SamatvaM - (Equanimity)

समत्वं
(Equanimity)

Sama in Samskrut means 'same' in English. Samatva, however, is something more than sameness. Lookalike twins may look similar, but they may have different characteristics, though near relatives can easily spot one from other.

Dvandva is a pair of opposites. When you accept both, you possess the spirit of Samatva. You become Dvandvaateeta (discussed earlier).

Sama and Samatva are two words used many times in the Geetaa.

These days Dhana is king - and god to many. Doctors should treat diseases first and then the patients, not making any distinctions based upon the purse of the patient. Purohits don't treat all devotees equal. Those who come by car get faster attention.

Samatva based on the Geetaa is for benefit of humanity. However, the present political interpretation of uplifting the "poor SC/ST" is a joke. In the former, you go below to help others. Politicains remain on top and will never pull up anybody to their level.

All paths lead to Rome, to God. The two words, Sama and Samatva, confirm this truth. The words appear in different chapters and different contexts in the Geetaa and din the same truthy into our consciousness. Equanimity is indispensable if God is the goal. Once you reach the summit by any path, the view is the same. You develop the same quality of equanimity, whichever path you follow.

Some of the contexts in which these two words are used in the Geetaa are listed:

Chapter 2
Shloka 15: SamadukhasukhaM. We go by comparision, never on absolute terms. Sukha is the absence of dukha and dukha is missing sukha. We see light (we see everything in light but never the light as such). And darkness is the absence of light. Both are in the realm of ignorance i.e . darkness. Like the unseen light, bliss is your natural state.

For us, sukha is the experience of pleasures. Actually, it is the tasting of inherent peace and bliss of the Aatmaa when a desired object is obtained or an undesired object is got rid of and the mind sinks into the Aatmaa. This is sinking in unconscious action. Dukha is running away from the undesired, far from the Aatmaa. The mind keeps vacillating. When the desired object is obtained, or the undesirable got rid of, the mind unconsciously sinks into its inherent state of bliss. After a while, the mind moves out and seeks for new desired objects or to discard the unwanted, i.e., the mind moves back to misery.

By consciously sinking into the Aatman, you become immortal, says the shloka.

Shloka 38: Laabhaalaabhau. Profit or loss is part of the game in business or in personal life. Play the game. Plough the field. Wait for the crop . Reap what is your lot. Don't rest on your oars if much profit comes one year. Be not frustrated and stop ploughng if one monsoon fails one year. In other words, profit or gain is not the goal in life - ploughing the land is the real goal and gain.

Shloka 48: Sidhyasidhyo. This is success or failure in general. Siddhi also refers to miracle-making powers. Looks good to have. If you fail to achieve, you feel lost. If you succeed, failure is not far behind. You start a display of miracles to impress people and the hunger for more fame corrodes your power. If appreciation does not come, your pleasure is corroded. And when you see another with greater powers, you sulk. Loss of peace of mind and simultaneous loss of power.

Chapter 5
Shloka 18: Samadarshinah. A Brahmin is respected for his wisdom. The cow is a sacred animal which serves the society in more than one aspect. A majestic elephant has pride of place in palace and temple. A dog is a useful animal. A scavenger is part of society. A wise man respects each for what he/it is worth. He looks on all with the same affection. Not that he does not know the diffeence betwen them. He will feed the brahmin inside his house. A scavenger will not be refused food, though made to sit in the verandah for his unclean habits.

Shloka 19: YeshaaM saamye sthithaM manah. He whose mind possess equanimity verily enjoys heaven here and now on the earth. Brahman is equanimity unlimited. A true Brahmin is a man with equanimity, not a person who merely displays a sacred thread.

Chapter 6
Shloka 7: SheetoShNasukhadukheshu. Heat and cold are seasonal. The changing seasons regulate life. Nature works and helps us and it takes rest too to recuperate. There are people who take cold bath in the open in winter. People who bathe in boiling hot water even in summer. That is their prakruti. By yoga, you can achieve this. In Tibet, yogis sit bare-bodied on ice slabs for meditation. Ramana recommended prayer to sun so that you do not feel heat. You can walk bare-footed on rock under summer sun.
Take sukha and dukha in the stride. They come and go. Aagamaapaayinonityaah. Transitory, not-lasting. The sun rises every morning. Sunset is end of the day, not of the world.

