na mAm karmANi limpanti.....

[Guest guest]

Sri. SrinivAsan writes

 

----begin quote

Bhagavaan KrshhNa says:

 

" na maam karmaaNi limpanti na me karma phale spruhaa |

iti maam yaH abhijaanaati karmabhiH na saH badhyate || "

 

" There is no work that affects Me; nor do I aspire for

the fruits of action.

One who understands this truth about Me also

does not become entangled in the fruitive reactions of work."

 

------end quote

 

Our pUrvAchAryAs interpret the above slOkam differently.

karmabihi in the second line is interpreted to be

those karmAs that are a hEthu (enemy) to start karmayOga.

 

 

In the 12th slOka, Krishna says

'KaNkshantha: karmaNAm sidhdhim yajantha iha dhEvathA:

kshipram hi mAnushE lOkE sidhdhirbhavAti karmajA'

 

rough meaning - People in this world worship devathas like

Indra to obtain fruits of the karmas that they perform -

{yAgas, hOmams etc.. prescribed by shAstrAs to be performed

to dEvathAs like Indra that give a specific fruit when

performed like wealth, sons, daughters etc..}. They do this

because the fruits of such karmas are obtained in a short

period of time (kshipram - soon) on this earth.

 

The question (fear??) that might arise in our minds here is

'since the Lord Himself says that everyone in this world

follow these karmas, is there a danger that the real

karmayOga as prescribed by the Lord will lose its pramANyam

because noone is following it'?

How will I start the real karma yOga if I am mired in these karmAs?

 

The Lord addresses such doubts in the next 2 slOkAs:

 

4.13:

chAturvarNYam mayA srushtam guNakarma vibHAGasha:

thasya karthAramapi mAm vidhdhi akarthAram avyayam

 

The world with the four varNas and guNas (like sathvam)

were created by Me. Even though I am the

creator of those (the karthA), you will know me as

One who is unblemished by those activities.

{some of the possible blemishes that one might attribute to

creation are pakshapAdam and nairkruNyam -

pakshapAdam - partiality can be attributed because of

the inequalities among the chEtanAs

nairkruNyam - mercilessness can be attributed because

the chEtanAs undergo a lot of suffering}

The inequalities and the sufferings are caused by the karma

of the chEtana and cannot be attributed to the Lord.

 

4.14

na maam karmaaNi limpanti na me karma phale spruhaa

iti maam yaH abhijaanaati karmabhiH na saH badhyate

 

na mAm karmANi limpanti-

The karmAs referred here is *NOT* the conventional

puNya-pApa karma. The karmA referred here is the

creation that He talks about in the previous slOkam.

Here, He says that the creation does not bind Him

to the possible blemishes such as inequality and sufferings

among the chEtanAs. {limpa - smearing, covering}.

KrishNa says that He is the cause (karthA) of creation.

The inequalities and the sufferings among the chEtanAs

after His creation is a fruit of the chEtanA's karma.

So, He is akartha for these aspects.

 

na mE karmaphalE spruha-

Nor do I desire the fruits of the karmAs - After

My creation, it is the jIvAs that perform karmAs

(towards some desire) that lead to puNyam or pApam.

The fruits of the karmAs that the jIvAs perform

is a fruit of their karmAs as prescribed by the

shAstrAs. {i.e. it is NOT some inequality of the Lord

in the karmaphalAs that the jIvAs get for their karmAs}.

 

iti mAm yOabhijAnAthi -

One who understands this well

 

sa: karmabhi: bhadyathE-

he will not be bound by the karmAs

{i.e. not bound by the karmAs that are towards the dEvathAs

etc.. that are a hEtu to the jIva beginning the real karma yOga

as prescribed by the Lord}

 

 

AzhvAr emperumAnAr jIyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam,

adiyEn madhurakavi dAsan,

Thirumalai Anandanpillai Varadhan