ज्ञानविज्ञानतृप्तात्मा कूटस्थो विजितेन्द्रियः ।
युक्त इत्युच्यते योगी समलोष्टाश्मकाञ्चनः ।। ६.८ ।।

jñāna-vijñāna-tṛptātmā kūṭastho vijitendriya: |
yukta ity-ucyate yogī sama-loṣṭāśma-kāñcana: || 6.8 ||

Sama-darsana and Behavioural Excellence

Equal acceptance of sukha and duhkha marks the essence of spiritual perception. Mana and apamana (honour and insult) also cause sukha and duhkha. The one who strives to evenize and sublimate his mind through the notes of elevation and enervation, is a spiritual model for all. Krishna speaks something significantly more about how one of such inward harmony and equality will express himself outwardly, thereby revealing the true greatness and usefulness of spiritual knowledge and integration in the interactional world.

True yogi is spiritually integrated

Fully contented with knowledge, unshakable like the anvil of the blacksmith, he who has his senses under control and who looks at a lump of earth, a stone and gold with equal vision is the one spiritually integrated.

Earlier Krishna spoke about the equal vision as applicable to one’s own mind and its dual creations – sukha and duhkha. It was primarily about an individual’s sadhana, and not related directly to any behavioural refinement or sublimation. Now he brings in a new note to the life and pursuit of enlightenment. He links the spiritual vision with the world and our behaviour in the midst of worldly objects and situations.

He cites three distinct materials. The first is a lump of earth or clay – something unprocessed and readily available all around. The second is a stone, another version of hardened earth, with its own distinct properties and usefulness. The third is gold, the highly priced metal, sought by all for its value as well as ornamental worth.

All the three, though widely different in nature, play important roles in our life and activities. Neither the earth can be dispensed with, nor can the stone be. Earth is that upon which we are born and we continue to live. Stones help us to build houses and other solid structures. Gold is a costly metal, mostly used as a treasure, representing our resources as well as the status we have in the society. Even as a nation, the gold reserves determine the worth and importance.

People get deluded by gold, so much so that they fail to remember the indispensability of earth and stone in human life. The price overrules all other vital considerations. It is sheer delusion. Does it not point to our mental and intelligential poverty, due to which a true assessment of our life as well as the objects eludes us?

Each article has got its own worth. Can gold replace earth? Does earth or gold come first in our life? To nourish and preserve our bodies, we constantly need food and dress, which can be grown only on the earth. From the earth alone all other minerals and salts are taken. Is not gold also extracted from earth itself? Yet the eyes of people go more for gold. This is called the uneven outlook, the differential perception, which Krishna always condemns and wants seekers to safeguard against.

What is right vision then? All materials and objects have their respective places, utility and importance. In the undue flair for one, no other should be devalued or disrespected. It needs everything to make the variety, the bounty of Nature.

The senses perceive whatever exist before them. Their reports have to be collected, collated and evaluated – the knowledge finally leading to greater enrichment. Instead of thus wisely acting upon what the senses report, what are most people doing? In the hands of the useful and indispensable senses, which should facilitate and strengthen our life, our preferential vision leads to chaos and destabilization. The cure and redress for this plight, says Krishna, lie in true spiritual vision.

Knowledge is the best treasure. It corrects as well as delights. No external object can ever enter one’s being. The house you possess, the relations you foster, the property and money you acquire can at best remain by your side. You can have the consoling thought that these are yours and are available for your purposes. Does any object enter inside one’s body to become part of his being? The joy it bestows is only by arousing a possessive note in the mind. Such a note is clearly the mind’s creation.

If the mind delights its owner through its thoughts of possession, it can as well afflict him through its fear of losing these possessions. And this is what frequently takes place. Apprehension and fear of loss are the cause of all afflictions of the mind. As against this, right knowledge can delight the seeker and make him unshakable in any situation.

So Krishna says that with the delight and fullness wisdom brings, the mind gets rid of all constrictions. A wholesome equality of vision dawns in dealing with the objects of the world. Spiritual wisdom is not merely for inward fulfillment; it takes away all kinds of narrowness, fear and instability from one’s behaviour. Only when spiritual seekers are able to manifest outward poise and expansion, their seeking attainments will be regarded as meaningful and purposeful.