A Study of the Bhagavadgita : 20- Swami Krishnananda.
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Saturday 30, Mar 2024 06:10.
Chapter 5: The Karma Yoga Principle of the Bhagavadgita-9.
Post-20.
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Samatvam yoga ucyate (Gita 2.48):
Equilibrium is Yoga, harmony is Yoga, adjustment is Yoga, adaptability is Yoga, unity is Yoga, the blending of the subject and the object in harmony is Yoga. In everything that you do, you must be in a state of harmony. You should not come in conflict with anybody – neither with nature nor with people. The moment you set up an atmosphere of conflict and you are not able to adjust your personality with the object, the adhibhuta, there you have failed in Yoga. Yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam (Gita 2.50) is another great dictum. Yoga is harmony, and it is also expertness in action. Expertness means the ability to see unity in everything that you do, and in every position in which you are placed.
Here is a brief outline of the Karma Yoga principle of the Bhagavadgita. Therefore, Arjuna is asked to take a particular step under the prevailing circumstances, out of which he could not extricate himself. He is bound to do whatever is expected of him. Even if you think you will not do, you will actually be ruminating over that, and your 'not doing' is also a kind of action. Do not be attached to doing, and do not be attached to not doing. When you are doing some work, you may feel you are getting attached to it, and so you may desist from action under the impression that you are not going to be attached. But you are going to be attached to the other, negative aspect of it, namely, cessation from action. Your consciousness of action may be attachment, but your consciousness of non-action is also attachment. Mā karmaphalahetur bhūr mā te saṅgo 'stv akarmaṇi (Gita 2.47): Do not cling to your duties and works as if it is your performance. It is not yours; it is a universal action. Also, do not cling to non-action. You are caught from both sides. Neither can you have the so-called independent privilege of doing what you like, nor the option of not doing, under some circumstances.
But how will you adjust yourself to this condition? This is exactly the difficulty. It was not easy for even Bishma to decide what was proper under the given conditions. Even Drona, the great master, slipped under conditions which were very critical. Arjuna was a lesser man. His mind was reeling in a state of confusion.
No saint can be a saint all the time. There are a few moments when he comes down; he has difficulties and is unable to decide what is to be done. It is difficult to maintain God-consciousness all twenty-four hours of the day. Not even the greatest of saints can do that. Sometimes they act like human beings; but they rise up to God-consciousness afterwards, of course. Incarnations also do not always behave in a universal, uniform manner. There are ups and downs in their behaviour, whatever the reason be.
So with spiritual freedom, moksha, being the ultimate aim of existence, it becomes necessary on your part to be cautious. Yoga is not merely harmony, samattva, and it is not merely expertness in action. It is also caution. Vigilant is the Yogi. Apramattas tadā bhavati (Katha 2.3.2), says the Katha Upanishad. Heedfulness is the watchword of the Yoga student. If you are heedless and not able to catch the situation that is presented before you, you become mistaken in your attitude. Caution is the watchword. What is the caution? You must never forget that your particular behaviour and action that you perform is not disconnected from the consciousness of unity of purpose. This is the caution. You have to be vigilant to see that your behaviour and action at any given moment of time is not out of context with the unity of purpose that is to be at the back of it. Otherwise, it will be a drab, desultory work which will please nobody – neither you, nor anyone else.
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Continued
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