Bhagavatgita a detailed study-chapter2-slokas 54 to56

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There are some typo errors in the slokas 54 and 55 Hence I am repeating the slokas. Sloka 56 is added

 

54.sThithaprajnasya kaabhaashaa samaaDhisThasya keSava

 

sThithaDheeh km prabhaashetha kim aaseetha vrajetha kim

 

 

 

Arjuna said,

 

What is the sign of one who has firm wisdom and who is established in the Self and how does he speaks, sits and moves about?

 

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.

 

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:

 

 

 

 

 

55. prajahaathi yadhaa kaamaan sarvaan paarTha manoraThaan

 

Athmani eva aathmanaa thushtaH sThithaprajnaH thadhaa uchyathe

 

 

 

When one gives up all desires born out of his mind, Arjuna, and revels within himself by himself he is said to be a sThithaprjna , a man of firm wisdom.

 

 

 

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

 

--- p; & = 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 analyze 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, reveling 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 .

 

 

 

56. duhkheshu anudvignamanaah sukheshuvigathasprhaH

 

veethraaga bhayakroDhah sThithaheeh muniH uchyathe

 

 

 

He whose mind is not perturbed by sorrow nor he has any clinging attachment for pleasure and who is free from desire, fear and anger, is called the man of wisdom.

 

 

 

The man of stable wisdom 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 in the next sloka

 

 

 

sThithaprajnaH and shihaDheeH both mean the same., one of stable or firm wisdom.