After educating Arjun on the highest knowledge, Shri Krishna transitions to the topic of Karma-yoga. He attracts Arjun’s attention stating that what is taught so far is a “theoretical knowledge” (from V2.11 to V2.38), now it is time to understand the “practical” aspects of it – i.e. application of this knowledge in day-to-day life. (Ref V2.39)
Let us first understand “Karma”, Why one performs Karma, their limitations and the attitude behind it
Any action done to achieve a specific outcome, typically for one’s own benefit, is termed as karma in this context. It can range from simple acts of breathing, eating, drinking to complex ones like getting a degree, starting a business or getting married. It is important to understand one’s motive behind such Karma. On surface, motive is to simply to achieve a desired outcome, but upon digging deeper it appears that larger motive is to attain happiness and fulfillment. One is strongly driven by the belief that by attaining a certain outcome, joy or fulfillment will follow. Person attributes that outcome as a source of joy and tries to achieve fulfillment in the external world (through objects, people or situations). Thus, one performs Karma to get joy and fulfillment.
However, Karma suffers with few natural limitations (Ref V2.40). They are prone to loss of effort (अभिक्रमनाशः). After starting, if one does not complete them (due to internal factors like loss of motivation or external factors like loss of resources or obstacles), result will not accrue. Effort invested so far will be lost. Additionally, Karma may produce adverse or unexpected results or even side effects (प्रत्यवायः). This happens as results are driven by several other factors that are beyond the actor (more on this in later chapters).
Karma, when done to achieve desired outcome, always carry a specific attitude.
- Doer-ship (कर्तृत्व भाव): There is an attitude of “I am the doer”. One feels sense of doers-ship, ownership while performing actions.
- Enjoyer-ship (भोक्तृत्व भाव): There is an insistence on specific results with expected quantity, quality and timing. One looks forward to enjoying those results.
- Attachment to action (कर्मसङ्ग): There is an emotional attachment to action itself.
While such attitude is natural, they have a strong potential to create problems. When desired results do not come, one suffers with agitations of mind like anger, frustration, sadness, loss of confidence etc. On the contrary, when desired results come, one may feel sense of pride boosting their ego. It may even lead to greed and jealousy. At times, one may even feel the worry or the anxiety of losing the hard-earned results. Additionally strong insistence / obsession on specific results distracts one’s intellect to scatter in various directions while performing the action (what-if and similar future worries) and prevents one to put his intellect fully in the action at hand (Ref V2.41). Finally, attachment to action itself can also create a vacuum or loss of purpose when action is completed. One does not feel fulfilled but feels empty on such completion of action (symptoms that a lot of active men face in their retired life).
Shri Krishna’s warning about excessive focus on such actions
Shri Krishna, while acknowledges the importance and necessity of such Karma, he warns about excessive focus on them. During the Treta and Dvapara yuga, primary forms of desire driven actions were Vedic rituals (कर्म-काण्ड). Such rituals were performed with focus on enjoying HERE (in this world, in this body) and HEREAFTER (in subsequent worlds and bodies).
Vedic rituals are one of the important philosophies of Bharat (known as पूर्व-मीमांसा) that uses Samhita (सम्हिता) and Brahmana (ब्राह्मण) portion of Veda. In this philosophy, karma is thought to be the supreme. Karma has the ability to give “everything”. Even worship of the supreme is done out of selfish desire or fear. God is a either a provider or a punisher. Followers of this philosophy strongly believed “there is nothing else but action and their benefits”. Such people are desire-laden and seekers of higher pleasures. They fail to understand that even animals can achieve pleasures as a result of action, human birth is far more valuable to be wasted in quenching the unending thirst for pleasures. Such people can never attain peace of mind that is experienced in meditation.
Shri Krishna criticizes the narrow focus on Vedic rituals and missing the bigger picture. (Ref V2.42 to V2.44) He suggests that such rituals are the result of various states of mind, and three gunas of prakriti (सत्व, रजस, तमस), and are ever changing. One must try to go beyond these that are generating opposite experiences (joy, sorrow etc.) and creating desires in one’s mind. One should shift attention from the “ever-changing” Prakriti to the “unchanging” substratum and establish himself in his true Self. Lord uses a beautiful metaphor of how lake full of water loses its utility during floods, similarly for the knower of the Truth, all pleasures and joys offered by actions / rituals are futile. (Ref V2.45 to V2.46)
What is Karma-yoga? What are its results?
