Bhagawad Gita Ch.3 Ver. 23-29 [Swamy Chinmayananda]

[Guest guest]

CONTINUING THE SAME ARGUMENT, THE LORD SAYS:

 

yadi hyahaM na varteya.n jaatu karmaNyatandritaH .

mama vartmaanuvartante manushhyaaH paartha sarvashaH .. 3\.23..

 

23. For, should I not ever engage Myself in action, without relaxation, men

would in every way follow My Path, O son of Pritha.

 

Why should the Lord work? What would be the loss to the generation if He

were not to work at all? The masses always imitate their leaders and heroes

in their dress, in their behaviour, in their moral values, in their actions,

in all the branches of their activities. They fix their measure of

perfection always by watching the standard of life of their leaders. If the

Lord did not continue to work without relaxation, men also would follow in

His wake and sink themselves into inactivity and so into an unproductive

existence. In nature everything acts constantly and sincerely. The entire

Universe survives and sustains itself by activity.

 

In these stanzas, as everywhere, all along in the Geeta, the first person

singular is used by Lord Krishna, not in the sense of the Blue Boy of

Vrindavana, but as the Atman, or the Self-realised Man-of-Perfection. A

liberated soul realises himself to be nothing other than the Spirit, upon

which alone is the play of matter sustained, as the dream is sustained upon

the waker. If this God-principle, though inactive in Itself, does not

consistently serve the pluralistic phenomenal world as its permanent

substratum, the world as it is now, cannot exist. The ocean never rises, in

spite of the billows. Yet, it is a fact that without the ocean the waves

cannot rise or dance. Similarly, if the Lord were not to keep on activity

serving the world, the cultural life of the generation would stagnate.

 

"AND WHAT HARM IS THERE IF I DO NOT ACT?"... THE LORD SAYS:

 

utsiideyurime lokaa na kuryaa.n karma chedaham.h .

saN^karasya cha kartaa syaamupahanyaamimaaH prajaaH .. 3\.24..

 

24. These worlds would perish if I did not perform action; I would be the

author of confusion of "castes, " and would destroy these beings.

 

If I do not perform action, it will not be conducive to the harmonious

progress of the Universe, and the entire super-structure of our scientific

laws and calculations will tumble down. The Universe is not a chaos; it is a

cosmos. Lawless-ness is not noticed anywhere in the working of the cosmic

forces.

 

The phenomenal happenings, the movement of the planets, the rhythmic dance

of the seasons, the music of creation, the law of colours are all happening

in a harmony, implicitly obeying the law governing them all, and this Law is

otherwise called the Mighty Power of Nature, or God. Lord Krishna, as an

embodiment of God-hood, is declaring here: "If I do not perform work, the

world would perish." Scientifically viewed, this declaration is not a

superstitious absurdity, acceptable only to the blind believers, but it

becomes a statement of fact, which even the microscope-gazers cannot

honestly deny.

 

The Lord represents not only the law governing the outer world of things and

beings, but He is also the Law that governs the inner world of thoughts and

emotions. The whole human society is divided into the four "castes" (Varna),

by the Hindu saints and sages, ON THE BASIS OF THE INDIVIDUALS' MENTAL

TEMPERAMENTS. In case the law governing the inner psychological temperaments

is not functioning strictly, there will be confusion in behaviour and

instability in character.

 

The general translation "admixture of races" for "Varna-Shankara" contains a

mischievous suggestion for the modern students inasmuch as they would

directly understand it as a Divine sanction for the "caste-tyrannies" that

are going on in the decadent Hindu society.

 

"SUPPOSE, ON THE OTHER HAND, YOU, ARJUNA, THINK --- OR SUPPOSE, FOR THAT

MATTER, ANY OTHER MAN THINKS --- THAT ONE WHO HAS ACHIEVED HIS GOAL OF

SELF-REALISATION, EVEN HE SHOULD WORK FOR THE WELFARE OF THE OTHERS,

ALTHOUGH FOR HIMSELF HE MAY HAVE NOTHING MORE TO ACHIEVE OR GAIN"...

 

sak{}taaH karmaNyavidvaa.nso yathaa kurvanti bhaarata .

kuryaadvidvaa.nstathaa.asak{}tashchikiirshhurlokasa.ngraham.h .. 3\.25..

 

25. As the "ignorant" men act from attachment to action, O Bharata, so

should the "wise" men act without attachment, wishing the welfare of the

world.

 

It is very well known that all of us act in our own given fields of

activities with all enthusiasm and deep interest, all day through, every day

of the year and all through the years of our entire life-time. An average

member of society is seen to wear himself out in the strain of constant

activity. Irrespective of his health, careless of the severity of seasons,

through joy and sorrow, man constantly strives to earn and to hoard, to gain

and to enjoy.

