Bits of life

S-29 words-2000

The sthita pragya or a sage of steady wisdom.

Arjuna asked,
“What is the demeanor and behavior of the sthita pragya or a man of steady wisdom?”

Krishna answered,
“A man of steady wisdom does not waver in actions. He rises above both pain and pleasure. He knows that the world as we see is illusory. The beginning is unknown and the end is a mystery. The material world as we see it is not permanent. The man of wisdom knows these facts and so he attaches no importance to any of the worldly things. He is always in control of his mind. What is day for the worldly man is night to him. He wakes up when the world is asleep. All the material pleasures make up the day for an ordinary man but for the gnana yogi the day is when he looks at him and not the worldly things. His thoughts are controlled. He is happy with self. Often he makes deep inquiry into the nature of things. He considers himself as a by stander and not part of the crowd that acts for some ulterior end. He has no ends and no means. He is indifferent to everything that an ordinary man craves and works hard to achieve.

He experiences no anger no desire. He loves not nor he hates. He withdraws all his senses from sense objects and ever in control of his mind. He is the master not the slave of emotions.
Therefore as long as he lives, he lives only in self. He is ever happy with his own self. He craves no pleasures. He know that this body that we have has an end. But the soul that accompanies the body is deathless and immortal. The soul cannot be destroyed. No fire can kill it nor water wet it nor wind parch it. It is beyond anyone’s control. The man of steady wisdom knows that those are born must die and those who die are surely to be born again. This is the law of nature. It is a relentless cycle. Death occurs when the body is decayed. Just as we cast off worn out clothes and put on new ones , the soul casts off the old body and takes on a new one. So if you think you are killing or the killed think he is killed both are wrong. When you kill or get killed it is only the physical body that is subjected to death, not the soul which is eternal. The man stead wisdom knows these facts.
Then Arjuna asked Krishna again,
“O Krishna if the man of steady wisdom is better then why do you ask me to fight or act?”
Krishna answered.
“Duty is important. Even the yogi is occupied in thinking which is his action.
Chapter 3
Having been born in the world it is the nature of things to act. Inaction is not the duty. Action is something that everyone engages in. you cannot give up or renounce action by merely sitting. Although you say you renounced the world the mind is in constant activity. It plans and schemes and it has likes and dislikes. Renunciation is possible only if the mind withdraws all the pleasures and pains from sense objects. To achieve this state the best possible way is to engage yourself in nishkama karma or desireless action. It should not matter whether you win or lose. All you have to do is do your duty.
Fruits of action are not yours to think of. When you work or attend to a certain duty, you have the freedom only to do it. You don’t have the freedom to expect rewards or punishment. The results may be in your favor or they may not be in your favor. In other words have no attachment to the fruits of action. Be detached. Sacrifice your action and the fruits thereof to me. action is important because without action you cannot maintain your body. Actions is better than inaction. Desireless actions are like sacrifice to god that nourishes you.

Take the example of Janaka, the king of Mithila, father of Sita, Rama’s wife. People like Janaka work for the worldly good, never for themselves. They set an example for the ordinary people. They show the way as to how to work without expectations. Ordinary men without much knowledge emulate them which is good for them. Look at me Arjuna, I don’t have to work at all. But I am constantly engaged in action because if I don’t work there will be destruction and confusion everywhere. People will follow whatever action the wise take.
Arjuna asked again another question.

He said,
“O Krishna! Why does a man sin? Sometimes he sins against his will. Why does this happen?
Krishna answered it in the following way.
“the root of all sin is desire and anger. When a man attaches importance to sense objects, he is bound by desire. If anything comes in the way of attaining his desire, a man gets anger. Thus desire and anger are the causes for his fall. Mind and intellect are said to be the seat of desire. As fire is enveloped by smoke, as a mirror is covered in dust, man’s true self is hidden by desire and attachment to material things. Thus desire is the constant enemy of the wise man. It is never satisfied. As fire blazes forth the more you feed it with fuel, so the desire of a man grows the more it feeds on the objects of enjoyment. Senses are superior to the body and superior to senses is the mind. Superior to mind is intellect. One who is superior to the intellect is He (the Self).

Thus knowing Him who is superior to the intellect and restraining self by Self, O Mighty armed Arjuna! Slay the enemy in the form of desire, which is hard to conquer.
Chapter-4
The yoga of the division of wisdom.
The blessed Lord said,
“ I taught this yoga to Vivaswan who in turn gave it to Manu and Manu proclaimed it to the Ikshwaku, the founder of the sun dynasty of the Kshatriyas. Rulers should know this yoga so they can rule with justice and right discrimination. I taught it to the Sun god in ancient times. I teach it to you because you are my devotee and friend.

