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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00023 Mar 2008

 
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Dear friends,

This is in continuation of the 2 parts I posted on the
list a few weeks ago.

               *******************

IN the 18 chapters of the Gita , a variety of
human "role-models" or "ideal human-being" templates
are described. 

There is the "gnyAni" role-model, for example. There
is the "karma-yOgi" model. Then there is also the
"sad-bhakta" ideal of man. There is also the ideal of
the "prapanna" and "sannyAsi" role-models described in
the penultimate and concluding  chapters of the
ancient text. 

All these "Ideal Man" archetypes, the Gita holds up
to us, and exhorts us ordinary men of the world to
choose and embrace in life -- as may well suit
individual temperament and predilection -- and then
strive to realize the ideal...

In Chapter 2, from verses #54 through #72 (which were
translated in my posting of Part 2) the Gita portrays
yet another picture of the "ideal human being" i.e.
the Ideal called "stitha-pragnya". This is indeed a
very special, very extraordinary conception of "Ideal
Manhood". In a remarkable chapter fully devoted to
describing this "Ideal Man", in verses that sparkle
with profound and soul-stirring ideas, the
Bhagavath-Gita describes how and why we should all
aspire to become "stitha-pragnya-s" and in the process
end up becoming "Ideal Men" of the world. The great
Swami Vivekananda of Sri Ramakrishna Math, and one of
the greatest sons of India, was known to have been
greatly inspired by it in life.

It is a marvellous concept and a glorius inspiration
indeed.... this Ideal of "sthitha-pragnya".

                    ***************

The Gita in verses 54-72 of the Gita deals with the
ideal of "sthitha-pragnya" in purely philosophical
terms i.e. of inquiry, examination and elucidation. 

Unfortunately, not all of us who are either unfamiliar
or unschooled in the discipline of Vedantic thinking
can by mere study these Sanskrit verses (or even the
simplest of translation such as the one offered by Sri
Eknath Eswaran reproduced here in the Part 2 posting)
hope to fully grasp or appreciate their true content,
meaning and message. To ponder over these Sanskrit
verses and to understand them in the fullness and
richness of  their significance calls for a very high
level indeed of wisdom and spiritual development. One
simply cannot arrive at an intuitive understanding of
who is a true "sthitha-pragnya" by a mere reading of
these verses. Equally, it would be impossible too to
be able to embrace the ideal itself and then strive to
realize it in life. 

                ***************

Thankfully, in order to help us overcome this
particular difficulty or deficiency of philosophical
understanding, the school of Vedanta offers us the aid
of "purAna" and "itihAsA" -- the age-old tradition of
epics, stories, fables and illustrative narratives
collectively known as the ancient "paurAnic" tradition
of India. Many of the most abstract or abstruse of
philosophical ideas of Vedanta, as found in original
texts such as the "Brahma Sutras", "Upanishads" and
the "Bhagavath-Gita", which otherwise would remain
beyond our comprehension, are rendered accessible and
palatable to the intelligence of the ordinary
man-on-the-street in India via hundreds of stories,
fables and narratives of the age-old "paurAnic"
tradition.

Thus, to understand the role-model of a "gnyani" in
the purely philosophical terms  of the Gita is
difficult, but if one turns to the Mahabharata and
follows closely the story there of BhismAchArya, and
how his his character in the entire "itihAsa" unfolds,
one can easily grasp who a true "gnyAni" is and how he
conducts himself in life.

Similarly, if one follows the story of Bhakta Prahlada
in the "purAna" Srimadh BhAgavatam, one can easily
appreciate the philosophical hallmarks of a true
"Bhakta" exactly in terms of how the Bhagavath-Gita
recounts and relates that human Ideal in abstract
terms.

Again, if we follow the story of Bharata in the
Ramayana, we can easily glean from his behaviour and
actions in that epic-story how a true "karma-yOgi"
behaves in life.

If we follow the story of HanumAn in the Ramayana we
can easily understand who a true servant of God is..
i.e. how one who has embraced the ideal of a "dAsa"
conducts himself in life.

Likewise, if we follow the story of Vibhishana we get
the picture of who the Gita describes in the abstract
as a true "prapanna" -- in purely philosohical
terms....

                 ************

>From all such "paurAnic" role-models or characters,
therefore, it becomes exceedingly clear to us what
indeed is the purpose of "paurAnic" tradition with all
its dramatic, fantastic flourishes -- i.e. its great
stories of battle, revenge, love life, death. All of
it is merely to illumine and illustrate the larger and
more profound truths contained in the purely
philosophical works of Vedantic scripture. 

When "purAna" adds flesh and blood and dramatic
clothes or costumes to a colorful character in one of
its stories or fables, only then does a great and
profound idea, concept, truth or a theme of deep
Vedantic philosophical inquiry suddenly come alive ...


It is only through a "paurNic" character such as a
Bhisma or a Dhruva or a Prahlada that we are thus
enabled to comprehend an abstract Vedantic concept or
ideal...

             ******************

The question now is: Where in the "paurANic" tradition
-- i.e. in the wealth of stories and fables therein --
can we find the character or characters who typify the
Ideal Man described as "sthitha-pragnya" by the
Bhagavath-Gita? 

If Bhisma is the character who symbolizes the Ideal of
the "gnyAni" and if Prahlada symbolizes the role-model
of a true "bhaktha", and if Hanuman is the
quintessential "daasa" .... which character or actor
in our ancient "itihAsa" and "purAnA" may be said to
be similarly the archetypical "sthitha-pragnya"? 

To whom may we point out, and say without a shadow of
doubt or debate, that he or she perfectly embodies or
personifies every quality possessed by a
"stitha-pragnya" according to Verses 54-72 of the
Bhagavath-Gita?

This question we will take up for discussion in the
next posting.

                     *****************
                   (to be continued)

daasan sudarshan m.k.    
                   










Warm Regards,
Sudarshan

" A life is perhaps worth nothing; but nothing certainly is worth as much as 
life". 
(Andre Malraux)


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