BG 2.55
atmany evatmana tushtah
sthita-prajnas tadocyate
SYNONYMS
sri–bhagavan uvaca — the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; prajahati — gives up; yada — when; kaman — desires for sense gratification; sarvan — of all varieties; partha — O son of Pritha; manah–gatan — of mental concoction; atmani — in the pure state of the soul; eva — certainly; atmana — by the purified mind; tushtah — satisfied; sthita–prajnah — transcendentally situated; tada — at that time; ucyate — is said.
TRANSLATION
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O Partha, when a man gives up all varieties of desire for sense gratification, which arise from mental concoction, and when his mind, thus purified, finds satisfaction in the self alone, then he is said to be in pure transcendental consciousness.
Now we will see a series of verses Krishna uses to describe the transcendentalist, but they all talk about the same person. In previous verses, ‘sthita-prajnas’ is used, whereas in upcoming verses, ‘sthita-dhira-muchyate’ will be used, but they all refer to the same person. Different attributes of this person can be understood by looking at the description. The word ‘sthita-prajnas’ appears in this section of the Gita, but after this, throughout the Gita, Krishna does not use the word ‘sthita-prajnas.’ So ‘prajnas’ generally means intelligence, wisdom, the faculty for deep thinking. ‘Sthita Prjnaya’ means that whose intelligence is fixed.
What are the characteristics of a person who is ‘sthita-prajnas’?
He has two characteristics:
(1) ‘prajahati yada kaman’ – ‘prajahati’ means to give up completely, ‘kaman’ means all desires.
(2) ‘sarvan partha mano-gatan’ – ‘sarvan’ refers to all these desires, which originate from the mind.
How do these desires originate? They originate from the mind, which is described as ‘mano-gatan.’
‘atmany evatmana tushtah’ – such a person is satisfied within by turning the mind inwards. Now, it is interesting. Normally, we think that all our desires are for happiness. So, if somebody gives up all desires, then that will also involve giving up the desire for happiness. So, if one gives up all desires, how can such a person be happy? That is why the important word here is ‘mano-gatan.’ What kind of desire has to be given up? ‘mano-gatan,’ ‘sarvan partha mano-gatan.’ All the desires that originate from the mind are to be given up. But the Atma (soul) is self-joyful, and when one situates oneself at the spiritual level, then one experiences joy. It implies, if we consider three levels of our existence: soul is at spiritual level, mind is at subtle level, and senses and sense objects are at gross level.
Normally speaking, consciousness is routed through the mind outward, through the senses to the external world. And in contact with the senses and the sense objects in the external world, there is sometimes pleasure and often pain. So, ‘prajahati yada kaman sarvan partha mano-gatan’ means the external sense objects and senses that come in contact with each other, the desire for that contact, and the pleasure thereof – that desire is rejected. And in that desire, there can be a variety of desires: ‘I wanted to do this, I wanted to do that.’ All those desires are rejected (‘mano-gatan’). But then afterwards, ‘atmany evatmana’ – here the word ‘atma’ is used twice. So, the mind, thus purified, when it is fixed in the self, then one gets happiness – ‘atmany evatmana tushtah.’ ‘Tushtah’ means satisfied. The mind can be looking outward or it can be looking inwards. What is the meaning of the mind looking outward or inwards? As we discussed earlier, the mind is a route of consciousness, and the soul is the root of consciousness. So, when consciousness is channeled outward through the mind, it can either go outwards to the external world, but if we become introspective, that means we direct our thought inwards, we experience inner happiness. Because we, as souls, are spiritual, and as spiritual beings, we are joyful (‘Sac-cid-ananda’). ‘Ananda’ is a characteristic of the soul.
The defining characteristic of ‘sthita-prajnas,’ as Krishna is saying, is that a person rejects external pleasures and rejoices in inner pleasures. Such a person is ‘sthita-prajnas.’ Srila Prabhupada defines very simply what is the difference is between a materialist and a spiritualist: the materialist is one who seeks pleasure externally, and the spiritualist is one who seeks pleasure internally. Prabhupada mentioned how this applies to devotees as well. Someone can say that devotees also take pleasure in having darshan of deities or participating in kirtan, etc. Are these pleasures external? These may seem like external pleasures, but they are external pleasures that take us inward. But sense objects take us further outward and, since the sense objects don’t have any intrinsic connection with us, when we get attracted to them, we get further lost, we get further distant and alienated from our inner spiritual nature. But Krishna is present in our heart, and the same Krishna is manifested externally in various spiritual sense objects, in various divine manifestations – deities, holy names, mridanga, etc. So, all these are different ways and different degrees of manifestations of Krishna. And when we focus our consciousness on them, it may seem like we are getting some external pleasure or pleasure from an external source. But actually, the pleasure that comes is because of the contact with the soul and Krishna. So, that same Krishna who is manifesting externally, say as the holy name or as the deity, the same Krishna is present in our heart. And when we contact Krishna externally, we awaken spiritually. And the more we awaken spiritually, the more we can perceive and relish Krishna internally. That is why the happiness that we get in devotional service in the initial stages of our spiritual life, we need external stimuli for reminding ourselves of Krishna and for connecting with Krishna. And of course, in an advanced stage also, we still use the external manifestation. We serve the external manifestation, for example, go and take darshan of the deity because we love Krishna. But the important point is that the happiness that a devotee gets is not external, it is internal. Because even if external factors are involved, the external factors lead us more and more inward. So, in this way, a devotee turns from outer happiness to inner happiness, and this is the defining characteristic of ‘sthita-prajnas.’ So, the most important point is where do we seek happiness? If we are seeking happiness externally, we are materialists. So, Krishna is telling Arjuna that this is ‘sthita-prajnas.’ Krishna wants Arjuna to become ‘sthita-prajnas’ – one who seeks happiness internally.
Now, many people think that what is outside of me is external, and what is inside of me is internal. This is a naive idea. People say, ‘look within and find peace.’ But when we look internally, we find only agitation, since we have different desires and anxieties. So, if we think that what is inward is spiritual and what is outward is material, then that is a simplistic understanding where we still think of ourselves as the body. When I think of myself as the body, then that which is outside the body is external, and that which is inside the body is internal. But actually, inside the body is the mind, and then there is the soul. So, the mental is not spiritual, and what is connected with the mind is not spiritual. Therefore, to understand what is internal and what is external, we must consider the reference point not of the body but of the soul. From the soul’s point of view, the bodily and mental aspects are both external. That is why the desires that arise in the mind may be internal from the body’s point of view, but from the soul’s point of view, they are external. This is why Krishna is saying, ‘sarvan partha mano-gatan.’ When seeking happiness, it is not limited to the internal level of the mind. We need to seek happiness at the spiritual level as well. So, ‘atmany evatmana tushtah.’ We might as well, look for happiness not only internally at the mental level but also at the internal and spiritual level, not limiting ourselves to the mental level alone. Therefore, according to the Bhagavad Gita’s perspective, even the mental aspect is considered external. Krishna advises, ‘therefore, give up mental desires and turn towards me to find happiness.’ This is the first defining characteristic. The next characteristic is ‘ka bhasha.’ Thus, the defining characteristic of a transcendentalist is the seeking of happiness internally rather than externally.
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