Shri Krishna on Sthitaprajna or Ideal Human Being in Bhagavad Gita

Shri Krishna’s ideal human being is Sthitaprajna. Prajna is mind, intellect, wisdom. Sthita means stable. Sthitaprajna is a person whose mind has stabilized. Whether he has faith in the divine is immaterial, as long as he is in a state of equilibrium while facing the ups and downs of life.

Shri Krishna’s Sthitaprajna is not a religious person engaged in rituals. In this state you do experience life but remain unmoved by it because your mental faculties are always in a state of equilibrium. You can even be an atheist.
The Gita describes such a person as shruti-vipratipanna (Bhagavad Gita chapter 2:53). According to one translation it means a person ‘bewildered by a variety of revealed truths.’ It may mean false opinions you form through the shrutis, even the Vedas.

Krishna moves away from rites prescribed by the Vedas. Krishna says ‘Throw away religious cultism’ (Gita 18:66). What he means is that one should refrain from religious bigotry that leads to blind zeal, clouding mental faculties. Karma is Ishvara, guru, and therefore yoga.

(Source an article written by M L Varadpande in the Speaking Tree section of Times of India)

M. L. Varadpande is an eminent scholar and theatre historian in India