Summarized by : Shivkumar Natarajan
With prior class the section of Karma Yoga has ended. We covered verses 54-56 in class of 27th Jan.
Verse 54: Arjuna asks the Lord “How does one identify a Sthitha Pragnya person ?
- What is the state of his mind
- How does that person speak/sit/walk (namely how does one identify that person?)By now Arjuna has forgotten his hysteria and in verse 53 Lord Krishna had introduced the idea of a Sthithaprajnya person: A person of steady wisdom has come to superconscious state/balance. So Arjuna is eager to know more about a person who has reached that state. He is also worried that if he attains that state he will no longer be able to lead a vigorous life as earlier.
Verse 55: Lord Krishna reveals that a person who has cast of all desires of the mind and is satisfied in the Self by the self then he is said to be of steady wisdom.
Desires are caused due to intellect getting contaminated by ignorance. However an equipoised person has rid self of ignorance through knowledge gained and has become desire less. A desire is capacity of mind to chase external objects to be happier than one is at present. Such a person is happy by himself (not dependent on external factors). The person feels contended and complete and if free from desires.
If one is putting conditions and dependencies then it is not Karma Yoga. If one is not happy with once own company then why would others be happy in your company?
Verse 56: A Sthithaprajnya person is one whose mind is not shaken up by adversity and chase pleasures during prosperity. One who is free from attachment, fear and anger.
We then delved into few examples and had lively discussion around the same:
- As an example if one volunteers in the mission one will find what one is seeking.If one looks for Bhakti then there is ample opportunity for same. Similarly if one looks for gnyan, recognition or boosting once ego there is always tremendous opportunity for finding the same too.
- Taking care of once parents in India while working abroad. If one has done all that one can and then if mind keeps going back and second guessing then it will cause attachment and that will lead to vasanas that will come back in subsequent lives
- We then took another example of kids leaving an empty nest. We discussed how there were 2 sides to the coin. On one hand parents expectation from kids for calls and need for a mutual framework. We discussed parents taking it to the extreme by being helicopter parents/tiger moms. On other side of coin kids going through multiple issues/items on their end. There is a need for the parent to practice unconditional love. We discussed what Swamiji would say about the need to “detach and to attach”. There being a need to have a higher purpose to get attached too. Thus by managing attachment the parent too will not react to the kid with baggage when the kid do call after a long gap.
Goals and objectives are different. Moderate them/ balance it and move on. One needs to perform Shravanam (Study)/Manana (Reflect or contemplate and make it your own) and Niddhi Dhyasam (Meditate) to internalize once spiritual learning
We then watched the videos for Ch2 verse 55 and verse 56
Verse 55 Summary : https://www.youtube.com/watch?
To you and I this world is a distraction. Who in this world is a man of perfection. One who no more desires to enjoy the world outside. The mind has emptied itself from all the sensous desires of the world outside. This is not referring to suppression of desire. As the person has found satisfaction in higher consciousness he is no longer tempted by desires of lower world. (the person sees no value in same like an adult who finds no value in toys that were cherished in childhood) .. The person has discovered a great treasure in higher consciousness, an infinite amount of happiness : person is enjoying Bliss infinite. It’s not escapism as one has found a far greater happiness.
Verse 56 Summary:
Attachment, Fear and Anger are mentioned of the hundreds of emotions as the three are interconnected. A man of perfection is not caught in the three. When an individual develops a strong desire a deep Attachment is formed. The thought of not attaining what one desires leads to fear. If the object is secured, then one fears security of that object. Anything that comes between the person and his object of desire, then the same attachment causes fear to get converted to Anger. There is no need to try to leave 3 emotions. If we leave one (attachment) the other 2 will disappear as they are the consequences of the first emotion.
Additionally, you can also refer to another video of Gurudev on Sloka-56 -
No comments:
Post a Comment