Aditya, Tuesday, November 24, 2015 4:36 pm

Will Power & Self-Mastery

The last 2 values listed in the famous Bhagavad Gita Verse 13.7, are: (1) Perseverance & (2) Self-Mastery

  1. Perseverance (Sthairyam)

This is value for the attitude of perseverance. Perseverance in accomplishing a particular goal. In other words – maintaining strong will power to achieve a desired goal, even in the face of obstacles. Whenever we begin making effort towards achieving a specific goal, there will obstacles our path. The goal may be spiritual, academic, career, personal….whatever it is – no accomplishments in life come without problems along the way – big or small. If I give up due to these problems (assuming the goal is realistically achievable), it indicates a lack of perseverance or sthairyam. A persons with strong will power or perseverance ALSO faces the same problems. So what's the difference? This person doesn't not give up due to problems knocking them back. That get knocked down, and they get up again and again until their goal is achieved. This is a very powerful attitude which enables us to accomplish great things in life!  There is a beautiful poetic verse about this written by a great Indian King turned Monk-Philosopher-Poet a few hundred years ago called 'Bhartr Hari' in his 'Niti Shatakam' (verses on Dharma) –

?????????? ? ??? ????????? ????? | ???????? ?????????? ???????? ?????? ? ??????? ???? ?????? ??????????????| ?????????????????? ? ??????????? ? Niti Shatakam 1.26

There are three categories of people who begin pursuing a goal: (1) Lowest – Those who never start anything due to fear of failure & obstacles. (2) Mediocre – They begin making effort to pursue a goal but, at the first sign of obstacles, they give up. (3) Highest – people who, in spite of repeated obstacles, persist in their efforts until they successfully achieve their goal. (http://prramamurthy1931.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/neeti-shatakam-of-bharthruhari.html)

Therefore Krishna says in this Gita verse (13.7) – may you try and be this 3rd type of person by cultivating a value for sthairyam. Then you will succeed in any pursuit, especially in the pursuit of Moksha (absolute happiness).

  1. Self-Mastery (Atma-vinigrah)

This is a value for having a certain mastery over oneself. Being able to exercise a level of control over your body and mind, such that you are in charge of the body/mind and can use it for accomplishing what you wish to accomplish in life. This is as opposed to being led by the body/mind into destructive and harmful habits against your will, due to a lack of self-control. Katha Upanishad (1.3.3) illustrates this with the famous example of the horses, chariot and driver (charioteer).

This is the image you often see on the cover of the Bhagavad Gita or in Hindu paintings. Now….do the horses lead the driver? Or does the driver lead the horses? Well, it depends who is the master of whom. If the horses are allowed to do as they wish because the driver does not have the ability to control them, then the chariot will go here and there. It will never reach its destination. However, if the driver is the master and has control over the horses via the reins – the driver can use his knowledge of the destination (goal) and control over the horses, to quickly/safely/efficiently reach his destination. What does this illustrate? Well… Horses = Senses/Body (Indriyas), Driver = Free will (buddhi – the part of the mind that thinks intelligently & knows what its goal is. intellect), Reins = Mind (Manas – connects the buddhi with the Indriyas. Represents emotions and how these can cloud judgement. Note – Love & Compassion are not clouding emotions).

Therefore I (my free will) should be in charge of my body/mind/senses and have some self-control over my anger, hate, my speech, reactions, physical health, etc. Why? So that I can achieve what I want to achieve in life (e.g. Moksha, relative peace, Dharma, career success) without being led astray by my own senses, like a wild horse. In the context of the Bhagavad Gita – Self-Mastery is valuable to have as it enables you to use your mind and body to achieve Moksha – this is the point here, although it is also a useful value to have for other obvious reasons also.

So how to gain this self-mastery over the body and mind? Follow Ashtanga Yoga (8 Limbs of Yoga by Patanjali Maharishi). See a summary of this FYI: http://www.expressionsofspirit.com/yoga/eight-limbs.htm

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