Meaning Of Sthitpragnya
Well well well… This word is the essence of entire Geeta Gyan and much more. If there could be only word capable enough to describe, the human transformation into the divine status, Divinity deserving the God like status and the word capable enough to partially ( because fathoming the fullness of something beyond everything is not possible for anyone anyway ) describe the God himself, then it could be the ‘Sthitpragnya‘.
It is consisted of two words combined, ‘Sthit‘ and ‘Pragnya‘. Sthit means stable and Pragnya means wisdom. Actually the word Pragnya is very difficult to translate into English because there is no such word in English language which can carry even 1% weight of the word Pragnya. Because even word Pragnya is combination of two words, Pra and Gnya, roughly translated as, Pra – Singular, sublime, exceptional etc and Gnya – intellect, knowledge, learnedness etc.
So the simple literally meaning of the word Sthitpragnya can be, the one who’s mind has become stable and unwavering from anything which usually disturbs the common souls and make them miserable, i.e. happiness-sadness, hot-cold, love-hate, possession-dispossession, avarice, covetousness, friends-foes, divine-demonic etc. Thus becoming Sthitpragnya is the ultimate state of eternal bliss where all desires cease to exist and one attains the highest state of Yog. And one can be Sthitpragnya only when one realizes the true knowledge of ultimate truth.
Now you can image the depth of the meaning of the word Sthitpragnya. It will be apt to say that, entire Bhagwad Geeta is nothing but the expansion of this one word expounded by various other means by Lord Shree Krishna / Hrishikesh himself. ( Hrishikesh means, Hrishik – senses , Ish – controller, so the one who controls or has conquered the senses, or another interpretation could be that the one who has created the senses and thus He is the creator and controller of senses / Maya or whatever exists and can be perceived by the senses in this universe ). Describing what does Sthitpragnya means in totality is beyond anybody’s ability because it is not just a word but something more than that. Sthitpragnya is something about the way of life or like transforming into the sublime transcendence and thus its meaning cannot be confined by the words only.
When we talk about pursuit of happiness, it becomes such an oxymoron because the pursuit itself means to look for something ardently and thus the action of seeking something in itself becomes the source of misery. But when one becomes or rather knows / discovers himself as ‘Sthitpragnya’, there remains nothing to pursue or find or seek or desire because ultimately you yourself are the embodiment of happiness and nothing else. The misery you experience is due to the shroud of ignorance covering your soul. And that will disappear instantly the moment you become Sthitpragnya, like lighting a lamp causes the darkness to go away instantly!
Be Sthitpragnya and be happy. Or is it even possible to be in any other state once becoming Sthitpragnya ??!! 😉