What is the significance of the Gita’s definition of yoga as equanimity?
From: Devdatt
Lord says in Gita “Yogaha Samatvam Uchyate” equanimity is Yoga. This word “Sama” comes many times in Gita.
My questions are listed below:
1. What is the significance of this word.
2. Why this word Samam is repeated in almost every chapter of Gita.
3.In 5th Chapter it says Panditah Sama darishanh. How to cultivate this equal vision
4. Does this refer to becoming neutal 5, Why becoming neutral is recommended by Lord so much in Gita rather than cultivating spiritual emotion?
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
question from devendra prabhu lord says in the gita equanimity is yoga this word sama comes many times in the gita the question was listed below what is the significance of this word why is this word sama repeated in almost every chapter of the gita in the fifth chapter it says pandita samadarshana how to cultivate this vision does this refer to becoming neutral why becoming neutral is recommended so much in gita rather than cultivating spiritual emotion answer yogaha samatpam jite is talked about as one definition in the bhagavad gita another is yogaha karmasu pavushelam both come in the second chapter itself so the point here is krishna is giving the definitions of these conceptions at one particular level in this discussion so if we actually want to understand yoga we have to read through the bhagavad gita and krishna will also say later on yoginam api sarvesham matukinam dharam among all yogis the rest is always connected with this the purpose of yoga is to connect with this and similarly krishna will say in the eighth chapter that maa sarveshu paleshu yogi ko goa dena so he is obviously practicing yoga and that yoga in the ninth chapter also it becomes clear that the most recommended form of yoga is bhakti yoga and then yoga so this is where krishna says sulapar easy to practice the only place in the gita where krishna used the word sulapar to describe the process of transcendence so the point here is that here krishna is giving a preliminary definition so the emphasis on samma is there because arjuna is being disproportionately affected by the dualities so friends and enemies violence and peace, happiness and distress so the purpose of yoga is to connect this with the higher spirituality which is beyond the pleasures and pains of this world but as long as we are too caught up in the pleasures and pains of this world we can’t think of anything beyond it because we are captivated by either the hopes of gaining the pleasures or avoiding the pains and that becomes our almost all time preoccupation so to encourage arjuna to rise to something higher, krishna tells him first learn to be a good boy so it starts actually immediately after atma jnan in the second chapter so he knows he immediately 14, 14, 16 are talking about nirvana so 14 talks about so he says that that is 15 14 this is the key important verses he is commending similarly happiness and distress he is commending just tolerate them arjuna if you tolerate them you will attain immortality so in 2.13 krishna is talking about how the soul is immortal and in 14 and 15 krishna describes tolerance towards duality as a fundamental condition for realizing the eternal nature of the soul so for the soul all material emotions are peripheral but as long as one is caught up in material emotions one’s consciousness remains rooted in material reality and one cannot rise to spiritual reality so sama or equanimity towards material reality is critical for a person to shift away from material reality to no longer be enamored by it like a person watching a movie and then watching there is some happy scene there is some sad scene both bring false emotions in the spectator false in the sense that they have nothing to do in reality with the spectator as long as the spectator is as long as the audience is watching that is caught in the emotions in the movie the audience cannot see what else is there what is the theatre who are the people in the theatre and can’t get on with real life beyond the movie theatre similarly the dualities of this world they catch our attention and they don’t allow us to rise to higher duality this talk about where they talk about the conception of two birds in the tree and the statement is that as long as this one bird is caught in eating the fruits and tasting the good and bad fruits that bird is captivated and lost but when the bird gives up eating the fruits and turns around then he sees the other observing bird and becomes free from all these so so there are two birds seated and when this bird turns towards the observing bird, the eating bird turns towards the observing bird then the eating bird becomes free from all these what that refers to is the good and bad fruits refer to the dualities of material existence the observing bird is this paramatma and as soon as this observing eating bird gives up bothering about the good and bad fruits and turns towards the observing bird then it becomes free from all misery so the Bhagavad Gita’s focus is on helping Arjuna to attain a higher spiritual reality by becoming equipoised towards the material reality now in the process of bhakti we don’t just become equipoised towards material reality we also use the material things in Krishna’s service and that’s what Arjuna is going to be recommended to do because Krishna wants him to win the kingdom and eventually use it, rule it dharmically that means offer it to Krishna through devotional service so that is what Krishna is leading towards but in the context of the Gita because Arjuna is affected by duality that is why he is being told to practice samatva practice equanimity and that equanimity will enable him by in conjunction with the process of yoga, of transcendence which is very committed to bhakti yoga all the other yogas I was mentioning by that he will also come to spiritual reality so in a preliminary stage yoga is samatvam equanimity towards material things and at the advanced stage it is connection with the personal aspect of the absolute truth as it’s 147 and another verse will indicate that’s why the word sam is used now 5.18 refers to the point that one should learn to see beyond the body to spiritual reality what all a person will perceive in the spiritual reality depending on that person’s level of spiritual realization the person is soul realized the soul of similar nature in all bodies human body, animal body person in human high body, human low body like that the person is also realized in super soul, the person will see not only the soul but also the super soul so the so the verse which comes before this focus on that absolute truth refers to the not the soul but the higher reality beyond the super soul I can refer to Paramatma, I can refer to Bhagawan so in general in this context it refers to the equal vision towards all living beings as seeing the soul and the super soul and then if one can have an equal vision towards all living beings like this then one will no longer be bound in material existence because the main cause of conflict is our own attachment and aversion our own material consumption when situated in equality so animity equal vision, then there is no attachment and aversion and then one can have situated spiritual reality we have the next verse so such people have actually conquered conquered material existence and then they are flawless like Brahman and in fact they are situated in Brahman in this way this verse is focusing on the equal vision based on soul realization, super soul realization also how does one develop this equal vision generally first is intellectual and eventually there will be experiential first we will see people from different cultural background, we will interact with them in our day to day lives and also in our devotional lives, we put aside our biases and deal with them as as we would deal with other people of whom we don’t have any cultural differences and we try to contribute they are also parts of Krishna, they are also folks like me and as we keep practicing the process of purification gradually this intellectual conception will eventually change to spiritual perception and we will develop this equal vision not just based on intellectual conception but by a direct perception which is a step by step process just as we realize the soul step by step similarly we will realize the super soul step by step and till then it is good for us to at least at the intellectual level try to treat all people equally without letting their external bodily prejudices prejudice us towards or against them