2.12 Analytical Knowledge

61. In this verse, the word yuktaḥ (united) indicates "absorption in devotion," and mat paraḥ means "toward Lord Krishna." The word āsīta (seated) may be understood figuratively here to mean "situated or established." Having said that the impetuous mind and senses need to be tamed, Shree Krishna now reveals the proper engagement for them, which is absorption in devotion to God. The example of King Ambarish in Śhrīmad Bhāgavatam illustrates this process this very beautifully:

"Ambarish engaged his mind in remembering the lotus feet of Shree Krishna. He engaged his tongue in chanting the wonderful names, forms, virtues, and pastimes of God. He used his ears in hearing narrations about the Lord, his eyes in seeing the beautiful deity of God in the temple, his sense of touch in massaging the feet of devotees of the Lord, his nostrils in smelling the aroma from fragrant objects that had been offered to the Lord in worship, his feet in circumambulating the temple, and his head in paying obeisance to God and His devotees. In this way, he subdued all his senses by engaging them in the service of the Supreme Lord."

62. Vedic scriptures as mānas rog, or diseases of the mind. The Ramayan states:

We are all aware of the diseases of the body—even a single bodily ailment has the power to make one's whole day miserable—but we do not realize that we are being continuously tormented by multiple mental ailments. And since we do not recognize lust, anger, greed, etc. as mental diseases, we do not try to cure them. Psychology is a branch of human knowledge that attempts to analyze these ailments and propose solutions to them. However, both the analysis and the solution presented by western psychology leave much to be desired, and appear to be gross approximations of the reality of the mind.

In this and the subsequent verse, Shree Krishna has given perfect and penetrating insight into functioning of the mind. He explains that when we repeatedly contemplate that there is happiness in some object, the mind becomes attached to it. For example, in a class there are a number of boys and girls, and they interact innocuously with each other. One day one boy notices something about one girl and starts thinking, "I would be very happy if she were mine." As he continuously repeats this thought in his mind, his mind becomes attached to her. He tells his friends that he is madly in love with her, and he is unable to study because his mind repeatedly goes to her. His friends ridicule him that they all interact with her in class, but none of them is crazy about her. Why is he losing his sleep and ruining his studies because of her? The fact is that he repeatedly thought that there was happiness in the girl, and so his mind became attached to her.

Now attachment seems quite innocuous by itself. But the problem is that from attachment comes desire. If one is attached to drinks, the desire for drinks comes repeatedly to the mind. If one is attached to cigarettes, then thoughts of the pleasure of smoking cigarettes repeatedly flow in the mind, creating a craving for them. In this way, attachment leads to desire.

Once desire develops, it gives birth to two more problems—greed and anger. Greed comes from the fulfillment of desire. Jimi pratilābha lobha adhikāī (Ramayan) ["If you satisfy desire, it leads to greed." Thus desire is never eliminated by satiating it:]

"If one person were to get all the wealth, luxuries, and sensual objects in the world, that person's desire would still not be satiated. Hence, knowing it to be the cause of misery, an intelligent person should renounce desire."

On the flip side what happens if the fulfillment of desire is obstructed? It gives rise to anger. Bear in mind that anger does not arise by itself. It is created from the obstruction of desire; and desire arises from attachment, while attachment comes from contemplation of the sense objects. In this manner, we see how the simple act of contemplating the pleasures of sense objects leads downward to the twin diseases of greed and anger. In the next verse Shree Krishna continues the chain further down, and explains the consequences of anger.

63. Anger impairs judgment, just as the morning mist creates a hazy covering on the sunlight. In anger, people commit mistakes that they later regret, because the intellect gets clouded by the haze of emotions. People say, "He is twenty years elder to me. Why did I speak in this manner to him? What happened to me?" What happened was that the faculty of judgment was affected by anger, and hence the mistake of scolding an elder was made.

When the intellect is clouded, it leads to bewilderment of memory. The person then forgets what is right and what is wrong, and flows along with the surge of emotions. The downward descent continues from there, and bewilderment of memory results in destruction of the intellect. And since the intellect is the internal guide, when it gets destroyed, one is ruined. In this manner, the path of descent from divinity to impiety has been described beginning with contemplation on the sense objects to the destruction of the intellect.

64. The entire downward spiral leading to ruin begins with contemplating happiness in sense objects. Now, the urge for happiness is as natural to the soul as thirst is to the physical body. It is impossible to think "I will not contemplate happiness anywhere," because it is unnatural for the soul. The simple solution then is to envision happiness in the proper direction, i.e. in God. If we can repeatedly revise the thought that happiness is in God, we will develop attachment toward him. This divine attachment will not degrade the mind like material attachment; rather, it will purify it. God is all-pure, and when we attach our mind to him, the mind will also become pure.

Thus, whenever Shree Krishna asks us to give up attachment and desire, he is referring only to material attachment and desire. Spiritual attachment and desire are not to be given up; in fact, they are most praiseworthy. They are to be cultivated and increased for purification of the mind. The greater the burning desire we develop for God, the purer our mind will become. The jñānīs who propound the worship of the undifferentiated attributeless Brahman do not understand this point when they recommend giving up all attachments. However, Shree Krishna states: "Those who attach their minds to me with unadulterated devotion rise above the three modes of material nature and attain the level of the supreme Brahman." He repeatedly urges Arjun to attach his mind to God in many verses ahead.

Attachment and aversion are two sides of the same coin. Aversion is nothing but negative attachment. Just as, in attachment, the object of attachment repeatedly comes to one's mind; similarly, in aversion, the object of hatred keeps popping into the mind. So attachment and aversion to material objects both have the same effect on the mind—they dirty it and pull it into the three modes of material nature. When the mind is free from both attachment and aversion, and is absorbed in devotion to God, one receives the grace of God and experiences his unlimited divine bliss. On experiencing that higher taste, the mind no longer feels attracted to the sense objects, even while using them. Thus, even while tasting, touching, smelling, hearing, and seeing, like all of us, the sthita prajña is free from both attachment and aversion.

65. Grace is like a divine energy that floods into a person's personality. By grace, God who is sat-chit-ānand bestows his divine knowledge, divine love, and divine bliss. This entrenches the intellect, like the North Star, in the love, bliss, and knowledge of God. By God's grace, when we experience the higher taste of divine bliss, the agitation for sensual happiness is extinguished. Once that hankering for material objects ceases, one goes beyond all suffering and the mind becomes tranquil. In that state of internal fulfillment, the intellect becomes firm in its decision that God alone is the source of happiness and is the final goal of the soul. Previously, the intellect was accepting this only on the basis of knowledge as stated in the scriptures, but now it gets the experience of perfect peace and divine bliss. This convinces the intellect beyond any shadow of doubt, and it becomes steadily situated in God.