WHAT DOES ONE ATTAIN THROUGH SERENITY?

prasaade  sarvaduhkhaanaam haanirasyopajaayate
    prasannachetaso  hyaashu buddhih paryavatishthate// 2.65 //

In  that serenity there is an end of all sorrow; for the intelligence of the man of  serene mind soon becomes steady.

What  happens when peace is attained is explained here.  Sri Krishna says that  when mental peace is attained there is no hankering after sense-objects.  The Yogi has perfect mastery over his reason  and sense of discrimination. The intellect abides in the Self. It is quite  serene and steady. The miseries of the body and mind come to an end.

Peaceful  mind is a condition- precedent for happiness. Peace is happiness; happiness is peace.  The least agitated mind  is  the proof  of  absence of  sorrows  and sorrows are the proof   of  the state  of  mental  disturbance. Destruction of  sorrows or pain indicates the elimination of vasanas in as much as vasanas are  the cause for delusion which creates all sorrows. Keeping the mind under  tranquil atmosphere through a life of self-control is the secret for the  elimination of vasanas.

PEACE OF MIND ALONE LEADS TO HAPPINESS

naasti  buddhir ayuktasya na chaayuktasya bhaavanaa
    na  chaabhaavayatah shaantir ashaantasya kutah sukham // 2.66 //

The  man whose mind is not under his control has no Self-Knowledge  and   to the  unsteady no meditation is possible and to  the   unmeditative  there  can   be no peace and to the man who has no peace  how  can there be  any happiness ?

The  necessity for the quietness of mind for practicing the  technique of Self-perfection is explained here. The unsteady mind cannot  practice meditation.  The mind which  cannot be focused on meditation cannot acquire the knowledge of the Self.   

Such  a person will not have intense devotion and longing either to Self-knowledge  or to liberation. A person with these negative qualities cannot have peace  of mind.  How can a man who has no peace  of mind enjoy happiness? Insatiable  thirst  for sense-objects is the  enemy of  peace  and there  cannot  be  even an iota  of happiness for a  man  with  no peace.  His mind is  always restless and runs after worldly objects.  Only when this thirst  dies down a man can enjoy a real and abiding peace when he will be able to  meditate and rest in the Self.

True  happiness is not in the thirst for objects but in the restraint of the senses  from thirst for enjoyment. Thirst is misery indeed.

WHY IS THE UNSTEADY MAN INCAPABLE OF  KNOWLEDGE?

indriyaanaam  hi charataam yanmano'nuvidheeyate
    tadasya  harati prajnaam vaayur naavam ivaambhasi // 2.67 //

When  the mind runs after the wandering senses, it carries away his discrimination as  the wind carries away a boat on the waters.

The  mind which constantly thinks about the sense objects and moves only in pursuit  of such objects destroys altogether the discriminatory faculty in man.  Just as a gale carries away a rudderless ship  from its charted course and drives her away from reaching its destination, so  too the unsteady mind carries away the aspirant from his spiritual path and  turns him towards the worldly objects by taking away his discrimination.

CONDITION OF THE SEEKER WHO CONTROLLED HIS  SENSES

tasmaad  yasya mahaabaaho nigriheetaani sarvashah
    indriyaaneendriyaarthebhyas  tasya prajnaa pratishthitaa // 2.68 //

Therefore,  O Mighty Armed Arjuna, his wisdom is steady whose senses are completely  restrained from their objects.

The  man of steady wisdom can, at his will, withdraw the senses, from their objects  and enter into communion with the Self.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE WISE AND THE  IGNORANT

yaanishaa  sarvabhootaanaam tasyam jaagarti samyamee
    yasyaam  jaagrati bhootani saa nishaa pashyato muneh // 2.69 //

In  that  which  is  night  to all beings, the   self-controlled  man  is awake and where all beings are awake,   that  is  the  night for  the man who sees (has vision).

To  the ignorant the Supreme reality is like the night. They see in it confusion  and darkness. But the man of steady wisdom is fully awake with regard to  reality.

Again,  the multiplicity of the world of time and space is as clear as a day to the  ignorant. But the man of wisdom sees in it the confusion of a night.

Ignorance  creates the idea of multiplicity and duty while the wise never deviates from the  knowledge of the Self. Error stands in the same relation to truth as sleeping  to waking.