Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Samkya Yoga Or the Yoga of Knowledge (continued) “ O son of Kunti, the contacts between senses and their objects, gives rise to the feeling of heat and cold, pleasure and pain etc, are transitory and fleeting; therefore, Arjuna ignore them/ learn to endure O Bharata (Arjuna).” That by which knowledge is measured, or by which understanding of things is obtained is called a Matra, therefore the term Matra is intended here to mean all the senses, including the mind; and Sparsa means contact. Thus the compound word MatraSparsa comes to mean contact of the mind and senses with their respective objects, e.g. sound, touch, colour, taste and smell. He shows that it is these objects which when contacted by the senses give rise to every form of dual experiences, like the feelings of heat and cold, love and hatred, joy and grief, pleasure and pain, concord and discord, etc. All morbid feelings arise from a sense of intransience of the objects of senses, as a result knowing and realizing those objects as ephemeral by nature; their contact should not be allowed to produce any unhealthy reaction on the mind. These attitudes of pleasure and pain are determined by the force of habit, there is no requirement to be delighted with accomplishment and aggrieved with failure; we can meet them with perfect equanimity. Recounting the contact between the senses and their objects as impermanent by nature and asking Arjuna to ignore the same the Lord has shown that such contacts giving rise to pleasure and pain, being transitory they do not include the least trace of happiness. It is the ego conscious mind which enjoys and suffers and it will continue to do so, so long as it is bound up with the use of life and body and is dependent on them for its knowledge and action. But when the mind becomes liberated and objective and descends into that covert quietude; when its awareness is lit, it willingly acknowledges whatever happens knowing full well that these contacts are transient and are not itself though they happen to do it. Therefore Arjuna is being asked not to rejoice or grieve nor to entertain any fancy or prejudice in favour of or against them. It should be understood that the Lord exhorts Arjuna to overcome pleasure and pain resulting from all such contacts and separation. Addressing Arjuna as Bharata signifies the great heritage in his ancestry on his paternal side and to address him as Kaunteya signifies the great legacy in his ancestry on his maternal side and thereby suggesting that such delusion is quite improper for Arjuna. “O best of men, the most heroic and strongest of men, O! Arjuna, the far-sighted man to whom hurt and delight are the same, and he is not anguished by these interactions, and he becomes qualified for immortality”. Sri Krishna emphasises it should be expected from Arjuna not to pay attention to all these dual experiences since apathy to joy and grief is an integral part of Arjuna’s character. The Lord is declaring that whomever the sense objects are unable to overwhelm, restrain or distress and who is equable in pleasure and pain not being perturbed, becomes qualified to attain Moksha which is deliverance from the material bondage of birth and death (To be continued)
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 03:47:21 +0000
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