नाभिनन्दति न द्वेष्टि तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता ।।
He who outlives the usual circle of selfish fondness and eschews the constricting thoughts of holy and unholy, thereby keeps away from complimenting or condemning anything or any one, is verily the stable-minded.
Sthita-prajnata was beautifully explained by Krishna. From that level how one grows to the sthita-dhee dimension has also been described. Now Krishna proceeds to show how and where comes the transformation the spiritual Knower embodies in himself.
The Sthita-prajna is one remaining still – thoughtless, speechless and motionless. He is deeply absorbed in himself. But the Sthita-dhee is not so. In the Sthita-prajna, the consciousness (prajna) has to remain still. But in the Sthita-dhee, the effects of the sthita-prajnata make their appearance. It is the Sthita-dhee’s intelligence which imbibes and displays the benefits. A new note of enlightenment will remain pronounced in his buddhi, and consequently in his mind and movements also. But in dealing with all these points, Krishna has dropped the difference between the two phrases ‘Sthita-prajna’ and ‘Sthita-dhee’. The distinction stops with the previous verse, and Krishna uses Sthita-prajna alone uniformly hereafter. But it should verily mean the Sthita-dhee, as the sthita-prajna will remain motionless and speechless.
Sthita-dhee having been described, Krishna deals with the Sthita-dhee’s perception, interaction and interactional effects in him, so that the subject of seeking, knowing and knowledge will all stand amply explained.
Knowledge alone makes one a Knower. As a Knower one has to be alive and active in the world. So the Knower in his state of interaction has to be understood. Till then the subject of spiritual knowledge will not become complete or relevant to our life.
Krishna pinpoints the basic change that transpires in the Sthita-dhee as anabhisneha. Abhisneha is the state of ordinary people, who can identify their fondness and interests only with the small circle of their family –– the blood and matrimonial relationships. One’s body is no doubt limited. Does it mean that his mind also should be subdued by the same limitedness? But what generally takes place is that the habitual constriction continues. It is common worldly heredity of mankind.
When the yoga-sadhana takes one to spiritual introspection, which matures into Self-absorption and sthita-prajnata, that experience brings about a thorough revolution in character, behaviour, perception and also interaction. The bodily relationships appear to be too limited, even misplaced. Is not the body something to be cast aside? Is one the body, or he merely has his body? Why should whatever he has as different from whatever he is, blind him so much? The material body is not what the spiritual Self is. Man, the spiritual, has naturally now to imbibe spiritual feelings, views and standards. So the abhisneha, the small circle of fondness and identity, melts off and a clear expansion takes its place.
This expanded nature is what Krishna refers to by anabhisneha. Abhisneha is the constricted fondness of the ordinary man. Anabhisneha is the widening impartial fondness of the Knower – of the Sthita-prajna or the Sthita-dhee. This natural expansion makes the knower impersonal, refined and more and more subtle in his thoughts, reflections and perceptions.
The effect is quite pronounced. The usual set of preferences and prejudices which subdue the mind in all its thoughts and outlooks will begin to decline. The sense of praise and blame with reference to whatever takes place around will also wane off. The mind will grow lighter and subtler. When the mind thus changes its character and behaviour, the external focus will also naturally change.
Śubha and aśubha, holy and unholy, are the dual concepts and attitudes that guide the ordinary mind. These will become meaningless. A sense of uniformity of response, reaction and vision will gain ground every time. No event will specially be greeted, and no outcome will ever be condemned or rejected. The very fact that each has transpired, has come to pass, makes it welcome. It calls for assimilation, acceptance and harmonization. Thus in the hands of every event, person, place or development, the Sthita-dhee will only feel enriched and elevated. In one sense, he outlives the abhisneha constriction of his mind, and in another sense he develops sarva-sneha, universal fondness, to encompass and embrace practically whatever comes to his life from the wide world. This is a true progress and expansion of the Knower’s personality. This expansional course is inevitable in a Sthita-dhee.
