Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan

Next is Krishna’s answer Srila Prabhupada combines four verses and given the purport

Bg 14.22-25

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
prakāśaṁ ca pravṛttiṁ ca
moham eva ca pāṇḍava
na dveṣṭi sampravṛttāni
na nivṛttāni kāṅkṣati

udāsīna-vad āsīno
guṇair yo na vicālyate
guṇā vartanta ity evaṁ
yo ’vatiṣṭhati neṅgate

sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ sva-sthaḥ
sama-loṣṭāśma-kāñcanaḥ
tulya-priyāpriyo dhīras
tulya-nindātma-saṁstutiḥ

mānāpamānayos tulyas
tulyo mitrāri-pakṣayoḥ
sarvārambha-parityāgī
guṇātītaḥ sa ucyate

Synonyms: 

śrī–bhagavān uvāca — the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; prakāśam — illumination; ca — and; pravṛttim— attachment; ca — and; moham — illusion; eva ca — also; pāṇḍava — O son of Pāṇḍu; na dveṣṭi — does not hate; sampravṛttāni — although developed; na nivṛttāni — nor stopping development; kāṅkṣati — desires; udāsīna–vat — as if neutral; āsīnaḥ — situated; guṇaiḥ — by the qualities; yaḥ — one who; na — never; vicālyate— is agitated; guṇāḥ — the qualities; vartante — are acting; iti evam — knowing thus; yaḥ — one who; avatiṣṭhati— remains; na — never; iṅgate — flickers; sama — equal; duḥkha — in distress; sukhaḥ — and happiness; sva–sthaḥ — being situated in himself; sama — equally; loṣṭa — a lump of earth; aśma — stone; kāñcanaḥ — gold; tulya — equally disposed; priya — to the dear; apriyaḥ — and the undesirable; dhīraḥ — steady; tulya — equal; nindā — in defamation; ātma–saṁstutiḥ — and praise of himself; māna — in honor; apamānayoḥ — and dishonor; tulyaḥ — equal; tulyaḥ — equal; mitra — of friends; ari — and enemies; pakṣayoḥ — to the parties; sarva — of all; ārambha — endeavors; parityāgī — renouncer; guṇa–atītaḥ — transcendental to the material modes of nature; saḥ — he; ucyate — is said to be.

Translation: 

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O son of Pāṇḍu, he who does not hate illumination, attachment and delusion when they are present or long for them when they disappear; who is unwavering and undisturbed through all these reactions of the material qualities, remaining neutral and transcendental, knowing that the modes alone are active; who is situated in the self and regards alike happiness and distress; who looks upon a lump of earth, a stone and a piece of gold with an equal eye; who is equal toward the desirable and the undesirable; who is steady, situated equally well in praise and blame, honor and dishonor; who treats alike both friend and enemy; and who has renounced all material activities – such a person is said to have transcended the modes of nature.

 

prakāśaṁ ca pravṛttiṁ ca

As we discussed earlier14.11 Prakash is characteristic of goodness 

pravṛttiṁ is passionate action

moham eva ca, illusion, which is characteristics of ignorance pāṇḍava, as discussed in 14.13

So Krishna is referring to all three modes here 

na dveṣṭi sampravṛttāni, so when above modes happen or come one doesn’t resent (1) 

na nivṛttāni kāṅkṣati, when these goes away one who doesn’t crave for it (2)

And when this way one lives

udāsīna-vad āsīno, 

guṇair yo na vicālyate

udāsīna-vad āsīno, how is one situated? Udāsīna (3)

It is interesting that Krishna has refers to same phrase to refer to one’s situation in 9.9 

guṇair yo na vicālyate

as Super Soul is situated detached similarly the soul should become detached (same 3)

So when one is situated thus then:

na dveṣṭi sampravṛttāni
na nivṛttāni kāṅkṣati

na dveṣṭi sampravṛttāni, when one observes but one doesn’t get excited by it

one understand ok now mode of passion is coming, now mode of ignorance is coming, one understands but one doesn’t get excited by it, one doesn’t get agitated by it. One neither craves for it nor laments about it, that means basically one just observes. 

So here Krishna is teaching a very important concept learning to become observer of our own thoughts. 

