February11 – Bhagavadgita Chapter 2; Verses 2.48 (Day 42) Sankhya Yoga

 

February 11 – Day 42

Verse 2.48

योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय ।

सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते ॥ २-४८॥ 

yoga-sthaḥ kuru karmāṇi saṅgaṁ tyaktvā dhanañjaya
siddhyasiddhyoḥ samo bhūtwā samatwaṁ yoga uchyate (2.48) 

யோக³ஸ்த²: கு¹ரு க¹ர்மாணி ஸங்க³ம் த்¹யக்¹த்¹வா த⁴னந்ஜய |
ஸித்³த்⁴யஸித்³த்⁴யோ: ஸமோ பூ⁴த்¹வா ஸமத்¹வம் யோக³ உச்யதே¹ ||48||

48. Perform action, O Arjuna, being steadfast in Yoga, abandoning attachment and balanced in success and failure! Evenness of mind is called Yoga. 

Commentary: Dwelling in union with the Divine perform actions merely for God’s sake with a balanced mind in success and failure.  Equilibrium is Yoga.  The attainment of the knowledge of the Self through purity of heart obtained by doing actions without expectation of fruits is success (Siddhi).  Failure is the non-attainment of knowledge by doing actions with expectation of fruit. [Cf. 3.0; 4.14; 4.20] 

Commentary by Swami Venkatesananda: Yoga is ‘union’. We should be in union with God. That is to be steadfast in yoga. It is not possible if we have attachment to ‘the world’ which includes the little self, its actions and motives. A simultaneous achievement of this two-fold yoga is conducive to a balanced state of mind; in Gurudev’s words, it is “Detach the mind from the world and attach it to the Lord.”

Man, in his eagerness for the desired results of actions, is intensely attached to the actions themselves. ‘I do’ – and why? Because ‘I expect this to happen’. If this happens, it is success and ‘I am happy’. If that happens, it is failure and ‘I am unhappy’. Even if it is success and even if I am happy for the moment, it is in the shadow of a terribly oppressive fear that it may not last; and the success is eclipsed by fear of loss! Hence, man grieves all the time – in success and in failure. To the truly wise man, therefore, everyone in the world is in misery; the only difference is of degree.

Happy is the man who has a balanced mind; balanced in success and failure. To him success is not success: it is duty discharged. To him failure is not failure: for even that is duty discharged. He has done what had to be done – the appropriate action – in the right spirit. That is one’s duty. Duty discharged is success. Therefore, in a way, it is perennial success, though that success does not belong to him, but to the Lord with whom he is united. God is the master: for his is ‘the kingdom, and the power and the glory for ever and ever’. Man shares them, for he is a cell in the great body of God, but if he is not in tune with God’s will, he degenerates and dies. 

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