As we grow older we

multiply our desires so fast that it becomes impossible to satisfy

all of them even during the whole span of life.

Atmanyaivaatmanaatushtah, revelling in the joy of one's own self.

Man runs after sense objects expecting them to provide happiness

which is a myth. If  so, the same object will not be the source of

happiness for one and give sorrow to another and  the same source

of happiness will not bring sorrow at a different time.  External

object does not bring joy or sorrow but our joy or sorrow depends on

the way we react to it. Hence happiness must come from within, which

explains the reason why  the man of realization is always

happy.  He is experiencing the bliss , which is the real nature of

the Self .He is happy within  because he has given up all his

desires . Therefore he does not react to the circumstances that gives

joy or sorrow to the ordinary man. He has no attachment nor repulsion

for sukha or duhkha, joy or sorrow because he is devoid of passion

fear and anger. So he , whose mind neither rejoices with , nor

recoils from good and evil , is a sthithaprajna the one whose mind

is stable.

 Now the question is, how does he manage to become detached so

as not to be affected by sukha or duhkha nor by good or evil? The

answer is given thus Yadhaasamharathe chaayam koormangaaneeva

sarvasah indriyaneendriyaarthebyah thasya prajnaprathishtithaa. Just

as a tortoise withdraws its limbs into its shell he withdraws his

sense organs from the sense objects .This does not mean that he goes

on in the world shutting his eyes ears etc. but he does not allow

the sense objects to affect him. The damage is done only when the

mind runs after the senses as is seen later in the discourse when

Krishna says Indriyaanaamhi charathaam yanmanoanuvidheeyathe

thadasyaharati prajnaam vayurnaavamivambhasi. When the mind follows

the senses it takes away one's determination like a boat which is

carried away by the wind .The sense objects turn away from him who is

not attracted towards them but still the propensity to enjoy the

sensual pleasures remains , though not encouraged , until the final

consummation with the Supreme. Rasavarjam rasoapyasya param drshtwaa

nivartathe.

`Arise, awake, stop not till the goal is reached', thunders

the Upanishad. But before proceeding we should know the pitfalls we

will encounter on the way in order to be guarded against them. But

this is more easily said than done. Indriyani pramaatheeni haranti

prasabham manah , says Krishna , even for a wise man vipaschithahwho

tries hard yatato hyaapi Kountheya purushasys vipaschithah.

 

Krishna  now traces the descent of man from the state of infinite

bliss which is his real nature. dhyayato vishayaan pumsah

sangastheshoopajaayate. This is the first step by which one descends

from his mansion of bliss. When we think about an object

continuously we get attached to it. This is sanga .Then we start

desiring it sangat sanjaayate kaamah, which, when thwarted , results

in anger kaamaat krodho abhijaayate. Then comes sammoha delusion.

When the intellect is clouded with anger one is not .able to think

straight. That is, we imagine something which is not there and that

is delusion. sammohaat smrti vibramah.'. From sammoha arises

confusion of memory. When angry we forget whom we are talking to,and

what they have been to us in the past. In the Sundarakanda of the

Valmiki Ramayana, Hanuman says kruddho hanyat guroon api,.angry man

will not hesitate to kill even his elders or even his preceptor. This

will happen because he forgets everything except the cause of his

anger, not caring whom he hurts. The confusion of memory results in

the loss of reason buddhinaasah due to which he comes to ruin. As

Krishna elaborates later, kaama or desire is the principal enemy of

man followed by the other forces of destruction , namely , anger ,

delusion pride,  avarice and jealousy. So the only way to avoid

downfall is to cultivate placidity of mind. This is achieved by self

control. Raagadveshaviyuktaistu vishayaanindriyaischaran

aatmavasyairvidheyatma prasaadam adhigachchati. A man of

discrimination enjoys the sense objects through his senses but does

not cling to them, being free from likes and dislikes. With the

attainment of the placidity of mind all the sorrows come to an end ,

that is to say, he is free from the woes of samsara.

The description of a sthithaprajna comes to a close with a

portrait of the man of wisdom , one whose senses are completely

restrained from their objects and who, having given up all desires

moves freely without attachment, ego and possessiveness. Vihaaya

kaaman yassarvaan puman charati nissprhah ;nirmamo nirahankarah sa

shaantim adhigachchati. In him all enjoyments merge themselves like

the rivers entering the ocean. Rivers are continuously falling into

the ocean which remains unperturbed , maintaining its own level. So

too , a sthithaprajna remains calm while enjoying the sense

experiences without being affected by them Aapooryamaanam

achalaprathishtam samudramaapah pravisanti yadvat ;tadvat yam

kaamaah pravisanti sarve sa shaantimaapnoti na kaamakaamee.' Krishna

concludes his portrayal of the sthithaprajna now. That, which is

night to all beings the realized man keeps awake and that in which

all beings keep awake is night to the seer. This does not mean that

a sthithaprajna is a night owl! The state of Divine knowledge and

supreme Bliss is like night to the ignorant whereas it is as clear as

the day to a jnani. On the other hand the ever changing, transient

worldly happiness does not mean anything to him. Yaa nisaa

sarvabhoothaanaam tasyaamjaagarti samyami,yasyaam jaagarti bhoothaani

sa nisaa pasyayo muneh.'This , says Krishna , is the braahmee

sthithih, the state of realization, having reached which, one never

lapses back into delusion. He remains in it till the end of his life,

and shedding his mortal coil ,he attains Eternal Bliss.

 Thus ends what can be termed as the Yoga of Knowledge and Krishna

starts expounding the Karmayoga.