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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00094 Feb 2008

 
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Dear friends,

In Chapter 2 of the Bhagavath-Gita, beginning from
Verse#54 all the way through to the end at Verse#72,
the image and character of the "Ideal Man" called
"stitha-pragnya" is eloquently and beautifully essayed
by Lord Krishna. 

Anyone who claims to be a student of Vedanta (and who
is keen to understand too questions like "Who is the
Ideal Man?", "How does he live?", and "How does he
engage himself in this world?") should at least once
in a lifetime take pains to undertake a deep study of
these 18 stanzas in the most philosophical, the most
thought-provoking of all chapters in the Gita -- the
2nd Chapter. 

In this posting I reproduce a very brief and
synopsistic English translation of these verses. A
great contemporary votary of Vedanta, Sri Eknath
Eswaran,  whom I admire greatly for both his
profundity of thought and felicity of expression, has
offered this elegant translation. I have always found
it to be endearingly simple and illuminating as well.
It is quite important to appreciate these passages of
the Gita, and the ideas and themes occurring therein,
in order to be able to discuss what follows in my
further postings to follow. 

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

Like a proper student Arjuna begins by humbly asking
Krishna:

"Tell me of those who live established in Wisdom, ever
aware of the Self, O Krishna. How do they talk? How
sit? How move about?" 

"arjuna uvaacha . 

"sthitapraGYasya kaa bhaashhaa samaadhisthasya keshava
.. 
sthitadhiiH kiM prabhaashheta kimaasiita vrajeta kim.h
... 2\.54.."

And then Krishna begins to answer with the following
soul-stirring words:

"shriibhagavaanuvaacha . 
prajahaati yadaa kaamaansarvaanpaartha manogataan.h . 
aatmanyevaatmanaa tushhTaH sthitapraGYastadochyate ..
2\.55.. 

"They live in Wisdom who see themselves in all and all
in them, who have renounced every selfish desire and
sense craving tormenting the heart.

"Neither agitated by grief nor hankering after
pleasure, they live free from lust and fear and anger.
Established in meditation, they are truly wise.
Fettered no more by selfish attachments, they are
neither elated by good fortune nor depressed by bad.
Such are the seers.

"Even as a tortoise draws in its limbs, the wise can
draw in their senses at will. Aspirants abstain from
sense pleasures, but they still crave for them. These
cravings all disappear when they see the highest goal.
Even of those who tread the path, the stormy senses
can sweep off the mind. They live in Wisdom who subdue
their senses and keep their minds ever absorbed in Me.

"When you keep thinking about sense objects,
attachment comes. Attachment breeds desire, the lust
of possession then turns to anger. Anger clouds the
judgment; you can no longer learn from past mistakes.
Lost is the power to choose between what is wise and
what is unwise, and your life is utter waste. But when
you move amidst the world of senses, free from
attachment and aversion alike, there comes the peace
in which all sorrows end, and you live in the Wisdom
of the Self.

"The disunited mind is far from wise; how can it
meditate? How can it be at peace with itself? When you
know no peace, how can you know joy? When you let your
mind follow the call of the senses, they carry away
your better judgment as storms drive a boat off its
charted course on the sea.

"Use all your power to free the senses from
attachement and aversion alike, and live in the full
Wisdom of the Self. Such a sage awakes to light in
what is night to all creatures. But that which the
world calls day is the night of ignorance to the wise.

"As rivers flow into the ocean but cannot make the
vast ocean overflow, so flow the streams of the
sense-world into the sea of peace that is the sage.
But this is not so with the desirer of desires.

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

Then at the end of the Chapter in one magnificent
tellingly soulful verse, Krishna delivers the
following peroration:

"eshhaa braahmii sthitiH paartha nainaaM praapya
vimuhyati . 
sthitvaasyaamantakaale.api
brahmanirvaaNamR^ich{}chhati .. 2\.72.. 

"They are forever free who renounce all selfish
desires and break away from the ego-cage of "I", "me"
and "mine" to be united with the Lord. This is the
supreme state. Attain to this, and pass from death to
immortality....

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

We will continue in the next posting.

Regards, daasan Sudarshan MK







Warm Regards,
Sudarshan

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


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