Geeta Chapter 2 Verse 54

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 54

स्थितप्रज्ञस्य का भाषा समाधिस्थस्य केशव ।
स्थितधीः किं प्रभाषेत किमासीत व्रजेत किम् ॥२-५४॥

Sthitapraghnasya ka bhasha samadhisthasya keshava
sthitadhihi kim prabhaseta kim asita vrajeta kim ॥ 2-54 ॥

Transliteration


After Lord Krishna details to Arjuna characteristics of an enlightened soul... he further asks Sri Krishna about physical manifest life of an enlightened one. As per Krishna, using power of discrimination when human beings finally succeed in establishing their buddhi (intellect) in one and only god, the stage was termed Nirvikalpa Samadhi (stage of absolute nothingness)... when not a single thought entered our brain uninvoked. This oneness of our soul atman, the spirit within with God Almighty was termed self realization, god realization. Reaching stage of Nirvikalpa means reaching end stage of yoga meditation!

The inner life of an enlightened soul was clear to Arjuna but how to recognize one was the query of Arjuna! In Bhagavad Gita chapter 2 verse 54 Arjuna wants to make clear how an enlightened one behaved in physical manifest world. It has been said earlier that an enlightened one gained absolute control over sleep. Furthermore, how would a commoner... one from masses understand what an enlightened one had to say! The difference in mental frames would bar commoners from understanding precepts of an enlightened one! When Mahavira, 24th Tirthankara of Jainism gained enlightenment... for years there was none who could decipher what Mahavira had to say.

Thereafter came Gautam Gani; a seeker who finally realized teachings of Mahavira! It was Gautam Gani who finally spread teachings of Mahavira to masses. Assessing how an enlightened one behaved in actual life became a curiosity for Arjuna! Arjuna wanted to know whether an enlightened one all the time engaged in talking to God Almighty or mixed with commoners, masses to spread teachings of spirituality all over. Arjuna also wanted to know how an enlightened one viewed scriptures after gaining enlightenment (kaivalya jnana). After gaining enlightenment, how an enlightened one valued Vedas, Bhagavad Gita or Upanishads? How was an enlightened one different from ordinary mortals!



The Explanation


Arjuna in his mind wanted to make a clear distinction between an enlightened one and an ordinary mortal! He had slowly started realizing that his long-time friend, mentor and guide Lord Krishna was not an ordinary mortal but God Almighty manifesting a human form. For this truth to prevail on Arjuna forever, all queries within Arjuna relating to post enlightenment characteristics of an enlightened one had to be clarified in totality! Of his own, Arjuna was not able to reach a final conclusion! Hence his request to Krishna to clarify on this point!

For an enlightened one to recognize another enlightened one was easy. But for an ordinary mortal to recognize an enlightened one was next to impossible! Arjuna faced exactly this dilemma when talking to Krishna in the battlefield of Mahabharata. Although Arjuna partially accepted Lord Krishna as a saviour, messiah but final abstract truth of life of Lord Krishna was yet to be comprehended by Arjuna in totality. For comprehending potential abstract truths of life... path of discrimination, contemplation was necessitated! Unless Arjuna indulged in self enquiry (path of Neti... not this, not this) he could never reach hidden abstract truths of life! Through geeta chapter 2 verse 54 Arjuna wanted to clarify this potential doubt from Krishna!

All my life I have followed path of logistics, path of self enquiry (not this, not this) to distinguish truth from false. Using power of discrimination I could limit my self enquiry to core issues of spirituality. After a long span of years, decades... the hidden underlying truth finally dawned on me! There was nothing to be searched externally. The teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads were only a medium to reach god... to reach stage of self realization, god realization! On path of pure spirituality... indulgence in Vedas carried no meaning! We had to follow path of nishkama karma all along to reach god in present life. When God Almighty exists within us in miniscule form as our soul atman, the spirit within, why such elsewhere!

Realizing this fundamental truth of life... I finally started concentrating my buddhi (intellect) on vital issues of inner life. Travelling path of absolute truthfulness all the time... I could hear the distinct promptings of Lord Krishna from within. This voice of Lord Krishna coming from within always guides us on right path. Whatever I could salvage regarding Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana, I read it with added fervor! I wanted to duplicate spiritual efforts of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana... never going into details of physical manifest world. All instances of physical manifest world in life of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa fascinated me all the time. I could extract the hidden underlying truth behind every event.

It was this underlying truth that was important... never the workings of physical manifest world! How an enlightened one behaves should not be the query of Arjuna but as Arjuna was facing those he loved in the battlefield of Mahabharata... for reaching firm conclusions, Arjuna wanted to take guidance from Krishna! Everything in spiritual world takes time. Arjuna was doing exactly that! Whatever Lord Krishna had to say... the same could not be fathomed by Arjuna immediately! Contemplation, path of discrimination needs time. Krishna knew this absolute truth of life clearly. He never forced his decisions on Arjuna. On path of pure spirituality... one has to realize from within! No matter how best the spiritual dictum of a preceptor... unless one realized from within, all goes waste!

In bhagavad gita 2 54 Arjuna needs time before he could finally conclude essence of teachings of Lord Krishna! By talking about flimsier issues, Arjuna was only bargaining time from Lord Srikrishna so that he could contemplate from within. Path of samadhi, path of contemplation truly is an inner journey that needs travelling individually all alone!



Commentary by: Vijay Kumar "Atma Jnani"... The Man who Realized God in 1993 - query!
 

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