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Acharya Shankar has written that the meaning of equality is equivalence, it is the view of self. Just as happiness is dear to me, so too does he see happiness and sorrow as favorable and unfavorable to all beings, he does not act. He is the one who is equal-sighted. To have the view of self towards all beings is equality. The yogi practitioner of equality, whether in a favorable situation or an unfavorable situation, whether he receives respect or scorn, whether he receives unfavorable things, whether he sees the attainment of perfection or receives imperfection, even then his inner mind remains equal in all those situations. Krishna said to Arjuna that he who remains equal in happiness and sorrow, he who is not agitated or disturbed by the objects of the senses, he is the one who is entitled to liberation/immortality. In the eighteenth chapter of the Gita, Shri Krishna said in very clear words that he who is situated in the state of equality, he alone can attain my supreme devotion. Thus, the tone of equality yoga is expressed here and there in the Gita.
Today, in the absence of equality yoga in the world, the dark clouds of inequality are hovering. Due to which the individual, society and nation are troubled. Equality yoga establishes harmony in various aspects of life in such a way that not only the struggle of individual life ends, but also the struggles of social life are destroyed, if all the members of society and nation strive for it. Equality yoga eliminates intellectual prejudice and the sweet stream of affection begins to flow. All the struggles of life end, the root cause of the struggle of the intellectual world is insistence and prejudice. Freed from the poison of prejudice, man readily accepts truth. The yogi practitioner of equality is neither narrow-minded in his intellectual view nor does he have any attachment to enjoyment. Therefore, his conduct is pure and his thoughts are noble. He believes in the principle of "live and let live". Thus, we see that through equality yoga, the Gita author has emphasized the practice of equanimity.
In Samayik, neither attachment plays its own tune nor does hatred play its magical tune. This is an undertaking to become free from attachment and aversion. This is the alchemy that, holding the finger of discrimination, places the practitioner on the golden earth of equality. This is the practice of decorating and adorning life.
Chaturvinshati stava
The second essential in the six essentials is Chaturvinshati stava. We have seen in the previous lines that Samayik prescribes the practice of abstaining from faulty conduct. By abstaining from faulty conduct, the practitioner necessarily takes refuge in some support, so that he can remain steady in equanimity. For this purpose, the practitioner praises the Tirthankaras in Samayik.
Chaturvinshati stava is a unique creation of devotional literature. In it, the Ganges of devotion is flowing. If the practitioner takes a dip in that Ganges, he cannot remain without being intoxicated with joy. The Tirthankaras are great in terms of renunciation and detachment, in terms of the practice of restraint. By extolling their virtues, spiritual strength is infused into the practitioner's inner heart. If for some reason faith becomes weak, then it infuses new inspiration.
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1. Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, Shankar Bhashya 6/32
2. Gita 2/15
3. Gita 18/54
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