आपूर्यमाणमचलप्रतिष्ठं
समुद्रमाप: प्रविशन्ति यद्वत्‌ ।
तद्वत्कामा यं प्रविशन्ति सर्वे
स शान्तिमाप्नोति न कामकामी ॥ २.७० ॥

āpūryamāṇam-acala-pratiṣṭhaṁ
samudram-āpaḥ praviśanti yadvat |
tadvat-kāmā yaṁ praviśanti sarve
sa śāntim-āpnoti na kāma-kāmī || 2.70 ||

Actional excellence of the Self-knower

A question now becomes quite relevant :  Does the Knower then find the world of objects a deterrent or disturbance in preserving and enriching his Self-knowledge?  This point was already answered in verse 56 dealing with Sthitadhee.  Krishna clarifies it once again with a beautiful illustration:

Rivers from various directions flow into the ocean and yet the ocean, full to the brim, remains stable and poised.  Likewise, when the objects  of  senses all around continue to meet the Knower without causing any trouble or torment, then indeed does the Knower attain real peace and harmony, and not one who fosters desires and runs after sense objects.

Look at the vast deep ocean.  In fact, it covers three quarters of the surface of earth.  The mobile and immobile creation, with which we interact ceaselessly, occupy only one quarter of the earth.  A number of rivers originating from different mountain tops flow on and finally enter the ocean.  Some of these are very huge and  would seem to flood the sea and make it overflow its boundaries.  But does not the ocean remain stable and poised?   Every inflow, however mighty it be, gets dissolved into the saline depths.  The impurities which each inflow brings are assimilated by the ocean and the sea shines in its own purity and magnificence.  If the sea did not have this unique capacity of preserving its nature,  then the earth’s creation would not be able to sustain itself. The whole atmosphere would have turned inimical and destructive.

The inner dimensions of the Knower, the Sthita-dhee, must resemble those of the ocean, says Krishna.  The depth and might of the Subject, the Soul, must be such as to receive and assimilate all kinds of inputs from the world around.  To the ordinary people,  such inner dimensions will be virtually inconceivable.  But the introspecting, contemplating seeker begins to know and realize them.  And this  is what makes him grow into stablemindedness.

The fear, attraction and delusion about the objects become a thing of the past for the Knower.  At first look, the huge turbulent rivers may appear a threat to the ocean.  But a proper comprehension of  the ocean will change the impression altogether.  Likewise, the knower is no more lured by the objects;  nor has he any fear of the inputs they bring every time.  The Subject, he realizes, exists independently and shines in its own profundity. Only when the Subject  is there, the objects can cause their inputs or imprints.  The Subject every time outlives the inputs from objects, be these small or huge.  Unless it so outlives, how can further inputs be possible from objects?

The Self is thus the one True Existence – the first, the last and the in-between.  Swerving never from its axis, neither swelling nor shrinking the least, it constantly reigns in its own fullness and sovereignty.  Which then is more powerful?  the Single Subject or the multiple objects?

Let us think of the rivers more deeply.  How do they originate and from where?  The water from the surface of the ocean evaporates to become clouds which go on traversing in the sky until at last they get cooled and fall either as snow or as rain on the mountain tops and plains.  It is these showers that grow into rivers to flow on through different courses and finally reach back the oceans again.  The source as well as the terminus of all rivers are thus the ocean alone!

To the Knower, the perception is a process, a flow, which originates from his Subject.  It terminates equally in the same Subject.  The process in between is what we call the object and their perception.  How can then any object subdue or overpower the Subject?  On the other hand, the entire objectude and its perception merely acts as a clue to picture the vastness and magnificence of the Subject.  Instead of wisely being awake to this supreme truth, why fear the interactions with the world or grow doubtful or diffident?

In short, this all-comprehending, all-outliving Subject is what gives light and vision to the Knower.  The sthita-prajnata gives him the requisite ineffable dimension, which will grow endlessly like the grand space surrounding all heavenly bodies.  So much so that any extent of the object perception and   involvement will only make him feel greater and stronger in assimilating it all.  Sthita-dheetva thus goes on widening and deepening every time.

All thoughts and reactions are like the emergence of waves in succession on the surface of the ocean, caused by the action of wind.  The expanse and depth of the ocean alone enable the huge waves to emerge and traverse as they do.  Likewise, the Sthita-dhee’s unique internal depth and stability naturally enable him to take up interactions and activities of greater dimension and consequence.  That is how Ratnakara, a forest-dweller, came to be the first poet of the land, stood suddenly as the foster father of the abandoned Seeta, and subsequently reared her sons Lava and Kusha.  It is a similar development when the young Shankara, with his exquisite spiritual dimension, began to walk across the subcontinent, discussing and disseminating the great Upanishadic message, winning over even the hardest of opponents and counter-exponents.