Brahmanubhuti Talk 45
(Characteristics of Sthitaprajna – 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7dQV6moE4w
Let us contemplate on the characteristics of Sthithaprajna, one by one.
Sri Krishna talks about the ability of renunciation of desires by a Sthithaprajna.
Bhagavad Gita Shloka 55, Chapter 2:
Sri Bhagavan uvacha:
“Prajahaati yadaakaamaan sarvaan paartha manogathaan, atmanyeva atmanaathushtaha Sthithaprajnaha taduchyate”.
One of the main characteristics of the Sthithaprajna is, whenever desires arise in the mind, he gives them up. He renounces the desires. Because he is happy with his own Self. So, the first question comes to our mind, does a Sthithaprajna have desires? Will a desire arise in the mind of Sthithaprajna? Sri Krishna says that desires arise. It is not that, he is like a stone. Different kinds of desires can arise in the mind of Sthithaprajna also. But he gives them up. He doesn’t pursue them. So, don’t be under the impression that Sthithaprajna doesn’t have desire. Desires arise, but he doesn’t pursue them. This you have to understand. Why doesn’t he pursue it? It is because he is already happy with himself.
Like a sugar crystal which is there, you cannot make it more sweet by adding more sugar. So, why do we pursue desires? It is because we feel happy with them. Desires make us happy. They arise from the impressions, and fulfilling those desires make us happy. For a person who is already happy, there is no need to pursue any desire. So, he gives them up. But, that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have desires.
Now, the second question comes – does he give up all the desires? If somebody gives up all the desires, then he will be like a stone. There is no difference between him and the stone. The desires are of two types – the desires which are selfish-oriented and the desires which are selfless. In the desires which are selfish, there is an urge, ‘I have to fulfill this desire’, because it will bring me happiness. Why do selfish desires arise? By the fulfillment of this desire, I feel happy. The motivation for fulfilling the desire is happiness. It is selfishness. There are unselfish desires – I want to help somebody, I want to do Loka Kalyana, welfare of the world. There is no desire for happiness. Instead of that, you are sharing your happiness with somebody else. You are sharing your wisdom, happiness with somebody else in those desires.
Sthithaprajna doesn’t drop all types of desires. Sthithaprajna drops selfish desires, but he may or may not pursue the unselfish desires. Look at Sri Krishna – Sri Krishna was fully active. He was trying to set right the political system. When Arjuna asked Krishna, ‘Teach me something’, if Krishna didn’t have desire, he would not have taught. When Arjuna asked Krishna to become a charioteer for him, if Krishna didn’t have desire, he wouldn’t have become a charioteer. So, Krishna had desires, but the desires are not selfish in nature. The whole purpose for the desire is Loka Kalyana, or benefit for the world, or upliftment of the society.
So, the desires are of two types, selfish and unselfish. Sthithaprajna drops selfish desires, because there is no value. It doesn’t mean that desires don’t come. But, he doesn’t find any value in pursuing them. Unselfish desires he may pursue, but there is no guarantee that he pursues, for the welfare of the world. So, accordingly, desires are of two types – desires which bind you, and desires which don’t bind you. Selfish desires – ‘I will get happiness by fulfilling this desire’ – will create one more desire. If the desire is not fulfilled, then, ‘Oh! I have to do more.’ If the desire is fulfilled, ‘I want more’. So, it binds you in the Karma. Whereas, unselfish desires don’t bind you, provided you don’t have expectation of name, fame, or anything in return. You are doing it as a service. They are not binding, because there is no concept of doership. The person who is Sthithaprajna, Enlightened, he has realized ‘I am Atma, the Self, Consciousness.’ The Self, Atma is non doer, Sakshi. The egoistic mind is the doer. In such a person, whatever action he performs, the actions are in the mode of non-doership – ‘I am not the doer’. Actions happen in response to a situation, out of love, out of compassion, out of wisdom. But, there is no concept of doershi – I am the doer.
So, where there is no concept that ‘I am the doer’, there is no concept of binding. Desires itself are of three types – the desires which manifest, ‘I want this, I want this’; desires which are latent, ‘Let me do it at some time’; and some desires which are already, ‘I have to act’. Sometimes, some desires may come, depending on a situation. Till the situation arises, the desire may not surface. So, Sthithaprajna drops all these desires which involve selfishness or individuality, because he has nothing to be fulfilled, nothing to be gained by fulfilling the desires. He is happy by his own nature. He has realized his own nature, Ananda, which is bliss, which is Infinite in nature. Every other desire is just a derivative of that. So, when he does a selfless act, when he acts out of compassion or love, he is just sharing his Bliss, happiness with others. Not that he wants to get some happiness. That is why he has no desires. He drops desires. He has desires, but he drops desires which are useless.
Why is it important for all of us to understand these characteristics? Whatever is natural for a Sthithaprajna, it is a practice for Sadhakas. We have to practice these qualities of Sthithaprajna in our life. Dropping the selfish desires as much as possible, focusing on non-selfish desires – some of these qualities we have to bring into our life as Sadhakas. For a person who has realized, it becomes Siddhi, it becomes natural. For Sadhakas, it is practice. That is why Sri Krishna tells the characteristics of Sthithaprajna to Arjuna.
Pranams