15th Chapter of Gita-- 5th sloka

Hare Krishna,

Till now we have seen that, Lord Krishna explained about the tree of the world at an empirical level. The world with the root brahmam as the substratum upwards and the tree of the world is below the ground. This tree of the world grows with actions as the roots and the desires originating out of the three gunas and the sense objects and as the branches and shoots of the tree.
After explaining the Tree at an empirical level for the initial seekers, Lord Krishna says that , the nature of the tree cannot be known here. As the person in an illusion cannot know its an illusion until he comes out of it, by knowing that its an illusion. So also a person in this world of illusion cannot know that its an illusion , until he realizes it. One can realize the nature of the world only with viveka or discrimination. Lord Krishna says that one should cut down the tree of world with this weapon of viveka. Here Lord Krishna means that only through knowledge of scriptures can this be achieved. Once he has the knowledge of this illusion ,he realizes that the brahmam or pure consciousness to be the supreme being or the creator and identifies it with his self.

In this coming slokas Lord Krishna lays down the path to realization. In this sloka he explains how one can get realized, or the qualities or attributes which will make one a realized self.

15.5 – Nirmana Moha jithasanga dosha adhyatma nityaa vinivritta kama
Dvandvair vimuktha sukha-dukha samjnaih gachanthi amoodah padam avyayam tat

Meaning of words:
Nir-mana – without ego
Moha – non-discrimination
Jita-sanga-dosha – who has conquered the evil of association
Adhyatma – being in the self
Nityaa – always
Vinivritta kaama – who is devoid of desires
Dvandvair – dualities
Vimuktha--- devoid of
Sukha – dukha samjnaih —happiness and sorrow etc.
Gachanthi – goes to
Tat Padam avyayam – that immutable state
Amoodah --- one without ignorance


Meaning of sloka
A person who has no ego, who doesn’t identify his self with his body, who has power of discrimination ,slowly moves out of the clutches of the association with the world or entities in it. He thus always contemplates on the self, the ultimate reality , which leads him to a desireless state. Such a person is unaffected by the dualities’ like happiness and sorrow. He reaches that state ,which is explained in the earlier sloka ,as one attaining which there is no return back to the world.

Lord Krishna explains here the qualities that a person should imbibe in order to become an “amoodah” –one without ignorance and attain the state of self realization.
These are the steps one will come across , in the path to self realization. The first and foremost quality seeker should have is “no ego”. A person without ego will progress in spiritual path, no matter how much of scriptural studies one does, if he associates himself with ego, he fails to understand the ultimate truth. This is the reason, why a person who is scholar in scriptures may not be a realized self . Thus this is the a very important quality of a seeker, having which other steps can be achieved, Its similar to our academic studies. One cannot aspire to study 10th standard without passing 1st standard.
An ego less person , will be able to discriminate between the real and the unreal, the eternal and non-eternal, the nitya and anitya. Thus he understands the true nature of this world. He will know the underlying substratum of this world . He understands that the world is an illusion in the substratum of brahmam which is the pure consciousness, due to which the whole world seems to exist.
Once the ego is overcome and the person is able to understand the true nature of the world ,he will not associate himself with what is unreal and temporary ,one which is an illusion. He stays in the world, but remains unattached to the external world. He does actvities, without expecting any returns, as he knows that fruits are temporary and would lead to sorrow only. As he understands the futility of the activities, he diassociates himself from them. What ever he does he does for the benefit of the world and not for himself.
With the above qualities, that person would search for the truth, He will read the scriptures, understand that only brahmam prevails in the world in different forms and names and that is the only truth in this world. Once he realizes this, he establishes himself in the self all the time, irrespective of any activities he does in the world. He turns his sense organs internally, than in the pursuit of the external world. He may seem to be a worldly person outwardly, but internally he will be the self.
Such a person who is ever established in the self, is devoid of all dualities existing in this world. He treats both happiness and sorrow alike. He is called a “sthitapragya” , one who is composed, irrespective of what ever are the fruits of the activities ,whether its happiness or sorrow, he remains unmoved, undeterred.
This immutable state attained with knowledge, is what Krishna had spoken about in the previous sloka. One would be ever established in self and this state is described by Krishna as the state attaining which they is no return back to this world.

Thus Lord Krishna Explains all the steps in spiritual path. We can judge ourselves, where we stand and thereby know what needs to be achieved further. This is something like self-assessment in the path of self-realization.


Hare Krishna

Thanks,
Aparna