Spiritual intelligence

Lord Krishna tells Arjuna of the importance of being a

sthitaprajna, that is, one who is steady in spiritual
intelligence. He is one who has atma gnana. The Lord goes on to say that such people fall into one of four categories, explained Valayapet Ramachariar, in a discourse. The best of them give up all desires. They have no thoughts of anything, except the Supreme One.

Desires emanate from the mind. But it is the atma that makes the mind think. So to control one’s mind, one must acquire atma gnana. Thoughts about whether a certain action of ours will yield certain results are all in the mind. Our mind is an indriya and we should make that indriya dwell on the atma. If one were to do that, then one would lose all desires. One who has no desires is a sthitaprajna. He has understood the relationship between himself and the

Supreme One.

He who does not mourn a loss or celebrate a success is also a sthitaprajna. The third category is one who has no anger or fear. Anger results when we do not get what we desire, or get what we do not want. The fourth category is the person who has control of his indriyas.

An example would be a person who undertakes a fast for spiritual or religious reasons. He feels hungry and thirsty. But he learns to control his hunger and his thirst. Sometimes we are scolded or abused by people. We move away, because we do not wish to retaliate. A person who can thus control his feelings is also a sthitaprajna. But the foremost among sthitaprajnas is the one who, devoid of desires of any kind, focuses on the Supreme One.