Chapter 3.2 Karma Yoga - Slokas 23-43
Lord Krishna continues:
Sloka 23-24. “If I do not engage in action, without relaxation, people will follow My (Lord Krishna’s) path. The worlds would perish, if I did not perform action, and I would be the author (cause) of confusion.”
Sloka 25. “As the ignorant men act from attachment to action, O Bharata (Arjuna), so should the wise people act without attachment, wishing the welfare of the world.”
Sloka 26-29. “The wise should act with devotion and not unsettle the ignorant people who are attached to action. The deluded, egoistic person thinks, “I am the doer”.”
Slokas 23-29 describe why The Lord keeps on acting in this world and does not “retire”. The world of men and women, look up to their leaders and follow their path. If The Lord stops acting, then the world of men and women will do the same. Nothing will be accomplished. No progress will happen for generations. Krishna warns that the “Wise” people (those who have implicit faith in Krishna’s teaching), should leave the “ignorant” people (those who have no faith in Sri Krishna’s teaching) alone. The reason being if the believers try to teach Krishna’s advice to an egoistic person (who thinks “I am the doer”), it will only cause agitations in their mind and it does not help the speaker or the listener.
Sloka 30.
“ Mayi sarvani karmaani samnyasyaa dhyaatmacetasaa
Nirasis nirmano bhutvaa yudhyasva vigatasvaraha”
“Renouncing all actions in Me, with the mind centered on the Self, free from hope (anxiety)
and egoism, free from (mental) fever, do you fight”.
Here, Sri Krishna tells Arjuna how to act in this world.
We learn the following: While performing a task either at work or at home
What happens to those who follow Sri Krishna’s advice and those who don’t?
Slokas 31-32. “Those who constantly practice my teaching, full of faith (shraddha), they are freed from their actions. But those who carp at my teaching, devoid of discrimination, know them to be doomed for destruction.”
Sloka 35.
Sreyan svadharmo vigunaha paradharmaat svanushtithat
Svadharme nidhanam sreyaha paradharmo bhayavahaha
“One’s own duty, though imperfect. Is better than the duty of another, well discharged. Better is death in one’s own duty. The duty of another is full of fear.”
Slokas 36-41. Arjuna asks “Why is man compelled to commit sin?” Lord Krishna says, “It is desire, born of Rajoguna (desire prompted activity), know it to be your enemy. It envelopes Wisdom. Kill this sinful thing called desire by controlling your senses first.”
Slokas 42-43. Sri Krishna continues “They say that the senses are superior to the to the body. Superior to the senses is mind. Superior to the mind is the intellect. One who is even superior to the intellect is He (Atman).”
“Thus knowing Him who is superior to the intellect and restraining the Self by the Self, slay this enemy in the form of desire, no doubt hard indeed to conquer.”
I would like to end chapter 3 with a beautiful episode from Mahabharata, named Vyadha Gita, which describes the essence of Chapter 3 – (Sage Markandeya enumerated this to Yudhishthira)
A young sanyasi was meditating under a tree. Above, a crow and crane were making noise disturbing him. He got upset and stared at them. The birds instantly were burnt to ashes. He now realized that he had acquired siddhis (powers). He went to town for bhiksha (begging for food). The lady of the house asked him to wait since she was nursing her sick husband. The arrogant sanyasi thought to himself “lady, how dare you make me wait? I have powers”.
While he was thinking thus, the lady came out of the house and told him, “Sir, there is no crow or crane here to be burnt”. He was astonished that she could read his mind. She told him, “Sir, by serving my disabled husband with cheerfulness and wholeheartedness, I became illumined and I could read your mind but if you want to know more, go to the butcher shop and the butcher will tell you.” The young sanyasi felt bad that he had to learn from the butcher, but he did as advised by the lady.
The butcher named Dharmavyadha (righteous butcher), was cutting meat and bargaining with the customers. When he saw the sanyasi, he said, “Sir, did the housewife send you? Please wait”. The sanyasi felt sad that he had to wait for the butcher. The butcher then took him to his house and asked him to wait some more time. Then he came out and said, “Sir, I was bathing my aged parents and was feeding them.” He then taught the sanyasi that “no work is ugly, no duty is impure”. Dharmavyadha”s teaching to the sanyasi is called Vyadha Gita. He advised the sanyasi that “all work must be done by dedicating them to God” and “by sincere, unattached performance of duty, one can become illumined.” The sanyasi was thus both humbled and taught how to live in this world. He realized that he had ignored his elderly parents and went back to serve them.
The moral of the story is as follows:
Both the housewife and the butcher, even though not learned in the scriptures, realized the highest by just doing their Swadharma (prescribed duty in their life). They carried out their duty with faith and devotion to the Lord and without complaining, “Oh, Lord, why did you put me in this position?”. This is the very essence of karma yoga as taught by Lord Krishna to Arjuna. Doing what is required of us, with devotion to the Lord and without desires.
Let us pray to The Lord to give us the faith (Shraddha) in The Lord’s teachings and persistence to carry out our daily required duties (Swadharma), in a detached, selfless manner, without expecting results, in devotion (Bhakthi) to the Lord and dedicate all the fruits (results) of our actions to Him.
Hari Om!
Dr. Shanmugam