A Study of the Bhagavadgita : 8 - 3. Swami Krishnananda.

 =============================================================================

Deepavali at Chinmaya Mission

=======================================================================

Thursday, November 18, 2021.7:00. PM.

A Study of the Bhagavadgita : 8 - 3. 

Chapter 8 : The Stages of Yoga -3.

=======================================================================

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is the difficulty that we face in understanding this pithy statement that your duty is to do duty only :" karmany-evadhikaras te ma phaleshu kadachana

ma karma-phala-hetur bhur ma te sango ’stvakarmani." BG 2.47

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gita - Ch-2, Slo-47.

" karmany-evadhikaras te ma phaleshu kadachana

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

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Slokam explained ia 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."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 Shre Krishna. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Do not be attached to the fruit of your action. 

Then you may say, “Why this problem? I don’t want to do anything at all, because if I do something you cause trouble to me by saying that ‘You are not working properly. You have some eye to the fruit’; and so I will do nothing.”

Attachment to the fruit of action and attachment to non-action are equally bad. Do not have an eye on what is to follow from your action and the fruit thereof, and do not sit quiet because you are afraid of being entangled in some mistake that you may commit in the performance of duty. Fear of mistake in the performance of duty is not to be regarded as inaction. It is also an action. Fear should not be the ground for your attitude toward anything. Right action is not what you do out of your own agency consciousness, but out of your expanded feeling of a sense of belonging to the cosmic whole. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Gita- Ch-3. Slo-19.)

"tasmad asaktah satatam karyam karma samachara

asakto hyacharan karma param apnoti purushah." 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Translation :

tasmāt—therefore; 

asaktaḥ—without attachment; 

satatam—constantly; 

kāryam—duty; 

karma—action; 

samāchara—perform; 

asaktaḥ—unattached; 

hi—certainly; 

ācharan—performing; 

karma—work; 

param—the Supreme; 

āpnoti—attains; 

pūruṣhaḥ—a person

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Slokam explained in a line :

"Therefore, giving up attachment, perform actions as a matter of duty, for by working without being attached to the fruits, one attains the Supreme."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Commentary :

From verses 3.8 to 3.16, Shree Krishna strongly urged those who have not yet reached the transcendental platform to perform their prescribed duties. In verses 3.17 and 3.18, he stated that the transcendentalist is not obliged to perform prescribed duties. So, what path is more suitable for Arjun? Shree Krishna’s recommendation for him is to be a karm yogi, and not take karm sanyās. He explains the reason for this in verses 3.20 to 3.26.

--------------------------------------------------------------

tasmad asaktah satatam karyam karma samachara asakto hyacharan karma param apnoti purushah  (Gita 3.19) : Unattached, therefore, do your work.

------------------------------------------------------------

The sense of being unattached is also to be understood properly. You are told again and again: be not attached. From what are you going to be detached? You are going to be detached from your concept of the nature of work itself. Work is a mental operation, basically; it is not a physical action. That has been told in the Third Chapter. The movement of the body cannot be regarded as work. The association of the mind to the work of the body is actually work. Therefore, participation in the cosmic process being the real nature of unselfish action, this has to be hammered into your mind again and again. Finally, you will realise that you cannot do anything worthwhile in this world without entertaining in yourself an element of God-consciousness. That is why until the Vishvarupa-darshan was shown in the Eleventh Chapter, Arjuna had doubts and more doubts, endlessly. The doubts ceased only when the Visvarupa was shown. Unless cosmic consciousness enters into you, you will never be able to understand what actually is happening to you.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gita - Ch-4, Slo-41.

"yoga-sannyasta-karmanam jnana-sanchhinna-sanshayam

atmavantam na karmani nibadhnanti dhananjaya."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Translation :

yoga-sannyasta-karmāṇam—those who renounce ritualistic karm, dedicating their body, mind, and soul to God; 

jñāna—by knowledge; 

sañchhinna—dispelled; 

sanśhayam—doubts; 

ātma-vantam—situated in knowledge of the 

na—not; 

karmāṇi—actions; 

nibadhnanti—bind; 

dhanañjaya—Arjun, the conqueror of wealth

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Slokam Explained in a line :

"O Arjun, actions do not bind those who have renounced karm in the fire of Yog, whose doubts have been dispelled by knowledge, and who are situated in knowledge of the self."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Commentary :

Karm is actions involved in prescribed rituals and social duties, sanyās means “to renounce,” while “yog” means “to unite with God.” Here, Shree Krishna has used the word yogasanyasta karmāṇaṁ, referring to “those who renounce all ritualistic karm, dedicating their body, mind, and soul to God.” Such persons do their every action as a service to God. Shree Krishna says that their work performed in devotion do not bind them.

Only those actions bind one in karma, which are performed to fulfill one’s self-interest. When work is done only for the pleasure of God, such action becomes free from all karmic reaction. They are like multiplying numbers with 0 (zero). If we multiply 0 with 10, the result will be 0; if we multiply 0 with 1000, the result will remain 0; and if we multiply 0 with 1 million, the result will still be 0. Similarly, the works that enlightened souls perform in the world do not bind them, because they are offered to God in the fire of Yog, i.e. they are done for the pleasure of God. Thus, although doing all kinds of works, the Saints remain unfettered from the bonds of karma.

---------------------------------------------------------

So there is a gradational ascent of the teaching of the Gita right up to the Eleventh Chapter, which is the apotheosis of the teaching. 

"yoga-sannyasta-karmanam jnana-sanchhinna-sanshayam atmavantam na karmani nibadhnanti dhananjaya." Gita 4.41). 

'yoga-sannyasta-karmāṇam' : having renounced attachment to the fruit of the action by the Yoga of the consciousness of universal participation. 

Yoga is the consciousness of your participation in the universal process. Having entertained this consciousness, having established yourself in this consciousness of your being only an instrument or a participant in the cosmic process, renounce any kind of isolation of your work from the fruit that may follow.

To be continued ....

==================================================================