Thus, while one cannot live without an action, at the same time, all actions lead to creation of tendencies (Vasana) and Samskara prompting one to take birth after birth, body after body, in various worlds. The cycle of desire prompted actions again starts in that new birth, new body in the new world, pushing one further and deeper in this bondage. So how to get free from such bondage? This is where Karma-yoga comes in. Let us understand Karma-yoga in brief (later chapters cover more details).
Karma yoga is NOT a set of specific action, but actions done with a specific attitude.
While performing any karma, when one is intelligently aware that one only has control over karma but not on its results, then one starts to dissolve the enjoyer-ship. While one acts to achieve the results, but there is no insistence or obsession for results. One understands the presence of other factors (beyond his control) that influences the outcome. Thus, one starts to accept results as they are and learns to stay equanimous. At the same time, continues to refine subsequent attempts to attain better results. (Ref V2.47 to V2.48)
#BGCore# Karma-yoga is equanimity of mind. (समत्वं योग उच्यते) (Ref V2.48)
Additionally, when the attitude “I am the doer” is replaced with “I am just an instrument (through which action is being done)”, then one also starts to dissolve the doer-ship. One does not see the action as good or bad, and just performs them as a duty, and himself being an instrument of the supreme. This ensures success does not inflate his ego, nor failure discourages him. Instead, success is viewed as a grace and failure is viewed as a lesson / opportunity to become better.
Thus, one neither acts just for the results, nor choose inaction, but one enjoys action as an opportunity, a service, detached from outcomes, staying equanimous in success or failures. Such shift in the attitude prevents one’s intellect to get scattered while performing the action. Focus is not on the results, but on the action itself. This prevents mind to get distracted, and it naturally stays focused in here and now (on the action at hand), without any guilt of past and any worries of future (Ref V2.41) and thus acquire excellence in every action (Ref V2.50). This not only improves the probability of material success in that action, but also the spiritual evolution through purifying mind and sharpening intellect.
#BGCore# Karma-yoga is excellence in action. (योगः कर्मसु कौशलम्) (Ref V2.50)
Actions done with the attitude of Karma-yoga do not suffer with limitations like loss of effort or adverse results. Results of practicing Karma-yoga comes immediately, even when one makes a little effort (स्वल्पमप्यस्य धर्मस्य), and there are no adverse outcomes. (Ref V2.40)
Finally, Shri Krishna describes the transcendental benefit of practicing karma-yoga (Ref V2.51 to V2.53). Here he cites slow and steady exhaustion of one’s Vasanas through actions, and prevention of any further new Vasanas through the right attitude behind them. Such exhaustion empties his “cup” of mind (चित्तशुद्धि), freeing himself up from further births in various worlds and various bodies.
Shri Krishna closes karma-yoga definition with a crisp but bold declaration stating that the action (when done only to fulfil ones’ own desires) is far inferior than the (right) attitude behind the action. It is the attitude that makes all the difference. Without the right attitude, action is mere an animalistic selfish deed done by those pitiful. Thus, lord insists to carry the right attitude behind every action – making every karma, a karma-yoga sadhana. (Ref V2.49)
Karma-yoga does not give self-realization to person per se, but it purifies and prepares one’s mind by making it fertile for knowledge seeds to grow in saplings. Such saplings when grown fully, eliminates delusion and thus all suffering, leading one to the final state of complete freedom, from where there is no return (to any world, in any form, no new birth). Lord describes that state as the one where one goes beyond what is known (past experiences) and what is yet to be known (future results of action).
Thus karma-yoga is an attitude behind every action when
- Action is done as instrument, without doer-ship and is offered to the lord (ईश्वर-अर्पण बुद्धि)
- With no obsession or insistence of specific results, results, whatever they may be, are accepted cheerfully with equanimous mind (ईश्वर-प्रसाद बुद्धि)
- And actions are done in the best possible way, with fully focused mind and intellect.
श्रीकृष्णार्पणम् अस्तु ।
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