Verse 22
A man who is liberated
from these three gates to darkness, O Arjuna, practices what is good for him
and thus goes to the Supreme goal!
Freed from these
three kinds of traits—Desire, Anger and Greed—one works for
one’s own welfare with proper understanding of the way of conducting oneself in
life for attaining the spiritual goal.
One begins to
realize and keep in mind what is actually one’s welfare.
Most people do
not know what is good for them. They have a blindfolded vision of things, a
distorted vision of things, which makes them believe in things which are really
not enduring, and doubt the existence of things which are really there.
But here, a
person who is free from these qualities of kama, krodha and lobha will be automatically purified in nature, and this purified mind
will reflect within itself the aspiration necessary for the attainment of the
great goal of life.
In the Kathopanishad, Lord Yama describes two
paths to Nachiketa,
SREYAS CA PREYAS CA
MANUSHYAM ETAH STAU SAMPARIITYA VIVINAKTTI DHIIRAH
SREYO HI DHIIRO (ABHI)
PREYASO VRUNIITE PREYO MANDO YOGA KSHEMAAD VRUNIITE
“Both the good and the pleasant approach the mortal; the
intelligent man examines and distinguishes them; for the intelligent man
prefers the good to the pleasant, the ignorant man chooses ‘for getting and
keeping’; the pleasant for the sake of his body
Preyas means pleasing, desired, gratifying,
what appeals to the senses.
Shreyas comes from the root “sri,” which means
auspiciousness or radiant and also support.
In a spiritual path we seek the support of the
auspicious like an enlightened master.
Even in the opening of Krishna’s discourse
to Arjuna, The Lord describes the 2 paths.
Contacts (of the senses) with their objects, O son of Kunti, give
rise to (the experience of) cold and heat, pleasure and pain. Transient, they
come and go. Bear them patiently, O Bharata!
That man indeed whom these (contacts) do not disturb, who is even-minded
in pleasure and pain, steadfast, he is fit for immortality, O best of men!
(BG-chapter 2- verse 14,15)
It is only when materialistic
yearnings diminish, the intellect, freed from the material mode of passion, is
able to perceive the shortsightedness of pursuing the path of preya. Then one gets drawn toward shreya, or happiness that is unpleasant in the present
but becomes sweet in the end. And for those attracted to shreya, the path of enlightenment opens up.
They
begin endeavoring for the eternal welfare of their soul, thereby moving toward
the supreme goal.
Love.