 

Here Krishna says that a Man-of-Self-realisation also works in the world

with as much diligence and sincerity, tireless enthusiasm and energizing

joy, burning hopes and scalding fears, as any ordinary man striving in the

competitions of the market-place. The only difference between the two is

that, while the ignorant acts and is motivated in his actions by his

"attachments and anxieties for the fruits," a man of Godly intentions or

complete Perfection will work in the world, without attachment, only for the

purpose of the redemption of the world.

 

This subtle difference between the activities of the "wise" and the

"ignorant" may not strike the modern reader as very important unless his

attention is directed towards its universal application. It is the anxious

"desire for the fruits" that dissipates the finer and nobler energies in the

worker, and condemns his activity to utter failure. No doubt, even a

Man-of-God, when he acts, must bring into his field of activity his own mind

and intellect.

 

The mind can function only when it is attached to something. It cannot

remain alive, and yet, detached from every thing. "Detachment of the mind"

mentioned here is only its "detachment from the FALSE irresistible

fascination for objects" and this is gained through the process of

"attaching itself to the NOBLER." Thus, when Lord Krishna says

here, that the "wise" man should work "without attachments" he immediately

indicates how this can be achieved. He advises Arjuna to act, "Desirous of

guiding the world"

(Loka-sangraha).

 

Attachment becomes a clog or a painful chain on us only when it is extremely

ego-centric. To the extent we work for larger schemes to bless a vaster

section of humanity, to that extent the attachment loses its poison and

comes to bless the age. Many poisons serve as medicines in their diluted

form, while the same in a concentrated form can bring instantaneous death!

The ego and ego-centric desires bind and destroy man, but to the extent he

can lift his identifications to include and accommodate in it, larger

sections of the living world, to that extent the attachment gathers an

ethical halo, a divine glow, and becomes a cure for our subjective pains and

imperfections.

 

Here the practical method suggested is that Arjuna should work, unattached

to his own ego-centric, limited concept of himself and his relations, and he

must enter into the battle-field as a champion fighting for a cause, noble

and righteous, against the armies that have come up to question and

challenge the deathless 'values of higher living' as propounded and upheld

by the Hindu culture.

 

TO SUCH A MAN-OF-WISDOM WHO IS WORKING IN SOCIETY FOR THE SERVICE OF MAN,

THE FOLLOWING ADVICE IS GIVEN:

 

na buddhibheda.n janayedaGYaanaa.n karmasaN^ginaam.h .

joshhayetsarvakarmaaNi vidvaanyuk{}taH samaacharan.h .. 3\.26..

 

26. Let no wise-man unsettle the minds of ignorant-people, who are attached

to action; he should engage them in all actions, himself fulfilling them

with devotion.

 

The chances are that when a man of equipoise and Self-discovery enters the

field of activity, he will be tempted to advise his generation on pure

ethics and abstract ideologies. The generation, misunderstanding the words

and emphasis of such a Master, might come to a wrong conclusion that, to

renounce activity was the direct path to Truth. The teachers are warned

against such a hasty guidance which might damp the enthusiasm of the

generation to act.

 

Life is dynamic. Nobody can sit idle. Even the idler contributes to the

general activity. In this ever-surging onward rush of life's full

impetuosity, if there be a foolish guide who would plunge himself in the

mid-stream and stand with upraised hands, howling to the generation to halt,

he would certainly be pulverized by the ever-moving flood of life and its

endless activities. Many a hasty Master has made this mistake and has had to

pay for it. Krishna is declaring here only a Universal law for the guidance

of the saints and sages of India that they should not go against the spirit

of the times and be a mere revolt against life's own might and power.

 

In this stanza is given out the art of guiding mankind, which can be used by

every leader in all societies, be they social workers, or political masters,

or cultural teachers. A society, that is functioning in a particular line of

activity at any given period of history, should not be, all of a sudden,

arrested in its flow, says Krishna, but the leader should fall in line with

the generation, and slowly and steadily guide it to act in the

right-direction, by his own example.

A traveller motoring with the idea of going to Hardwar may miss his way and

speed down towards Saharanpur, but the way to guide him back to the main

road is not to halt him; because, by halting, he will never reach his own

destination, or any other goal. So long as the wheels are not revolving on

the road, distances are not covered. Keeping the wheels on the move, he has

to change the direction of his movements until he comes to his right path,

heading towards Hardwar.

