What is Pragya?
Bhagavad Gita Verse 2.57 Explained
Introduction
Bhagavad Gita is a conversation between Krishna and Arjun. This dialogue begins just before the war of Mahabharata is about to begin. On seeing his family in opposition, Arjun is gripped with fear and confusion and wants to run away, but Krishna convinces him to fight and tells Arjun why he today raise his weapons to kill his brothers and relatives in this war.
Bhagavad Gits teaches us how to live life!
The core message of the Bhagavad Gita is considered very powerful for it can fundamentally transform the way you live your life. Bhagavad Gita is also called a summary of Vendantic Knowledge or simply ancient Knowledge.
Bhagavad Gita is crystallized form of the Hindu thought.
Bhagavad Gita is 700 verses long, spread across 18 chapters. Here we will understand Verses 54 & 55 of Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita.
Verse 2.57
य: सर्वत्रानभिस्नेहस्तत्तत्प्राप्य शुभाशुभम् |
नाभिनन्दति न द्वेष्टि तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता || 57||
yah sarvatranabhisnehas tat tat prapya shubhashubham
nabhinandati na dveshtyi tasya prajna pratishthita
Translation:
One who is unattached in all conditions, One who doesn’t praise self during good times, One who doesn’t hate self during bad times, is the one who is situated in Prajna or Pragya (wisdom)
Commentary:
In this verse, Krishna introduces a new concept to Arjun which is called Prajna or Pragya.
Is it Pragya or Prajna?
Let’s first understand the word and how it is spelt and pronounced.
ज्ञान or Gyaan is the Sanskrit word for Knowledge. It is also spelt as “Jnana” in old English. Basically, the difference is in the prefixes of “Jna” and “Gya”. The Sanskrit word “ज्ञान” is actually pronounced as “Jna-na”, but in the modern world it is also commonly spelt as “Gya-an”.
Similarly, Prajna can be spelt as Pragya. No matter the pronunciation, the meaning remains the same. So for ease of understanding, we will be calling it “Pragya” with a “g”.
What is Pragya?
Krishna tells Arjun that a man is said to be situated in Pragya when he is unattached at all times, when he doesn’t praise himself in good times, and doesn’t hate himself in bad times.
Thus Krishna is telling Arjun that Pragya is nothing but a state of mind. But it is not any state, but rather a very special one. It is a state which enables a person to behave in a manner where he is in absolute control of his mind and thus is above happiness and grief.
In Pali language, which was the language spoken by commoners during the time of Buddha around 500 B.C. Pragya meant “wisdom”. It was a state of being that the mind achieves by acquiring and synthesising knowledge i.e. Gyaan.
But what is Mind anyway?
Mind is in fact a collection of thoughts and memories.
Thus we can say that the Mind is a storehouse of knowledge, and thus wisdom is a state of being in which the mind knows how to best act, and which knowledge to use.
To simplify, think of Knowledge to be like “selected Data” which you store in your mind due to years of experience. Pragya would be a software, which helps you select the best data which helps you to take action in a particular situation.
Thus Pragya is wisdom which allows us to make the best use of our knowledge.
The examples which Krishna gave highlight this fact clearly. Let’s weigh these examples.
Pragya is being unattached at all times
This basically highlights the concept of “detachment” which means not being attached. Detachment is at the core of the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita. Karma Yoga which is one of the core philosophies of the Bhavagad Gita talks about detached action.
The idea behind detachment is simple. When you are detached with what do you, which means you don’t expect any personal recognition or reward from it, you end up doing great work.
Detachment doesn’t mean a lack of engagement or lack of hard work or lack of intent to achieve a result. It only means that the Ego is dropped while doing that work. The focus is just on the fulfilment of the duty in the best possible way.
Thus detachment means doing the action at the best possible intensity and intent but without the desire of gaining any personal recognition or reward from it.
Now we can extrapolate this into all aspects of life.
Everything we do in life i.e. all our actions are done to fulfil some personal obligation of ours. The normal mind, which is devoid of Pragya, does these actions with a selfish desire and craving to achieve reward or recognition. And such a craving leads to episodes of grief.
But when an action is done, without being attached with the fruit of your actions, you end up doing your best work. This is nothing but Karma Yoga explained in a different language.
This is nothing but Detachment.
