A Roman sthitha-pragnya -- Marcus Aurelius AD 121-180

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Dear friends,

 

" Who is the ideal Man? " " What qualities does he

possess? " " How does he live? " " How does he behave? "

" What difference does he make to the lives of those

around him? " " What impact on the world does his

character leave behind when he departs? "

 

These are perennial questions that have engaged the

minds of sages, philsophers and ethical reformers of

all ages and all nations and societies. The quest for

the " Ideal Human Being " is an endless preoccupation of

all societies and communities that seek greater

civilization. To be the " Ideal Man " or " Ideal Woman "

is truly one of the deepest spiritual aspirations of

the human soul. That in becoming the " Ideal Human " we

also somehow become gods is a very common but deeply

held belief; for, to become god or god-like is indeed

the true and ultimate aim of human existence.

 

In India, for centuries, the conception of the " Ideal

Man " has been enshrined in the personality of that

great hero of the " Srimadh Ramayana of Valmiki " , Lord

Rama. He was an avatar on earth. But in the way he led

his life on earth and engaged with the world and dealt

with its affairs, Rama set real ethical and moral

standards -- through sheer personal example -- of how

every man ought to live and conduct himself during his

brief earthly sojourn. Emulating Rama --or in at least

striving to imitate him in one's own life -- is indeed

every Indian's measure of himself or of his true worth

as a human being. Even if one could never succeed in

realizing the ideal of Rama, it was nonetheless worth

the effort in life to die attempting it.

 

IN the Christian world, the " Ideal Man " is personified

in their great prophet Jesus Christ. Several centuries

after his time, his inspiration lives and captures the

imagination of millions of men of the world for whom

(as it was for Thomas A Kempis) the " Imitation of

Christ " is the one and only true or worthy aim of all

human existence.

 

Likewise, every culture and every people has its own

conception of the " Ideal Man " . The Buddha, for

example, continues to remain the " Ideal Man " for many

of the nations of the Oriental world. And so on and so

forth....

 

***************

 

Ideals are inspiring no doubt but, alas, they are also

extremely difficult to realize. Which perhaps robs

them of relevance. Hence, it is quite easy to turn

away from Ideals just as easily as the fabled fox

turned away in disillusion from " sour grapes " .

 

In India, it is very common to find people who will

argue that it is impossible for ordinary men of the

world to embrace or emulate the ideal of Lord Rama of

Srimadh Valmiki Ramayana. That ideal, that standard of

human behaviour is far too lofty, far too utopian, far

too unrealizable, they will say. Rama's conduct may

quite become an avatar on earth but how are mere men

like us to aspire to imitate God Almighty in mortal

form?! Impossible, they will say.. and perhaps rightly

so...

 

For such men who reject the ideal of Rama as beyond

human grasp, it is the " Bhagavath-Gita " that offers a

second, slightly less difficult ideal to consider....

 

IN the 18 chapters that the Gita unfolds, there are a

number of ideal " role-models " or human-templates

described for men to examine and choose from. There is

the " gnyAni " role-model, for example. There is the

" karma-yOgi " model. Then there is also the " bhakta "

ideal of man. There is also the ideal of the " sanyAsi "

described in some of the last chapters of the ancient

text.

 

All these " Ideal Man " archetypes, the Gita holds up to

us, and exhorts ordinary men of the world to choose

wisely from -- as may well suit one's own temperament

and predilection -- and then to strive through life in

realizing them...

 

Amongst all such noble archetypes, the Gita however

singles out one very special concept of the " Ideal

Man " called the " stitha-pragnya " . This is indeed a

very special, very extraordinary conception of Ideal

Manhood. In a remarkable chapter fully devoted to

describing this Ideal Man, in sparkling verses that

are profound and soul-stirring at the same time, the

Bhagavath-Gita describes to us how we can all aspire

to become " stitha-pragnya-s " and in the process end up

becoming " Ideal Men " of the world. It is a marvellous

concept and a glorius inspiration indeed.... this

Ideal of " sthitha-pragnya " .

 

Let us explore briefly this great Ideal of the Gita in

the next few postings of mine.

 

Regards,

daasan Sudarshan MK

 

Warm Regards,

Sudarshan

 

" A life is perhaps worth nothing; but nothing certainly is worth as much as

life " .

(Andre Malraux)

 

 

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