Question
According to the Bhagavadgītā (2: 54-72), a “person of steady wisdom” is called
The correct answer is
Sthitaprajña
Bhagavad Gita: Defining Steady Wisdom
The Bhagavadgītā, in Chapter 2, verses 54 to 72, describes the qualities of an individual who possesses stable or steady wisdom. This state is a key concept in understanding the path of spiritual development.
Identifying the Sthitaprajña
The specific Sanskrit term used in these verses to denote a “person of steady wisdom” is Sthitaprajña.
- Sthitaprajña literally means one whose intellect or wisdom (prajñā) is steady or unwavering (sthita).
- This state signifies mental equilibrium, freedom from desires, and transcendence over dualities like pleasure and pain, gain and loss.
Analysis of Related Terms
While other terms are related to spiritual paths in the Bhagavadgītā, they represent different concepts:
- Karmayogi: One who follows the path of selfless action, dedicating work to the Divine without attachment to results.
- Jñāni: Typically refers to a person of knowledge or wisdom, often associated with the path of philosophical inquiry and understanding. While a Sthitaprajña possesses profound knowledge, the term emphasizes stability.
- Lokasamgraha: This term means the welfare or upliftment of the world. It is often presented as a motivation or outcome of the actions of a realized person, not the name for the person themselves.
Therefore, the precise term for a “person of steady wisdom” as per Bhagavadgītā 2:54-72 is Sthitaprajña.
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Important Questions from Religion & Indian Society
- Which school of classical Indian philosophy asserts the following?
1. It is fallacious to take any knowledge claim (jñāna) as absolute.
2. To recognize that all knowledge claims are contextually and partially true does not lead to skepticism. - Which one of the following classical Indian schools of thought do the philosophical texts Spandakārikā and Pratyabhijñāsūtra belong to?
- According to the Advaitic text Vedāntaparibhāṣā, “Those means of knowledge are six in number (tāni ca pramāṇāni ṣaṭ)”. These are:
- “Desire, cognition etc. are qualities that necessarily require a substance and therefore individually constitute the necessary mark or sign of substance, which could then be identified as soul.”
Which one of the following classical Indian thinkers has made this argument? - Which of the following options is/are included among the four states of Ātman as delineated in the Mānḍukya Upaniṣad?
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