Bhagawad Gita Ch.3 Ver.8-15 [Swamy Chinmayananda]

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Om Srikrishna parabrahmaNE namaH

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WHEREFORE:

 

niyata.n kuru karma tvaM karma jyaayo hyakarmaNaH .

shariirayaatraapi cha te na prasid.hdhyedakarmaNaH .. 3\.8..

 

8. You perform (your) bounden duty; for, action is superior to inaction.

Even the maintenance of the body would not be possible for you by inaction.

 

In our work-a-day world, we must understand this term 'bounden duty'

(Niyatam Karma) in the text, to include all "obligatory actions" of an

individual in his home, in his office, and in the society as a national

being. Thus, not to perform diligently all our duties in the home and in the

world outside would be inaction. We are warned that even a healthy bodily

existence is not possible if we were to live in complete inertia and

inactivity. Inactivity brings about the destruction of the nation, of the

society, and of the home, and often the very individual himself becomes

victimised by his own idleness and suffers physical debilities and

intellectual deterioration.

 

IT IS ALSO WRONG TO SUPPOSE THAT ACTIONS LEAD TO BONDAGE AND THAT THEY

SHOULD NOT, THEREFORE, BE PERFORMED. --- WHY?

 

yaGYaarthaatkarmaNo.anyatra loko.aya.n karmabandhanaH .

tadartha.n karma kaunteya muk{}tasaN^gaH samaachara .. 3\.9..

 

9. The World is bound by action other than those performed 'for the sake of

sacrifice' ; do thou, therefore, O son of Kunti, perform action of that sake

(for YAJNA ) alone, free from all attachments.

 

Every action does not bring about bondages upon the doer. It is only

unintelligent activities that thicken the impressions in the mind, and thus

successfully build a thick and impenetrable wall between the ego-centre and

the unlimited Divine-Spark-of-Life in us. Every action motivated by

ego-centric desires thickens the veil and permits not even a single ray of

the essential Divinity to peep through it, to illumine the life in us.

According to the traditional translation, all activities other than the

Yajna-activities will bring about vasana-bondages, and the individual's

ultimate development and growth will be arrested.

 

Yajna here means only "any self-sacrificing work, undertaken in a spirit of

self-dedication, for the blessing of all." Such an action cannot be

self-degrading and, therefore, it is self-liberating. The following stanzas

also will become more and more clear, and universally appropriate in their

meaning, only when we understand Yajna as "any social, communal, national,

or personal activity into which the individual is ready to pour himself

forth entirely in a spirit of service and dedication."

 

Only when people come forward to act in a spirit of co-operation and

self-dedication, can the community get itself freed from its shackles of

poverty and sorrow. This is a fact endorsed by history. And such activities

can be undertaken in a spirit of Divine loyalty, only when the worker has no

attachment. Arjuna's defect was that he got too attached to the individuals

in the opposing forces, and he developed, consequently, wrong relationships

with them. Therefore, he came to feel that he must run away from the field

of work that had presented itself before him.

 

FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS ALSO, ACTION SHOULD BE DONE BY HIM, WHO IS

QUALIFIED FOR IT:

 

sahayaGYaaH prajaaH sR^ishh{}Tvaa purovaacha prajaapatiH .

anena prasavishhyadhvameshha vo.astvishhTakaamadhuk.h .. 3\.10..

 

10. The PRAJAPATI (the Creator) , having in the beginning (of creation)

created mankind, together with sacrifices, said, "by this shall you prosper;

let this be the milch-cow of your desire --- "KAMADHUK" (the mythological

cow which yields all desired objects) .

 

Even when the Creator, the Total-mind, puts up the show of the Universe of

the Five Elements and brings forth the living organisms along with man, on

this stage of life to work, to strive and to achieve, he creates also Yajna,

"the spirit of self-dedicated activities." The Yajna-spirit is seen

everywhere: the Sun shines, the Moon appears, the Sea throbs, the Earth

bears --- all in a spirit of sacrifice and self-dedicated motherly love with

never even a trace of attachment or any kind of self-arrogating motives.

 

The whole world of cosmic powers, and nature's phenomena function

instinctively in the service of all. Even before life could appear on the

face of the earth, the elemental forces had prepared the field with their

constant activities performed in the sacred spirit-of-dedication. Even when

life developed and multiplied, at all levels, we can easily recognise

different degrees of Yajna-activities, which keep up the harmonious growth

of existence.