Attachment is due to EGO
For attachment is only due to the Ego, due to the selfish desire, which gives a person pleasure, but also causes him to experience grief, much much more than pleasure.
Ego is what stops a human from growing to the best of his potential. Ego is what becomes a barrier in a person performing his best work.
Hence Detachment becomes the method which allows a person to drop his Ego. This however is very difficult to exercise as the Ego doesn’t want to be dropped. It somehow finds its way to come back. Everyone faces defeat from Ego, no one is an exception.
But the wise ones, are able to come back to the path of detachment, whenever they discover that they feel lost. For they know that this is the path they must walk upon.
This choice, this awareness of coming back is Pragya. Thus detachment in all actions is a sign of Pragya. It is a sign of true wisdom.
Not Praising Oneself in Success is Pragya
Ego is nothing but an image of self in the mind. It is not good or bad. It just is. Almost everyone in this world has an Ego, only rare people are exceptions, and even they are not free from Ego at all times. They too are in a constant struggle to avoid this Ego from reappearing.
The mind is built on the foundation of Ego. Yoga Sutra states that the mind has three parts:
- The Ahem or the Ego
- the Manas or the Mind, and
- Buddhi or the Intellect.
Thus it is natural for a person to have an Ego.
We are not born with Ego; it develops with time
When we are small children we don’t have this Ego. Make a child stand in front of a mirror and observe him. He will see his image, but won’t know that it is him. But slowly we start developing it. The same child as he grows up, will start recognising his image, he will soon start to associate with this image, he now knows that the image is his reflection. He would know that this is how he looks.
As this child grows up into an adult, he starts seeing this image in the mirror of his mind. As this image grows vivid the grown-up man now forgets that it is an image. He feels that it is who he is in the real sense. He starts becoming the image and forgets that he is the one who sees it.
This is how Ego controls this man. It is a reflection, but not a true reflection, it is rather a painting we create of ourselves and think of it as a true reflection of self.
But that is not true. This Ego which we create is a classic example of Maya at play. It is nothing but an illusion which drives our life.
This Ego has a tendency to inflate or deflate. When times are good is when a person with an ego tends to inflate his Ego. He paints his picture like a victorious King who has won a battle of the ages. He starts seeing himself in a different light. He feels that he has all the answers.
But he is unaware that he is not the doer.
No one can claim ownership of the result, only his actions. Having a notion that he is the man behind the success, will give him temporary joy, but will cause him more pain than he can ever imagine, for success is rare, and failures are numerous in life. This is how the universe is designed. Thus such a man is more likely to remain in the misery of failure than bask in the glory of success.
Thus praising oneself in success is a sign of ignorance.
Not Hating Self in Failures is Pragya
Similarly, there are people, who hate themselves when they fail. They consider themselves as the cause of the failure. Such people paint a very poor image in front of them of the self. This is when the ego deflates. Since they associate themselves with this image, they start seeing themselves in poor light. They curse themselves, think it is their fault, think that it is they who lack, think that they are not worthy, and think that they are not good enough.
This again is a similar thing to what the people with inflated egos do. But in this case, there is only pain, and misery. And it lasts for a long long time. Most people fall into this trap of poor self-image due to the failures they experienced.
The irony is that while the ones with inflated Egos are a lot, even great are the people with a poor self-image. They think they are not good enough and thus can never realise their true potential.
Therefore, both approaches, are nothing but a sign of ignorance.
EGO is MAYA
The fact remains the Ego is nothing but an image, a picture which we paint, and think that it is a true reflection of ourselves. But this is false.
The true self is not the Ego. And it can never be the Ego. You can never see the true self, for there is no mirror which can show the true self. But once you drop the Ego, then you get to experience the magnanimity of the true self which is boundless and full of all possibilities.
The Ego can never represent your true self. For you are infinite. There is no mirror which can contain infinity. There is no canvas which can paint you. You are boundless, you are full of potential, you are limitless, you are infinite in a true sense.
Thus Ego is an illusion which is a byproduct of your ignorance.
Therefore Krishna says that a man who is wise, who possesses true wisdom, is the one who works in a detached manner, and drops his Ego.
This state of knowledge is Pragya. And Krishna is asking Arjun to be on Pragya, be detached with his actions, and fight this war.
