In Chapter 2 of Bhagavad Gita, a very important concept is dealt with in adequate detail.​

The concept is that of स्थितप्रज्ञ (pronounced as sthita-prajña or simply SthitaPragya).

In Sanskrit, the word स्थित means situated or grounded while the word प्रज्ञ means wisdom.

So the union word स्थितप्रज्ञ literally means one who is "grounded in wisdom". Such a person is evenminded, equipoised, equanimous.

Here we study this concept in some detail. We try to understand what it is, why this topic came up during the dialog between the Lord & teacher (Sri Krishna) and His devotee & disciple (Sri Arjuna) and above all why is this important, why it is central to Devotional service which is the core essential message of the Bhagvad Gita?

​

Background:

Picture this, the fratricidal great war is about to begin between two lines of the same dynasty (Kauravas and Pandavas of Kuru dynasty) over who is the rightful heir to the Kuru rajya or kingdom, who is the rightful occupant of the throne and even as much as who is on the path of dharma (righteousness) as per vedic principles?

One side is 11 divisions of the Kaurava army led by Bheesma - the grandsire of the dynasty and with him other great generals such as Karna*, Dronacharya, Kripacharya, Aśvatthāmā, Vikarṇa, Bhūriśravā among others.

On the other side is the 7 divisions of the Pandava army led by the 5 invicible Pandavas, supported by other generals such as Dhṛṣṭadyumna, Yuyudhāna, Virāṭa and Drupada but most importantly under the direct guidance of the Lord Himself. 

Bheesma is the beloved grandfather of the two sides, Dronacharya is the revered teacher of the two sides,  Kripacharya the royal priest of the two sides, not to mention all the 100 Kaurava brothers and 5 Pandavas are blood cousins from common ancestry. And numerous other family are assembled there face to face, ready to kill or die; arrows, swords, maces and all deadly weapons are about to go off..thousands of warriors are about to die, families are about to be broken, wives are about to be widowed, children are about to be orphaned..yet he is supposed to fight, raise his weapon and attack the same people he grew up with, whom he Loves and cares for? What a terrible predicament?! What to do? To avoid witnessing this terrible bloodbath and pain Arjuna wants to retire to forest instead of fighting -- not out of cowardice for sure -- killing is not new to him for he has fought many wars before and killed many but this time the killing he is asked for, is his own blood family..rather he wants to retire out of compassion because to his judgement a life of a mendicant sustained on alms is better than killing his own family and enjoying a kingdom stained with his relatives' blood..and facing all these terrible consequences of the great war Arjuna the most decorated Pandava has a nervous breakdown..

​

Genesis of SthitaPragya:

​

Precisely at this time when he is having a nervous breakdown the Lord instead of being sympathetic and using kind words to console him, reprimands him severely for even thinking that disobeying the code of a warrior (Kshatriya) and retiring to jungle is a better idea. As if Arjuna needed more misery! He has no escape. This is the point at which Arjuna is compelled to surrender his ego and notion that he is the doer of things in the cosmic manifestation of the world, that he is the determinant of destiny and that without him the destiny will not move. And so he submits to the Lord and asks:

​

कार्पण्यदोषोपहतस्वभावः पृच्छामि त्वां धर्मसम्मूढचेताः ।
यच्छ्रेयः स्यान्निश्‍चितं ब्रूहि तन्मे शिष्यस्तेऽहं शाधि मां त्वां प्रपन्नम् ॥ 2.7 ॥

​

"O Lord, I am in great misery, I cannot think straight and hence ask You what should I do? Please guide me for I surrender to You"

​

And this is the real beginning of Bhagavad Gita. From Chap 2 verse 7. Why - one may ask?

Well the reason is Spiritual development is not a granted boon. Rather its an earned privilege and occurs only when ones soul submits to the Almighty Lord voluntarily in spontaneous Love, awe, respect, and surrender of ego. Ego is the biggest block between the resonation of devotees' soul and the Supreme soul (the almighty Lord). Until ego remains, pure Love is not possible. Until ego remains, spiritual perfection is unattainable. In other words, only when a soul relinquishes its ego about 'being in control' does real spiritual journey begins. Interestingly enough, the Lord is the Supreme soul and is completely aware of everything -- ie is in perfect infinite knowledge. And as such the Lord knows exactly which soul is free of ego or is atleast genuinely struggling to get free of this ego, and subsequently at what stage of the surrender process to Him, is the soul. So if a soul is deserving enough of His mercy, the Lord shows His mercy by arranging things such that the soul is compelled to seriously surrender to the Lord. And this is whats happening with the war situation with Arjuna. He was put in this difficult situation by the Lord. Thats the way Lord shows mercy. This pain is a mercy because without this the soul would not seriously introspect and gather spiritual momentum. In other words, the whole war situation was pre-destined by the arrangement of the infinite Lord because He always wants to give the permanent peace to his genuine devotees and protect them while at the same time reprimanding the miscreants. 

