55. Centred in the Self
K rishna says that the ‘ ayukta ’ (imbalanced) lacks both buddhi (intellect) and bhaav (emotions) and as a result, he will not get ‘shanti’ (peace) and there is no joy for the peaceless (2.66). Krishna lays emphasis on equanimity (2.38 and 2.48) and this verse highlights the same from a different angle. Till we learn to centre ourselves in the ‘middle’, we are likely to anchor ourselves at one of the ‘other’ centres like friends, enemy, work, spouse, children, money, pleasure, power, possessions etc. and this anchoring is the hallmark of the ayukta . If someone is centred on money, all his plans and actions revolve around maximizing wealth at the cost of all other things like relationships, health etc. One doesn’t hesitate to deceive, cheat or do anything to attain pleasure if one is pleasure centric. A spouse-oriented person evaluates the entire world as to how their spouse is treated. One can also be enemy centred, thinking about how to harm their enemies even if it ...