Commentary on the Srimad Bhagavad Gita- Discourse 4.8- Swami Krishnananda

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Thursday, August 20, 2020. 10:03.PM.
Discourse 4: The Second Chapter Continues – How to Live in the World-8.
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1.
Furthermore, action is a must :

karmaṇy - eva - dhikarah - te ma phaleṣhu kadacana,

ma - karmaphalahetuh - bhuh ma te saṅgm astu va karmaṇi (2.47);
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na hi kascit kṣhaṇam api jatu tiṣṭhatyakarmakṛt (3.5).

This refers to the action that we generally speak of, which includes duty, the performance of obligatory works. This injunction on action is born of the very structure of prakriti, which never ceases from moving further; and, all prakriti is potential activity. Even if we keep quiet and do not do any work, that consciousness of our not doing any work is also a work. Hence, nobody can be without any kind of action. Total inactivity is not possible because every cell of the body is active. The mind is active, the growth which the body undergoes is an activity, and even death is an activity. There is continuous movement in the cosmos. It is like a train moving eternally on the rails, and inasmuch as there is no inactivity anywhere on account of the involvement of all things in the processes of prakriti, we should make the best of things. Finally, in the state of the ultimate purusha, there is no activity, because there is no contact with prakriti and there is no flux or natural reaction. But until that time, as long as the purusha, or the consciousness of the Atman, is involved in this body, there is a reciprocal action of the Atman and the body.

2.
The Atman illumines the mind and enlivens the body, and the body limits the experience of consciousness by subjecting it to the laws of nature. The laws of nature rule this world. This body is conditioned by every law that is applicable to natural phenomena; therefore, our jivatva, our consciousness, our very existence itself seems to be conditioned by geographical conditions, historical conditions, and forces such as gravitation, etc. There is no gravitation for the soul; it is only for the physical body. The more are we externalised in our perception, the more devoted we are to the objects of sense, the more we think that we are the body, the more we are subject to the laws of nature, and the more is the way karma will bind us and compel us to work for the sake of participation in the work of prakriti. When we cannot consciously and deliberately participate in the work of prakriti, we will be forced to this by the very nature of prakriti, which is working inside us, which is working through us—and, as a matter of fact, we ourselves are embodiments of the three gunas of prakriti.

3.
Our duty is to act in such a manner that action does not bind us. The consideration of the fruit of an action is contrary to the concept of duty. A person who expects something from the performance of duty has not performed duty. Duty is not a wage earner. A person does not perform duty because something comes out of it. It is a necessary obligation on our part to participate in the very structure of the cosmos. If our legs walk, they are performing their duty, but they do not get salary because they are walking. The limbs of the body work independently, and no limb asks for recompense or consideration from the other parts of the body. If the eyes show us the way to go and the legs walk, the eyes may tell us to give them something because they helped us by showing the direction. This does not happen because mutual cooperation is the essence of duty; and in mutual cooperation, no expectation of fruits is possible because the very fact of mutual cooperation brings all the fruits that are required.

4.
Duty is also, automatically, a privilege. The gods in heaven know that we deserve whatever is necessary for our existence under the conditions of the duty that we have to perform. So there is no point in our working in this world, or doing anything, for that matter, under the impression that something will come. The futurity of the expectation of fruits of action is, again, a concept in time. We feel that if we do something, then some future fruit will follow. The idea of the future is, again, an involvement of our consciousness in time. We have already been told that we should not perform any action with a notion of our involvement in space and time. Our consideration should be a Universal principle present in all things, and not our involvement in space and time. So we should not think that if we do something good today, tomorrow we will get some fruit. The idea of tomorrow should not arise in us because the idea of tomorrow implies space and time and, again, it is a bondage.

The meaning of duty is very difficult to conceive, and even great sages are bewildered in understanding what it actually is.

Kavayh - apih -  atra - mohitaḥ (4.16) :

“Even learned people, even masters with insight, are bewildered as to what action is, what karma is, and how it works. Anyway, I shall tell you how it works.” Sri Krishna goes on further.

Discourse 4: The Second Chapter Continues – How to Live in the World -Ends.
Next - Discourse 5: The Second Chapter Concludes – The Establishment of the Soul in Universality.
To be continued ...

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