**That person who lives completely free from desires, without longing, devoid of the sense of “I” and “mine,” attains peace.

~ Gita 2.71**

In this verse again the Lord speaks of the man who attains peace. Four important conditions are to be fulfilled before the man can experience the supreme peace of the Self.

1- All desires should be given up completely.
2- There should not be any taste or relish for them.
3- The feeling of me and mine should be given up.
4 The ego-center attitude should be dropped.

The ego-centric attitude which is the root cause of bondage should be eliminated by knowledge of the real Self.

It is the ego ('I') that attaches itself to the body and forges all the bonds of friends, relations, enemies, and so on. It is because of the ego-centric attitude that Arjuna is overpowered by delusion and sorrow.

When the person does not identify himself with the body, all other attachments arising from the body are removed completely. When the body is not his, how can he have any attachment to things outside the body? Knowledge of the real Self clears away all doubts and perplexities, and then peace is attained.

Question: Who can attain peace?

Answer: The person who has given up all desires, who has no longing for enjoyments, who has abandoned the idea of 'I and mine', and who has transcended the ego, attains peace.

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**As the ocean is filled with water flowing into it from all sides and remains immovable, so the person into whom all desires flow, but is not a bit affected attains peace and not the person who craves the desires.

~ Gita 2.70**

The person who is moved by desires and pleasures cannot attain peace. He alone attains peace and has conquered all desires. The sage of steady wisdom, the sthitaprajna is compared to the ocean. Though the waters of the ocean are drawn up by the sun in the form of clouds, it is not reduced in any way. So also, though rains and floods join the ocean, it does not expand. It remains the same, immovable.

In the same way, the sage of steady wisdom remains unmoved, when all desires flow into him without producing any reactions of the mind or the body.

All the enjoyments of the sense-world may come to him, but they are all absorbed in the blissful experience of the Self. He does not recognize them as anything other than the bliss of Self-realisation.

He may be put in a palace surrounded by all earthy pleasures. And yet he is indifferent to them. He knows only one Reality one happiness, in which everything is dissolved as all the waters are absorbed by the ocean.

Similarly, the sage may be placed in the most painful circumstances and yet he knows only one Reality and one bliss (Ananda). The pain also merges into the same reality and disappears.

The real sage is like the ocean, vast, and full. He is filled with the bliss of Brahmananda. And just as the ocean is full and immovable, the sage is firm, immovable, and changeless, in all the states and conditions of life.

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The person whose mind is not under his control has no Self-knowledge and no contemplation either. Without contemplation he can have no peace; and without peace, how can he have happiness?

~ Gita 2.66

Where is the happiness for the person without peace? Peace and happiness go together. Happiness is in the Self, and peace unlocks the floodgates of Atma-ananda (Bliss of self).

This peace is attained by constant meditation on the Self. And meditation is possible only when the mind is in a state of balance and harmony. So the first stage is harmony and balance of mind.

Such balance and harmony are the immediate results of the purified mind. It has already been pointed out that a mind free from attraction and repulsion comes to be harmonized in yoga.

So without purity, there is frequent mental agitation which makes it impossible for a person to meditate on Atma.

Through purity, mental harmony is acquired, through harmony the power of meditation is acquired, and through meditation peace, and peace, happiness. The negative form of the ideas and interrogation at the end proves that the Lord wants to emphasize these ideas for the guidance for everyone. Peace is an important step for self-realization.

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**When a person attains peace, all sorrow and suffering caused by the unbalanced mind and rebellious senses come to an end. By peace and purity, the mind is soon fixed in the Self.

~ Gita 2.65**

Every individual is seeking for the elimination of sorrow, and the attainment of peace. How can he get them? The path is shown here. By purity and peace of mind, both are acquired. When the mind is freed from impure impulses the aim of spiritual life is achieved. Just as in a clean mirror the reflection is perfectly clear, even so in the purified mind the Brahman shines forth in its own splendor and glory.

