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Time of India
4 days ago
- General
- Time of India
Wittgenstein, Kipling and Gita's Stithprajna
Authored by Ashok Vohra The Sanskrit term ' stithprajna' combines 'stitha' – steady, firm, and 'prajna' – wise, learned. So, stithprajna means a person of steady wisdom. He is the 'one whose mind remains undisturbed amidst misery, for whom sukha-duhkha, happiness and sorrow; labha-alabhau, gain or loss; jaya-ajaya, conquest and defeat are the same. A person, according to Gita, 2.55, attains the status of stithprajna when he 'discards all selfish desires and cravings of the senses that torment the mind, and becomes satisfied in realisation of the Self, such a person is said to be transcendentally situated.' A stithprajna turns his mind away from the material allurements and renounces lure of the senses. He is free from raag, attachment; dvesh, jealousy; bhay, fear; krodh, anger. He is indifferent to the uncertainties of life, its vulnerability to reversals and its resilience. He is indifferent to the temporary nature of the results of his actions, nor is he disappointed if he cannot achieve his chosen goals, complete the deeds undertaken by him, or even if his deeds do not yield desired fruits. The performance of actions with all sincerity is the end that gives him satisfaction. Kathopanishad, 2.3.14, goes to the extent of saying that one who has renounced desires becomes like God: 'When one eliminates all selfish desires from the heart, then the materially fettered jivatma (soul) attains freedom from birth and death, and becomes Godlike in virtue.' In the Bhagwad Gita, 2.54, Arjun asks Krishn about the characteristics of a stithprajna. He asks, 'How does the man of steady wisdom speak? How does he sit? How does he move about?' Krishn answers that a stithprajna 'practises self-control' and 'discards all selfish desires and cravings of the senses that torment the mind'. His life is both authentic and autonomous. If interpreted in Ludwig Wittgenstein's terms, stithprajna is 'the man…fulfilling the purpose of existence who no longer needs to have a purpose except to live. That is to say, who is content.' For him, the solution to problems of life lies in 'disappearance of the problem'. This frees him from hope and fear, 'for life in the present there is no death.' He knows that the lived world is 'beyond the control of human will, and therefore he is content with how the world is.' He lives in the world and accepts it without trying to change it. He contemplates the world as a limited whole as an impartial observer. He realises that he 'cannot steer the world's happenings according to (his) will,' and that he is 'entirely powerless'. He also realises that he 'can only make (himself) independent of the world – and so in a certain sense, master it – by renouncing any influence on happenings.' Krishn's description of stithprajna also reflects in Rudyard Kipling's poem If , it reads: 'If you can dream – and not make dreams your master/If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim/If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster/And treat those two impostors just the same…/If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you/If all men count with you, but none too much'. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Time of India
13-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
Hymn of victory, middle path and Buddha nature
By Ashok Vohra According to Buddhist tradition, soon after Gautam realised that human life is fraught with pain and suffering, he embarked on a 'noble quest' to find a method to permanently end human misery. Many scholars uphold that his quest was a 'metaphysical and psychological adventure'. During these six years, Buddha had discussions with various teachers, performed several ascetic practices, penances, and meditations of numerous types. He thought in a deep, serious, and sustained manner on notions of truth and reality, human condition and destiny. He ultimately became enlightened. Till he passed away, he taught at different times, in different ways, to suit intellectual levels, capacities, and needs of those who sought refuge in him. Buddha's utterances and sermons can be classified into three periods. First, the words he spoke, remaining silent for forty-nine days after he attained enlightenment. Second, his first preaching or sermon, called Dhammacakkappavattana – setting in motion of the wheel of Dhamma, delivered in the Deer Park to his former companions in modern Sarnath. Third, his last teaching in a shaalavana in Kushinagar. Buddha's first utterance, after he became enlightened, is called the 'hymn of victory'. Dhammajoti translates it thus: 'My mind has attained nibbana, the unconditioned; it has attained end of craving.' Explaining the hymn, DT Suzuki says Buddha asserts that his mind 'is released from its binding conditions and his craving is under control'. In his first sermon, Buddha 'teaches righteousness by the middle path, avoiding two extremes, on one side, the extreme of wallowing in vulgar sensual pleasures and unbridled gratification of desires and on the other side, extreme of asceticism which mortifies the mind and body'. In his last sermon, Buddha asserted, 'All beings possess a Buddha Nature.' The Buddha nature is nitya, permanent; dhruva, steadfast; shiva, calm; shashvat, eternal. It is parama sacca, parishuddhi, and paramakushala – supreme truth, purity, and good. It is absolute and immanent in all. Buddha nature is a transcendental consciousness, beyond space, time and causation. It is perfection and happiness, infinite and luminous, transcendentally real, eternal and pure. However, the pure Buddha nature is accidentally defiled. To realise that true Buddha nature is unintentionally defiled is to be in a state of nirvana. The last words of Buddha were, 'All composite things are perishable by nature; strive diligently.' He asserted that 'whatever is phenomenal is impermanent; this is the dharm of birth and death. Annihilation of birth and death brings bliss in nirvana.'Nirvana is such an expansion of the mind in which the mind becomes vimariyadikatena cetasa, boundless, in which there would be no strivings and selfishness. It is infinite consciousness. By preaching the universal presence of Buddha nature, Buddha opened the gates of immortality to all. Buddhism is not based on pure logic or rationality, tradition, hearsay, revelation from God, a mysterious source, or an external person; rather, it is based on the personal endeavour and awakened understanding of Gautam, the Buddha, through shila, samadhi, and prajna. The Buddha is not a mere human being, and he is also not God, but an enlightened being who attained transcendence. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
