यस्मान्नोद्विजते लोको लोकान्नोद्विजते च यः ।
हर्षामर्षभयोद्वेगैर्मुक्तो यः स च मे प्रियः ॥१२-१५॥
Transliteration:
Lord Krishna tells Arjuna: one who was not cause for inner agitation by others, one who remained unperturbed, composed in all circumstances of life… such a Bhakta, seeker of God was dear to me! One who had an established goal in life… how could he be affected by workings of ephemeral world! Inner calm comes with experience as one gained spiritual maturity.
Lord Krishna further tells Arjuna: no matter what the disdain… one who was free from feelings of both happiness and distress, fear and anxiety… such a traveler of spiritual path was dear to God Almighty. A seeker of God never cared for mundane pleasures of life. Even when facing extreme hardships… one maintained equipoise in all affairs of life.
Fear could not touch one who realizes that we were primarily a soul atman, the spirit within and not the manifest physical human form perceived by senses. For a seeker of God… there was nothing to fear in life. As everything belonged to God Almighty… where was the cause of any fear! Anxiety disturbed those affected by worldly pleasures of life… never seekers of God!
The Explanation:
Through bhagavad gita chapter 12 verse 15 Lord Krishna emphasizes on Arjuna to remain aloof from bodily pleasures. Remaining concentrated on our goal of spiritual life… the workings of ephemeral world never disturbed us. We must successfully succeed in maintaining equipoise both when we suffered at hands of others and when others felt cheated by us.
We may never be wrong but others viewed it differently. Something that was right for us may be deemed wrong by others. Life always has two facets like two sides of the same coin! What may be pleasant to us… maybe unpleasant to others! We just could not indulge in mudslinging. If we were truthful in life, if our goal of life was absolutely clear… we had nothing to fear or worry about! The whole world on one side… a truthful person never deviates from path of absolute truthfulness, not even when adversities faced head-on.
We must always cling to path of absolute truthfulness… if we wanted to reach God in present life! Most human beings world over left spiritual path midway… prime reason why people failed to gain enlightenment in their lifetime! Some say path of spirituality was full of thorns… in my experience; the path of spirituality is made up of thorns! To gain something in life… we had to sacrifice our shortcomings, our belated ego (Ahamkar in Hinduism)!
The path of spirituality was always travelled all alone. Those who failed to accomplish anything worthwhile in spiritual life… felt disheartened, blamed those for their woes who succeeded on spiritual path! How could we become the doer of their karma? As per Lord Krishna… in such telling circumstances of life, maintaining inner compose was an absolute must for a serious seeker of spirituality. We truly had to practice compassion, forgiveness at its best!
If we failed in maintain inner calm when travelling spiritual path… we would fail in accomplishing all that we called spirituality. Both in happiness and sufferings, we must remain equidistant… as if nothing happened! As the workings of spiritual world were meant for our soul atman, the spirit within… it was in our interest if we acted as a true trustee of God all the time. We must sincerely do the bidding of God Almighty all the time.
For this Lord Krishna emphasized need for practicing path of nishkama karma yoga… offering fruits of karma performed to God Almighty all the time! Only by indulgence in nishkama karma yoga… a spiritual traveler succeeded in maintaining equipoise all the time. Whatever goes within reflects on our face. The face of a Yogi says it all. We must never become aggrieved or become the cause for dissatisfaction of fellow travelers, entire community!
One can become aggrieved if we lost something. As fruits of karma performed all the time belonged to God Almighty… there was nothing to lose by a traveler of spiritual path! By remaining focused on our absolute goal of life all the time, one could never feel aggrieved at any stage of life… no matter how bitter the hardship. A serious seeker of spirituality all the time has to eat hell for breakfast. No wonder… how many contemplations of suicide!
Lord Krishna also says that travelers of spiritual path who failed to accomplish their goal of life feared travelers of spiritual path as for those grapes were always sour. Antagonism was writ large on their faces due to failed accomplishments. Such failed aspirants of spiritual path must never be shunned by those who spiritually succeed in life. Rather… no failure of spiritual path must ever feel aggrieved by our achievements, our workings! By maintaining equipoise… by following path of truthfulness all the time we could clear all ambiguities, cause of heartburning! Our effort must always be… zero enmity between us and others.
As per Lord Krishna… success and failure were part of life, two sides of the same coin!
Neither we must rejoice when happy… or express anger when failed. For a seeker of God… both happiness and sufferings meant the same. As we were not attached to fruits of karma performed… the choice never laid with us! Intermittent failures were part of life… and must be taken in equal measure as success. Likewise fear and anxiety must never overtake us. We were never a puppet in hands of time. Human form was highest manifest stage in cosmic life cycle… it was only in human form our soul atman, the consciousness within regained its lost original pure prime pristine primordial form forever when human beings gained enlightenment in their lifetime!
For a true traveler of spiritual path… the cup was never half empty or half full. Achievements of spiritual path were only a medium to reach God in present life. We could never attach self to temporary successes and failures… so was totally prohibited in spiritual domain. When a spiritual traveler all the time indulged in welfare of mankind at large… the need to rejoice in happiness or experience anxiety in sufferings did not mean anything. Unmindful of workings of spiritual path, God Almighty… a seeker of God all the time contemplated on God Almighty to reach God.
Lord Krishna says… a spiritual traveler who was successful in maintaining equipoise, equanimity at all stages of life was truly dear to God Almighty. Such a one was a true Bhakta, a true seeker of God Almighty! The main purpose of spiritual path was enhancing inner calm day by day. On spiritual path… a true seeker had nothing to lose ever! As per doctrine of Maya (veil of illusion) advocated by Adi Shankaracharya, God Almighty was the only truth of life! When everything in cosmos belonged to God Almighty, was God Almighty… where was the cause for worry by human beings… a manifest form! We were truly an instrument in hands of God Almighty doing his bidding all the time. By enforcing our ego (Aham in Hinduism)… a true seeker of God never gained anything in life.
For negating our karma to zero in entirety… control over ego (Aham in Hinduism) in totality was an absolute must!
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – July 11, 2013
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