Gita 06.22 – Seek the achievement beyond hankering and lamentation

Thank you yam labdhvacha paramlabham manyate nadekantataham yasmin sthitona dukhena gurunapi vichalyate so Krishna continues here yam labdhvacha paramlabham yam labdhvacha, having attained this is there any other gain? no manyate nadekantataham one understands there is no greater gain yasmin sthitona so having student this way no matter how great the misery is there gurunapi vichalyate gurunapi even if there is a great misery vichalyate one is not shaken this verse gives a two point definition of the supreme success Krishna is telling that actually we all want to achieve success in life we may consider success as an Indian student going to America and getting American citizenship is my success I want to become a business magnate different people may have different definitions of success but what we want by the success is two things we want that we may not consciously voice this but this is a subconscious longing that we achieve something after which there is no more craving once I achieve this, yes I am satisfied so that is the first thing achievement which leaves no longer any more hankering yam labdha chamaram lavam manyatena adhikam tataham otherwise in the world whatever we achieve there is always the hankering for more there is somebody comes first in class first in the school somebody becomes the wealthiest person in one's locality wants to become the wealthiest person in one's city the wealthiest person in one's country the wealthiest person in one's continent the wealthiest person in the world the wealthiest person in the world's history soon the person becomes history, the person dies and all the wealth is left behind the soul has to go somewhere else according to one's karma naked and empty handed so in this world no matter what we achieve the hankering for more never goes away and similarly no matter how much one achieves there is always the fear of affliction by misery Krishna is telling over here that once you become situated thus firstly you will be free from hankering yam labdwa cha param labham achieve this lab yam labdwa cha param labham some other lab manyatena adhikam tataham we won't think that there is some other lab some other gain which is greater something else that I have to achieve this is the perfection and I am satisfied with this perfection that will be our understanding nadikam tataha and then yasmin sthito khena so we become situated in this so what does this mean that there is no more hankering after this once we achieve this it means that the soul becomes so satisfied soul becomes so enraged spiritually that the soul feels now there is nothing more that I need this is all that I need and I am satisfied with this the spiritual realisation that one gets in the state of perfection is such that actually there is no need for anything higher so this is actually the perfection of life so if we have to aspire for any achievement this is what we should achieve for let me achieve something which will end my hankering otherwise no matter what I achieve I will always be hankering for more manyatena adhikam tataha and there is nothing more to be achieved that's what a person understands yasmin sthito and I am situated like this dukhe na ghurna piri chalyate and even by great misery one is not disturbed one is not shaken in this world no matter what we achieve we never go beyond the reach of misery even if a person becomes the wealthiest person in the world still even that person can be shaken by some financial upheaval which takes away his or her wealth so a person may become a cricket superstar but one slip, one fall, one fracture and sometimes the career can be lost lifelong sometimes some injury can be so critical that one may not be able to return to play at all so like that actually in this world whatever we achieve we are never beyond the reach of misery we can be shaken by misery at any time so there is always the fear of lamenting so essentially Krishna is telling over here that this stage of yogic perfection is the stage of na shochati na kankshati so na kankshati is being talked about by yam labdha cha param labham manyatena adhikantata that having achieved this there is nothing more to achieve and yasmin sthito dukhe na ghurna piri chalyate na dukhe, that means there is no shochati so essentially when we achieve something in the outer world because that achievement is outside of us it can be taken away from us at any time and it will be taken away from us at some time in contrast when we achieve something internally when we achieve devotion in relationship with Krishna when we achieve self-realization when we achieve God-realization here Krishna is of course talking about self-realization, he has not yet come to realization of himself till now but when we realize when we gain inner wealth the inner wealth may be of self-realization or God-realization when we gain that, that is inalienable, that is inside us and that cannot be taken away from us and that's how this achievement is something which is not prone to lamentation because it cannot be taken away from us and thus at the stage of human perfection one becomes free from shochati and kankshati so this is the truly worthwhile achievement that we should aspire for that doesn't mean that we don't have other achievements to seek we have our careers, we have our families and within them they are not just responsibilities we also have ambitions we want our children to grow up nicely and become wonderful people, wonderful devotees contribute to value, contribute to society become well-established we have these aspirations we don't have to give all these ambitions up or not stop seeking achievements in our career or whatever, but that we subordinate and harmonize all of them with our pursuit of transcendence we recognize that the ultimate happiness is to be attained the ultimate achievement that will bring lasting fulfillment will be when I can achieve love for Krishna without achieving that, whatever else I achieve will be temporary, it will not lead to fulfillment and therefore if I let myself stay caught in those achievements then I will not be able to succeed I will not be able to move onwards in my life forward in my journey towards Krishna in my journey towards spiritual realization not only will I, if we let other achievements distract us from this spiritual achievement then the other achievements will not only free us from hankering and lamentation rather the bigger the achievement in the material world often the bigger becomes the craving for something bigger so the hankering just becomes more and further when we achieve a lot, when we lose something, the lamentation also becomes great and in that way we stay entangled, we don't go beyond the reach of misery ever, rather we go deeper and deeper into misery because the stronger becomes our attachment but when we keep Krishna Krishna is the foremost goal, I am talking about this section, in this point of going beyond hankering and lamentation as it applies to devotees then we we will come to the stage of yes, Krishna is my world as Bhaktivinoda Thakur says in a famous song Amito Tomara, Tumito Amara Ki Kaja Pardhane my lord I am yours and you are mine, what else do I need in my life in life so we will come to that stage when nothing more is needed and that stage is the stage of perfection the stage where even if the greatest miseries of old age, disease and death come, we know that these will be events that will happen to the body but we will have realized ourselves as souls as souls who have relationship with Krishna and we will be absorbed in that relationship, delighting in that relationship and we will be able to thereby tolerate and transcend bodily pains and eventually attain Krishna as abode where we will become forever free from all bodily and worldly miseries, thank you.