What is sthitpragya—Is it possible in today’s life?
Question by:Agrima Saxena, M.A English, Lucknow
It is a very good question, Agrima! I know myriad interpretations of the term have hidden its actual meaning. As a result, youngsters are confused—whether it means being as dead as a log or as disciplined as a wall! Well, the two images are scary because people intuitively know the two are against the principle of life. Life is something dynamic, ever moving through various phases and being a dead log is an impossible proposition.
Right! First, take it from me—Sthitpragya doesn’t mean a control of the dead—no motion, no reaction just a stoney numbness to an outside blow. Instead it means a dynamic counter response to whatever tries to upset your mind. Oh! Is that then an aggressive counter-attack kind of a response? No. It is an art of generating a dynamic counter force through will and wilful action till the upsetting challenge is neutralised. The purpose of the counter force is to neutralise the attack and maintain mental and bodily composure. This entire process can only be exercised through a conscious effort first. Later, this becomes part of the natural response system. Once it is done, we become sthitpragya. So it is more possible even in today’s world which offers many opportunities to exercise the will and become sthitpragya. We should know that the difference between reaction and response is different. A reaction is automatic and a response conscious. The first ends up losing your energy and the second gains more energy.
Krishna defines it all beautifully in chapter 2, shlokas 55, 56, 57 and 58 of the Gita. But, we should try to understand the first two. In the first, He reveals how a mind full of stored-up raw responses can be disciplined and in the second He proposes a practical test to know you have achieved that. In the first there are two phrases which have to understood—Prajahati yada kamansarvaan manogataan and atmanyevaatmana tushtah. The first phrase, which is longer than the second, means “when you first counter (prajahati) all the seeds of reactions planted in the mind. Till how long? Till you are calm in the mind through consciously countering the causes of reactions within your mind. Then you are resolved and you gain stability. Such a person is called Sthitpragyah—the person of responses, not reactions! But, everybody, after observing a forced calmness without uprooting the causes of reactions, will say “I am a sthitpragya.” What is the test then? Krishna sets the test in the next shloka. When a negative blow doesn’t break your mind into reactions, when your mind remains unaffected even by the positive blow and when you don’t feel attachment, fear or anger at all, then the experts call that man Sthitpragya.
It is a fact that a person reacts in negative and positive situations. When somebody reacts, there is absence of response. What is the test? Such a person will only respond to all these blows with counter energy. What is that energy made of? It is the energy from which expresses through a dynamic response and not through the channels of attachment, fear and anger! What is the source of that energy? It is unconditional love in the human system.
Learn to respond by keeping your mind calm is what is the quality of a Sthitpragya. Practise it to perfection. Krishna Himself is a great example of this. He never reacted, but responded to a situation. He killed Chanur, Kamsa and Shishupal as part of the response to their upsetting presence. Had they mended their ways through Krishna’s suggestions, Krishna wouldn’t have killed them at all. But, He remained calm before and after the act. For Him, it was just a response to the situation—nothing else.Think!--VS