Srimad BhagavadGita

In the previous śloka, the ultimate state of jñāna yoga called vaśīkārasaṃjña was described. In this śloka and the following two ślokas, the states lower to vaśīkārasaṃjña state are described in their descending order. These are ekendriyasaṃjña, vyatirekasaṃjña and yatamānasaṃjña respectively.

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yatamānasaṃjña One who wishes to achieve perfection in jñāna yoga must first withdraw his outbound senses from various worldly things and then strive to fix his mind firmly on the soul. This is called yatamānasaṃjña which is described in detail in B.G 2.58.

​vyatirekasaṃjña In the yatamānasaṃjña phase described above, only one part of attachment, aversion, etc. gets cleared. At times when the mind is disturbed due to the remainder of attachment, aversion, etc, it gets forcefully dragged by objects of the world and in turn stimulates the senses to also move towards them. Such a mind is unable to fix steadily on the soul and is hence agitated. In this 'vyatirekasaṃjña' phase, the jñāna yogi contemplates on the balance of attachment, aversion, etc, which remain after the clearance of a part of them in the 'yatamānasaṃjña' state. He practises to have no desire for favourable events and no aversion for unfavourable events in his life. In this way he strives to get rid of the remainder of attachment, aversion, etc. This state (vyatirekam- distinguishing) is discussed in śloka B.G 2.57.

​ekendriyasaṃjña In the 'yatamānasaṃjña' and 'vyatirekasaṃjña' phases, the attachment and aversion get cleared and victory is achieved over the outward senses. However, since the mind, which is the inner sense, has been indulging in the experience of worldly things from beginning less time, vāsanas (impressions on the mind/ kārmic imprints) are developed in it. These stand as obstacles for the mind to experience the soul. Just like a handsome young man is repeatedly shown to a woman who has no liking for men, so that she develops a liking for him, similarly a jñāni must practise showing the soul to his mind again and again so that the beginning less vāsanas of the mind are removed and it develops a liking and desire for the soul. 

This state where the single sense called the mind is brought under control is called the 'ekendriyasaṃjña' and is described in the current śloka (2.56).

​vaśīkārasaṃjña  Though the vāsanas are ordinarily removed in the 'ekendriyasaṃjña' state, a trace of them remains which can recreate an interest in worldly things, just as live coal covered by a thin film of ash can generate a fire when the ash is blown off. By giving up all the desires in the mind and focussing it completely on the soul, these traces of the vāsanas are also removed. This is the highest stage in the practice of jñāna yoga and is called 'vaśīkārasaṃjña' which was described in the previous ślokā (2.55).

Instead of the evolutionary order, the phases are described in the descending order here in the Bhagawad Gītā. The earlier śloka 2.55 described the ultimate 'vaśīkārasaṃjña' phase. This śloka describes 'ekendriyasaṃjña', the phase which is one step lower to 'vaśīkārasaṃjña'.

Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna, "One whose mind is undisturbed in pain, unaffected by pleasure, free from attachment, fear and anger, who contemplates on the soul always is called a sthitaprajña."

duḥkheṣv-anudvigna-manāḥ (One who possesses a mind which is not moved when grief causing instances occur, like separation from something which the mind likes and association with something that the mind dislikes) 

duḥkheṣu This term is representative of all the things causing grief. 

  anudvigna-manāḥ The word 'anudvigna' comes from the dhatu ōviji bhaya-calanayoḥ and means fear

or movement. Having no fear is specifically mentioned in the latter part of the śloka by stating vīta-

rāga bhaya krodhaḥ. So, the meaning for anudvigna here is 'not being moved'. Therefore the meaning is

that, 'though grief causing instances might occur, his mind remains unmoved by them'.

sukheṣu vigata spṛhaḥ (Even when he is surrounded by pleasurable things, they are not especially desirable to him since he does not derive pleasure from them any more.)

   sukheṣu This term is representative of all the things which cause pleasure. 

He does not experience either grief or pleasure when instances causing them occur in his life. In addition to

this, he is free from fear or anxiety towards instances which will cause grief in the future and also from

attachment or desire towards instances which will cause pleasure in the future.

vīta rāga bhaya krodhaḥ (One who neither pines on pleasure causing instances of the future nor is he fearful or angry about the pain causing instances which are to occur in the future)

    vīta rāgaḥ (Not desirous of) The meaning of vīta-rāgaḥ is described as his lack of desire for pleasure              causing instances that will be occurring in the future. 'sukheṣu vigata spṛhaḥ' described earlier, talked

about his lack of interest in pleasure causing instances which are already occurring in life. When the

meanings are considered in this way, there is no flaw of repetition.

    vīta bhayaḥ (Not fearful of) When one perceives pain in situations which are going to occur in the future, he

gets fearful, 'Oh, I will have to part away from things i am so attached to' or ' Oh, I will have to face

situations which I dislike'. The resulting grief which causes tremors, etc, in his body is termed as

'bhayam'. 'duḥkheṣv-anudvigna-manāḥ' described earlier talked about not experiencing pain when instances

causing pain were already occurring in life. When the meanings are considered in this way, there is no flaw of

repetition. 

    vīta krodhaḥ (Free from anger) Anger is that which one sentient living being experiences towards

another who causes harm to him. This happens all the time. Though things like tornadoes, intense heat,

thorny bushes, etc, do cause harm, sentient beings do not get angry on these insentient things with the

exception of  some, eg: people with pitta prakopa (pitta imbalance) who get angry on infants or insentient

things too, perceiving them as knowledgeable. In truth only a sentient being can take away or deprive

another of what is very dear to him. In such a case, rajo and tamo guṇas arise in the other sentient being

against the doer, leading to a certain deformation in his mind, further leading to deformation in his

knowledge. This is termed as anger. This anger is also responsible for giving rise to grief in him.

This anger brewing in him on the doer drives him towards wrong doings like aatma hatya (suicide).

He harms himself in this way with the intention that this act of his must cause harm to the person who is

the subject of his anger. One who does not have desire, fear or anger as described above is described by the

words 'vīta rāga bhaya krodhaḥ'.

muniḥ (He is someone who always contemplates on the soul entity which he is going to realise) The term muniḥ describes him as one who is always contemplating on the soul in order to get rid of the karmic imprints which have existed in his mind since beginning less time. This tells us that he is in the 'ekendriyasaṃjña' phase. The one who is in the 'vaśīkārasaṃjña' phase where the traces of his vāsanas are also removed, was described in the previous śloka and addressed by the names 'prajahāti' and 'ātmany-eva tuṣṭaḥ'. The one in this śloka who is in the 'ekendriyasaṃjña' phase is addressed by the name 'muniḥ'. This difference in their address tells us that the muni still has traces of his vāsanas remaining in his mind. There are chances that these vāsanas can recreate an interest in worldly things at any time, just like live coal covered by a thin film of ash can generate a fire when the ash is blown off. Whereas, in the case of a prajahāti, traces of his vāsanas are also removed and he acquires a state of complete vairāgya (dispassion) on things.