apuryamanam acalapratistham samudram apah pravisanthi yadvat
tadvatkama yam pravisanti sarve sa santim apnoti na kamakami (verse 70)
apuryamanam – brimful
acalapratistham – still
samudram – into the ocean
apah – waters
yadvat – just as
pravisanti – enter
tadvat – so too
sarve – all
kamah – objects
yam – the one into whom
pravisanti –enter
sah – he
santim –peace
apnoti – gains
kamakami – the desirer of objects
Just as water flows into the ocean that is brimful and still, so too the wise person into whom all the objects enter gains peace, whereas the desirer of objects does not gain peace.
There are 2 important words here that we need to understand. Apuryamanam means it is full to the brim. Acalapratistham means that it is still and does not meander like a river. The ocean is always full to the brim and is always still and does not meander like a river. While a pond requires rains or some source of water e.g. an underground system the ocean does not require anything for being full. It is full due to its nature and fullness is its swarupam. It does not become overfull just because some rivers flow into it. It also does not depend on another source of water. Water enters the ocean from all sides in the form of rain, rivers but do any of these make the ocean fuller than before? Whereas a pond can go dry and also cease to be a pond if more water enters into it. Such changes are possible for a pond but not for an ocean.
Here the wise person is considered to be an ocean where he is aham purnaha and is limitless by nature. So what difference does it make to him if some objects or thoughts come to his mind? It is not going to make him fuller as he is already ananda by nature. Being In ever lasting peace, the gyani does not need additional things to make him happy. Just like an ocean does not depend upon the river, pond or rain to make it full, the gyani also does not need these additional objects.
A pond is like an ignorant person as sometimes there will be water and in other occasions there will be no water, or excess water. E.g. if a person does not know what is shastram how will he know the value of values i.e purushartha nischaya? So he likened to a pond being dry and there is no water source and he is waiting for the next rain or someone to teach . If the person has some knowledge but still not sure which way to go, he is likened to a pond which has water at times. If the person, who is too attached to objects, desires etc, he is likened to a pond which is not a pond anymore as there is water flowing everywhere and is uncontrolled. It Is like flood and can cause havoc.
This verse conveys what the wise person is in terms of the ocean and the ignorant person is related to a pond which is fluctuating all the time. It does not mean that the gyani does not laugh, smile etc. He does and is related to the ocean’s waves which just rise and fall making noise. Sometimes the waves are high and thunderous but the water in the ocean does not change course. It is always full. Therefore, it is the fullness that is laughing or a tranquil fullness. Sometimes an ocean can be calm without any big waves.
vihaya Kaman yah sarvan pumamscarati nihsprhah
nirmamo nirahankarah sa santim adhigacchati (verse 71)
yah – the one who
puman – person
sarvan – all
kaman – binding desires
vihaya – having given up
nihsprhah – devoid of longing
nirmamah – without the sense of ‘mine’
nirahankarah – without the sense of limited ‘ I’
carati – moves around
sah – he
santim – peace
adhigacchati – gains
Having given up all binding desires, the person who moves around devoid of longing, without the sense of limited ‘I’ and ‘mine’ gains peace.
We hold on to people and objects and look upon them as ‘mine’. It is like a child who says. ‘Do not touch this’. ‘Do not take it away from me. This is my toy’. The only difference between the ‘mine’you had as a child and the ‘mine’ you have as an adult is that toys have been replaced with other more sophisticated objects.
However, when you see that everything is yourself alone, everything changes. You are the father, mother and all the places. When everything is you, there is no ‘mine’. When we say ‘I am all this ’the sense of‘entire mine’ is gone. The ‘I’ sense is gone because everything is me. Ahankara is nothing but a notion, the ‘I’ notion. When there is no ‘I’ where is the doer, ego? There is only ‘aham idham sarvam’ concept.
The word ‘carati’ is beautiful here. The wise person does not run away from the world. Since he has given up all desires, he does not feel the need to move about to accomplish goals. He has got no goals, no karma. So he is peaceful with himself. Other people move around because of their desires. People who are impelled by desires will say ‘This has to be done, then only I will be happy’. For the wise person enjoyer ship and doer ship are both negated. Doer ship for the wise person is just doing. The notion ‘I am the doer’ is not there. This means that the sthithapragya continued to be a Brahman.
Brahman or the Atma is not a state to be attained. It is already there and we just have to discover it. The wise person knows that it is foolish to attain something when just cognitively understanding the jiva paramatma aikyam he can discover that. So he does not go after brahman as an activity or state.
You may think that suppose after attaining the knowledge my notions can come back again. E.g. my guru is not there anymore, a new guru will come and he will teach in different way etc. For a person who has already attained knowledge, there is no further teaching required. Infact, he has left his guru, and also the shastram which he was holding on till he got the aham purnaha concept. Once he has attained the supreme knowledge, he is just by himself and does not need anything else to support him.
With this Krishna concludes his teaching on Saankhya yoga and Karma yoga in this chapter. In Chapter 3 we will see more of Karma Yoga and some other aspects.
Om Namo bhagavate vasudevaya.