February18 – Bhagavadgita Chapter 2; Verses 2.57 (Day 49) Sankhya Yoga

 February 18 – Day 49

Verse 2.57

यः सर्वत्रानभिस्नेहस्तत्तत्प्राप्य शुभाशुभम् ।

नाभिनन्दति न द्वेष्टि तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता ॥ २-५७॥ 

yaḥ sarvatrānabhisnehas tat tat prāpya śhubhāśhubham
nābhinandati na dweṣhṭi tasya prajñā pratiṣhṭhitā (2.57) 

ய: ஸர்வத்¹ரானபி⁴ஸ்னேஹஸ் த¹த்¹த¹த்¹ ப்¹ராப்¹ய ஶுபா⁴ஶுப⁴ம் |
நாபி⁴னன்த³தி¹: ந த்³வேஷ்டி² த¹ஸ்ய ப்¹ரஞ்ஞா ப்¹ரதி¹ஷ்டி²தா¹ ||57|| 

57. He who is everywhere without attachment, on meeting with anything good or bad, who neither rejoices nor hates, his wisdom is fixed. 

Commentary: The sage possesses poised understanding or evenness of mind.  He does not rejoice in pleasure nor is he averse to pain that may befall him.  He is quite indifferent as he is rooted in the Self.  He has no attachment even for his life or body as he identifies himself with Brahman or the Supreme Self.  He will not praise anybody when the latter does any good to him nor censure anyone when one does him any harm. This is the answer given by the Lord to Arjuna’s query: “How does a sage of steady wisdom talk?” 

Commentary by Swami Venkatesananda (verse 57):

The foremost principle to be grasped in dealing with these pairs of complementary opposites is that they are vital to all growth. Heat and cold, rain and sun, night and day are necessary for plant growth, and for the growth of our vital ‘vegetable’ nature. Pleasure and pain, success and failure, honour and dishonour, are necessary for the growth of our ‘mental’ nature, the psychological aspect which should thus be purified of its dross and cleared of misunderstanding to arrive at the saner stability of mental equilibrium. Good and evil are necessary in the same way in order to raise us above them! It is only because we have a much too narrow vision which prevents us from seeing life as a whole, that we seek and cling to what we regard as pleasant and fight to get away from what we come to feel as unpleasant. If we rouse our wisdom and raise ourselves from the purely earth-earthy life, we shall, from the lofty heights of yoga, enjoy the enthralling vision of the whole life, and perceive the wonderous pattern of these opposites ironically blending to create divine life. The pairs of opposites will lose their dreadful significance and will reveal their true nature as essential factors for our spiritual growth. The seed destroys itself to create the plant. The plant sacrifices itself to feed man. Man voluntarily sacrifices his pleasure to promote others’ welfare. The whole universe is constantly subjecting itself to this endless alternation of opposites in order that the soul may be liberated from their thralldom. He who sees thus is a sage of steady wisdom. Happiness seeks him unsought: happiness, when sought, is a worthless prize – for it is its own price. Steady wisdom pursues its own source – the self, eternal, infinite fountain of bliss. 

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