Sensory restraint – indispensable
Krishna emphasizes now the place of sensory restraint and regulation in the life of a spiritual seeker. Throughout Bhagavad Gita sensory restraint has been pointed out as the most pronounced note of spiritual life. Any one indifferent to disciplining the senses will not be able to make any progress in spiritual life. Sensory restraint is synonymous with self-knowledge, yogic enlightenment.
Sensory restraint, indriya-niyamana, features in many places in Gita. In verse 2-58, it makes its beginning. Bhagavad Gita is a sastra, a scientific composition. It presents rationally the subject it deals with. Krishna has specified the subject clearly. It is Sreyas that is everlastingly good. Sreyas differs from Preyas which is immediately pleasant. Can human life raise itself from the immediate temptational ends to the lasting inner attainment? Is the need for it such as to become clear to all? Is any occasion or favour of some special factors necessary to turn the mind to the lasting from the lure of the fleeting?
In fact, the very Kurukshetra scene is itself a full answer to all these questions. Arjuna, the typical worldly individual, that too a valorous fighter, posed in Kurukshetra with the war enthusiasm and ambition, was suddenly hit by the insufficiency of his understanding and the fallacy of his emotions. It took little time for him to accept his folly and weakness and seek from Krishna the great path of Sreyas. He did not think of any postponement in his search. As was the war collectively imperative, so was his new search personally compulsive . He was not prepared to be intercepted by any conflict or disharmony between the two.
For anyone placed in any situation, to realize the Sreyas, the goal of life, a certain way is necessary. Krishna is exposing and explaining it to Arjuna. And right from the start he stresses that the whole search and path will become meaningful only when the senses are restrained, they are not turbulent or disobedient. Man’s distractor is his own senses. Let none else be blamed in this regard. Senses are to be regulated and sublimated, but not controlled or subdued. Regulation will be possible provided the mind which links itself with the senses, without which no sense will be able to do its work, is properly treated with wisdom. The only factor which can work on the mind is the buddhi (intelligence). The buddhi has to be awakened to wisdom.
Human personality is externally material. Body, on which the five senses are fixed, constitutes the outermost sheath. It is in and through this body that a newborn child interacts with the world. First of all it reacts to the new surrounding. The skin of the child senses the atmosphere of the earth. Gradually the touch of people, especially of the mother, is added to the process. Later the eyes and ears also begin their work. Thus in all gradualness the five senses have their complete role. This role very soon becomes overpowering and devastating. It takes quite some time, even decades, for any one to recognize the trap and think of getting rid of it.
Sankara emphasizes in Vivekachoodamani that some creatures of the world have got only one of the senses overwhelmingly powerful. Chasing that sensory organ the creature courts death. What then, he asks, could be the fate of man, in whom all the five senses are equally powerful? A great question, a powerful warning indeed !
Any text to be a proper Sastra must have a rare element in it. The apoorvata (rarity) of Gita Sastra is its stress on sense-restraint. Not only that, Gita does not set forth the usual ritualistic and ceremonial standards for taking up its study and practice. In fact, it decries these. At the same time, by presenting the new discipline, the singular need for sensory restraint, it makes its gospel universal. Its message rises above religious divisions and rigidity, and anoints it as a philosophical or personality-based science.
इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेभ्यस्तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता ।।
When the yogi is able to withdraw his five senses from their respective objects, as does the turtle its limbs, he can verily be regarded as stable-minded.
By making us look at the turtle, a very harmless water creature, and learn how suddenly but cleverly it is able to withdraw all its five limbs, whenever it finds danger outside, Krishna asks the yogic practitioner to incorporate the same mastery with regard to his outgoing senses. The world is huge and extensive. The objects it contains are also endless. They display variety in every way, in all facets. On the other hand, man has a very small limited body. Is it possible then for any one to safeguard himself against the assault of the world objects?
Nature is not so thoughtless or harsh in its ways. Let the variety and endlessness be around the limited body of man. But these will not be able to enter his inner sphere except with the permission and linkage of his senses. To see the huge elephant or the endless ocean, the small eye of man alone has the competence. If he closes his eyes, or does not open the lids, any overwhelming sight in front will become inconsequential. What is the cause then for any worry? Should man think of this full control and mastery gifted to him, first, or the hugeness and endlessness of objects surrounding him, thereby holding the view that the objects are greater than the senses?
