श्रीभगवान्
In plain words
The Blessed Lord said: When a person gives up all desires arising in the mind and is content in Ātma alone, through Ātma, that person is said to be of steady wisdom.
Word for word
When one casts off all desires that have entered the mind, O son of Pṛthā, content in the ātman alone by the ātman, then one is called of steady wisdom.
The commentators
Bhagavadgītābhāṣyam
यो ह्यादित एव संन्यस्य कर्माणि ज्ञानयोगनिष्ठायां प्रवृत्तः, यश्च कर्मयोगेन, तयोः ‘प्रजहाति’ इत्यारभ्य आ अध्यायपरिसमाप्तेः स्थितप्रज्ञलक्षणं साधनं चोपदिश्यते । सर्वत्रैव हि अध्यात्मशास्त्रे कृतार्थलक्षणानि यानि तान्येव साधनानि उपदिश्यन्ते, यत्नसाध्यत्वात् । यानि यत्नसाध्यानि साधनानि लक्षणानि च भवन्ति तानि श्रीभगवानुवाच —
प्रजहाति प्रकर्षेण जहाति परित्यजति यदा यस्मिन्काले सर्वान् समस्तान् कामान् इच्छाभेदान् हे पार्थ, मनोगतान् मनसि प्रविष्टान् हृदि प्रविष्टान् । सर्वकामपरित्यागे तुष्टिकारणाभावात् शरीरधारणनिमित्तशेषे च सति उन्मत्तप्रमत्तस्येव प्रवृत्तिः प्राप्ता, इत्यत उच्यते — आत्मन्येव प्रत्यगात्मस्वरूपे एव आत्मना स्वेनैव बाह्यलाभनिरपेक्षः तुष्टः परमार्थदर्शनामृतरसलाभेन अन्यस्मादलंप्रत्ययवान् स्थितप्रज्ञः स्थिता प्रतिष्ठिता आत्मानात्मविवेकजा प्रज्ञा यस्य सः स्थितप्रज्ञः विद्वान् तदा उच्यते । त्यक्तपुत्रवित्तलोकैषणः संन्यासी आत्माराम आत्मक्रीडः स्थितप्रज्ञ इत्यर्थः ॥ ५५ ॥
In plain words
For both kinds of person — the one who renounces action from the very start and takes up the discipline of knowledge, and the one who proceeds through the discipline of action — both are taught, from 'he abandons' (2.55) all the way to the end of this chapter, what marks a person of steady wisdom and what means lead there. This is how it always works in every treatise on the Self: the very marks of someone who has already reached the goal are taught as the means to reach it, because those same qualities can also be cultivated deliberately. Whatever, then, serves both as an effortful practice and as a defining mark — that is what the blessed Lord now speaks:
'He abandons' — completely lets go, relinquishes — 'when,' at whatever moment, 'all' of the desires, every variety of craving, Pārtha, that had settled into his mind, entered his heart. Now, someone might object: if all desire is simply abandoned, with nothing left to feel satisfied about except the bare need to keep the body alive, wouldn't his behavior look like a madman's, or someone careless and out of control? That is exactly what this verse answers. He is 'satisfied' — but 'in the Self' alone, in the true nature of the innermost Self, 'by the Self' alone, needing nothing from outside, because he has tasted the sheer nectar of seeing ultimate reality, and is utterly convinced that this, compared to anything else, is enough. That is what 'one of steady wisdom' means: someone whose insight, born from clearly telling Self from non-Self, has become fixed and unshakeable. He has let go of craving for children, wealth, and worlds; he is the renunciate who delights in nothing but the Self, who plays only in the Self. That is what steady wisdom actually looks like.
Close to the Sanskrit
For whoever, having renounced action from the very outset, is engaged in the grounding of the yoga of knowledge, and whoever [is engaged] through the yoga of action — of these two, beginning with 'he abandons' (2.55) up to the completion of the chapter, both the characteristic marks of the one of steady wisdom and the means [to becoming so] are taught. For everywhere, indeed, in the science of the Self, the very characteristic marks of one who has accomplished the goal are taught as the means, because they are also accomplishable through effort. Those which are, [both,] means accomplishable through effort and characteristic marks — those the blessed Lord spoke —
'He abandons' — thoroughly gives up, relinquishes — 'when,' at whatever time, 'all,' every one of, the 'desires,' the various forms of wishing, O Pārtha, that have 'gone into the mind,' entered the mind, entered the heart. Now, when all desires are abandoned, since no cause for satisfaction remains, and when only the motive of sustaining the body remains, there would seem to result behavior like that of a madman or a heedless person — [to meet this concern] it is therefore said: 'in the Self' alone, in the essential nature of the inward Self alone, 'by the Self,' by one's own Self alone, indifferent to external gain, 'satisfied' — by the gain of the nectar-taste of the vision of ultimate reality, convinced that this alone, compared to anything else, is sufficient — [such a one] is called 'one of steady wisdom': one whose wisdom, born of the discrimination of Self and non-Self, is fixed, well-established, he, the learned one, is then called 'one of steady wisdom.' One who has abandoned craving for offspring, wealth, and worlds, the renunciate, one who delights in the Self, one who finds his play in the Self — that is the one of steady wisdom: such is the meaning. [End of commentary on verse 55.]
