novelraw Arc 2 - Bhagavad Gītā Parva - Chapter 7 - The Marks of the Steady Sage
Arc 2 - Bhagavad Gītā Parva - Chapter 7 - The Marks of the Steady Sage
Vaiśampāyana said:
Then, O King Janamejaya, after hearing the divine discourse on the imperishable soul, Arjuna, still seated in his chariot between the two armies, bowed to the Lord of the Universe and asked, with humility in his voice and wonder in his heart:
Arjuna said:
“What, O Keśava, are the signs of the man
Whose understanding is steadfast, whose mind abides in contemplation?
How does such a one speak, how sit, how move—
Him I long to know, O Mādhava!”
Vaiśampāyana continued:
Then the Blessed Lord smiled—the smile of one who beholds both the seeker and the sought as one—and answered with words that illumined the field of battle like dawn dispelling darkness.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“When a man casts off every desire
That dwells in the heart, O Pārtha,
And rejoices only in the Self within,
Then is he said to be steady in wisdom.”
Vaiśampāyana said, “Here, the Lord declares that peace arises not from possession but renunciation. The sage, content in the Self, neither hungers for gain nor grieves for loss. His joy is inward, not drawn from the world.”
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“He whose mind remains unshaken in sorrow,
Whose thirst for pleasure has vanished,
Who is free from attachment, fear, and wrath—
He is called a sage of steady mind.”
Equanimity amid both fortune and fall marks the saintly man. Fear and anger are storms that rise from desire; when desire is stilled, the heart is calm like a waveless lake.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“He who is without affection everywhere,
Who rejoices not in the pleasant nor hates the unpleasant,
Whose mind rests balanced and serene—
Of him is said, ‘His wisdom stands firm.’”
The wise see both gain and loss as shadows upon the same ground of being. The world’s opposites—joy and pain—touch them not, for their delight is rooted in the eternal Self.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“As a tortoise draws in its limbs from every side,
So he withdraws his senses from sense-objects;
His wisdom is well established—
That one is steadfast in mind.”
Self-control, not suppression, is the sign of strength. The sage governs his senses as a charioteer holds the reins of restive steeds, guiding them toward the still center of awareness.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
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“The objects of sense fall away from the abstinent,
Though the taste for them remains;
Even that taste disappears
When one has seen the Supreme.”
Renunciation begins with restraint, but ends in realization. When the soul perceives the bliss of Brahman, worldly sweetness pales, as the stars fade before the rising sun.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“The turbulent senses, O son of Kuntī,
Can carry away the mind even of the wise.
Therefore, restraining them all,
Let one dwell in Me alone.”
Kṛṣṇa here proclaims Himself as the refuge of discipline. Only devotion to the Divine holds the senses in check; without it, even wisdom wavers like a lamp in the wind.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“Brooding on sense-objects breeds attachment,
From attachment springs desire;
Desire gives birth to wrath,
And wrath leads to delusion.”
“From delusion comes loss of memory,
From loss of memory, ruin of reason;
When reason is destroyed,
The man perishes utterly.”
Thus the Lord traces the chain of downfall—from thought to ruin. Desire is the root of bondage; wrath its flower; forgetfulness its fruit. To break the chain, one must begin at the root.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“But the self-restrained man, moving among sense-objects
With senses freed from attraction and aversion,
Mastering himself and centered in peace,
Attains serenity of mind.”
Peace is not withdrawal from life, but freedom amidst its play. The one who walks through the world unattached, neither clinging nor rejecting, attains the stillness of the Spirit.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“In that serenity, all sorrow ends;
For the intellect of the tranquil-minded
Soon becomes steadfast,
And he beholds the Self in all.”
When calmness is attained, wisdom awakens naturally. The peaceful mind mirrors truth as a clear lake reflects the moon.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“For the unrestrained, there is no meditation;
Without meditation, there is no peace;
And without peace, how can there be happiness?”
The Lord teaches that happiness is born of self-discipline. He who follows his senses is as one carried away by a river in flood—never resting, never free.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“The mind that follows the wandering senses
Carries away wisdom like the wind a ship upon the sea.
Therefore, O mighty-armed,
He is steady whose senses are wholly controlled.”
A distracted mind is a perilous ocean; the controlled mind, a secure shore. Mastery of the senses is the gateway to mastery of self.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“That which is night to all beings,
Is day to the self-controlled sage;
And what is day to other creatures,
Is night to the seer who knows the Self.”
The worldly awaken to objects; the wise awaken to Spirit. What is darkness to one is illumination to the other—their visions are reversed, their worlds transformed.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“He into whom all desires enter
As rivers enter the changeless sea—
That man attains peace,
Not he who longs for desires.”
The ocean receives all waters yet remains unmoved; so the sage receives all impressions yet stays undisturbed. Desire ends not by exhaustion but by transcendence.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“He who abandons all craving,
Who moves about without attachment or pride,
Who is free from ‘mine’ and ‘I’—
He attains the peace supreme.”
Freedom flowers when ego fades. The sage acts without self-claim, walks the world without ownership, and rests in the vastness of the Self.
Śrī Bhagavān said:
“This, O Pārtha, is the divine state.
Attaining it, man is never deluded.
Abiding therein till death,
He enters the Supreme Peace.”
Vaiśampāyana said, “Thus, O King, did the Lord of Śrī reveal to Arjuna the marks of the liberated sage. In that teaching lies the end of sorrow and the beginning of Yoga—the stillness of the soul in the midst of all becoming.”