 

The above idea, when poetically put, becomes this pregnant stanza in the

Geeta. The Creator created the world along with the "spirit-of-service" and

the "capacity-for-sacrifice." As it were, the Creator declared, "by this

spirit of self-sacrifice shall you multiply; this shall be the milch-cow of

your desires." Kamadhenu is a mythological cow, supposed to have belonged to

Sage Vasishta, from which all our desires could be milked out. The term,

therefore, means only that no achievement is impossible for man, if he knows

how to act in the discipline of co-operation, and if he is ready to bring

forth into his activities the required amount of non-attachment and spirit

of sacrifice.

 

HOW CAN THIS BE ACHIEVED BY SACRIFICE?

 

devaanbhaavayataanena te devaa bhaavayantu vaH .

parasparaM bhaavayantaH shreyaH paramavaapsyatha .. 3\.11..

 

11. With this, you do nourish the gods and may those DEVAS nourish you; thus

nourishing one another, you shall, attain the Highest Good.

 

The whole Vedic concept of Devas is that of one Universal Power, ever active

in the world of phenomena, receiving appropriate names because of Its

multiple functions. All Vedic gods are but functional names of the one

Supreme Creative Power manifesting in myriad forms.

In understanding the stanza in its more universal application, we have to

interpret the term Deva as the very "presiding deity" in any field of

activity, who blesses the worker in that field with his profit. The deity

that blesses the worker in a field of activity can be nothing other than

"THE PRODUCTIVE POTENTIAL" in that given field. When we apply in any

situation our true and sincere work, the efforts and sacrifices so made, as

it were, invoke the 'PRODUCTIVE POTENTIAL' in that situation, which comes to

manifest and bless the worker. This becomes obvious when we try to

understand what we, in the modern world mean, when we say Mother India. In

thus symbolising the might of a nation we mean the 'PRODUCTIVE POTENTIAL" of

that country in all her spheres of activities.

 

It is obvious that the productivity that is dormant in any situation can be

invoked only by man's sincere efforts. This potential which generally lies

dormant everywhere is the Deva to be cherished by the worker through the

Yajna activities, and certainly the Deva will manifest itself to cherish, or

to bless the worker. "Thus cherishing one another, man shall gain the

Highest Good," is the Divine intention in the mind of the creator, says

Krishna in this stanza.

The Law-of-Seva is faithfully followed by every sentient and insentient

member of the cosmos instinctively. Man alone is given the freedom to act as

he likes and to the extent he disobeys this Universal Law-of-Sacrifice,

Yajna, to that extent he comes to suffer, because he, with his arrogant and

egoistic actions, brings discord in the harmony of the existence around him.

 

 

MOREOVER:

 

ishhTaanbhogaanhi vo devaa daasyante yaGYabhaavitaaH .

tairdattaanapradaayaibhyo yo bhuN^k{}te stena eva saH .. 3\.12..

 

12 "The DEVAS , nourished by the sacrifice, will give you the desired

objects. " Indeed he who enjoys objects, given by the DEVAS , without

offering (in return) to them, is verily a thief.

 

Here, Krishna repeats the unalterable ritualistic law "that the Devas,

cherished by Yajna, will provide us with the desired objects." The truth of

this statement becomes self-evident and clear when we re-read this statement

substituting our meaning for the terms Deva and Yajna. The "productive

potential" (Deva), when cherished through "self-dedicated work performed in

a spirit of sacrifice" (Yajna), will provide the worker with the desired

objects. This is the law-of-life.

And when we thus earn a profit due to our sacrifices, we have every right to

enjoy that profit SHARING IT AMONG OURSELVES. But no living creature should

enjoy benefits of others' actions without contributing his own share to the

total effort. In the capitalistic system of life we notice the wrong

tendency of self-aggrandisement of profits produced out of the collective

efforts of millions of workers. This ultimately creates sad maladjustments

in all spheres of activity, and national and international peace is

threatened when we thus upset the law of harmony in life. When this idea,

familiar in modern finance, "that a member of a society who consumes without

producing is a liability to the nation," is re-read in the language of the

Vedas, it is spelt as the second line of this stanza.

 

HE WHO ENJOYS OBJECTS, GIVEN BY THE Devas, the "productive potential

tapped," without offering his own Yajna-efforts into it, is termed here by

Krishna as a 'social thief.' Considering the moral and ethical idealism

recognised and respected at the time of the Geeta, the term 'thief' used

here is indeed a powerful word, fully implying the low depravity and

disrespectful nature of such a social criminal who eats without producing.

 

ON THE OTHER HAND:

 

yaGYashishhTaashinaH santo muchyante sarvakilbishhaiH .

bhuJN{}jate te tvaghaM paapaa ye pachantyaatmakaaraNaat.h .. 3\.13..

 

13. The righteous, who eat the "remnants of the sacrifices" are freed from

all sins; but those sinful ones, who cook food (only) for their own sake,

verily eat but sin.

