In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Shri Krishna tells Arjun to become sthitpragya
(state in which doubts arise about, ‘I am the doer,’ while under the
foundation of the ego). When one sets a goal to reach a particular inner
state, it is natural to feel curious about the qualities of a person who
has already reached that state. With this same curiosity, Arjun too asks
Lord Shri Krishna in the second chapter as follows.
sthitapragnyasya kaa bhaashaa samaadhisthasya keshav |2
sthitadhih kim prabhaashet kimaasit vrajet kim || 54||
Meaning “O Keshav! What is the nature of a sthitpragya person? How does
such a person speak? How do they sit? How do they walk?” In other words,
what is the conduct of a person who has attained this state?
In reply, the Lord explains to Arjun that the one who has become steady in
pragnya (right intellect), who can separate the non-essential from the
essential and hold on to the essence, that is the state of sthita pragnya.
Yah sarvatraaabhisnehstattatprapya shubhaashubham |2
Naabhinandati na dveshti tasya pragnya pratishthita || 57||
In this verse, Lord Shri Krishna also says that the person who remains
unattached in all situations; who does not rejoice with praise when
something favourable happens, nor feels hatred when something unfavourable
occurs, such a person’s pragnya (the direct liberating light of the Self)
becomes steady.
*Explains the essence of the state of a Sthit Pragya, saying that if one is
in the state of Sthit Pragya, then the person does not become emotional*.
The one who remains in motion is called Sthit Pragya. When inner stability
never shakes; when nothing affects them; when insult comes, or days of
happiness or sorrow come, yet they remain untouched by all of it, that is
called sthira pragya. But the state of Sthit Pragya does not constantly
produce Samadhi (a blissful state that comes about when one becomes free
from mental, physical and externally induced suffering). Until the
knowledge of one’s true Self arises, samadhi does not occur. When delusion
falls away, then samadhi arises!
To lift up Arjun, who had become emotional and disheartened at the thought
of fighting his own loved ones, Lord Shri Krishna instructed him to become
Sthit Pragya. Whereas Lord Shri Krishna Himself always remained in a far
higher state, a state of complete detachment.
Param Pujya Dadashri, who knows the very heart of Lord Shri Krishna, says
that, “Sthitpragya begins from the moment you begin to make a
differentiation through words when you say, “This is the Atma and it is
separate from everything else.” The state of Sthit Pragya begins from the
moment you utter the difference till the moment you attain the experience
of the Soul (the Self). That is the state of Sthit Pragya.”
He says that, “Sthitpragya means to recognize and know the attributes of
the Self through the intellect that has become pure, but not the actual
experience of these qualities. With the state of sthitpragya, one knows and
recognizes the universe and its elements; that verily is called the state
of shuddha samkit.”
Sthitpragya is not the state of direct experience. It means being steady in
pragnya, moving towards pragnya. There are two words: buddhi, which means
agnya (the energy of ignorance) and pragnya (the liberating energy of the
Self). That which does not allow one to come out of the worldly cycle is
called intellect and that which does not allow one to come out of the Self
is called pragnya. The state that leads one towards the Self is called the
sthitpragya state, but in that state the Self is not yet fully realized.
“Saying ‘I’m the doer, I’m the doer’ is ignorance.” Similarly, a person in
the sthita pragnya state begins to doubt, thinking, “I am not the doer; I
am the Self,” but this does not yet come into direct experience for him.
In the state of sthitpragya, the intellect begins to become right,
thinking, “I should not hurt anyone, I should not create enmity, and if
someone hurts me, I should not take revenge.” Thus, sthitpragya is a state
in which a person is turning away from the worldly life, but has not yet
fully entered into the Self. It is a high state, but there is a great
difference between the state of sthitpragya and truly realizing the Self.
Sthitpragya is the state in which a person becomes steady in pragnya. After
reaching this state, one still has to attain the Self (Atma). Once the Self
is attained, all actions are resolved with equanimity, without any
attachment or abhorrence!
