Swami Dhayanandaji's Gita Home-study Discussion Notes on Karma Yoga - Part II

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Greetings: There are seven parts and not three!

 

--

Ram Chandran

Burke, VA

 

 

Swami Dhayanandaji's Gita Home-study Discussion Notes on Karma Yoga - Part II

 

THE DEFINITION OF KARMA-YOGA

 

Yoga is defined in three different ways in the Glt;~. The karma-yoga that

Krsna was praising is defined in two ways in this chapter: evenness of mind

(samatvam yogah ucyate, 2.48) and discretion in action (yogah karmasu

kaulalam,2.50. Dissociation from the association with pain is the third

definition of yoga (V1,23. These definitions are necessary and need to be

understood. Only then can karma-yoga be properly understood.

 

Samatva and kausala are defining words for karma-yoga. Samatva is based on the

sentence in the present verse-karmani eva adhikarah te maa phalesu kadaacana.

Samatva means sameness and sameness of mind is karma-yoga. Karma is also

definitely involved in karma-yoga. Otherwise, there would be no karma-yoga.

There can be karma without yoga, but without karma, there can be no

karma-yoga. If karma-yoga implies karma, then there must be sameness (samatva)

with reference to karma. Let us see where this sameness is possible.

 

Sameness is not possible in the karma itself because you cannot do the same

karma during the entire day, day after day, throughout your entire lifetime.

Cooking is one karma, eating is another, and stirring the food in the pot is

yet another. Removing the pot from the fire is a different karma altogether.

The karmas are therefore endless-sitting, standing, switching the stove on,

switching it off, and so on. Obviously, then, the karmas cannot be the same

because they are different.

 

Perhaps we can say that the results of karmas (karma-phala) are the same.

Again, it is not possible. When you heat water, for example, there is one

result and when you switch off the stove, there is another, entirely different

result. The water that was hot slowly becomes cold as it loses its heat. Thus,

different karmas are done

for different results. The results vary. If you do not get a different result

when you switch the stove on and off, you have a different kind of problem in

that the stove is not functioning properly. Normally, the results will be

different. Thus, neither karmas nor their results can be the same. In fact,

different karmas are done for different results.

 

Every karma is desire-based; every action presupposes desire. Therefore.

desire also cannot be the same. I do different karmas because I want different

results. Desires are meant for results alone and the results are different.

Thus, samatva is not in the karma, its results, or the desire upon which the

karma is based.

 

In fact, samatva can only be with reference to your attitude concerning the

results of action. While you have a choice over your action, you are helpless

with reference to the result. You are not 1shvara; you are just an individual

with limited knowledge, limited power, and ever so many desires. You have

countless likes and dislikes (raga-dvesa) to be fulfilled. Therefore, you

undertake various activities.

 

KARMA IS TOTALLY DESIRE-BASED

 

Whatever be the nature of the karmas you do, they are all meant for fulfilling

your raga-dvesa. commonly called desires kama). Raga is what you want to have,

what you want to retain, and dvesa is what you want to avoid, what you want to

get rid of. That you want is kama. What you want is defined in terms of either

raga or dvesa.

 

Everyone has likes and dislikes. They form the nature of an individual and are

common to all. They may reveal how cultured a person is, how sophisticated,

but the fact that everyone has likes and dislikes is common. There is no

exception. Because of the presence of raga-dvesa alone, there are various

activities and all of the karmas undertaken are meant to produce the desired

results because both raga and dvesa are result-oriented. In fact, they are the

result. You want to accomplish this, "this" being the result. It is not that

you want to accomplish karma; you want to accomplish this and for its sake,

you do this karma.

 

Since you perform a particular karma to accomplish a specific end, it seems as

though you have figured out which karma will produce which result. But then

you find that what you had figured out is not that predictable. In fact, you

find that you can get exactly the opposite of what you thought you would get.

What you want is one thing, but what you do seems to be either inadequate or

inappropriate as it produces the opposite result. If we analyze any result, we

find that it always falls into one of the following categories: more than we

want, less than we want, the opposite of what we want, or exactly what we

want.

 

If you want to cross the road and you do so, finding yourself on the other

side, you got what you wanted. The result was as you expected. If you wanted

to cross the road to catch a bus and, while doing so, someone offered you a

ride right to where you were going, you got more than you expected from

crossing the road. Had you not crossed the road to get to the bus stop, you

would not have met the person who offered you a ride. Or, having wanted to

cross the road, you may have found yourself in the hospital, having only

reached the middle!

 

The result can be entirely different from what you wanted. You may have wanted

a job but, instead, the person who interviewed you for the job you did not

get, sold you what turned out to be a winning lottery ticket. You did not get

the job you wanted, but you did get something entirely different and, in this

case. most desirable-a million dollars!

 

All of these situations are possible because you are not omniscient. Also,

there is a certain helplessness involved. Therefore, keeping all your fingers

crossed may not be enough; you may be better off by crossing your toes also!

 

What is up the sleeve of the future is always a wonder because we simply do

not know what is coming next. We do not even know what our next thought is

going to be-even after having lived for forty or fifty years. And yet we talk

about the future! This, then, is the helplessness of the individual,the jiva.