Gītā Vāhini
ఈ రెండవ అధ్యాయములో, స్థూలంగా ముఖ్యమయిన ఘట్టములు నాలుగు తెలిపెను. మొదటిది “శరణాగతి తత్త్వం,” రెండవది “సాంఖ్య జ్ఞానం,” మూడవది “యోగబుద్ధి,” నాలుగవది “స్థితప్రజ్ఞుని లక్షణము.” ఇపుడు తెలిపిన పై నాలుగింటిలో, మూడునూ పూర్తి అయినవి. ఇక స్థితప్రజ్ఞుని లక్షణములు. వాని విషయము కృష్ణ పరమాత్మ అర్జునునకు బోధించును. అర్జునుడు తెలుపుమని ప్రార్థించుచు “కేశవా!” అని పలికినాడు. కృష్ణుడు ఈ పలుకునకు పక్కున నవ్వినాడు. ఎందుకనగా కొంతవరకు నన్ను తెలిసికొన్నాడని! ఏమి తెలిసికొన్నాడన్న, “కేశవా!” అనగా త్రిమూర్తి స్వరూపుడని అర్థము! ఇంతటి స్థితికి అర్జునుడు వచ్చినాడంటే దీనికి కృష్ణుని అనుగ్రహమే కారణము. స్థితప్రజ్ఞుని లక్షణములను తెలుపుమని కేశవుని ప్రార్థించగా “పార్థా! మనోగతాలైన సర్వవాంఛలను సంపూర్ణముగా ఎవడు వదలి ఆత్మయందు, ఆత్మలో సంతోషించువాడై యున్నాడో అట్టివాడే ‘స్థితప్రజ్ఞుడు’ అని చెప్పవచ్చును.”
“ఇందులో రెండు పద్ధతులున్నవి. ఒకటి విధ్వంసక పద్ధతి. రెండవది విధాయక పద్ధతి. మనసునందుకల సర్వ ఆశలూ వదులుట విధ్వంసకము; అంతఃకరణములో సంతోషముగా ఉండుట విధాయకము! హృదయ భూమిలో మొలచిన మలినపు మొక్కలను పెరికి వేయుట, హృదయమును నిర్మలము చేయుట – విధ్వంసకము! నిర్మలమైన హృదయ భూమిలో భగవత్ రతిని నాటుట – విధాయకము! కావలసిన పంటను పెంచుకొనుట విధాయకము! అవసరములేని మలినపు మొక్కలను పెరికివేయుట విధ్వంసకము! ఇందులో విషయ వాసనలు అవసరములేని మొక్కలు; భగవత్ రతి అవసరమయిన మొక్క అని భావించవలెను. కోర్కెల యొక్క మూటే మనసు. ఎప్పుడు కోర్కెలు పోవునో అప్పుడు మనసు ఉండదు కదా? ఎటులనిన ఒక వస్త్రమున్నది. అందులో దారములు అటు ఇటు చేరుటచే, అది వస్త్ర రూపమును ధరించినది. వస్త్రమందుండెడి దారములను విడివిడిగా తీసివేసిన వస్త్రమెక్కడున్నది? అటులనే, కోర్కెలు అను దారములు అటూ ఇటూ చేరుట వలన మనసు అను రూపము ధరించినది. కోరికలే పోయిన మనసుకు రూపమే లేదు. ఎప్పుడు మనసే లేకుండునో అప్పుడే స్థితప్రజ్ఞుడు.”
In plain words
In this second chapter he set out, broadly, four main sections. The first is "the tattva of Śaraṇāgati"; the second, "Sāṅkhya Jñāna"; the third, "Yoga Buddhi"; and the fourth, "the mark of the sthitaprajña". Of the four just named, three are now complete. Next come the marks of the sthitaprajña, which Kṛṣṇa Paramātma teaches Arjuna. Praying to be told of them, Arjuna called him "Keśava!" At that word Kṛṣṇa burst out laughing. Why? Because he thought, "To some extent he has come to know Me!" What had he come to know? "Keśava!" means the one whose svarūpa is the Trimūrti! That Arjuna had come to such a state was due to Kṛṣṇa's grace alone. When he prayed Keśava to tell him the marks of the sthitaprajña, the answer was: "Pārtha! He who has wholly given up all the desires lodged in the Manas and rejoices in the Ātma, within the Ātma, such a one alone may be called a 'sthitaprajña'."
"In this there are two methods. One is the destructive method; the other is the constructive method. To give up all the desires in the Manas is destructive; to be happy in the antaḥkaraṇa is constructive! To pull out the impure plants that have sprouted in the soil of the heart and make the heart pure is destructive! To plant delight in God in the pure soil of the heart is constructive! To grow the crop you want is constructive! To pull out the impure plants you do not need is destructive! Here, you must take the vāsanās for sense objects to be the plants that are not needed, and delight in God to be the plant that is needed. The Manas is nothing but a bundle of desires. When the desires go, the Manas will not be there, will it? How so? Take a cloth. Because threads have come together in it, this way and that, it has taken the form of cloth. If you take out the threads of the cloth one by one, where is the cloth? In the same way, because the threads called desires have come together this way and that, the form called the Manas has taken shape. When the desires themselves are gone, the Manas has no form at all. When the Manas itself is no more, then alone is one a sthitaprajña."