Part 2- A Roman stitha-pragnya : Marcus Aurelius AD 121-180

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Dear friends,

 

In Chapter 2 of the Bhagavath-Gita, beginning from

Verse#54 all the way through to the end at Verse#72,

the image and character of the " Ideal Man " called

" stitha-pragnya " is eloquently and beautifully essayed

by Lord Krishna.

 

Anyone who claims to be a student of Vedanta (and who

is keen to understand too questions like " Who is the

Ideal Man? " , " How does he live? " , and " How does he

engage himself in this world? " ) should at least once

in a lifetime take pains to undertake a deep study of

these 18 stanzas in the most philosophical, the most

thought-provoking of all chapters in the Gita -- the

2nd Chapter.

 

In this posting I reproduce a very brief and

synopsistic English translation of these verses. A

great contemporary votary of Vedanta, Sri Eknath

Eswaran, whom I admire greatly for both his

profundity of thought and felicity of expression, has

offered this elegant translation. I have always found

it to be endearingly simple and illuminating as well.

It is quite important to appreciate these passages of

the Gita, and the ideas and themes occurring therein,

in order to be able to discuss what follows in my

further postings to follow.

 

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

 

Like a proper student Arjuna begins by humbly asking

Krishna:

 

" Tell me of those who live established in Wisdom, ever

aware of the Self, O Krishna. How do they talk? How

sit? How move about? "

 

" arjuna uvaacha .

 

" sthitapraGYasya kaa bhaashhaa samaadhisthasya keshava

...

sthitadhiiH kiM prabhaashheta kimaasiita vrajeta kim.h

.... 2\.54.. "

 

And then Krishna begins to answer with the following

soul-stirring words:

 

" shriibhagavaanuvaacha .

prajahaati yadaa kaamaansarvaanpaartha manogataan.h .

aatmanyevaatmanaa tushhTaH sthitapraGYastadochyate ..

2\.55..

 

" They live in Wisdom who see themselves in all and all

in them, who have renounced every selfish desire and

sense craving tormenting the heart.

 

" Neither agitated by grief nor hankering after

pleasure, they live free from lust and fear and anger.

Established in meditation, they are truly wise.

Fettered no more by selfish attachments, they are

neither elated by good fortune nor depressed by bad.

Such are the seers.

 

" Even as a tortoise draws in its limbs, the wise can

draw in their senses at will. Aspirants abstain from

sense pleasures, but they still crave for them. These

cravings all disappear when they see the highest goal.

Even of those who tread the path, the stormy senses

can sweep off the mind. They live in Wisdom who subdue

their senses and keep their minds ever absorbed in Me.

 

" When you keep thinking about sense objects,

attachment comes. Attachment breeds desire, the lust

of possession then turns to anger. Anger clouds the

judgment; you can no longer learn from past mistakes.

Lost is the power to choose between what is wise and

what is unwise, and your life is utter waste. But when

you move amidst the world of senses, free from

attachment and aversion alike, there comes the peace

in which all sorrows end, and you live in the Wisdom

of the Self.

 

" The disunited mind is far from wise; how can it

meditate? How can it be at peace with itself? When you

know no peace, how can you know joy? When you let your

mind follow the call of the senses, they carry away

your better judgment as storms drive a boat off its

charted course on the sea.

 

" Use all your power to free the senses from

attachement and aversion alike, and live in the full

Wisdom of the Self. Such a sage awakes to light in

what is night to all creatures. But that which the

world calls day is the night of ignorance to the wise.

 

" As rivers flow into the ocean but cannot make the

vast ocean overflow, so flow the streams of the

sense-world into the sea of peace that is the sage.

But this is not so with the desirer of desires.

 

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

 

Then at the end of the Chapter in one magnificent

tellingly soulful verse, Krishna delivers the

following peroration:

 

" eshhaa braahmii sthitiH paartha nainaaM praapya

vimuhyati .

sthitvaasyaamantakaale.api

brahmanirvaaNamR^ich{}chhati .. 2\.72..

 

" They are forever free who renounce all selfish

desires and break away from the ego-cage of " I " , " me "

and " mine " to be united with the Lord. This is the

supreme state. Attain to this, and pass from death to

immortality....

 

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

 

We will continue in the next posting.

 

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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