Arjuna had a sensible doubt as he asked Krishna,
“your birth was later. Earlier was the birth of Vivaswan. How am I to understand that you taught this yoga in the beginning?”
Lord Krishna answered,
“You and I have both passed many births. You don’t remember them. I do. Your power of vision and intuition are limited and therefore you cannot recall those births of yours which have taken place before now. Your eye of wisdom has not opened because of your previous actions. But I know them because I am omniscient.
Though I am unborn and of imperishable nature, and I am the Lord of all beings, governing my own nature, I am born by my own Maya.

Whenever there is decline of righteousness and rise of unrighteousness I create and manifest myself. For the protection of the good and the destruction of the wicked and for the establishment of righteousness, I am born in every age.
Who knows this nature of mine in true light my divine birth and action will come to me after abandoning the body.
Many have attained to my Being, by having themselves freed from attachment, desire, fear and anger, taking refuge in me, purified by the fire of knowledge. Men are free to approach me whatever path of action they choose. I reward them accordingly. Men are classified according to their gunas (qualities) and karma (action). These are divided into three categories, namely, satvika ( those that do not have extremities of emotions and actions.) the rajasika ( those who are highly emotional and intense and ruled by fierce feelings) and the tamasika ( the dull and those who prefer to be lazy and ruled by inertia)

The Satvika man-
The man of moderateness is he who exercises control over his senses. He is he master of his mind. He is interested in doing his duty without expectation and works for not himself but for all. He is never angry or desirous of fruits of action. His likes range from spiritual philosophy, pleasantly disposed to all. He never gets angry unless he deliberately wants to exercise it. He keeps himself in control and his mind never wavers from duty. He eats moderately. He prefers food that is simple and nourishing to the mind and body. He eats fresh atmosphere of nature and his friends are of his kind mostly.

The Rajasika man-
He is the fierce kind. He is extremely emotional. He loves wealth and affluence. He is full of vanity and show. His anger and desire are feared by the fellowmen. He loves to wear rich clothes and loves to dominate the rest of the population. He is intelligent but he uses it to his own benefit. He prefers to amass and enjoy riches. He eats foods rich in spices and other additions of elements such as salt,spice and peppers. He eats too much and spends on curing ailments. He prefers the tongue biting spice, sour and bitter tasting foods. But never gives up his tasted even though they are advisable. He wants to wield authority on people. He worships tantric deities and is capable of fierce penance through which he wants to attain utmost authority on people. Often he compromises with morals and indulges in unethical activities.

The Tamasic man-

The tamasic man is ignorant. He takes pleasure in his Avidya and desires to remain submerged in the depths of it. He lazy and avoids action. Most of the time he prefers to sleep, which is indicative of inertia. He loves to gossip and waste his time in useless activities. He likes to dress indolently often uncaring for the society around. He is unclean and wishes to remain so. His food habits are despicable. He prefers putrid, rotten kind of foods. He is inactive and gives no value to time. He is the caviling type of individual. He is a coward and often betrays those who trust him. He hardly has friends. He is greedy and tries to get easy money.

Often individuals are a mixture of all the three natures. We all have a certain percentage of each of the above kinds of nature. But an individual is said to be a certain kind when a particular nature dominates in his personality.

Chapter-5

The yoga of renunciation of action-

Arjuna poses another pertinent question to Lord Krishna.
“O Kesava! Of the two paths namely, renunciation of action and the yoga of action, which is better? Please do remove my confusion because you tell both are of great value.”

Krishna said,
“O Arjuna! Yoga of action is better than renunciation of action. I will tell you why. One who is devoted to action, one whose mind is pure, who has conquered the self, who has subdued his senses and sees the Self in self in all creatures although acting, is not affected. He who does the yoga of action is not affected by the actions. He offers them to the Brahman. He is not tainted by them just as a lotus leaf is not tainted by water although it is submerged in water.

The karma yogi is well poised and harmonized having abandoned the fruit of action attains to eternal peace. They fix their intellect in Brahman or supreme self. They are happy in themselves. Their motive is to merge with the Brahman despite being in the thick of action, while delivering their duties with a single minded concentration. These sages or karma yogis look upon a Brahman endowed with learning, a cow or an elephant or a dog with equality.