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BG II: Sh 56,57,58 - Ramanuja Bhasya
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To: alt-hindu@uunet.uu.net
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Subject: BG II: Sh 56,57,58 - Ramanuja Bhasya
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From: lchiluku@ucsd.edu (R. & L. Chilukuri)
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Date: 30 Apr 1995 18:39:49 GMT
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From news@network.ucsd.edu Sun Apr 30 14: 29:24 1995
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Newsgroups: alt.hindu
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Organization: Univ of California at San Diego
BG II: 56, 57, 58
Ramanuja Bhasya, translated by M.R. Sampatkumaran
56. Even when there are causes for grief like separation from beloved
persons, his mind is not distressed: he is not afflicted by misery. He is
free of the desire to enjoy pleasures: that is even though the objects of
his desire are near at hand, he has no desire (for them). He is devoid of
longing, fear and anger. Longing is the desire for things not yet
attained: he is devoid of this. Fear is the misery arising from the
perception of causes which will bring about separation from what is
beloved or meeting with what is undesireable: he is free from this. Anger
is the agitated state of one's mind which is productive of misery, and
which is directed against another sentient being who has been
instrumental in bringing about separation from what is beloved or meeting
with what is undesireable: he (i.e. the sage of steady understanding) is
free from this.
Asage of this description, who is given to constant meditation on the
self, is said to be of steady understanding.
Then the next stage below (this) is mentioned.
57. He who everywhere has no affection fro what is pleasing, that is, who
is indifferent (towards them), and who, coming by good and evil in the
form of union with and separation from pleasing objects (respectively) is
devoid of delight (of the former) and aversion (from the latter) - he is
also of steady understanding.
He (Sri Krishna) mentions the next lower state:
58. He who withdraws well the senses everywhere from the objects of the
senses, just when the senses attempt to contact the objects of the
senses-in the way in which the tortoise (withsraws its protruding) limbs
- and fixex his mind on the self, he too is of steady understanding.
Thus these four kinds of devotion to knowledge are to be understood as
(so many stages), each succeeding stage giving rise to the stage
mentioned previous to it. Now He (Sri Krishna) speaks of the difficulty
of attaining firm devotion to knowledge and the means of attaining it.