 

As a contrast to such social criminals, feeding themselves upon the social

wealth, in producing which they have not brought in any self-effort, in this

stanza, we have the good, who receive for themselves their "share," after

sweating hard in sincere Yajna-activities. Such people, as explained here

"go beyond all sins."

 

Sins of the past are the causes for the present pains, and the present sins

would be the causes for the future sorrows. Thus, all causes for the sorrows

in social life would be, no doubt, removed, if the good and

socially-conscious members of a community were to feel satisfied in enjoying

the "remnants" of their co-operative work performed in the true

Yajna-spirit.

 

As a contrast to these, it has been declared that those who cook food for

themselves alone, "eat but sin." It seems that Krishna is perfectly against

private property, not in the sense in which a communist would understand it.

Krishna seems to be against the principle of arrogation of wealth, and of

hoarding the same, motivated by lust of lucre, meant mainly for selfish

enjoyment, utterly regardless of the privations and poverty of the

unfortunate folks around in the community. It is said that such hoarders of

wealth "eat but sin."

 

FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS ALSO, ACTION SHOULD BE PERFORMED BY HIM WHO IS

QUALIFIED FOR ACTION. FOR, IT IS ACTION THAT SETS THAT WHEEL OF THE UNIVERSE

MOVING. HOW? THE ANSWER FOLLOWS:

 

annaadbhavanti bhuutaani parjanyaadannasaMbhavaH .

yaGYaadbhavati parjanyo yaGYaH karmasamudbhavaH .. 3\.14..

 

14. From food come forth beings; from rain food is produced; from sacrifice

arises rain, and sacrifice is born of action.

 

karma brahmodbhava.n viddhi brahmaaksharasamudbhavam.h .

tasmaatsarvagataM brahma nityaM yaGYe pratishhThitam.h .. 3\.15..

 

 

15. Know you that action comes from BRAHMAJI (the creator) and BRAHMAJI come

from the Imperishable. Therefore, the all-pervading BRAHMAN (God-principle)

ever rests in sacrifice .

 

The cosmic-wheel-of-cooperative-action is being narrated here in the

familiar language of the Vedas. The living creatures are born out of food,

and they are nourished by food. The mineral-wealth of the world becomes

assimilable food --- both as vegetarian and non-vegetarian --- only by the

action of rain upon it. But for rains the vegetables will not grow, and the

lack of proper grazing-grounds is a danger to cattle-wealth. "Rains come as

a result of Yajna, and Yajnas are performed through human action."

 

This stanza may read strangely to those who are not ready to bring the full

shaft of their intelligence for the purpose of understanding it. It is

evident to any modern educated man that living creatures are born out of

matter. Matter is rendered consumable and digestible, nutritive and

assimilable, only by the action of rains upon it. But the difficulty in

understanding the stanza is when we come to the next assertion that "the

rains come as a result of Yajnas."

But in Krishna's words here, we are not warranted in accepting that he is

advising Arjuna to follow ritualism. In this stanza, as also elsewhere all

along the Geeta, the familiar terms of the Vedic period has been charged

with new meanings and significances. "Rain" is the essential condition for

the conversion of the mineral-raw-material into enjoyable and nutritive

food. Similarly, in all fields of activity there is "an enjoyable profit"

which can be gathered only when the fields come under "conditions

favourable" for them to produce those profits. "Self-dedicated activities"

(Yajna), when performed in any given field of endeavour, will be creating

therein "conditions necessary for the field to smile forth" (rain) in a

luxurious "crop of profit" (Annam), enjoyable by the society.

 

For example, the wasteful waters of a river flowing idly can be dammed and

made use of, if the waters are intelligently employed in irrigating the

fertile lands now lying fallow on its banks. Through sacrifice and work

alone can the dam be built and when it is built, it provides "conditions

helpful" for bringing the lands on either side under the plough. Again, for

making use of irrigated land, man has yet to strive: ploughing, sowing,

weeding, waiting, gathering --- before he can come to enjoy the profit of

his activities, the food.

 

We are shown how this Wheel-of-Action (stanza-15), is connected with and

includes the Supreme. The principle of right action, nay, even the power to

act, has come out of the Creator himself and the Creator is none other than

the Imperishable Supreme. Action IS in the new-born live baby; action is a

gift from the Creator! Therefore, the All-pervading Supreme is ever centred

in all undertakings pursued, by one or many people, in an honest spirit of

Self-dedication, for the good of all.

 

HE, WHO LIVES IN UNISON WITH THIS WHEEL-OF-ACTION, IS CONTRIBUTING TO THE

HARMONY OF LIFE. WHAT HAPPENS TO HIM WHO DISOBEYS?