Of all sufferings: All sorrows and sufferings are removed at once when peace is attained. What a wonderful boon of peace for a person! What more does a person want? A casual look at the world and humanity would reveal the horrid restlessness, distraction, and pain, both of the body and mind, which a person is undergoing in this earthly life. Life is a fitful fever. Mad and delirious, people runs here and there, getting and spending, exhausting his energies, angry, distressed, and subject to the innumerable shocks of life. That is the unfortunate state of a person.

From all these evils person is protected by the contemplation of the Self and when peace is attained, these are completely eliminated. Peace is the condition of Moksha. If peace does not fill the whole being of person, Moksha remains only in intellectual concept without real meaning or substance in it.

Mind is firmly fixed in Atma: When the mind is untroubled and peaceful the intellect is easily fixed in Atma. Then it is all bliss and blessedness. It is like a small river emptying itself into the ocean and becoming one with it. Even the happiness of the creator Brahma is only a drop in the ocean of the bliss of the Brahman. What more does a person want than to merge himself in the ocean of bliss?

So let every one who is punished with sorrow and suffering by his own evil, know the path of liberation, and strive for peace.

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**But the self-controlled person free from attraction and repulsion, with his senses under restraint, though moving among objects, attains peace.

~ Gita 2.64**

The person who can restrain the senses and control the mind attains peace. He may be using the senses and sense objects to sustain his life, but such work does not pollute the purity and peace of his mind. When the poisonous fangs are pulled out, the serpent is harmless. Similarly, when attraction and repulsion (Raga and Dwesha) are eliminated from the mind, the senses lose their evil power, and then they are only instruments in the hands of man to do what he wants them to do or to remain quiet in their places.

Such a person can move freely in the world and no harm comes to him. When the horses are well under control, the charioteer feels free and happy because they take him easily to the destination without trouble and danger. So the senses help and not hinder the person who has obtained control over the mind.

Self-restrained, self-controlled: Self-control is the necessary condition for Self-realisation. Without it, spiritual life is not possible. The mind and the senses should be under one’s control, and not under their control.

Everyone should regain their mastery over themselves. Without self-mastery, nobody can attain peace and happiness. He may have all the wealth and power in the world, he may have all the desires fulfilled, but the peace he cannot have because peace is the reward of self-mastery. It cannot be purchased with wealth and power.

The Lord points out the way to peace. Control of the senses, and purification of the mind – these two conditions should be fulfilled first before the person can experience the bliss of Atma.

Question: Who can attain peace?

Answer: He whose mind is free from attachment, whose senses are restrained, and whose mind is controlled attains peace.

@guruvaakya

**As a person thinks of sense objects, attachment for them arises, from attachment, desire for them will be born, from desire arises anger, from anger comes delusion, from delusion, comes loss of memory, and from loss of memory, comes destruction of discrimination, and from destruction of discrimination he perishes.

~ Gita 2.62-63**

These two verses are of great importance for the spiritual people.

The thinking of sense worldly objects is the first step in the downward process.

At first, the person may not have any particular attachment to anything, but gradually the senses prompted by past samskaras settle on a particular object and the mind begins to think about it. So a kind of contact is established between the mind and that object, the senses being the connecting link.

Every person is constantly thinking about something. Some think wealth, others the pleasure of wine, others the pleasures of sex, others the dignity of position, name, and fame.

That attachment becomes stronger and stronger, and a deeply felt desire arises to possess and enjoy that object. This is Kama. It is the worst enemy of the person. Mahapapam (all sinful) – such is the Lord’s description of Kama. When Kama enters the mind, it is like a reptile moving about in the house. The occupants of that house live in horrible dread and there is every danger of their being stung and killed. Such indeed is the destructive power of Kama when it enters the human mind.

It is better to stop it before it enters the mind. Otherwise, the Kama in its wake will bring his associates, friends, and other destructive forces like Krodha (anger) and throw down the unfortunate person into destruction. Let the people know who his enemies are, how they work, how they tempt, how they subdue, and how they, finally destroy them.

When Kama (desire) enters the mind, just behind him comes Krodha (anger). These two are eternal associates of evil. One cannot be without the other. Such is the closeness of their intimacy. The frustration or unfulfilled desire causes anger and hatred.

