Gita 2.64

Sadhak: "Guru, this verse says to move among sense objects with senses free from attachment and aversion. But how can I enjoy a meal without being attached to the taste? How can I appreciate beauty without craving it?"

Guru: "There is a vast difference between appreciation and attachment. You can fully taste the food—notice its flavors, textures, the skill in its preparation—without the craving that demands more, the dissatisfaction when it ends, the agitation if it is not available. Appreciation says: 'This is beautiful.' Attachment says: 'I must have this.' The first is presence; the second is grasping. The sage enjoys more fully than the attached person because they are not distracted by anxiety about losing the enjoyment."

Sadhak: "The verse mentions both attraction (rāga) and aversion (dveṣa). I understand avoiding attachment, but should I also not have aversion to harmful things?"

Guru: "Discriminating wisdom is different from dveṣa. You can recognize that fire burns and stay away from it without hatred of fire. Dveṣa is reactive, emotional, disturbing—it agitates your mind when you encounter what you dislike. Wisdom-based avoidance is calm, clear, simply appropriate. The sage avoids harmful things but is not disturbed by their existence. They can be in the presence of what they would not choose without inner turmoil. This is freedom from dveṣa."

Sadhak: "'Ātma-vaśyaiḥ'—senses under self-control. How do I actually bring my senses under control? They seem to have their own momentum."

Guru: "Control begins with awareness—you cannot control what you do not notice. Start by observing without immediately acting on every sensory impulse. See something attractive: notice the pull, but pause before reaching. Hear something offensive: notice the aversion, but pause before reacting. In that pause lives your freedom. Over time, the pause lengthens, the compulsion weakens, the choice becomes real. You are training the senses like one trains horses—not by breaking their spirit but by earning their cooperation through consistent, patient direction."

Sadhak: "'Vidheyātmā'—one whose inner nature is disciplined. Is this describing a rigid, controlled personality? That sounds joyless."

Guru: "Exactly the opposite. Discipline creates freedom; chaos creates bondage. The undisciplined person is jerked around by every stimulus—they have no real choices, only reactions. The disciplined person can choose to respond or not, to engage or withdraw, to pursue or let go. This is not joyless rigidity but joyful freedom. Think of a trained musician versus an untrained one: the trained one has more freedom, more expression, more capacity for beauty—not less. Discipline is the foundation of genuine freedom."

Sadhak: "'Prasāda'—serenity. You mentioned it also means divine grace. Is serenity something I achieve or something given to me?"

Guru: "Both, and they are not separate. You remove the obstacles—the rāga and dveṣa that churn the mind. Serenity then arises naturally, like still water when stirring stops. This arising is grace: you did not manufacture it, you only stopped preventing it. In this sense, all spiritual attainment is grace: our effort removes what blocks grace, but grace itself is always available, always given. We do not earn prasāda; we allow it by ceasing what obstructs it."

Sadhak: "This sounds like a very high state. Is it really possible for ordinary people like me?"

Guru: "It is possible because it is your nature. The disturbances of rāga and dveṣa are learned; serenity is innate. Every human has experienced moments of pure presence—watching a sunset, absorbed in a task, hearing music that stills the mind. In those moments, rāga and dveṣa temporarily subside and prasāda is glimpsed. The teaching says: this glimpse can become your stable state. It is not about becoming superhuman but about uncovering what is already human and divine in you."

Sadhak: "The verse says the person is 'moving among sense objects'—caran. Why does Krishna emphasize that they are engaging with the world?"

Guru: "Because the Gita is not advocating escapism. Arjuna is on a battlefield; he cannot run to a forest. Krishna teaches liberation in action, amid the world, not apart from it. This is the Gita's distinctive contribution. Many traditions say: transcend the world by leaving it. Krishna says: transcend the world by transforming your relationship to it while remaining fully engaged. This is more difficult but also more relevant for most humans who cannot renounce society. It is yoga for the householder, the warrior, the worker."

Sadhak: "How do I know if my senses are truly 'free from rāga and dveṣa' or if I am just suppressing?"

Guru: "Suppression builds pressure that eventually explodes. Freedom brings peace that deepens over time. With suppression, you feel strain, effort, the thing you are avoiding looms large in your mind. With freedom, there is simply no pull—the object exists, you perceive it, but it does not move you. You can check: in quiet moments, does the craving arise unbidden? Does the aversion disturb your peace? If yes, there is more work to do. If the mind remains naturally still, freedom is maturing. Time and observation will tell."