The Teachings of the Bhagavadgita - 10.3. Swami Krishnananda
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Sunday, August 01, 2021. 7:51. PM.
Chapter 10: The One Supreme Absolute Alone Is -3.
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Yamas, niyama, asana, pranyama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana are the graduated techniques prescribed for those who cannot at one stroke attain this union with the All. But we are not in a position to concentrate our minds even in this manner; it is very difficult for us. Even for a few hours of the day this type of concentration is hard, due to the power of the sense organs – the desires, the passions, the grief, the frustrations, and the many troubles to which a man is heir.
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Then what can be done?
Gita : CH-12, Slo-10.
Bhagavan Sri Krishna said :
"Abhyase ’py asamartho ’si mat-karma-paramo bhava
mad-artham api karmani kurvan siddhim avapsyasi."
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Translation :
BG 12.10: If you cannot practice remembering Me with devotion, then just try to work for Me. Thus performing devotional service to Me, you shall achieve the stage of perfection.
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Commentary :
The instruction to practice to remember God is also often easier said than done. The mind is made from the material energy Maya and it naturally runs toward the material objects of the world, while taking it toward God requires conscious and determined effort. We may hear the instruction that we should think of God, and we may desire to implement it, but when we get absorbed in our work, God slips out of the mind.
So what should those people do who find it difficult to practice the remembrance of God at all times of the day?
Sri Krishna answers this question in the above slokam..
Those who cannot constantly remember God should practice to simply work for Him. In whatever work they perform, they should cultivate the intention that they are doing it for the pleasure of the Lord, as stated previously in verses 9.27 and 9.28. In household life, a major portion of one’s time goes in the maintenance of the family. One should keep doing the same work, but change the internal consciousness. Rather than doing it out of bodily attachment for them, one should develop the consciousness that the family members are all children of God, and one has a responsibility to take care of them for His pleasure. One has to continue earning one’s living, but again, a modification can be done in the consciousness with which one works. Rather than thinking that it is for the purpose of earning money for worldly enjoyment, one can think, “I wish to maintain my family and myself with the earnings to enable us all to engage in devotion. And whatever I can save, I will donate in the service of God.” Similarly, the bodily processes of eating, sleeping, bathing, etc. cannot be given up. But here again, we can develop divine consciousness, “I need to keep my body healthy so that I can serve God with it. That is why I will carefully do the tasks required for its maintenance.”
When we practice working for the pleasure of God, we will naturally stop engaging in selfish activities and move toward those that are more in the nature of devotional service. In this way, by performing all actions for the exclusive satisfaction of the Supreme Lord Krishna, our mind will become steady and we will soon be able to focus upon Him.
Then, gradually love for God will manifest within the heart, and we will gain success in constantly thinking of Him.i (Gita 12.10).
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Here I am trying to follow the reading of Madhusudana Saraswati who seems to be more generous in his understanding, because it is hard to make out the true implications of these statements of Bhagavan Sri Krishna.
The very shrewd interpretation given by Madhusudana Saraswati is that here in this third verse the teacher seems to suggest that if this application of our will in the way of direct concentration becomes difficult for us for any reason, we should engage ourselves in service in His name – that is service of God through devotion to Him, maybe in the form of worship. Sravanam, kirtanam, visnoh smaranam, pada-sevanam, arcanam, vandanam, dasyam, sraksham atma-nivedanam – these are the ways of devotion. See God in all, serve God in humanity, feel His presence in everything, worship Him in all visible objects, mankind or otherwise.
This is the large manifestation of the Creator in the form of this universe.
Through the bhavas of bhakti or the various methods of devotion, resort to this daily practice of doing such things as are pleasing to Him. Madartham api karm??i kurvan siddhim av?psyasi: All our actions be for My sake. That means to say, one is always keeping in mind the vision of the presence of God, even when one is performing one's daily routine. All the routines or duties of a devotee or a bhakta are worships of God in one way or the other, whether it is worship in a temple or atithi satkara in the house. However, the instruction in this verse and that which follows in the succeeding one seem to meet at one point, and we cannot easily demarcate the meaning conveyed by this third verse and the fourth one, because what is called karma-yoga , action performed as yoga, is somehow inseparable from action performed in the name of God.
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Gita : Ch-12, Slo-11 :
"Athaitad apy ashakto ’si kartum mad-yogam ashritah
sarva-karma-phala-tyagam tatah kuru yatatmavan."
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Translation :
BG 12.11: If you are unable to even work for Me in devotion, then try to renounce the fruits of your actions and be situated in the self.
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Commentary :
Beginning with verse 12.8, Shree Krishna gave three ways for Arjun’s welfare. In the third, He asked Arjun to work for Him. However, that also requires a purified and resolute intellect. Those who are not yet convinced about their relationship with God, and have not yet made God-realization the goal of their lives, may find it impossible to work for His pleasure. Therefore, Shree Krishna now gives the fourth alternative for welfare. He says, “Arjun keep doing your works as before, but become detached from the fruits of your actions.” Such detachment will purify our mind from the modes of ignorance (tamas) and passion (rajas), and bring it to the mode of goodness (sattva). In this way, renouncing the fruits of our efforts will help remove worldliness from our mind and strengthen the intellect. Then, the purified intellect will more easily be able to comprehend transcendental knowledge, and we will be able to move to the higher levels of sādhanā.
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So this seems to be teaching on karma yoga. "The abandonment of the fruits of action at least may be your way, if everything is not possible and any other thing is not practical. Neither can you reason and argue and unite your total understanding with Me, nor can you find time to concentrate on My Being. You have not got the will, nor will you be able to feel My presence, love Me whole-heartedly. Then do your duty as per your station in society." Our duty will depend upon our station in human society, or station in a particular given circumstance or environment.
But this duty that we perform should be such that it does not get tagged-down to a result that we expect to follow for our own personal benefit or advantage or personal satisfaction. We do not do something because we expect some pleasure out of it. The great ethical doctrine of Emmanuel Kant is – when some pleasure is connected with duty, it ceases to be duty, because duty is an impersonal requirement on our part and pleasure is a personal affair, so they cannot go together; this is what the German philosopher thought.
But, however, he may not be wholly correct in going to such a puritanic extent in distinguishing between satisfaction and duty, because there can be higher satisfaction – not necessarily a personal pleasure arising from our performance of duty, because the correct performance of duty is possible only on the basis of a higher understanding, and wherever there is right understanding, there is a great satisfaction. We cannot say that there can be only duty minus the feeling sense in it, though this feeling of satisfaction need not be connected with personality, egoism or individual affirmation, or selfishness of any kind.
To be continued .....
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