Now we by default observe world around us, we may not contemplate what we observe. So just as we observe the outer world around us BG is telling us to observe inner world. So inner world is mental world. In inner there is mental and there is spiritual. So when thought about lust, anger comes we should understand that they are not our thought since they are within us so we can said it is mine but it is not necessary, as it is not necessary that everyone who is in our house is ours, e.g. stranger, passerby, thieves because I as a soul is different from the body with this understanding we soul can observe thought externally. Only when we get excited about a thought like lust, it gains control over us. 

Like Krishna said Na Kama Kami, Kama Kami means desirer of desires, so a thought may come in but we don’t have to scum to it, we can say no to them, and when we say no they have to go they cannot stay there very long, 

guṇā vartanta ity evaṁ
yo ’vatiṣṭhati neṅgate

guṇā vartanta ity evaṁ, understand that these are the modes

yo ’vatiṣṭhati neṅgate, one doesn’t get shaken by these (4)

because one knows that these are the modes and these are not my actual thoughts. These are simply the intrusions of the modes and they cannot stay very long with me, they will just go off. So I should just observe them and let them go. So when they go away like that over a period of time they will stop visiting. So basically the idea is to become detached observer. 

While observing our thoughts when sometime we see that we got angry with someone, or we scum to a anartha in a way we did not want to scum to, then afterwards we can observe on what was my thought process, it is one thing to beat ourselves that I am so fallen, I am this, I am that, that doesn’t serve any purpose, the purpose of spiritual standards is not to beat us down, the purpose of principles of Bhakti is to give us wings to fly it is not to burden us down with guilt, if a person doesn’t have wings and they are given additional wings then that becomes weight to us burden to us, then it becomes additional weight to carry, but the purpose of wings is not to add to the weight, if we know how to use wings then the wings will enable us to fly. When we started flying the wings become blessing and not a burden, so bhakti process is not additional weight but they are wings, to fly higher and higher levels of spiritual consciousness. 

So when we observe the sequence of thoughts we understand how I was scum, when a particular thought came I should have chosen that reaction instead of this. So if we cannot become observer while the thoughts are coming we can become observer later. So in this way we can catch the mind deceiving us. We know from scriptures that the mind cheats us but we don’t know exactly how the mind cheats us. 

While doing any actions we should be conscious of our current and other thoughts which are coming in the mind.  We can call this as conscious of our consciousness.

After this Krishna tells how we can observe the behavior of others who has transcended the modes. Or how by behavior we can infer who has transcended the modes.

sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ sva-sthaḥ
sama-loṣṭāśma-kāñcanaḥ
tulya-priyāpriyo dhīras
tulya-nindātma-saṁstutiḥ

mānāpamānayos tulyas
tulyo mitrāri-pakṣayoḥ tulya-nindātma-saṁstutiḥ
sarvārambha-parityāgī
guṇātītaḥ sa ucyate

sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ sva-sthaḥ, in happiness and in distress sva-sthaḥ well situated (5). Svais one own and sthaḥ is situated, so sva-sthaḥ is situated in one’s own nature, 

sama-loṣṭāśma-kāñcanaḥ, equipoised in pebbles and golds (6)

tulya-priyāpriyo dhīras (7), whatever one gets favorable or unfavorable 

tulya-nindātma-saṁstutiḥ (8), Ninda is criticism and stutiḥ is praise 

mānāpamānayos tulyas (9),

What is difference between Ninda and Stuti and Mana – Apamana 

Ninda and Stuti is in terms of what others are doing and Mana – Apamana is what we are perceiving. Someone may be doing stuti but we may feel apamana e.g. we are expecting more praise. 

Krishna is saying be equipoised in both. 

tulyo mitrāri-pakṣayoḥ (10), ari is enemy, mitra is friend, pakṣayoḥ to all kinds of parties.

sarvārambha-parityāgī (11), this came several times in BG, 

guṇātītaḥ sa ucyate, such a person is Guna-atitah

So essential common denominator is, all these is to be equipoised to be calm, to be equal towards things, that is to not get excited by material things, to know that beyond matter is spirit and to know that spiritual reality is the ultimate reality, the material reality is the temporary reality. 

Why equipoised because we understand that all the verities seen in material nature is product of material duality. 

SP Purport: How does he become aloof? He does not desire to enjoy the body, nor does he desire to get out of it.

Social and political issues do not affect him, because he knows the situation of temporary upheavals and disturbances.

End of transcription.