Srimad Bhagavad-Gita : Chapter-18, Slokam

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Wednesday, June 29. 2022. 09:00. AM.

Chapter-18. Moksha-sannyasa-yogam.

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Slokam : 23.

"Niyatam sanga-rahitam araga-dveshatah kritam

aphala-prepsuna karma yat tat sattvikam uchyate."

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Translation :

niyatam—in accordance with scriptures;

sanga-rahitam—free from attachment;

araga-dveshatah—free from attachment and aversion;

kritam—done;

aphala-prepsuna—without desire for rewards;

karma—action;

yat—which;

tat—that;

sattvikam—in the mode of goodness;

uchyate—is called.

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Translation of the Slokam : Tattvam

BG 18.23: Action that is in accordance with the scriptures, free from attachment and aversion, and done without desire for rewards, is in the mode of goodness.

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Slokam - 23.

niyatam sangarahitam aragadvesatah krtam,

aphalaprepsuna karma yat tat sattvikamucyate.

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aphala prepsuna = without the anxiety of experiencing the fruits himself;

sanga rahitam = without attachment and greed;

araga dvesatah = without any desire / love and hatred;

yat niyatam karma krtam tat = practicing / following his / her share of

karmam;

sattvikam ucyate = is said to be sattvikam.

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Tattvam :

Slokam-23. As for actions, that action in accordance with duty, which is performed without attachment, without love or hate, by one who has renounced fruitive results, is called action in the mode of goodness.

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Commentary :

In chapter three, slokam-30 Lord Krishna spoke of surrendering all actions with mind fixed on the Supreme Lord.

This is because not performing actions according to duty, time and circumstance will cause demerits and give obstacles.

Thus the performance of prescribed Vedic activities with the results surrendered unto the Supreme Lord due to knowing and appreciating His sublime magnificence as the creator of all is known as regulated duties in sattva guna the mode of goodness.

The statement in slokam-thirty of fixating the consciousness should be understood in meditating on the principle form of the Supreme Lord one is attracted to.

The act of surrendering all actions to the Supreme Lord is such that consciousness is fixed blissfully without cessation.

Such actions of communion with the Supreme Lord Krishna or any of His authorised incarnations as revealed in Vedic scriptures is known by the enlightened as situated fully in sattva guna the mode of goodness.

Having described the three types of action dependent upon the knowledge possessed by the performer in each of the three gunas or modes of material nature.

Lord Krishna now presents the actions of prescribed Vedic activities beginning with sattva guna the mode of goodness.

Those actions that are ordained by the Vedic scriptures as obligatory, that are performed as a matter of duty without attachment, that are executed without an egoic sense of being the doer, that are performed without desire for rewards in the form of name, fame, wealth, honor, adoration, etc.

Such actions are deemed by the wise as being situated in sattva guna.

Now the three fold influences of the three gunas or modes of material nature in respect to actions will be described by Lord Krishna in three slokam-s.

Actions that are prescribed and ordained in the Vedic scriptures and performed as a matter of duty without attachment and without conceptions of attraction, such as love of one's family nor repulsion such as hatred of one's enemies and are devoid of the desire for coveting rewards; such actions are known to be situated in sattva guna the mode of goodness.

Lord Krishna uses the word niyatma meaning consistency and refers to the regulated performance of prescribed Vedic activities as a matter of duty according to varnasrama the position and status one is situated in society.

The words sanga-rahitam means free from attachment and egoism that one is the doer.

The words araga-dvestha mean devoid of attraction to fame, power and an enjoying nature as well as void of aversion for defeat, failure and obscurity.

Acts performed without a mentality of attraction and aversion are without vanity and ego and bereft of desire for phala or rewards and are firmly situated in sattva guna the mode of goodness.

Having explained the three kinds of knowledge, Shree Krishna now describes the three kinds of action. In the passage of history, many social scientists and philosophers have given their opinion regarding what is proper action.

We came across three types of knowledge or world-view in the prior three shlokas. Now we come to the topic of the karma, the action itself. Knowledge is the main instigator of any action. So if the knowledge is saattvic, the action will be saattvic and so on. A simple way to differentiate between the three types of knowledge is the gauge the severity of the likes and dislikes, the raaga and dvesha, that the knowledge creates. When we only see unity and harmony, without any likes or dislikes, that is saattvic knowledge. When we have strong likes or dislikes for this object or that person or that situation, it is raajasic knowledge. When we have a extreme or perverted like or dislike, it is taamasic knowledge.

Imagine that you are a guest at a friend’s house. A group of young children are playing a game of monopoly that they ask you to join. Some children want you to win, since you are in their team. The other team wants you to lose. At the conclusion of the game, you end up losing all your monopoly money. But you do not harbour any feelings of resentment or anger towards the children. Why does this happen? You have no attachment to the monopoly game, the money or property that you have acquired, since you know that it is not real.

Shri Krishna says that any action performed without attachment, without like or dislike towards any part or character in the action, without hankering for the reward of the action, such an action is a sattvic action. In other words, while commencing the action, our intent and our state of mind is saattvic. We will only be able to perform such an action if we have reduced our likes and dislikes towards material objects to a great extent. This happens only if we see the world as illusory and ephemeral, either through seeing everything as Ishvara’s Prakriti or through meditation upon the hollowness of Maya.

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To be continued .....

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