Gitar Bhumika

Page 6 of 6

The Greek Stoic sect made this mistake that they could not understand the true means of conquering grief. They tried to conquer grief by suppressing, concealing, trampling under foot. But in the Gita it is said elsewhere, prakṛtiṁ yānti bhūtāni, nigrahaḥ kiṁ kariṣyati. Beings follow their own nature; what will suppression do? By suppression of grief the heart of man becomes dry, hard, devoid of love. I shall not shed tears in grief, shall not acknowledge the feeling of pain, shall bear silently saying “this is nothing”; shall see the grief of wife, grief of child, grief of friend, grief of the nation with an unmoved heart,—this feeling is the tapasya of the strong Asura—it has greatness, has use also in the progress of man; but this is not the true means of conquering grief, not the final or ultimate teaching. The true means of conquering grief is knowledge, peace, equality. To accept pleasure and pain calmly is the true path. I shall not forbid the movement of pleasure and pain in the Prana; I shall keep the intellect unmoved. The place of equality is the intellect, not the heart, not the Prana. If the intellect is equal, the heart and Prana become equal of themselves; yet love etc. propensities born of nature do not dry up; man does not become a stone, does not become inert and insensitive. Prakṛtiṁ yānti bhūtāni—love etc. are the eternal propensities of nature; the only way to get rid of them is merger in the Supreme Brahman. Staying in nature it is impossible to abandon nature. If I abandon softness, hardness will overwhelm the heart;—if I forbid the vibration of grief outside, grief will accumulate inside and imperceptibly dry up the Prana. There is no possibility of progress in such mortification. There will be strength in tapasya no doubt but what I suppressed in this life, in the next life breaking all barriers will surge up with double force.