49. Aversion is Also an Attachment
W e tend to perceive a situation, a person or an outcome of a deed as good or bad. There is a third option of remaining neutral. Krishna refers to this third state and says that a wise person is one who isn’t filled with joy when coming across good nor does he hate bad and is always without attachment (2.57). This extends Krishna’s teaching that one endowed with intellect sheds both good and bad deeds (2.50). The indication is that the sthita-prajna (one with coherent intellect) drops labelling and takes facts as facts without any extrapolation, as labelling is the birthplace for polarities of pain and pleasure. This verse is tough to understand as it runs contrary to our tendency of instantly labelling situations as good or bad. Aversion and hatred automatically follow when one encounters a situation or a person labelled as bad. On the other hand, the sthita-prajna doesn’t label it and hence the question of hating doesn’t arise for them. Similarly, when coming across goo...