Beyond the state of sthitpragya lies the direct Knowledge of the Self,
through which the Self is directly experienced. This is called parmarth
samkit (permanent conviction of the right belief that ‘I am pure Soul’).
Through which, one can truly see, recognize, and experience the entire
world and all the fundamental elements of existence! When Self-realization
happens, the power of pragnya begins to manifest. Mainly, when the pratiti
(conviction) of the real Self becomes firmly established, pragnya awakens,
and then by rule liberation becomes inevitable. When true Knowledge of the
Self is attained, pragnya becomes fully active.
What is the the essence of the Bhagavad Gita?
Asatno bhaav nathi,” means [that which is destructible] has no existence at
all. Asat means that which is not an eternal element; there is no existence
at all of that over here. And there is no non-existence (abhaav) of the
Sat. Sat means eternal element (vastu). That which exists in the past, the
present, and the future is called Sat. It remains in existence in all three
time periods. That which never undergoes destruction is called Sat, and
that which is destructible (vinashi) is called asat.” The Gita says, “Those
who are tattvadarshi (with complete experience of the Self) conclusively
See that ‘this’ is indestructible, and ‘this’ is destructible. That which
has pervaded (vyaapt) throughout this entire body, Know that to be
indestructible. This entire body has been pervaded by the Self. It is
because the Self is present, that this body is in existence [alive];
otherwise, if this Self were to not be present, then the body would not
exist, that is what it is trying to say. No one has the power to destroy
that which does not wear away (avyay). No one has the power to destroy that
which is indestructible, that is what the Gita says.”
Shreyan svadharmo vigunah paradharmatsvanushthitaat |
Swadharme nidhanam shreyah paradharmo bhayavahah || 35 ||
Meaning, following one’s own dharma (Swadharma), even if done with
mistakes, is more beneficial than perfectly following someone else’s dharma
(paradharma). To die while performing one’s own dharma is better, whereas
following another’s dharma is dangerous. People misunderstood the true
meaning of Swadharma and paradharma, and assumed that Vaishnav dharma is
Swadharma, while Jain, Shaiv, Muslim, Parsi, and other religions are
pardharma. When Lord Shri Krishna said “paradharma is direful,” people
interpreted it to mean that following any religion other than Vaishnavism
is dangerous. Not just that, people went to the extent of saying, “If an
elephant is charging at you and there is no place to escape, then it's
better to die by getting crushed, but don’t step into a Jain temple next to
you, because Shri Krishna Bhagwan has said ‘paradharma is fearsome’!”
Yada yada hi dharmasya glanirbhavati bharata |
Abhyutthanamadharmasya tadatmanam srijamyaham || 7 ||
Paritranaya sadhuna vinashay cha dushkritam |
Dharmasamsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge || 8 ||
Meaning, “O Arjun! Whenever there is a decline of righteousness and a rise
of unrighteousness, at that time I manifest Myself on this earth. To
protect the virtuous, to destroy the wicked, and to re-establish dharma, I
take birth age after age.”
It does not mean that Lord Shri Krishna Himself takes birth again and
again. Just as one prime minister finishes his term and another prime
minister comes, and whoever holds the position of a prime minister helps
the nation, in the same way, a Soul who has attained the state that Shri
Krishna had, takes birth again and again. The Soul of Lord Shri Krishna has
manifested, and such a manifested Soul takes birth again in another body.
In the 14th Shlok of the 5th chapter of Bhagav Gita, Lord Shri
Krishna says,
Na kartrutvam na karmani lokasya srujati prabhuh |
Na karmaphalsanyogam swabhaavastu pravartate || 14 ||
Meaning, God does not create this world through doership, through actions,
or through the association of the fruits of actions. Rather, the world
functions automatically, according to its own inherent nature. So, who runs
the world?
Reality Defined:
Final reality is Brahman (that which is limitlessly big). Brahman can be
defined with 3 words: sat-cit-ananda
sat: Existence . Not time-bound or object existence as conventionally
understood. Existence refers to the is-ness of a thing. Or that because of
which a thing is. For example, Time-is, Space-is, emotion-is, memory-is,
concept-is. In other words, everything (including time-space) depends on
it existing. Thus existence is the “substance” that makes up everything.
