Gita 02.48 – Yoga requires material indifference to provide spiritual transcendence

Bhagavad Gita 2.48 yogastha kurukarmāṇi saṅgam tyaktvā dhananjaya siddhya siddhyo samobhūtvā samatvam yoga uchyate so, yogastha kurukarmāṇi yogastha, be situated in yoga, kurukarmāṇi, do your work saṅgam tyaktvā dhananjaya give up attachment to dhananjaya and work siddhya siddhyo samobhūtvā be equipoised in happiness and distress siddhya siddhyo samobhūtvā samatvam yoga uchyate so, equanimity is called yoga yogastha kurukarmāṇi be situated in yoga and do your work so interesting that the word yoga which will be introduced first in 39th verse buddhir yoge to imāṁśu that is coming back again and here Krishna starts first by saying be situated in yoga and then he gives a brief definition of yoga where he says samatvam yoga uchyate what is yoga essentially? the samatvam equanimity saṅgam tyaktvā dhananjaya so how can you be situated in yoga? do your work, kurukarmāṇi but give up attachment and giving up attachment Krishna elaborates further means siddhya siddhyo samobhūtvā that whether you get victory or defeat, be equipoised and such equanimity will be called as yoga it's interesting that Krishna is referring to yoga more in terms of it's it's associated disposition towards material things than it's connection with spiritual things we generally talk about yoga in terms of connection and that is from the etymological as well as the philosophical point of view, correct that yoga essentially means to connect with the spiritual to connect with the ultimate spiritual reality and the process which enables us to do to connect as we discussed the word yoga also is cognate with yoga so if yoga essentially means to connect with the higher spiritual reality then why is Krishna saying that equanimity is called as yoga equanimity towards material things is what enables our consciousness to perceive and to pursue higher spiritual things and then become connected with those things if we are too fascinated with material things then we don't pursue anything beyond matter so if I get this then I will be happy I just want to get this particular object then I am going to be happy oh if I lose that object that will be such a tragedy I don't want to lose that object so in this way when we are caught up in material things either the hope that they will give us pleasure or the fear that losing them will cause great pain then our consciousness gets caught in matter and then we cannot pursue spirit leave alone pursue it pursue means to see and pursue means to seek it so that's why yoga in order to be properly pursued needs some level of material equanimity this material equanimity does not mean material negligence or irresponsibility it just means that one doesn't take the material things too seriously we recognize that whatever happens the material level of reality is temporary and ultimately insubstantial so big things may happen at the material level but they will be there for some time and then they will end so I don't have to become too excited or agitated by them just as a child is playing some games in childhood games seem almost like the purpose of life and when the child wins the game the child becomes too excited and loses the game and is devastated but as the same child grows up then one understands that those games are ok an adult also understands the game and we sometimes play the game with the child also but the child understands that this is just a game there is no need to take it so seriously so similarly when we grow up spiritually we don't take material things very seriously because we understand that material things are ultimately temporary and therefore what we need to focus on is eternal spiritual truths and if we stay focused on eternal spiritual truths then we will be able to move onwards in our spiritual life we will keep growing so equanimity towards material things in the sense of not getting too excited or too agitated by their gain or loss enables our consciousness to perceive and to perceive spirit and thus we can practice yoga so Krishna will talk about this later also in 6.17 when he says Yuktahar Vihar is here he says we regulated eating and sleeping and then the yoga practice will lead to freedom from misery because by the yoga practice one rises to the spiritual level and the spiritual level one becomes free from misery so here Krishna talks about one aspect of the yoga practice the more active aspect of yoga practice in terms of connection with spiritual reality will be talked about in the future chapters but in this chapter Krishna focuses on the non-active or the non-reactive aspect of yoga where one does not get one does not don't provoke too much reactions in a yogic practitioner and that's why Krishna says over here Samatam yoga ujjate so Krishna telling Arjuna whatever happens in the battlefield know that you are acting for your spiritual growth and keep pursuing your spiritual growth no matter what happens and then you will not be entangled so you will be able to practice yoga so be equipoised whatever happens whether your relatives are killed or whether you are killed whether you win or lose be equipoised and keep doing your duty and thus practice yoga.