All World
Gayatri Pariwar

Who is Sthitaprajóa (One of Steadfast Wisdom)? - II

In fifty-sixth ïlok³, Lord says - Du¡kheÌvanudvignaman³¡ sukheÌu vigatasp•ha¡| Vºtar³gabhayakrodha¡ sthitadhºrmunirucyate|| Meaning: One whose mind is not disturbed by adversity, who does not hanker after pleasures and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steadfast wisdom. There are many causes of distress, but a person of steadfast wisdom remains unperturbed by them. He has no desire for pleasures and hence he does not get perplexed by their absence. He becomes Vºtar³ga and attains the highest state of mind by abandoning attachment, fear and anger. Sthitaprajóa is worlds apart from ordinary people, like us, who always hanker after pleasures and get disturbed by adversity.

Param Pujya Gurudev used to say – ‘Transform adversity into tapa and happiness into yoga.’ Unfortunately, we get upset by adversity, regarding it as the punishment of God, and indulge in unbridled material pleasures in happy times. This attitude ultimately leads to distress. Everyone remembers God in bad times, but no one remembers Him in good times.

Had we transformed happiness into yoga and kept an eye of a yogi rather than a bhogi, we would have never got upset by adversity. Through his memorable works, such as Sanjeevani Sadhana, Jeevan devata ki sadhana aradhana, Hamari vasiyat aur virasat, Param Pujya Gurudev has tried to explain how to establish oneself in yoga. Heeding his advice, let us take the first step by transforming adversity into tapa and happiness into yoga. Recurrent ups and downs are part and parcel of our lives, but they can make us stronger and better.

In the next few ïlok³s, Lord Shri Krishna has given the definition of Sthitaprajóa in a unique way. In fifty-seventh ïlok³, Lord says – Ya¡ sarvatr³nabhisnehastattatpr³pya ïubh³ïubham| N³bhinandati na dveÌti tasya prajó³ pratiÌÚhit³|| Meaning: He, who stays everywhere without attachment, neither rejoicing during good times, nor lamenting during bad times, has steadfast wisdom.

Similarly, in the next ïlok³ Lord says - Yad³ sa®harate c³ya® k¿rmo´òg³nºva sarvaïa¡ | Indriy³ñºndriy³rthebhyastasya prajó³ pratiÌÚhit³|| Meaning: He, who withdraws his senses from the sense objects, as a tortoise retracts its limbs into its shell, has steadfast wisdom. Let us try to analyze these two ïlok³s. A person, whose wisdom is steadfast, does not get attached to any specific person. He is detached from emotions, like love and hate. But, wherever he finds even an iota of superconsciousness, he develops love and affection towards it. In fact, this is the biggest test of human life. If a person keeps himself away from attachment to worldly objects, loves only God, and works according to His will, it would be considered the highest achievement of his spiritual endeavor. A person will be so fortunate if he or she does not get thrilled or dejected by success or failure respectively. Only a person who has attained superconsciousness realizes this important truth.

In fact, envy is like the deadliest moth that feeds on the personality of a person; it is such a vice that renders him or her hollow. Envy or jealousy can make even a very progressive person stoop to the lowest level. If you find even a minute part of superconsciousness in any parijan of Shantikunj, Haridwar or any other Gayatri parijans, then love that quality rather than that parijan. Such affinity will lead one to the highest level of spiritual achievements. Super-consciousness keeps itself away from materialism, and if imbibed properly, can bring revolution in one’s life.

Fifty-eighth ïlok³ gives a very important message – A man (or woman) should withdraw his (or her) senses (that is, practise control over his or her senses) in the same way as the tortoise withdraws its delicate limbs into its hard shell. He or she, who succeeds in preventing the senses from getting engaged in material pleasures, gets established in steadfast wisdom; he or she becomes a great man or woman.

A devoted disciple of Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Akhandanandji Maharaj, used to chant Gayatri Mantra. In the initial stage, he would request his master to explain the process of this chanting. Then his master would explain – ‘Sandhya gets merged with Gayatri, Gayatri gets merged with Omkar, and Omkar gets merged with the Self (Soul). Similarly, while chanting, one should get merged with Gayatri.’ Thakur explained the process of withdrawing the senses one by one, like the tortoise withdrawing its limbs. This sadhana, which grants subtlety to a sadhak’s intellect, establishes it in Savita and makes him or her Sthitaprajóa. This illustration is taken from the diary of Ramakrishna’s Matha. It preaches the art of becoming Sthitaprajóa. Lord Shri Krishna has given the example of tortoise in Gita to explain the crux of the practice of sadhana. If we can understand it properly, then we can also practise it. Sthitaprajóa should be expert in merging indriyas (senses) into mana (mind), mana into chitta (psyche), chitta into aham (ego), aham into Self (soul) and Self into Supreme Self (or superconscious self). If this process of withdrawing becomes a practice in one’s life, then each and every particle of one’s being gets filled with supreme consciousness. Furthermore, the Lord says that superconsciousness cannot be achieved by forcing oneself to practise it. If the mind is not prepared beforehand, and the body is made to act forcibly, then the desired result cannot be obtained. It is likely that, to achieve superconsciousness, one becomes a recluse, an ascetic or observes ashwad vrat (not taking salt or sugar in food).

But, if the sense of taste lingers in the mind, then one cannot detach from it. The sense of taste has to be controlled in the mind. There is no benefit if taste is only abandoned physically. It has to be abandoned mentally. If one does not consume salt, which is an excellent habit, it will save him or her from several ailments, like high blood pressure, deteriorated kidneys, edema, and many more. Additionally, if one does not consume sugar, then he or she can similarly benefit by escaping several ailments. However, if we are constantly reminded of the taste of salty or sugary foods when sitting in front of them, while stubbornly maintaining our resolve not to eat them, then we cannot be regarded as performing either tapa or yoga. If we wish to control our senses, we will have to go to the mind – from mind to chitta (psyche), which is the storehouse of habits and accumulated sanskaras (engraved impressions), from chitta to aham (ego), and then establish the Self in purified ego. This is the meaning of establishing oneself in steadfast wisdom by detaching the senses from objects of worldly pleasures.

Therefore, let’s remove material pleasures from our minds, and merge our minds with Eternal Bliss of Supreme-Self (raso vai sa¡). Eternal Bliss is true bliss. It is a uniquely joyful experience. After experiencing such a joy, all the sense objects of material world appear ordinary. Then, the mind does not succumb to temptations - there is no desire for eating delicacies, there is no restiveness in the eyes for observing adverse events, and there are no cravings that make the body hollow. However, most people abandoning the sense objects still remain attached to those objects mentally.

Sthitaprajóa gets liberated even from mental attachment, because he or she gets established in the Supreme Self.

[To be continued] [Note: This is the translation of Hindi version of ‘Yug Gita’ (Part 1) by Dr. Pranav Pandya, published by Sri Vedmata Gayatri Trust, Shantikunj, Haridwar (2003)]