Summary:

Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Verse 72: Once you're exposed to self-knowledge, you can't ever go back, it's uphill from there on. Like bamboo roots developing underground for years before visible growth, progress may seem slow due to residual thinking patterns. Bhagavad Gita isn't prescriptive but analytical — it makes you re-examine your position and see life's nuances. This develops viveka (critical thinking) supported by vairagya (objectivity or absence of being personally invested in any one view). Critical-thinking without objectivity is how all cults and beliefs are sustained. Being discerning isn't enough; it requires a certain non-investment or dispassion towards one's likes-dislikes. The sthita-prajna is permanently established in the knowledge of Atma as unborn, eternal, unchanging and ever new. Moksha represents this permanent paradigm shift in identity.

Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Verse 72:
Once exposed to self-knowledge, can't go back

एषा ब्राह्मी स्थितिः पार्थ न एनाम् प्राप्य विमुह्यति ।
स्थित्वा अस्याम् अन्तकाले अपि ब्रह्म-निर्वाणम् ऋच्छति ॥ २-७२॥
eṣā brāhmī sthitiḥ pārtha na enām prāpya vimuhyati ।
sthitvā asyām antakāle api brahma-nirvāṇam ṛcchati ॥ 2-72॥

Pārtha (Arjuna)! This is (what is meant by) one’s being in Brahman. Having gained this, one is not deluded. Remaining therein, even at the end of one’s life, one gains liberation.

No Effort Goes Wasted:

Suppose this knowledge in class seems clear, but after class, your mind is unable to hold the vision together, keep it at the forefront of your participation with the world…

In this case, Krishna reminds us — once you start, you can’t go back to the old ways. And despite impressions being planted, due to your thick clouds of old residual thinking, it may feel like there's little to no progress. For example, bamboo roots (rhizomes) take 1-2 years to spread underground without seeing any progress above ground.

Additionally, you can’t regress because Bhagavad Gita isn’t prescriptive, but analytical. It makes you think about things, and re-examine your position within scheme of things, makes you see intricacies and nuances of life.

Why isn’t Bhagavad Gita prescriptive?

If it were prescriptive, it’s wisdom would be limited to handful of situations and time-frames throughout history. Additionally, prescriptions are for youngsters, not adults. Also, you know your personal situation lot better then any book.

Having being taught how to think deeper, you can see situations with more objectivity and less personal pressure. In other words, your critical-thinking skills (viveka) is backed up by objectivity or non-investment in either side (vairagya). Without vairagya, one's viveka ends up justifying beliefs. That's why in Vedic scriptures, viveka-vairagya area always together. For instance, there's a lot of brilliant critical-thinkers in the world (such as Richard Dawkins whose an atheist) — but few have dispassion, making them dearly hold onto “my perspective”.

Examples showing Gita stretching your thinking:

1. Dharma is flexible: Krishna wasn’t prescribing to Arjuna what to do, but explaining the flexibility of non-violence and importance of responding differently to each situation, then requesting him to stand up and participate in this game of life.
2. Interconnectedness: You start seeing dependence between all things, meaning creator must be all-knowledge (eg: knows about the sun and plants and animals who eat those plants and water and cloud).

Moksha

Eventually the last doubt is removed which shifts identity from individuality to Atma, which in (V20) is described as:

1. Ajaḥ: Unborn. EG: Even though there’s as-though birth of glass-space, it was never born – but was already there. Two ways to free the space in the cup: (a) Break the glass, (b) Keep the glass and understand space is always free. Coming/going of glass is inconsequential to the space. Similarly, coming of body – atma seems to be confined/divided, but isn’t.
2. Nityaḥ: Eternal. After glass is gone, space isn’t gone. Meaning no destruction for space. Similarly, Awareness of “I” doesn’t go after destruction of thought or body.
3. śāśvataḥ (unchanging): Put 4 kinds of liquids in glass space, it remains untouched. Similarly, within body-mind as-though confinement of Awareness, there’s different thoughts/sensations… but Awareness remains untouched from everyone’s standpoint.
4. Purāṇaḥ: Ever new. Doesn’t undergo 6 modifications of body and countless of emotions/insights of mind.

The sthita-prajna (liberated one) is called a brāhmī (knower of Brahman as Brahman) — one who is at ease with one’s identity permanently. Having gained this knowledge, nainām prāpya vimuhyati, you are no longer uncertain/deluded about reality, no question of forgetting the knowledge, you are freed forever. Moksha is a paradigm shift of your identity.

Conclusion:

• Human birth is meant for two things: (a) Self-growth for sake of gaining and ascertaining (b) self-knowledge.
• Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2 consists of three topics:
  1. Sankhya-Yoga (knowledge of Atma)
  2. Karma-Yoga
  3. Description of Wise person (sthita-prajna).

Krishna’s teaching should end here, but didn’t because Arjuna continued to ask further.

Ending Prayer:

Bhagavad Gita teaching is same thing as taught in Upanishads. Teaching within BG consists of: brahma-vidya (knowledge that shows you the truth of self) and yoga-shastra (self-growth – EG: how make decisions, how much resilience, how perceive world/people).

How is this knowledge imparted? Via dialog (samvada) between teacher-student.

Types of dialogue:

1. Jalpa: chit-chat. No purpose. No education.
2. Vitanda : wants to quarrel with you, uninterested in seeing things from another angle.
3. Vada : productive dialogue between two equals; enhances each others knowledge.
4. Samvada : exposing yourself to someone with mastery in a topic – you’re not equals in respect to specialty.

Sankhya-yogo nama: Main topic was Sankhya-yoga (knowledge of Atma – indestructible, undying, unborn, absolute). 

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Course was based on Swami Dayananda (Arsha Vidya) home study course.

Recorded 18 May, 2025