A Study of the Bhagavadgita : 8 - 2. Swami Krishnananda.

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Saturday, November 13, 2021. 6:00 PM.

A Study of the Bhagavadgita : 8 - 2. 

Chapter 8 : The Stages of Yoga -2.

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"karmanyakarma yah pashyed akarmani cha karma yah

sa buddhiman manushyeshu sa yuktah kritsna-karma-krit."t (Gita 4.18). 

It was told to us that work we must. Silent we cannot be. 

"na hi kashchit kshanam api jatu tishthatyakarma-krit (Gita 3.5): Not a moment can pass without your being active in some way or the other. 

karmany-evadhikaras te ma phaleshu kadachana (Gita 2.47). 

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(Gita - ch-2.slo-47) :

"karmany-evadhikaras te ma phaleshu kadachana

ma karma-phala-hetur bhur ma te sango ’stvakarmani."

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Translation :

karmaṇi—in prescribed duties; 

eva—only; 

adhikāraḥ—right; 

te—your; 

mā—not; 

phaleṣhu—in the fruits; 

kadāchana—at any time; 

mā—never; 

karma-phala—results of the activities; 

hetuḥ—cause; 

bhūḥ—be; 

mā—not; 

te—your; 

saṅgaḥ—attachment; 

astu—must be; 

akarmaṇi—in inaction

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Slokam explained in one line :

"You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction."

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Commentary :

This is an extremely popular verse of the Bhagavad Gita, so much so that even most school children in India are familiar with it. It offers deep insight into the proper spirit of work and is often quoted whenever the topic of karm yog is discussed. The verse gives four instructions regarding the science of work: 1) Do your duty, but do not concern yourself with the results. 2) The fruits of your actions are not for your enjoyment. 3) Even while working, give up the pride of doership. 4) Do not be attached to inaction.

Do your duty, but do not concern yourself with the results. We have the right to do our duty, but the results are not dependent only upon our efforts. A number of factors come into play in determining the results—our efforts, destiny (our past karmas), the will of God, the efforts of others, the cumulative karmas of the people involved, the place and situation (a matter of luck), etc. Now if we become anxious for results, we will experience anxiety whenever they are not according to our expectations. So Shree Krishna advises Arjun to give up concern for the results and instead focus solely on doing a good job. The fact is that when we are unconcerned about the results, we are able to focus entirely on our efforts, and the result is even better than before.

A humorous acronym for this is NATO or Not Attached to Outcome. Consider its application to a simple everyday activity such as playing golf. When people play golf, they are engrossed in the fruits—whether their score is under par, over par, etc. Now if they could merely focus on playing the shots to the best of their ability, they would find it the most enjoyable game of golf they have ever played. Additionally, with their complete focus on the shot being played, their game would be raised to a higher level.

The fruits of your actions are not for your enjoyment. To perform actions is an integral part of human nature. Having come into this world, we all have various duties determined by our family situation, social position, occupation, etc. While performing these actions, we must remember that we are not the enjoyers of the results—the results are meant for the pleasure of God. The individual soul is a tiny part of God (verse 15.7), and hence our inherent nature is to serve him through all our actions.

dāsa bhūtamidaṁ tasya jagatsthāvara jangamam

śhrīmannārāyaṇa swāmī jagatānprabhurīśhwaraḥ (Padma Puran)[v40]

“God is the Master of the entire creation; all moving and non-moving beings are his servants.” Material consciousness is characterized by the following manner of thoughts, “I am the proprietor of all that I possess. It is all meant for my enjoyment. I have the right to enhance my possessions and maximize my enjoyment.” The reverse of this is Spiritual consciousness, which is characterized by thoughts such as, “God is the owner and enjoyer of this entire world. I am merely his selfless servant. I must use all that I have in the service of God.” Accordingly, Shree Krishna instructs Arjun not to think of himself as the enjoyer of the fruits of his actions.

Even while working, give up the pride of doership. Shree Krishna wants Arjun to give up kartritwābhimān, or the ego of being the doer. He instructs Arjun never to chase after preconceived motives attached to his actions nor consider himself as the cause of the results of his actions. However, when we perform actions, then why should we not consider ourselves as the doers of those actions? The reason is that our senses, mind, and intellect are inert; God energizes them with his power and puts them at our disposal. As a result, only with the help of the power we receive from him, are we able to work. For example, the tongs in the kitchen are inactive by themselves, but they get energized by someone’s hand, and then they perform even difficult tasks, such as lifting burning coal, etc. Now if we say that the tongs are the doers of actions, it will be inaccurate. If the hand did not energize them, what would they be able to do? They would merely lie inert on the table. Similarly, if God did not supply our body-mind-soul mechanism with the power to perform actions, we could have done nothing. Thus, we must give up the ego of doing, remembering that God is the only source of the power by which we perform all our actions.

All the above thoughts are very nicely summarized in the following popular Sanskrit verse:

yatkṛitaṁ yatkariṣhyāmi tatsarvaṁ na mayā kṛitam

tvayā kṛitaṁ tu phalabhuk tvameva madhusūdana [v41]

“Whatever I have achieved and whatever I wish to achieve, I am not the doer of these. O Madhusudan, you are the real doer, and you alone are the enjoyer of their results.”

Do not be attached to inaction. Although the nature of the living being is to work, often situations arise where work seems burdensome and confusing. In such cases, instead of running away from it, we must understand and implement the proper science of work, as explained by Shree Krishna to Arjun. However, it is highly inappropriate if we consider work as laborious and burdensome, and resort to inaction. Becoming attached to inaction is never the solution and is clearly condemned by Shree Krishna.

