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True seeker should be given to self-restraint, self-regulation and self-harmony. Mind should be under the sovereign, sublime guidance of intelligence. Intelligence should relentlessly reflect upon the blissful Self. This kind of inner attunement and steadfastness in it, makes one verily an Ātmavān.

Dear and blessed souls:

Harih Om Tat Sat.

Limitations of Vedic declarations

Krishna is very specific and quite critical too in his statements. In verse 2.45 he condemns Vedas as dealing with only products made of three guṇas, qualities, of Nature. ‘Traiguṇya-viṣayā vedāḥ’ are the words he uses to describe the sacrosanct Vedas – Vedas deal only with objects that are within the framework of three guṇas!

Nature consists of three guṇas – sattva, rajas and tamas. The gunas work variously, in different proportions, giving rise to five elements – earth, water, air, fire and space. The entire visible creation is no other than varied combinations of these five elements. Earth we live on, water we drink, cook our food in and also do irrigation with, the air we breathe, the fire we use for heating and burning, all are outcomes generated by Nature’s three gunas.

Anywhere and everywhere in creation, these five elements and their products alone are present. In the heavens described by Vedas also, only guṇas are in display, nothing else! As they are fleeting and cause sorrow, so the heavens and celestial objects Vedas present are equally ephemeral and deleterious. They deal with material objects alone, which are perishable.

So, with the right discrimination, Krishna wants all seekers to devalue and reject them outright. They are not only undesirable, but also harmful and destructive. Knowing that this is so, have no truck with them. Look for a different or better aim to fulfil human life. What should be the real objective then? Krishna says: Let us search for a higher vision.

Overwhelm – not be overpowered by – worldly objects

Understanding well that the entire creation is full of pairs of opposites, dvandvas, first of all, be indifferent to them totally (nir-dvandvaḥ). Learn to dwell in sattva-guṇa alone. Sattva bestows light, happiness and knowledge. Rejoice in right knowledge. Pursue the path of wisdom. Let your mind be given to wisdom pursuit and overwhelm the entire display of creation – be not overpowered by it! In place of yielding to attractions and repulsions towards sensory objects, reflect upon their evanescence and fleetingness and cultivate indifference and cripple the objects effectively.

Knowledge can work wonders. Suppose you are about to sip milk from a cup. If suddenly someone, well known to you, approaches and warns you that it has poison in it, will you not simply keep the cup away? So too keep away from poisonous sense-objects also. The whole process works in the mind, guided by intelligence. Once you know the charged electric wire will give you shock, will you think of touching it? Equally so, will you insert your finger into blazing fire? In the same way, the mind can also keep away from the allurement, the sense objects repeatedly display.

Let viveka be your guide

As the objects surround you, so too spiritual discrimination should permeate your mind and intelligence. Your inner mind can act well on external gross objects. As you avoid walking on a slippery path, you should also avoid coursing through the path of allurement made by sensory objects.

The mind is Subjective and hence it is far superior to gross objects surrounding it. Remember: your body and senses are inert, equally so are the pañca-bhūtas constituting creation. Therefore, do not be weak and deluded. Instead be discriminative and wise to pursue the path of buddhi. Be a sattvasthaḥ, established in sattva-guṇa, dwelling in knowledge, basking in its brilliance and delightfulness. 

Prosperity – its acquisition and preservation

The next word Krishna presents is very important and wholesome for seekers in general – be a nir-yogakṣemaḥ. What does this mean? Do not be bothered about either yoga or kṣema. Yoga-kṣema is a phrase having sufficient place in the parlance of the wise. Kṣema refers to the wellbeing of whatever one already has. Yoga means the addition of whatever one seeks and desires. Nir-yoga-kṣema clearly means that Krishna wants Arjuna, as well as all other seekers of the world, not to be bogged down any time by the thoughts and concerns about prosperity or progress in the world.

All secular welfare and progress are like water flowing from pitcher with a hole in its bottom. However endearing sensory objects be, they are inevitably fleeting. From any fleeting object, can you ever have abiding happiness, pleasantness and contentment? Think well and answer.

Be an Ātmavān – Self-integrated

For the seeker, the true wellbeing is relentless seeking and viveka alone. The ‘yoga’ part is, in truth, the progress and fulfilment of his seeking. Seeking, when pursued wholesomely, will directly take one to the abode of fulfilment, which the secular and ritualistic life has no scope to fetch.

The true seeker has no need for secular prosperity or progress. All he has to look for is the oneness with the Self and the ceaseless ecstasy and fulfilment it showers. And that would more than fill his heart and mind to the brim. It will also mean far more than mere external prosperity. For one filled with this inner ecstasy and fulfilment, all forms of prosperity will be totally redundant.

What is then the discipline or attention he has to preserve and strengthen? To this Krishna says, be an Ātmavān. What does this mean? True seeker should be given to self-restraint, self-regulation and self-harmony. His senses should not be allowed to sway the mind. Mind should be under the sovereign, sublime guidance of intelligence. Intelligence should relentlessly reflect upon the blissful Self. This kind of inner attunement and steadfastness in it, makes one verily an Ātmavān.

The whole personality becomes integrated – senses with the mind, mind with intelligence and intelligence with the Self, making the whole personality greatly beautiful, harmonious and creative. It is from such inner spiritual integration that our Sages like Valmiki, Vyasadeva and other Seers spoke and wrote what they did. The entire epic and heritage-treasure have flowed from such Self-integrated stalwarts!

Imagine how beautiful, wholesome and blissful such an integrated personality will be!