Krishna emphasizes a proper evaluation of matters. And for this, he always focuses attention on man himself – his inner personality. The area to be surveyed or covered is too small. Nobody can plead inability or lack of time.
As the turtle is, so should the Sthita-prajna be. Earlier or later, this inevitable mastery has to be achieved. The one who strives for it, gains the true Self-ascent fast.
Having pointed out the nature of mastery, Krishna proceeds to explain how each of the senses is capable of forcibly robbing the mind and linking its thoughts, feelings and fascinations to an object in front. By this he wants to stress that the regulation or mastery cannot be partial of piecemeal. All the senses have to be moderated and regulated. The sensory downfall can come to anyone at any time. He cites the instance of a ship, which if not properly guided and maneuvered, will be led astray by powerful winds. The illustration is about sailing ships which used to be piloted by maneuvering the sail depending upon the direction of the wind from time to time. There used to be instances of utter disaster caused by lack of control over the sail.
Among the five senses, even one will be sufficient to draw the mind away and bring disaster. I cannot but remember the instance of the distinguished daughter of Rajarshi Janaka, the consort of great Rama. None can hope to get a life-partner with greater fondness and fidelity. Janaki insisted that she should follow her Lord to the forest, stating that the “pomp and glory of Ayodhya are verily a desert for me in the absence of my beloved Lord, and the hardships and vagaries of forest will be a coveted bed of roses if I am by the side of my great Lord”.
Thirteen years they spent in Dandakaranya sweetly. In the fourteenth year they made a hermitage in Janasthana to live in austerity, peace and Self-absorption, as a fitting prelude to returning to Ayodhya successfully, fulfilling the great mission. And lo, came there in front of her hermitage a golden deer, moving its tail, ears and horns to flirt with Janaki’s eyes. She lent her mind to the sight and her eyes got fixed on the animal. In minutes, the great Janaki forgot all her earlier resolve and gave vent to an unyielding urge to possess the animal, come what might. “Even if you can’t get it alive, bring it, O lord, dead, so that we can take the skin with us,” insisted she.
Janaki’s allurement shook strangely Sri Rama’s resolve too, although Lakshmana did not forget to remind both about the treachery of the sight, stating clearly, “It can only be the witchcraft of the Rakshasas to bring about our ruin”. Rama did not heed his brother’s words and failed to restrain Janaki. And, the events that followed are widely known !
Krishna’s instruction clearly reveals the quick succession of inner turbulence and the consequent loss of wisdom and memory sure to befall one who lacks sensory restraint and makes a mockery of the Yogic path and pursuit. In this context, Krishna makes significant statements about two points :
Restraining therefore all the senses alike, sit restfully to get Self-absorbed, resigning yourself completely to Me. For, the consciousness of one whose senses are fully under restraint will alone be stable.
So, the primary effort of the seeker must be to learn to sit restfully and build up spiritual strength in his mind through buddhi to have the sense-restraint. How can this be done? Krishna makes a timely hint. “Matparah” - develop fondness for me considering me as the Supreme. What does this mean?
So far Krishna was speaking as a third person, observing and analyzing life, like any Teacher would before his students. Now, suddenly, he pronounces, commands, that seeking Arjuna (student) must have supreme loyalty and devotion towards him (the Teacher). How do all these become relevant so suddenly?
A spiritual seeker’s interest in seeking and knowing is directly depending on the value and esteem he holds for the pursuit. This inevitably means that he must have supreme regard for those who represent the life of seeking and Knowing, because Knowers alone are the incarnations of Knowledge. Knowledge by itself cannot incarnate before any one. You must first have a Knower before you in flesh and blood to expose to you the existence and merits of Knowledge. The only source, support, proof and demonstration for spiritual knowledge is the Knower. If Krishna had not accompanied Arjuna as his charioteer, what would Arjuna have done on encountering his doubts, emotional conflicts and weakness?
Some one should be there to lift up one who has fallen, and is unable to rise to his feet. The child needs his father’s finger to begin walking. He listens to his parents closely and then only learns to speak. Without such direct personal interactions, in this case with the beloved Knower, how can the Knowing process set in at all?
