Man has three chief instruments: the mind, the intellect, and the senses. It is when these three work in unison and cooperate with one another that either 'immersal in the flux' or 'liberation in the knowledge of the Atma,' is realised. Krishna anticipated that Arjuna will be puzzled to know what will happen "when which operates with which." So He himself provided the answer. "Arjuna", He said, "when the mind cooperates with the senses, you enter into the flux called Samsara; when it subordinates itself to the intellect, you attain the knowledge of the Atma. One path leads to Samsarapraapthi; the other, the Atma-praapthi. The intellect must resolve; the mind must carry out the resolution so made. That is the correct procedure."

The Indriyas or senses have to be fully destroyed. That is the hallmark of a Sthithaprajna. So when all beings are experiencing night, the Sthithaprajna would keep himself awake. When all beings are awake, the Sthithaprajna would be asleep. The literal meaning of this is that what is night for one is day for the other. But that would sound absurd. It would mean the Sthithaprajna is a person who sleeps during the day and keeps awake at night.

The inner meaning of this statement is very profound. Ordinary men are vigilant in affairs that concern the senses that arise out of this world. Wakefulness for them is the care they bestow on worldly pursuits. But the Sthithaprajna is unconcerned with these very things; he is, so to say, asleep. What does sleep mean? It means the happiness resulting from inactivity of the senses. And vigilance? It means yielding to the senses, and catering to them. When ordinary men are pursuing the senses and their demands, the Sthithaprajna is asleep. This can also be put in other words: forget the Atma sthithi and you relapse into Dehasthithi, from the Atma-consciousness-stage you fall into the body-consciousness-stage.

This is what happens to the ordinary man; he sleeps in the Atma stage and wakes into the Deha sthithi. The Sthithaprajna's case is different. He sleeps in the Deha-consciousness and wakes in the awareness of the Atma. He will not awake, even by mistake, in the sensory world, the world where the ordinary man is most vigilant! This is the inner meaning. It is far from the literal meaning, which, if taken as true, would entitle thieves, watchmen and others to the name Sthithaprajna, for all these keep awake at nights and sleep during the day! Only those who have given up traces of desire and become mere instruments can achieve Santhi. Krishna ends the description of the Sthithaprajna with an emphasis on "Kaama naa thyaga" the giving up of desire.