Bhagavad Gita 2.55

[Paramananda das]

TEXT 55 sri-bhagavan uvaca prajahati yada kaman sarvan partha mano-gatan atmany evatmana tustah 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 Prtha; manah-gatan--of mental concoction; atmani--in the pure state of the soul; eva--certainly; atmana--by the purified mind; tustah--satisfied; sthita-prajnah--transcendentally situated; tada--at that time; ucyate--is said.  TRANSLATION The Blessed Lord said: O Partha, when a man gives up all varieties of sense desire which arise from mental concoction, and when his mind finds satisfaction in the self alone, then he is said to be in pure transcendental consciousness. PURPORT The Bhagavatam affirms that any person who is fully in Krsna consciousness, or devotional service of the Lord, has all the good qualities of the great sages, whereas a person who is not so transcendentally situated has no good qualifications, because he is sure to be taking refuge in his own mental concoctions. Consequently, it is rightly said herein that one has to give up all kinds of sense desire manufactured by mental concoction. Artificially, such sense desires cannot be stopped. But if one is engaged in Krsna consciousness, then, automatically, sense desires subside without extraneous efforts. Therefore, one has to engage himself in Krsna consciousness without hesitation, for this devotional service will instantly help one onto the platform of transcendental consciousness. The highly developed soul always remains satisfied in himself by realizing himself as the eternal servitor of the Supreme Lord. Such a transcendentally situated person has no sense desires resulting from petty materialism; rather, he remains always happy in his natural position of eternally serving the Supreme Lord.

 

 

 

Commentary by Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur

Step by step, Krishna answers each of the four questions, from this verse until the end of the chapter. (This verse answers the first question: What is the nature of the jivan mukta?)

He gives up all desires, so that not even one desire remains for any object. He is able to give up these desires because they belong to the mind (manogatan); they are not the intrinsic quality of the soul. If they were the intrinsic quality of the soul, they could not be given up, just as fire never gives up heat. The cause for this is stated. He is satisfied by the soul whose very nature is bliss (atmana tustah), in the mind (atmani) which has withdrawn from sense objects. The sruti says:

yada sarve pramucyante kama ye ‘sya hrdi sritah atha martyo ‘mrto bhavaty atra brahma samasnute

When all the desires situated in the heart are cleared away, the mortal becomes immortal and enjoys brahman. Katha Upanisad 6.14

 

 

Rudra Vaisnava Sampradaya: Visnuswami Sridhara Swami's Commentary Now it is revealed what are the means to knowledge for an aspirant and  what are  the  natural  characteristics   exhibited   once   one   has   attained transcendence.  Hence  by  merely  relating  the  characteristics   of   one possessing  spiritual  intelligence  the  means  of  direct  knowledge   are simultaneously  transmitted  as  well  throughout  the  conclusion  of  this chapter. Now the answer to the first  question  in  the  previous  verse  is given in this verse and the next. When a person gives up all desires of  the mind, relinquishing them completely, which  results  when  by  determination one has perceived  the  Ultimate  Truth  by  strength  of  one's  individual consciousness. Then and only then one delights in the inconceivable  joy  of communion with the Ultimate Consciousness whose eternal  nature  is  supreme bliss. Experiencing the delight of  this  supreme  bliss  one  automatically loses all desire for even the most equisite material pleasures and  thus  by this possessing this characteristic one can be understood to be a person  of steady wisdom.