Even your agreement/disagreement to this explanation depends on your
opinion existing (in form of a concept or thought).
cit: Awareness / Consciousness. Not referring to a statement of mind. But
the ever-available, ever-equal, ever-same Awareness because of which all
changing conditions of the mind and world are known.
ananda: Has two definitions used in different contexts. (1) Happiness (2)
Fullness / limitlessness (which means it's the only reality there is,
there's no second). The word “ananada” basically is saying, sat-cit is the
only reality. There's no two sat-cit's, such as one is higher and one is
lower. There's only existence-awareness.
Reality has capacity to manifest:
Sat-cit enjoys capacity to manifest out of itself plurality. It's
capacity/power is called “Maya”. Maya can be understood further, knowing it
has two powers:
Jnana-shakti: Blueprint or knowledge of entire creation. All details who
things will interact, laws, etc.
Kriya-shakti: Energy or power that executes the knowledge for the universe
to be created.
How to understand brahman/maya relationship? Think of a seed as Brahman.
That seed contains power (maya) within itself to manifest a tree (world).
You can see that intelligence in the seed because it's in potential. When
that potential manifests, a beautiful, intelligent and highly complex
creation will arise.
Manifestation of universe (time-space-objects):
Maya, which is knowledge-power unmanifest or in potential, converts into
manifest. It can be compared to you in deep sleep, who carries potential
(maya) for a dream world. When the dream manifests, your potential which
lie dormant during deep sleep, is now manifesting. And your very power
making you seem like a subject in the dream, engaging with objects. Thereby
a duality is created. Therefore, maya's potential converts to manifest.
Maya borrows Existence – making Existence (you) seem like it's
shaped/molded into various forms — just as clay is shaped/molded into
various potten-ware. Everything that's manifest is called “jagat”, which is
basically everything after the big-bang.
Jagat consists of:
Sentient objects: includes plants, animals, humans, devas. They have a
subtle-body, therefore have level of self-awareness. However it's miniscule
for plants, bacteria. For sake of simplicity, we'll stick with humans
(jivas).
Insentient objects: space, air, fire, water, earth. For simplicity, a rock.
Although a rock Exists, it's not self-aware as it doesn't have a
subtle-body. So a rock is unable to say or know that “I am”.
Ishvara (cause of the universe):
When Jiva inquires into the maker of itself and the universe it perceives –
he calls the maker/sustainer/destroyer “Ishvara” (the Cause of the Universe
/ God).
What is Ishvara referring to? Two ways to understand Ishvara…
Ishvara refers to Brahman being (apparently) conditioned by His Maya-power.
Ishvara is manifest-maya.
How to show Brahman (sat-cit) is present in all manifest names-forms?
Table-is, because of table-awareness. Wood-is, because of wood-awareness.
Cloud-is, because of cloud-awareness. So the name-form changes. What
remains in all instances: Is (sat) and Awareness (cit).
Verse 57
यः सर्वत्रानभिस्नेहस्तत्तत्प्राप्य शुभाशुभम् ।
नाभिनन्दति न द्वेष्टि तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता ॥ ५७ ॥
yaḥ sarvatrānabhisnehas
tat tat prāpya śubhāśubham
nābhinandati na dveṣṭi
tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā
One who is firmly rooted in complete knowledge in the material world is
unaffected by any good or ill they may acquire, neither admiring it nor
despising it.
K Rajaram IRS 20326
On Fri, 20 Mar 2026 at 04:21, Jambunathan Iyer <[email protected]>
wrote:
> *Discipline is not about restriction, but about direction. When I applied
> discipline in my life, I discovered that it shaped my success, strengthened
> my habits, and gave me peace of mind.*
>
>
> *N Jambunathan , Chennai " What you get by achieving your goals is not as
> important as what you become by achieving your goals. If you want to live a
> happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things "*
>
>
>
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