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(Gita - ch-3. slo-5)

"na hi kashchit kshanam api jatu tishthatyakarma-krit

karyate hyavashah karma sarvah prakriti-jair gunaih."

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Translation :

na—not; 

hi—certainly; 

kaśhchit—anyone; 

kṣhaṇam—a moment; 

api—even; 

jātu—ever; 

tiṣhṭhati—can remain; 

akarma-kṛit—without action; 

kāryate—are performed; 

hi—certainly; 

avaśhaḥ—helpless; 

karma—work; 

sarvaḥ—all; 

prakṛiti-jaiḥ—born of material nature; 

guṇaiḥ—by the qualities.

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Slokam explained in one line :

"There is no one who can remain without action even for a moment. Indeed, all beings are compelled to act by their qualities born of material nature (the three guṇas)."

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Commentary :

Some people think that action refers only to professional work, and not to daily activities such as eating, drinking, sleeping, waking and thinking. So when they renounce their profession, they think they are not performing actions. But Shree Krishna considers all activities performed with the body, mind, and tongue as actions. Hence, he tells Arjun that complete inactivity is impossible even for a moment. If we simply sit down, it is an activity; if we lie down, that is also an activity; if we fall asleep, the mind is still engaged in dreaming; even in deep sleep, the heart and other bodily organs are functioning. Thus Shree Krishna declares that for human beings inactivity is an impossible state to reach, since the body-mind-intellect mechanism is compelled by its own make-up of the three guṇas (sattva, rajas, and tamas) to perform work in the world. The Śhrīmad Bhāgavatam contains a similar verse:

na hi kaśhchit kṣhaṇam api jātu tiṣhṭhaty akarma-kṛit

kāryate hy avaśhaḥ karma guṇaiḥ svābhāvikair balāt (6.1.53)[v1]

“Nobody can remain inactive for even a moment. Everyone is forced to act by their modes of nature.”

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(Gita - ch-4.slo-18)

"karmanyakarma yah pashyed akarmani cha karma yah

sa buddhiman manushyeshu sa yuktah kritsna-karma-krit."

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Translation :

karmaṇi—action; 

akarma—in inaction; 

yaḥ—who; 

paśhyet—see; 

akarmaṇi—inaction; 

cha—also; 

karma—action; 

yaḥ—who; 

saḥ—they; 

buddhi-mān—wise; 

manuṣhyeṣhu—amongst humans; 

saḥ—they; 

yuktaḥ—yogis; 

kṛitsna-karma-kṛit—performers all kinds of actions.

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Slokam explained in one line :

"Those who see action in inaction and inaction in action are truly wise amongst humans. Although performing all kinds of actions, they are yogis and masters of all their actions."

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Commentary :

Action in inaction. There is one kind of inaction where persons look upon their social duties as burdensome, and renounce them out of indolence. They give up actions physically, but their mind continues to contemplate upon the objects of the senses. Such persons may appear to be inactive, but their lethargic idleness is actually sinful action. When Arjun suggested that he wishes to shy away from his duty of fighting the war, Shree Krishna explained to him that it would be a sin, and he would go to the hellish regions for such inaction.

Inaction in action. There is another kind of inaction performed by karm yogis. They execute their social duties without attachment to results, dedicating the fruits of their actions to God. Although engaged in all kinds of activities, they are not entangled in karmic reactions, since they have no motive for personal enjoyment. There were many great kings in Indian history—Dhruv, Prahlad, Yudhisthir, Prithu, and Ambarish—who discharged their kingly duties to the best of their abilities, and yet because their minds were not entangled in material desires, their actions were termed Akarm, or inaction. Another name for akarm is karm yog, which has been discussed in detail in the previous two chapters as well.

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Further explained :

It was also added that your duty is to engage yourself in such action as can be regarded as a participation in the cosmic process, but you cannot expect the fruit of that action because the expectation of a fruit of a particular engagement is to consider the value of your work in a future context. If the value of what you do in the future has no value in the present, then you cannot take sufficient interest in your work. The present is a means to what you are expecting in the future, and so your eye will be on what will be expected in the future and you will have no interest in what you are doing. “Whatever I am doing, that is a different matter. It must bring that result.” And you will adjust and adapt your modus operandi of work now in such a manner as, in your opinion, is productive of that result in your mind. There will be some kind of selfishness creeping into your so-called duty because this duty that you perform is done for the sake of something which is other than duty.

What emanates from you is sacrifice; but the fruit that you expect is not something that emanates from you, so the sacrifice is spoiled to some extent. You throw cold water, as it were, on the yajna when you perform your duty with the expectation of a result that has to follow. Every duty is a sacrifice, a kind of sharing of your personality to some extent. But what kind of sharing is there when you are expecting something from it? “I should get whatever I have given, and perhaps I should get more than what I have given.” This is the attitude that may subtly enter into your mind when you work and perform your so-called duty with a creative interest for the fruit of what you do.

As we are living in a world of causes and effects which are separated from each other, the cause produces the effect; therefore, the effect is a future event that follows from the present context of the cause. We are bound by this causal relation in a whirl of space and time, and we cannot understand what duty for duty’s sake can be. You may go on scratching your head one thousand times to understand how it is possible for you to work only for the sake of work, expecting nothing from it. Your mind will be telling you again and again that you are a foolish person. Who will do work for no purpose? Purposeless action is meaningless action. The moment you introduce a purpose into it, somehow or other you bring into it the futurity of its purposiveness. You distinguish between the present and the future, and you are not in the place where you are working – you are in some other place which is yet to be – and your work does not become a cosmic participation; it becomes an expectation of what is not yet present.

To be continued ...

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