If you listen to a talk on the Soul or supreme Reality, like any other subject, and go back home forgetting all about the Exponent, then your interest in the pursuit is only shallow and superficial. If you love the subject of Reality, that love will equally be towards the Exponent, the Teacher, as well. Ultimately, any knowledge, when well-imparted and imbibed, will make the student himself like the imparting Teacher. Knowledge ultimately makes one a Knower. This will be possible only through deep unwavering fondness for the Teacher and his teaching.
It is this ‘matparatva’ that Krishna emphasizes more and more eloquently in the later chapters, especially from the 7th onwards.
When the mind picks up a superior fondness for wisdom and hence for the Knower also, it becomes fully receptive to the lessons and restraints needed in the new front. To sit in a place, be devoted to the practice of self-observation, gain purity and the allied attunements, thus become natural and easy for the seeker. And such a spiritually oriented mind will naturally bring in sensory regulation and restraint.
Krishna shows how supreme is the role of sensory restraint, by stating that whoever has his senses under restraint, his prajna (consciousness) alone will become steady (sthita). Such a one alone can be considered a Sthita-prajna, not any other. In other words, Krishna equates sthita-prajnata with sensory restraint to show its indispensable nature in spiritual life, its supreme place in sadhana.
Krishna equally wants to remove a basic delusion which seekers in general suffer from. The restraint, as such, of the senses is not just a matter of physically disciplining them at the bodily level. Senses by themselves cannot force an indulgence. For every sense to go outward and meet its object, the inner mind has to link itself with it. Think of a sleeping person. Even if his eyes are opened by another, will they result in vision? So the mind’s linkage with the senses is inevitable for gaining any outer perception.
The discipline on this account has to be first and last in the mind itself. That is why Gita begins its discussion with viveka and vairagya, both of which are for the buddhi and the mind to absorb and actualize. By physically denying the senses their indulgence or the freedom for it, restraint will not be gained. Suppose you starve or fast, eat less and weaken the senses, will it help restraint fully? Some measure of selection, like satvic food, is immensely helpful, but not starving or fasting.
The objects of pleasure seemingly recoil from one who sternly abstains from sensory enjoyments, but they nevertheless leave in him their deep–rooted taste. This taste will also recede from him only when he gets a full glimpse of the supreme blissful Self.
When the tongue becomes heavily quoted, as in Typhoid and other diseases, the whole taste for food vanishes. But when the health becomes normal, the taste returns with an added measure of craze for food. Likewise, when a criminal is imprisoned and kept in restraint, he will remain harmless. But on getting released when he becomes free to move and act the way he likes, even a greater unrestrained behaviour may follow. So a mere denial, either by one’s own option or because of a control exercised by another, will not sublimate or moderate the senses. Any such physical restraint or control will always leave behind in the mind a ‘taste’ for the pleasure outside. This indulgence to pleasure has to be eliminated by a purely mental process.
The disinterest that grows when the senses become weak or the body is treated with lesser nourishment or fasting, is not wholesome. Krishna uses the word rasavarjam to indicate that the inward longing for the objects will still be there. To extricate this, or to eliminate it at its very source, the way is to spiritually sublimate the mind and intelligence. Sthita-prajnata counts supremely in this account. When the mind, withdrawing from the senses, delves completely into the depth of the Soul, and the Self-elixir is repeatedly tasted, the object tastes naturally vanish. In fact, whether it is the pleasure of the objects or the joy of the Self, both equally originate from the Subject. This fact when recognized through sthita-prajnata, the mind definitely turns indifferent to the sensory indulgences and the pleasures arising from them.
Thus the spiritual yogic inward culture and sublimation, for which contemplation and sthita-prajnata are inevitable, is the right way to tone down the senses and rise above outward cravings. A mere bodily outlook, by dint of which many yogic practitioners try to train their body by lying on hot sand-beds or dipping in ice–cold water and the like, will be of no consequence in achieving spiritual wisdom and fulfillment.
(From the Series Essential-Concepts-In-Bhagavad-Gita)