Similarly, man should act and even if he be acting in the WRONG DIRECTION,

through action alone can he come to the RIGHT PATH of diviner activities,

and gain the fulfilment of his Perfection. No 'wise'-man should unsettle his

generation's firm faith in action. He must himself diligently perform the

ordinary actions in a diviner and better fashion, and he must make himself

an example to the world, so that the lesser folk may automatically imitate

him and learn to follow his unfailing footsteps.

 

IN WHAT WAY IS AN 'IGNORANT MAN ATTACHED TO ACTION?

 

prakR^iteH kriyamaaNaani guNaiH karmaaNi sarvashaH .

ahaN^kaaravimuuDhaatmaa kartaahamiti manyate .. 3\.27..

 

27. All actions are performed, in all cases, merely by the

Qualities-in-Nature (GUNAS ) . He whose mind is deluded by egoism, thinks "I

am the doer. "

 

All along Krishna has been insisting that nobler actions are actions without

attachment. This is easier said than done. Even if one intellectually

accepts this idea, it is not at all easy for him to act up to it. To

everyone of us the difficulty is that we know not how to get ourselves

detached from our activities, and still act on in the field. The Lord gives

here a method of discrimination by which we can easily develop the required

amount of detachment.

 

We had explained earlier how spiritual IGNORANCE expresses itself at the

intellectual level as DESIRES, which again, in the mental zone, manifests as

THOUGHTS, and the very thoughts, coloured by our mental tendencies, manifest

themselves, in their fulfilment in the outer world-of-objects, as our

ACTIONS. Thus, the tendencies of the mind (vasanas) express in the

outerworld as actions. Where there are noble-thoughts, there, noble-actions

manifest. When the thoughts are agitated, the actions also are uncertain,

faltering, and confused. And where the thoughts are dull and animalistic,

the actions generated from them are also correspondingly base, vicious, and

cruel. Thus, the mind's projections in the outer-world are in fact a kind of

crystallisation of the mental Vasana among the objects of the world and

these constitute the "actions."

 

Where there is a mind, there actions also must be performed. These actions

are therefore GENERATED by the mind, STRENGTHENED in the mind and ultimately

PERFORMED with the mind. But the individual, due to his wrong identification

with his own mind, gets the false notion that he himself is the "actor" ---

the "doer." This action-arrogating-ego naturally starts feeling an anxiety

for its success and a burning attachment for the result of its actions.

 

In a dream, we create a world of our own and we identify ourselves with the

world so made, and this IDENTIFIER is called the 'dreamer.' We all know that

the sorrows of the dream all belong to the 'dreamer' and to no one else. The

'dreamer' is liberated from his pains when he ends his identification with

the dream kingdom. Similarly, the actions in the world outside, which are

nothing other than the vasanas existing in one's own mind, cannot of

themselves give one any attachment, but the attachment is felt by one who

gets identified with one's own mental conditions. The moment one understands

this simple fact, all one's attachments end, and therefore, one lives in

perfect peace.

 

This identification with the mental condition creates the false sense of ego

which arrogates to itself the idea: "I am the doer." The "doer" demands the

FRUITS OF HIS ACTION. To get over this attachment is to end this

misconception.

BUT AS REGARDS THE 'WISE' MAN:

 

tattvavittu mahaabaaho guNakarmavibhaagayoH .

guNaa guNeshhu vartanta iti matvaa na saj{}jate .. 3\.28..

 

28. But he --- who knows the Truth, O mighty-armed, about the divisions of

the qualities and (their) functions, and he who knows that GUNAS -as-senses

move amidst GUNAS -as-objects, is not attached.

 

As a contrast to the point-of-view of the 'ignorant' man explained in the

last stanza, Krishna explains here the attitude of the 'wise' man when he

ploughs the field of activity. In him, attachment has no place, because of

his constant, discriminating understanding that in all activities, it is his

mind that projects out to form the action. When once the 'wise' man has

realised that actions belong to the world of the mind, he is no more anxious

for the fruits thereof. Success and failure thereafter belong to the mind

and not to him. Likes and dislikes thereafter are of the mind and not his.

Loves and hatreds are not his but of the mind. Thus, in complete inner

freedom the God-man functions, as a true sportsman in his play-field, where

the very enjoyment is in the sport and not in the score.

 

Here, Arjuna is addressed as the 'mighty-armed,' and this is very

significant in the mouth of Krishna at this moment. The very term reminds us

of Arjuna's wondrous heroism as the greatest archer of his time. The

implication is that a true hero is not one who can face an army and kill a

few, but one who can save himself. A true warrior is only he who can

tirelessly fight in the inner world, and gain a victory over his own mind

and attachments. One who can act in the world's battle-field of actions,

ever ruling over and never surrendering to the arrows of attachments that

fly towards one from all directions, is the real Immortal Hero, who can

thereafter sit unarmed on the chariots of mortal heroes, and without raising

any weapon, can guide the destinies of many an army in every Kurukshetra!

