BHAGAVAD GEETA: 73 - Swami Advayananda.
===================================================================================BHAGAVAD GEETA
Chapter - 2
Discourse – 2 (72 Slogas)
“Yoga of the SUPREME SELF”
Sri Veda Vyasaji
===================================================================================
Thursday 16, May 2024 07:00.
2.11 THE GLORY OF KARMA YOGA
(Slogas 49-53, 5 No.)
Post - 73.
===================================================================================
2.11 THE GLORY OF KARMA YOGA:
(Slogas 49-53, 5 No.)
IN THE FIVE SLOGAS of this chapter, Arjuna is given the encouragement to begin
Karma Yoga by listening to its glorification. Arjuna is just coming on board the “SS Karma
Yoga” oceanliner, and is about to set sail. The last two verses of this section describe two
well-defined ports at which he will dock along his journey – the first is an interim stop, the
second is the Destination.
Another purpose served by these slogas is to place Karma Yoga in its true
perspective as a sine qua non for the development of purity of heart. There is no doubt that
Lord Krishna holds it very dear to His heart, for it applies to every spiritual seeker without
exception.
==================================================================================
Slogam - 49: Karma Yoga vs. Ordinary Karma:
1
Doorena hi avaram karma = Far lower (inferior) is the physical action
2
buddhi-yogaat, Dhananjaya; = than yoking it to the intellect, O Dhananjaya.
3
buddhau sharanam anvicchha = Seek ye refuge in the intellect (in wisdom).
4
kripanaah phala-hetavah. = Wretched are they who seek only the reward.
==================================================================================
1-2
Here we see how vastly different Karma Yoga is from what Arjuna is doing at the
moment. In this verse Karma Yoga is described as action that is “yoked to the intellect”. In
comparison, ordinary worldly activity is merely a physical exertion, if done with the intellect
disengaged.
3
This line is equivalent to, “Seek refuge in Karma Yoga, which is rooted in wisdom.”
4
Kripanaa: “wretched”. The word Kaarpanya, meaning “of pity”, used by Arjuna in
verse 7, has the same root as this word.
Ordinarily man engages himself in actions with selfish desire, with results as his aim,
and pleasure as his end. Seeking to arouse disgust in Arjuna for such a foolish use of actions,
Sri Krishna uses the term Kripanaa to describe them. Why are they so wretched?
Acharyaji’s answer to that was: “Such people are indeed to be pitied. They are like
beggars. What a wretched state! They go on asking the Lord, ‘Give me this, give me that’.”
Kripanaa has another connotation to it. It points to the foolishness of such people.
Action done in the spirit of Karma Yoga has the potential to free one. Instead of using it for
this purpose, man foolishly performs it for selfish purposes and gets himself bound further
into Samsara. How much more foolish would be those who do Karma Yoga for name and
fame! They are like the fool who uses a gold foil as a tissue to blow his nose!
Acharyaji gave an example of such type of wretchedness: A miser went to a coffee
shop and was told a cup of coffee costs ten rupees. He thought over it for quite a while, and
then asked, “What would it cost without the milk?” He was told it would be five rupees.
Again he thought over it for about fifteen minutes and said, “And if you left the sugar
out?...and the coffee powder also?...How much would the water alone cost?”
What wretched miserliness! Addressing Arjuna as ‘Dhananjaya’ could not be more
appropriate in the context – it means “one who commands great wealth”.
*****
Next
Slogam-50: The Glory of Karma Yoga
Continued
===================================================================================
Comments
Post a Comment