asaktiranabhishvangaha putradaaragrihaadishu |
nityam cha samachittatvamishtaanishtopapattishu || 9 ||
Remaining unattached, without identification with one's son, spouse, home and others, and constant equanimity of mind when favourable or unfavourable (situations) are attained.
asaktihi : non attachment
anabhishvangaha : lack of identification
putradaaragrihaadishu : in son, spouse, home and others
nityam : constantly
cha : and
samachittatvam : equanimity of mind
ishtaanishta : favourable or unfavourable
upapattishu : in attainment of
Shri Krishna adds three more qualities that help us reduce importance of the kshetra in this shloka. The first one is asaktihi, a detached attitude towards people, objects and situations. Aasakti is extreme attachment whereas asakti is lack of attachment. Only when we are away from our daily routine, perhaps on vacation or on a retreat, do we know our level of dependence, and even addiction, to objects, people and situations. Beginning from a cup of coffee in the morning to television in the evening, we rely on external factors to give us joy, and conversely, experience sorrow when they are not available for our enjoyment.
A particularly difficult type of attachment is the strong identification we have with our immediate family and home, which is why Shri Krishna has specifically called it out in this shloka. "Abhishvangaha" is the placement of our future comfort, joy and happiness in our spouse, our children and our home. It is the thought that "in my old age, I do not have to worry, my spouse, or my child will take care of everything, and I can retire in my house peacefully". This kind of identification is one step worse than attachment, because we do not see any difference between us and our spouse, our children and our home. Any sorrow that affects our spouse becomes our own sorrow. We should of course partake in joy and sorrow with our family members, but only to the extent of our responsibilities. If we go overboard, we will not be able to negate this aspect of kshetra, and consequently, not be able to contemplate the eternal essence. "Anabhishvangaha" is one who can remain detached in this situation.
The third quality mentioned here is "samachittatvam", maintaining equanity of mind in favourable or unfavourable situations. Shri Krishna has stressed this qualiti repeatedly in various contexts. Even in the very beginning, in the second chapter, he praised equanimity by saying "samatvam yoga ucchyate". Now, he urges us to maintain this attitude at all times. This can only work if we figure out how to prevent our mind from labelling situations as favourable or unfavourable. One way of doing so is to submit all the results of actions to Ishvara as an offering, and accept any situation as a blessing from him. We can also train our mind through intense meditation to stop this sort of labelling.
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