WHAT IS THE USE OF THE VEDAS?
yaavaanartha udapaane sarvatah samplutodake
taavaan sarveshu vedeshu braahmanasya vijaanatah // 2.46 //
To the Brahmana who has known the Self, all the Vedas are of as much use as is a reservoir of water in a place where there is a flood.
Only for a sage who has realized the Self or truth concerning Absolute Reality, the Vedas (Karma Kanda) are of no use because he is already in possession of the highest knowledge of the Self. This however does not imply ridiculing or ignoring the Karma Kanda of the Vedas. They are certainly a useful means for achieving the goal by the aspirants who just started their spiritual journey and serve the purpose of the unenlightened. Through the performance of the works prescribed by the Vedas one becomes fit for the path of knowledge.
All the transient pleasures derived from the proper performance of rituals enjoined in the Karma Kanda of the Vedas are comprehended in the Infinite Bliss of Self Knowledge as the utility of a reservoir in a place having floods. All kinds of limited bliss are included in the Infinite Bliss. A knower of the Self does not need t o follow the Vedic injunctions.
WORK WITHOUT CONCERN FOR THE RESULTS
karmanyevaadhikaaraste maa phaleshu kadaachana
maa karmaphalahetur bhoor maa te sango'stwakarmani // 2.47 //
Your right is to work only, but never to claim its fruits. Do not become an instrument for making your actions yield fruit, nor let your attachment be to inaction.
This is one of the most quoted verses of the Gita. This famous verse contains the essential principle of disinterestedness in action. When we do our work we will be sidetracked from disinterestedness if we think of name, fame, income or any such extraneous consideration. Nothing should matter except the willing fulfillment of the purpose of God keeping in mind that success or failure depends upon other forces as well.
Sri Krishna's advice here is a call to the man not to waste his present time in imaginary fears about the future but to bring out the best in him and live fruitfully every present moment of his life. Thereby the future will take care of itself and provide the Karma Yogins with supreme achievement.
Arjuna is advised that all that is given to him is to act and having known the cause of action to be noble, bring into that activity all that is the best in him and immerse himself in the activity. That will be the inspired action and its fruits will be such action itself.
This verse gives the following four guidelines to a Karma Yogin:
- his concern is with the action alone.
- he has no concern with the results.
- he should not become a tool for gaining a desired result of a given action since
such desired result oriented action produces bondage and
- the above mentioned ideas should not be taken to mean advocating inaction.
The advice is to make the worker release himself from his mental anxieties and make him aware of the divinity through work alone. The work itself is his reward -- satisfaction of the job well done is the end in itself.
By performing actions in this manner one gets peace and his vasanas get reduced. Freed from the bondage of expectations he becomes purified for realizing the knowledge of the Self and attain God-Realization or Salvation. Through this knowledge one is freed from the wheel of births and deaths.
Bhagavan, however, warns that one should be careful not to lapse into inaction thinking that there is no use performing actions without expecting any rewards.
Various meanings are attached to the word Karma. The followers of Karma Kanda mean it as rituals and sacrifices. Another meaning is one's duty as per the caste or station in life. Karma also means action. But a deeper meaning of the word is destiny or the tendencies, impulses, characteristics and habits-Vasanas-which determine his next birth and environment. But Karma in the present verse means action or performing one’s duty.
IF A MAN HAS TO WORK WITHOUT ANY DESIRE FOR ITS RESULTS, HOW, THEN, SHOULD HE GO ABOUT IT?
yogasthah kuru karmani sangam tyaktwaa dhananjaya
siddhyasiddhyoh samo bhootwaa samatwam yoga uchyate // 2.48 //
Perform your actions, O Dhananjaya (Arjuna), being established in or integrated with Yoga, abandoning attachment and remaining even-minded both in success and failure. This Evenness of mind is called Yoga.
From here the technique of Karma Yoga is discussed exhaustively wherein Yoga means evenness of mind through work. In this path towards progress, a complete erasure of individuality and its false sense of values are essential.
Evenness of mind, tranquility of mental composure in all pairs of opposites, is Yoga. In this context the term Yoga indicates a special condition of mind in which it comes to a neutral equilibrium in all the ups and downs of life's situations. It is a state of being an instrument in the hand of God, having given up even the desire that through our action we shall please Him. Only thus one can remain unconcerned as to success and failure.
Attachment is the notion that arises when a man regards himself not as an instrument but as a doer of an action. It is necessary for the true worker not only to have equanimity and poise in his behavior but he should reinforce it with a total renunciation of his attachment to the anxieties for the results. By this way he may transform even his ordinary chores as inspired actions. During the performance of such inspired actions, the performer becomes self-forgetful and would not care for success or failure for his venture. This equilibrium is Yoga.
The attainment of knowledge of the Self through purity of heart obtained by performing actions without the expectation of the fruits is success - Siddhi. Failure is the non-attainment of such knowledge by doing actions with the expectation of fruits.
The secret of karmayoga is complete effacement of one’s individuality and total identification with God’s will. Thus alone does the worker become free from the joy or grief that results from the success or failure of his works; this alone ensures that he enjoys peace while performing his duties.
AN ACTION PERFORMED WITH A VIEW TO THE RESULT IS OF VERY INFERIOR VALUE.
doorena hyavaram karma buddhiyogaad dhananjaya
buddhau sharanamanwiccha kripanaah phalahetavah // 2.49 //
O Arjuna, far inferior, indeed, is mere action, to action performed with evenness of mind. Seek refuge in this evenness. Wretched are they who work for results.
Actions performed to gain a result are the cause of future birth and death and hence create bondage. Such actions are referred to here as inferior. The state of not being exalted or depressed by success or failure is called evenness. It is not callousness or indifference but a total devotion of the worker to his duty, whereby he regards himself as an instrument of God. One attains true evenness only as a result of the Knowledge of the Supreme Reality. This Knowledge alone, not any incidental result, should be the goal of work.
They are wretched indeed who busy themselves with calculation of the gains or losses resulting from their actions and thus depart from the world without realizing the Supreme Reality.