Shloka 8 : SamaloShtaashmakaamchanah. Price (worth) and value are two different aspects. Price decided by the market whereas value is what worth you give to anything. This is not only for materials, but for ideas and ideals. No price is big to pay for upholding truth. But all do not give the same value in life for truth. Children pick up value of truth from parents and as such parents should never lie at home (or outside).

A clod of earth, a stone and a nugget of gold means same to a wise man. He knows the price of each but places values on them from need and necessity point of view. He will not throw away gold , calling it no better than a stone. Nor he will guard a stone in a treasury. If he finds the gold he has will help another, he will readily give as if he is parting with a stone. Not waiting for wah-wah because, after all he has lost a stone lying in a dark chamber of his treasury.

Shloka 9: Samabuddhih. Freind or foe, unconcerned, with lukewarm intetest in you, relative or one who hates you, let your actions towards them be on humanitarian basis. Food to whoever is hungry. Help wherever needed.

Shloka 29: Samadarshanah. One who has realised his universal being, sees himself in everything and everything in himself. He looks with love towards all.

Chapter 9
Shloka 29: Samoham sarvabhooteshu. The Lord says: I have no friend. Nor a foe. All are my children. A mother loves all children equally; perhaps the weak and the wicked children more. Good or bad, beautiful or ugly, intelligent or dull, a son is a son. Adjectives change. Subject does not change. You may be a king, but you remain a son to your mother -a Kannada proverb.

Chapter 12
Shloka 29: Subhaasubhaparityaagee. Auspicious or inauspicious, carry on with it if it is your lot. Offer the results to God. A hangman is never a sinner for his job.

Shloka 18:
1. Shatrau mitre. Enemy or friend. Let man to man relationship not be given up. Rivalry on the playground should not be carried home.
2. Maanaapamaanayoh. Treat both equal - he who praises you and he who derides you.
3. SheetoShNasukhadukhesh; get over these dvandvas.

Shloka 19: Tulyanindaasthitih. Keep cool and don't lose mental poise under praise or blame. Praise is more alluring than a harlot, a saying goes. Blame incites retaliation.

Chapter 13
Shloka 8: Janmamrutyujaraavyaadhi anudarshanam. Birth and death keep alternating, one following the other. In between, old age and diseases visit you. Birth is another opportunity for you to take as many steps as you can towards salvation. Do it fast before death overtakes you.

Chapter 14
Shloka 24:
1. Samadukhasukhah. Discussed.
2. Samaloshtaashmakaanchanah. Discussed.
3. Tulyapriyaapriyah. Discussed.
4. TulyanindaatmasaMsthuthih. Like the balance held by the blindfolded goddess of justice, don't make any difference between contrasting people. Balancing beam should not deviate for extraneous reasons. See next noting for equanimity under praise and blame.

Shloka 25:
1. Maanaapamaanayostulyah. Not elated by praise, nor dejected by blame. The pleasure is in performing work to your best and not worrying about results; much less giving time to hear comments from others, praise or blame. Is that so? is the Tao story told by Narad Mam clearly brings the significance of such an attitude in life. Tai To, uttered by Shahjahan, bears the same stamp, although it is in helplessness.
2. MitraaripakShayoh tulyah. War is on the battlefield. Leave it there when you retire for the day - the same treatment to office work when you come home. Treat the injured whether he is foe or friend. During the Mahaabhaarata war, nights were spent in Satsanga.

(Be a Red Cross man on the battlefield if you are not fighting.)

Chapter 18
Shloka 26: Sidhyasidhyornirvikaarah. Achievement (accomplishment) or disappointment is by the way. Work with enthusiam and vigour. Set aside ego and accept the result as it comes. Saatvic attitude.

Shloka 54: Samah sarveshu bhooteshu. Look on all life - animal, animals and plants - as your own. Never hurt anyone. Elsewhere, the Lord says, I look on all as my own, consider none a friend nor a foe.