Susarma was a learned pundit who lived in south India. He was very austere, truthful and a devout observer of the rules of orthodoxy. he observed his daily religious duties with precise discipline and in the course of thus living decided to visit the various religious places. At Prayag he found a concourse of many religious persons engaged in religious discussions. Susarma finding an opportunity for himself to intervene, addressed the scholars thus:
O learned Pundits ever since my birth, I never sinned. I find no peace at all in spite of my devout and regular observances of daily duties as enjoined in the Vedas. One can never know anything for certainty when his mind is perturbed. One cannot enjoy any thing like serenity or bliss when his mind is tossed hither and thither and never attains any poise. I therefore beg you to show me a way by which I can obtain peace and tranquility. Does not the association with the holy and the goodly people yield us whatever we want? The learned pandits replied: If you recite the second chapter of the Gita every day with all devotion you shall have mental poise and enjoy happiness. saying thus they also narrated to him a story.
ONCE UPON A TIME, A king by name Durdama was ruling his kingdom happily with Pratisthan as its capital. Vikram Sharma lived in his kingdom. he was a brahmin and he received many gifts from the King's granary and treasury. but upon death he had to undergo many sufferings pains and penalties in hell as a result of the sins passed on to him through the said gifts. he was born again and at a mature age was married to a wicked shrew Karkasa. Karkasa being persuaded by her paramour cut off her husband's head one night when he was asleep. He turned to a ghost. Karkasa too after a sojourn in hell was born as a goat. The ghost i.e. Vikram sharma having recognised Karkasa as the ghost was intent on taking his revenge and vengeance. as they approached each other they happened to hear the second chapter of the Gita being recited in a nearby hermitage. this pleased them and they began to listen to the recital every day in the process they forgot their enemity against each other and became totally transformed persons and went to heaven after their death. Hence you too O Susarma take to the study of the second chapter of the Gita and obtain salvation.
The Yoga of Knowledge (Sankhya Yoga)
Sri Krishna admonished Arjuna with a smile on his lips. "O! Arjuna you grieve for those who need not be grieved for. You talk like a wise man but act like an ordinary one. Wake up from the slumber of ignorance. This body and the world are indwelt by the imperishable Atma, The Brahma or what is called soul. No one can destroy it as it is imperishable. For Atma is unborn, eternal, changeless, ancient and inexhaustible. It slays not nor is it slain. The soul casts off wornout bodies and enters into new just as if worn out clothes are discarded and new ones worn. Weapons cannot cleave it, nor can the fire burn it, neither the wind can dry it nor the water wet it. for the soul is unmanifest, unthinkable and unchangeable.
Nothing is more welcome than a righteous war for a Ksatriya. Let not thy attachment be for inaction Do your duty engage yourself in war of righteousness with a balanced mind treating pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat, alike. you shall not incur sin but shall cast off the bonds of action. Let thy concern be with the work alone and not the fruit of action.
Perform action, being steadfast in yoga abandoning attachment be balanced in success and failure. evenness of mind is yoga.
Arjuna in doubt then asks
What is the state of a Sthitaprajna? How does he speak? how does he sit? How does he walk? Strange as it all seems to Arjuna this revelation of Knowledge not known before. Oh! How fortunate is the Great Arjuna how unabashed his questions how very simple a mind in pristine purity. just as a child such a mind can be molded for sure. what is to be achieved is this attitude.
The Lord Then Replies:
"A Jivanmukta is free from desires, longing for mineness, I ness, attachment and fear. He is indifferent to gains and loss. He has a poised mind at all times and under all conditions. He is centered in his own soul for he lives in Brahman. He has perfect control over mind and senses."
O learned Pundits ever since my birth, I never sinned. I find no peace at all in spite of my devout and regular observances of daily duties as enjoined in the Vedas. One can never know anything for certainty when his mind is perturbed. One cannot enjoy any thing like serenity or bliss when his mind is tossed hither and thither and never attains any poise. I therefore beg you to show me a way by which I can obtain peace and tranquility. Does not the association with the holy and the goodly people yield us whatever we want? The learned pandits replied: If you recite the second chapter of the Gita every day with all devotion you shall have mental poise and enjoy happiness. saying thus they also narrated to him a story.
ONCE UPON A TIME, A king by name Durdama was ruling his kingdom happily with Pratisthan as its capital. Vikram Sharma lived in his kingdom. he was a brahmin and he received many gifts from the King's granary and treasury. but upon death he had to undergo many sufferings pains and penalties in hell as a result of the sins passed on to him through the said gifts. he was born again and at a mature age was married to a wicked shrew Karkasa. Karkasa being persuaded by her paramour cut off her husband's head one night when he was asleep. He turned to a ghost. Karkasa too after a sojourn in hell was born as a goat. The ghost i.e. Vikram sharma having recognised Karkasa as the ghost was intent on taking his revenge and vengeance. as they approached each other they happened to hear the second chapter of the Gita being recited in a nearby hermitage. this pleased them and they began to listen to the recital every day in the process they forgot their enemity against each other and became totally transformed persons and went to heaven after their death. Hence you too O Susarma take to the study of the second chapter of the Gita and obtain salvation.
The Yoga of Knowledge (Sankhya Yoga)
Sri Krishna admonished Arjuna with a smile on his lips. "O! Arjuna you grieve for those who need not be grieved for. You talk like a wise man but act like an ordinary one. Wake up from the slumber of ignorance. This body and the world are indwelt by the imperishable Atma, The Brahma or what is called soul. No one can destroy it as it is imperishable. For Atma is unborn, eternal, changeless, ancient and inexhaustible. It slays not nor is it slain. The soul casts off wornout bodies and enters into new just as if worn out clothes are discarded and new ones worn. Weapons cannot cleave it, nor can the fire burn it, neither the wind can dry it nor the water wet it. for the soul is unmanifest, unthinkable and unchangeable.
Nothing is more welcome than a righteous war for a Ksatriya. Let not thy attachment be for inaction Do your duty engage yourself in war of righteousness with a balanced mind treating pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat, alike. you shall not incur sin but shall cast off the bonds of action. Let thy concern be with the work alone and not the fruit of action.
Perform action, being steadfast in yoga abandoning attachment be balanced in success and failure. evenness of mind is yoga.
Arjuna in doubt then asks
What is the state of a Sthitaprajna? How does he speak? how does he sit? How does he walk? Strange as it all seems to Arjuna this revelation of Knowledge not known before. Oh! How fortunate is the Great Arjuna how unabashed his questions how very simple a mind in pristine purity. just as a child such a mind can be molded for sure. what is to be achieved is this attitude.
The Lord Then Replies:
"A Jivanmukta is free from desires, longing for mineness, I ness, attachment and fear. He is indifferent to gains and loss. He has a poised mind at all times and under all conditions. He is centered in his own soul for he lives in Brahman. He has perfect control over mind and senses."
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