Brahma Vaisnava Sampradaya: Madhvacarya Madhvacarya's Commentary Before illuminating the characteristics of  those  situated  with  spiritual intelligence who often are indistinguishable from others not so situated  as requested by  Arjuna  in  the  previous  verse;  Lord  Krishna  reveals  the attributes  of  the  spiritual  intelligent   in   this   verse.   Thus   in understanding how one being satisfied by the supreme state  of  transcendent consciousness performs actions is the explanation introduced in this  verse. One situated in spiritual intelligence realises the soul  by  the  grace  of the Supreme Lord but the this can be sooner or longer to achieve subject  to the degree of ones attachments held earlier in their  life;  but  anyway  to some extent their will be realisation. In actuality such a one discards  all desires. Even as  in  the  case  of  Sukadeva  and  Dhruva  after  they  had darshan or vision of the Supreme  Lord.  The  spiritual  intelligent,  those knowing the Ultimate truth always  enthusiastically  desire  communion  with the Supreme Lord  incessantly  seeking  the  mercy  to  serve,  worship  and glorify Him.  In regard to Indra and the demigods, undesirable  desires  are  not  present therefore their knowledge is known to be supernal. It is therefore  declared that the qualified living entity is verily so  due  to  the  performance  of great activities. Because of such  achievements  they  become  distinguished from others. Therefore due to  distinguished  activities  their  distinctive attributes are manifested. But it should be  emphasised  that  even  if  one unqualified by spiritual intelligence  happens  to  distinguish  themselves, still  they  can  never  be   considered   as   situated   in   transcendent consciousness. This point should be clearly understood. In  this  verse  the attributes of one who  is  in  samadhi  transcendent  consciousness  is  not discussed. This is because one who is unattached in all  respects  shows  no attachment  for  anything  at  any  time.  For  one  in   the   transcendent consciousness  of  samadhi  there  is  no  experience   of   auspicious   or inauspicious because there is no connection to material consciousness  which is the antithesis to samadhi. Therefore conceptions of this  nature  do  not apply.  Wants and desires do not arise in those who have  cleansed  their  mind  and purified their consciousness and  who  situated  in  spiritual  intelligence have taken complete refuge of the Supreme Lord Krishna. This is recorded  in Vedic scriptures.  Desires are hidden within the mind  but  it  is  in  this  same  mind  where spiritual intelligence  must  manifest  to  neutralise  and  eradicate  such desires. This is indicated by the word mano-gatan concoctions of  the  mind. This dichotomy between attachment to desires and attachment to the  soul  is further referred to in verse 59  of  this  chapter  illustrating  that  even though refrain of actions is induced the desires continue within  the  mind. It  is  not  that  only  by  refraining  from  desires  one   in   spiritual transcendence may be perceived for desires may hide within. The word  atmani meaning by purified consciousness of the soul denotes by the  assistance  of the Supreme soul. The ultimate truth verily, dwells  in  the  Supreme  soul. Since the soul is completely abiding in the  ultimate  truth,  by  the  sole grace of the Supreme soul alone attainment is achieved. Thus one  who  takes the initiative renouncing attachment, abides in  the  Supreme  Lord  by  the grace of the Supreme Lord and is provided with  all  that  is  necessary  to attain this end and not by any other means whatsoever. This  all   has  been spoken of in the Narayana Shataksara Kalpa. Thus the soul referred  to  here is paramatma the ultimate soul.  Now begins the summation.  It is not that those of spiritual intelligence can always stop the  flow  of inappropriate desires.  Renouncing  what  is  inappropriate  means  one  has renounced desire.  Even those who have experienced  the  transcendent  state to some degree and have perceived the reality of the ultimate  truth,  still inappropriate desires may arise in the  mind  when  they  are  not  in  that transcendent experience. Evidence of this is seen in Vedic  scriptures  when Shiva to protect his worshiper fought in battle against Lord  Krishna.  Thus only when one is not in  the  transcendent  experience  can  one  be  in  an equaniminous state for in the transcendent experience such  designations  do not apply. Situated in spiritual intelligence with concerted  endeavour  one becomes  qualified  and  eligible  for  the  supreme  grace  to  attain  the transcendent state. Another point to  note  is  that  by  the  awakening  of devotion in the heart for the Supreme Lord the ineligible will  also  become qualified to also receive the grace to attain the transcendent state in  due to course of time without fail. The word atmani indicates Lord  Krishna.  It is only by His grace may one attain the transcendent state.

Sri Vaisnava Sampradaya: Ramanuja Ramanuja's Commentary Lord Krishna explains that when the particular activities of  the  adept  of spiritual  intelligence  are  described   then   the   characteristics   are recognised. Because one with spiritual intelligence focus their mind  to  be fully immersed solely in the soul, they are known as being  soul  satisfied. When such a one is so absorbed in the soul that all  other  desires  abiding therein are completely banished then such a one is known  as  sthita-prajnah situated in transcendent consciousness. This is the  paramount  platform  of spiritual intelligence in the mind. After this the next  lower  intermediate stage will be defined.

Kumara Vaisnava Sampradaya: Nimbaditya Kesava Kasmiri's Commentary In order to answer Arjunas four  questions  Lord  Krishna  begins  here  and continues till the end of the chapter.  To  answer  the  first  question  He explains that when one thoroughly abandons all cravings of the mind  one  is sthita-prajna  situated  in  transcendent   consciousness.   What   is   the indication that one has abandoned all cravings of  the  mind?  Lord  Krishna explains that such a being  is  immersed  in  the  soul  and  is  completely satisfied by the soul. The stability of ones mind  can  be  known  when  one becomes pleased and satisfied by the resultant  purity  of  the  mind  after completely abandoning all desires and lust. In the soul,  self-contained  by its own inherent nature in the form of knowledge, eternality  and  bliss  is characterised  by  the  total  annihilation  of  all  sins  as  declared  by Prajapati   in  the  spiritual  discourse  he  delivered  as  seen  in   the Upanisads.