The deluded person, fired with anger, forgets the people with whom he is dealing. Anger poison fills the whole personality. He trembles and shivers all over his body, his eyes become bloodshot, ‘his speech becomes incoherent, abuse and violence are indulged in, and the person is transformed into a wild animal.

When anger overpowers him. That moment the memory is lost, the person becomes a beast.

From the loss of memory, discrimination of right and wrong is lost. By the destruction of the grinding intellect, a person perishes.

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vāsānsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya
navāni gṛihṇāti naro ’parāṇi
tathā śharīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇānya
nyāni sanyāti navāni dehī

**Just as a person casts off his worn-out clothes and puts on new ones so also the Self throws away its worn-out bodies and takes other fresh bodies.

~ Gita 2.22**

The Lord adopts the method of explaining his ideas by means of vivid similes. Such comparisons help to make the idea clear to the common man.

We have here a familiar simile to explain a very high vedantic doctrine that the body is just like a garment worn by man and just as these garments are changed from time to time, even so, the Jiva (individual soul) goes on changing the physical body birth after birth. No one grieves when he casts off dirty and torn clothes and puts on other fresh garments.

No one grieves when the autumn-withered leaves fall off from the branches. There is always the knowledge that fresh leaves come up with the arrival of spring. The whole of Nature presents such alternate pictures of bareness and beauty according to the changes of seasons.

The Lord points out that death is no more than the rejection of the old and decayed body. The Jiva drops off the decayed body by death and adopts a fresh one. So there is absolutely no cause for grief. But of course, to destroy the past karma by supreme jnana, and escape from the cycle of birth and death is the reward of the highest realisation

Worn out:- We have to interpret this word as bodies whose karmic force is exhausted. We see that people die in child and youth. When the physical body is not supposed to be old or worn out. In such cases, the karmic force for that particular body is exhausted and it falls off accordingly.

The Vedantic doctrine is that the Self remains deathless, passing from one body to another, according to the force of Karma done with the body. These bodies(upadhis) continue to change but the real nature of a person, Atma, remains unaffected and changeless.

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vedāvināśhinaṁ nityaṁ ya enam ajam avyayam
kathaṁ sa puruṣhaḥ pārtha kaṁ ghātayati hanti kam

**O Arjuna! He who knows that Atma is birthless, deathless, real, and imperishable, whom can he slay or cause to be slain?

~ Gita 2.21**

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na jāyate mriyate vā kadāchin
nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ
ajo nityaḥ śhāśhvato ’yaṁ purāṇo
na hanyate hanyamāne śharīre

**Atma is not born, nor does it ever die; after having been it does not cease to be, unborn, eternal, changeless and ancient, it is not killed when the body is destroyed.

~ Gita 2.20**

Though the body is destroyed, yet the all-pervading Atma never dies. It shows that Atma remains only as a witness to the modifications of the body like birth, youth, and death, and of the mind in the form of pain and pleasure. The disturbance of the storm clouds does not affect the sun or the sky through which they pass.

Therefore man should not identify himself with the foul perishable body and the ever-functioning mind but should hold on to his identity with the Self.

Supreme bliss and courage are realised by the wise who are one with Atma. The fear of death is at once driven off by the knowledge that he is the immortal Atma.

Question: What is the nature of Atma?

Answer: It has no birth or death. It is eternal, firm, and immovable. It is the ancient one. It exists when the body dies.

@guruvaakya

avināśhi tu tadviddhi yena sarvam idaṁ tatam
vināśham avyayasyāsya na kaśhchit kartum arhati

**(O Arjuna!) Know that Atma by which the whole universe is pervaded is indestructible. No one can cause the destruction of the imperishable.

~ Gita 2.17**

Since everything – the moving and the non-moving objects of the world -is pervaded by the Atman, which is present in the heart of every individual, one should consider every object as the manifestation of the Atman and be full of love and kindness for all.

A person should not commit any sin, since Atma, the Lord, is present everywhere. Since nothing can cause the destruction of Atma, one should contemplate and strive to live in Atma without any kind of doubt or fear.

Question: What is the nature of Atma?

Answer: Atma pervades the whole universe. It is imperishable. No one can cause its destruction.

@guruvaakya