शान्ति

Shanti, peace, is the word the Gita uses for a mind that has stopped being pulled in all directions. It is not mere quiet, and it does not depend on things going well.

The Gita connects peace with letting go. The one who gives up all desires and moves without longing, without a sense of "mine" and without ego attains peace (Gita 2.71). In the fifth chapter the person established in yoga gives up the fruit of action and gains lasting peace, while the one who acts from desire and clings to the fruit stays bound (Gita 5.12). The word "lasting" matters: this peace stays with a person during the work, because its root is not in the outcome.

The usual misreading is that peace means having no problems, or stepping away from the world's tasks. The Gita's peace belongs to someone who goes on acting. What has gone is the grip on the result, and the effort remains.

Peace is also not a prize handed over later for good behaviour. It comes as the grip loosens. A person who offers work in order to win peace is clinging to the fruit again.

Readers who want to see how this peace comes about will find it in Offering All Actions, and its steadiness in the face of pleasure and pain in Equanimity.