​

This is where the Lord instructs Arjuna to be patient and tolerant. Because these material situations are transient and temporary.

​

मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः ।
आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत ॥ 2.14 ॥

 

"Arjuna, these material changes are simply pairs of opposites like changes of weather, joys and sorrow; they are temporary so be patient and tolerant to these changes"

​

Now its easier said than done. As a warrior you are ready to die or kill. But to fight with the aim of killing your own family is not even for the best of warriors. And at that time if someone says 'just tolerate' it hardly makes sense. Yes indeed it hardly makes sense IF you are at the material plane which is based on the notion that this body is everything, theres nothing beyond it and IF the person saying it to you is some ordinary person. But no, neither is the body the be all and end all nor is the speaker here an ordinary soul -- He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. As such His words are carry tremendous weight and even a mighty warrior like Arjuna is compelled to pause and meditate on those words.

At this point the Lord explains through a series of verses about the permanent nature of the spirit and impermanent nature of the body and material world based on logical empiric study of cosmic manifestation (Sankhya Yoga). Thereafter, to further illustrate the point, the Lord instructs Arjuna to be grounded, stable and simply engage in his prescribed warrior duties without attachment for favorable or unfavorable outcomes. This is what he defines as the real meaning of Yoga.

​

योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय ।
सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते ॥ 2.48 ॥

​

"Without attachment for success or failure, perform your duties with equipoised state of mind. Such equanimity is called Yoga."

​

श्रुतिविप्रतिपन्ना ते यदा स्थास्यति निश्चला ।
समाधावचला बुद्धिस्तदा योगमवाप्स्यसि ॥ 2.53 ॥

​

"When your mind and intelligence will not be influenced simply with the fruitive work as prescribed by the vedas, rather when your consciousness will be unmoving and fixed while performing your prescribed duties, only then will you reach the perfection of Yoga"

​

And this is where Arjuna enquires about this exact state of mind known as SthitaPragya.

​

स्थितप्रज्ञस्य का भाषा समाधिस्थस्य केशव ।
स्थितधीः किं प्रभाषेत किमासीत व्रजेत किम् ॥ 2.54 ॥

​

"O Lord, please tell me how does a person whose mind is equanimous, whose determination is fixed in meditative trance, speak, behave and carry himself about?"

 

To this the Lord answers as follows
 

प्रजहाति यदा कामान्सर्वान्पार्थ मनोगतान् ।
आत्मन्येवात्मना तुष्टः स्थितप्रज्ञस्तदोच्यते ॥ 2.55 ॥

​

"When a soul gives up all desires for bodily sense gratification and remains satisfied in the relation with the Supreme soul, then the soul is in equanimity"

​

दुःखेष्वनुद्विग्न‍मनाः सुखेषु विगतस्पृहः ।
वीतरागभयक्रोधः स्थिधीर्मुनिरुच्यते ॥ 2.56 ॥

​

"When a soul is unaffected by dualities of joys and sorrows; when the soul is sans desires, passion, fear, anger then it is in fixed determination"

​

तानि सर्वाणि संयम्य युक्त आसीत मत्परः ।
वशे हि यस्येन्द्रियाणि तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता ॥ 2.61 ॥

​

"The soul who is situated in evenmindedness by regulation of the mind and senses, that soul is in steady intelligence"

​

This is where the Lord reveals the confidential part of Yoga. That delusion of mind (which Arjuna was suffering from) and indolence is a result of desires which engage the mind in sense gratification. The real eternal relation of a soul is his relation with the Supreme but due to the desire for sense gratification and resulting illusion the soul is deluded from this fact because the mind is attracted to sense objects. In other words, the Lord is telling Arjuna, your lamentation for your family while understandable is only relative and temporary because you are merely looking at them as a body not as a soul (who has taken a certain body due to own karma). The soul is never killed nor ceases to exist so even if the bodies of your family are destroyed, they will never not exist. Again, you are lamenting because your mind is deluded only by the senses (sight of your family, their bodies, their pain and pleasure of body and so on) so get hold of yourself, dont be bewildered by the senses as they are very unreliable and fickle, they are always looking for opportunities to sway the mind and take the soul astray from its ultimate destination of returning to the Supreme. To do so, curb your desires first of seeking pleasure or avoidance of pain, simply engage in your prescribed duties for sake of the Absolute relation with Supreme soul. And when you can do that you will be in fixed stable determination, evenminded, equipoised, equanimous.

​

Now the next and most important question arises. The state of SthitaPragya ie evenmindedness, equipoise and equanimity sounds intellectually lofty and great. But why is it really needed? What harm is there in enjoying the material world when we have been given this body and senses by nature, afterall material world is also a part of the Supreme? What is the disadvantage of not being in state of SthitaPragya?

​

We will explore that here next -- Why be SthitaPragya?

​