Who is Person of Wisdom - The Bhagavad Gita

Who is Person of Wisdom - The Bhagavad Gita
॥ श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता ॥ ॥ ॐ श्री परमात्मने नमः ॥ ॥ अथ श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता ॥
 
Knowledge is the information of the facts or conditions. Intelligence is one’s mental capacity of acquiring knowledge and to apply knowledge & experiences in problem solving whereas wisdom is the insight and ability to discern what is true, right or lasting to make sensible decisions. Hence, wisdom is essential for material as well as spiritual success.
 
Shree Krishna in Bhagavad Gita has delineated the path of attaining wisdom and attributes of the wise person. (A separate article is published on the Path of wisdom i.e. Jnana Yoga or Samkhya Yoga)   The   Shree Krishna has explained the attributes of person of wisdom in chapters 5, 14 and 18 of Bhagavad Gita. The attributes of person of steady wisdom are steadiness of intelligence, unperturbed in misery & happiness, free from attachment, anger & fear and control over senses & can withdraw senses inward from objects of excitement.
 
Samkhya Yogi has controlled mind, speech and body through firmness of Sattvika type, regulated diet, detachment and dispassion and is free from lust, anger and greed. By tranquillity in mind and meditation, he attains oneness with Brahman (almighty) who is Truth, Consciousness and Bliss.
Jnani looks upon the world as a mere appearance but vijnani sees it as a divine play.
 
The main attributes of wise Person (Person of Spiritual Wisdom) are Sattvika diet, body, mind & intellect; detachment from objects of senses; steady mind; dedicated to selfless service; equanimity; practice meditation; devotion to almighty and establish oneness with Brahman which lead to liberation from re-birth.

The details of verses are as under (in bracket, chapter.verse) (the relevant Sanskrit verses of Bhagavad Gita are mentioned at the bottom):

Sattvika diet, body, mind & intellect:

1. Wise person is endowed with a pure intellect, Sattvika and regulated diet, living in a lonely and undefiled place, having rejected sound and other objects of sense, having controlled the mind, speech and body by restraining the mind and senses through firmness of a Sattvika type, taking a resolute stand on dispassion, after having completely got rid of attraction and aversion and remaining ever devoted to the Yoga of meditation, having given up egotism, violence, arrogance, lust, anger and luxuries,  acquisitiveness, devoid of the feeling of attachment and tranquil of heart-such a man becomes qualified for oneness with Brahman, who is Truth, Consciousness and Bliss (18.51, 18.52, 18.53).

 
Detachment from sense of objects:

1. The Samkhya yogi believes that he does nothing, even though seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating or drinking, walking, sleeping, breathing, speaking, answering the calls of nature, grasping, and opening or closing the eyes, holding that it is the senses alone that are moving among their objects (5.8, 5.9).

 
Steady mind:

1. Ignorance of such person is destroyed by true knowledge of God (5.16).
2. He who, with firm intellect and free from doubt, rejoices not on obtaining what is pleasant and does not feel perturbed on meeting with the unpleasant, that knower of Brahman lives eternally in identity with Brahman (5.20).
3. One, who is ever established in the Self, takes pain and pleasure alike, regards a stone and a piece of gold as equal in value, is possessed of wisdom, accepts the pleasant as well as the unpleasant in the same spirit, and views criticism and praise same (14.24). One, who is equipoised in honour or humiliation, is alike towards a friend or an enemy, and has renounced the sense of doership in all undertakings, is said to have risen above the three Gunas (14.25).
4. Intellect of Samkhya Yogi is unattached everywhere, whose thirst for enjoyment has altogether disappeared and who has subdued his mind, reaches through Samkhya yoga (the path of Knowledge) the consummation (flawless) of actionlessness (18.49).

 
Dedicated to Selfless Service:

1. The seers whose sins have been purged, whose doubts have been dispelled by knowledge, whose disciplined mind is firmly established in God and who are devoted to the welfare of all beings, attain Brahman, who is all peace (5.25).

 
Equanimity:

1. The wise look with equanimity on all whether it be a Brahmana endowed with learning and humility, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a pariah, too (5.18).

 
Practice Meditation:

1. He, whose, mind remains unattached to sense objects, derives through meditation, the Sattvika joy which dwells in the mind; then that Yogi, having completely identified himself through meditation with Brahman, enjoys eternal Bliss (5.21).
2. Shutting out all thoughts of external enjoyments, with the gaze fixed on the space between the eye-brows, having regulated the Prana (outgoing) and the Apana (incoming) breaths flowing within the nostrils, he who has brought his senses, mind and intellect under control-such a contemplative soul intent on liberation and free from desire, fear and anger, is ever liberated (5.27, 5.28).

 
Devotion to Almighty:

1. One, who, constantly worships Me (Brahman, Shree Krishna) through the Yoga of exclusive devotion-transcending these three Gunas, he becomes eligible for attaining Brahman (14.26).

  
Establish Oneness with Brahman:

1. He remains constantly established in identity with Supreme Being, and has finally become one with Him, their sins being wiped out by wisdom; reach the supreme goal whence there is no return (5.17).
2. One, who is seated like a witness, is not disturbed by the Gunas, and who, knowing that the Gunas alone move among the Gunas, remains established in identity with God, and never falls off from that state (14.23).
3. He is established in identity with Brahman (who is Truth, Consciousness and Bliss solidified), and cheerful in mind, no longer grieves nor craves for anything. The same to all beings, such a Yogi attains supreme devotion to Me (18.54). Through that supreme devotion he comes to know Me in reality, what and who I am; and thereby knowing Me truly, he forthwith merges into My being (18.55).

 
Liberation from Re-Birth:

1. To those wise men who are free from lust and anger, who have restrained their mind and have realized God, Brahman, the abode of eternal peace, is present all-round (5.26).
2. He alone, who is able to withstand, in this very life before casting off this body, the urges of lust and anger, is a Yogi, and he alone is a happy man (5.23). He who is happy within himself, enjoys within himself the delight of the soul, and, even so, is illumined by the inner light (light of the soul), such a Yogi (Samkhya yogi) identified with Brahman attains Brahman, who is all peace (5.24).​

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