Krishna is not a witness. Of course he asks Arjuna to become a witness. Krishna is all the time aware that witnessing is only a means, a transitory phase. So he also talks of moments when even witnessing will cease to be. Krishna explains both to Arjuna- the means and the end, the path & the goal. And when he speaks about unperturbed and steady, he does not speak about means but the end, the goal itself. Most of us when we interpret Gita, we make the mistake. We think that he is talking about the means, the witness. We think if some one remains a witness in happiness and pain without experiencing it, without indulging it, he will attain to the state that is unperturbed and steady.
But when we analyse, this a wrong approach. If someone only witnesses without living it, this witnessing will become a kind of tension, disturbance, and restlessness for him. Then that person will always be in defensive, trying to protect himself from pain & happiness. To really be undisturbed, to be relaxed and peaceful, it is essential that we are not at all conscious of pain & happiness. If one is conscious it means a kind of disturbance is happening, a kind of agitation is alive and there is separation between the two- the observer and the observed. This consciousness, this separation is subtle, but it is there. So long as one continues to know that this is happiness and that is pain, he is not integrated and whole. He is not settled and steady in himself. The self has not achieved to equilibrium, peace and wisdom. It is not a Sthitaprajna.
Let us take some time in analysing this and then we will dive deeper into the ocean of wisdom.
Wishing you good health & happiness,
Dr. Dwarakanath, Director, Mitran foundation- the stress management people
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