That Master Hero is called Tattwavit --- one who "knows" the Reality --- the

Self.

 

NOW:

 

prakR^iterguNasaMmuuDhaaH saj{}jante guNakarmasu .

taanakR^its{}navido mandaankR^its{}navinna vichaalayet.h .. 3\.29..

 

29. Those deluded by the qualities of nature, (GUNAS) , are attached to the

functions of the qualities. The Man-of-Perfect-Knowledge should not unsettle

the 'foolish, ' who are of imperfect knowledge.

 

Although many know that all actions are the attempts of the mental

impressions to fulfil themselves in the outer world, only the Perfect-one

realises this Truth and generally becomes quiet and unattached in all his

activities. The majority of us are in a state of complete delusion and are

entirely victimised by our own mental temperaments. The flood of life,

surging out through these existing vasana-channels, should not be blockaded

in the activity. The advice given by Krishna in the earlier stanza (26) is,

again for the purpose of emphasis, repeated here in different words.

 

The dull-witted one, unconsciously victimised by his own mental impressions,

acts in the world outside shackled by a thousand burning attachments. A sage

or a saint should not come into the arena of life to decry such a man's

activities all of a sudden. Krishna's suggestion is that, while feeding the

fire of life, he should carefully guide its flow into the right channel

wherein the flood of life can reach to water the gardens of cultural

development in the individual as well as in the community.

 

"HOW THEN SHOULD ACTIONS BE PERFORMED BY THE 'IGNORANT' MAN WHO SEEKS

LIBERATION FROM HIS OWN SENSE OF FINITUDE, WHEN HE IS QUALIFIED ONLY FOR

ACTION?" THE ANSWER FOLLOWS:

 

[To be continued...]

[Guest guest]

namaste.

 

I appreciate the efforts of shri Madhava and his team of

volunteers in bringing us this weekly bhagavadgItA material.

Of this weeks's presentation, I have the following additional

comments and a question which I trust the learned members will

clarify.

 

I see this group of verses as stressing the need to do work,

action, both for jnAnis and ajnAnis. The stress is on the point

that karma, action, cannot be abandoned either for jnAni or ajnAni.

This re-emphasizes the point of Isha upanishad "kurvanneva iha

karmANi...". JnAnam does not advocate abandoning action, but

abandoning phalApeksha, attachment to the fruit of the action.

The difference between jnAnam (Knowledge) and ajnAnam (ignorance)

is not in abandoning or doing action, but only in the mode of

performing action. AjnAni does actions with attachment to the

fruit of action; jnAni does action without attachment to the fruit.

Because of the way the ajnAni performs action, he is bound to the

karmaphala. Jnani is not bound to karmaphala (again, Isha upanishad,

verse 2 second line). We can interpret lokasaMgraham here as doing

good deeds with pure heart and be a leader of the people.

 

Verse 3.26 also says that if an ajnAni is doing actions with

attachment to the fruits of action, the jnAni should encourage

action by the ajnAni, with jnAni him/herself doing the actions.

If the jnAni does not do actions, he/she is misleading the ajnAni.

 

An example here may be useful. An ajnAni may be performing vratAs,

and charity work anticipating betterment in this and other worlds

and lives. If the jnAni advocates to the ajnAni that God is only in

our heart and that he (ajnAni) does not have to perform these vratAs

and that there is no need to visit sacred places, and that all these

visits to sacred places and performing vratAs is created by selfish

people for profit-making, then the jnAni is doing a dis-service and

is leading the ajnAni to lower levels.

 

Now, my question on verse 3.24. The meaning given is, as Lord Krishna

saying "If I do not perform action, these worlds will be ruined....".

Can the "I" in this sentence be interpreted to encompass also work

done by ajnAnis as well? I (GM) do not think that Krishna is

separating the work done by Him and the work done by the ajnAnis

in this context. After all, the work done by the ajnAnis is also the

work done by Krishna. Thus, it seems to me, the meaning of this verse

may be "If work is not performed, the worlds will be ruined....".

Is that interpretation possible?

 

Regards

Gummuluru Murthy

----

[Guest guest]

Hari Om Murthygaru:

 

Namaste,

 

I like your enthusiasm and your question demonstrates

that Sri Krishna is performing!

 

Let me give my understanding which is also due to His

grace. Verse 3.24 has the following subtle meaning:

Lord's grace is His only action which removes the

anjAnam which helps to preserve the world and prevents

it from fall back into 'non-existence.' Sri

Radhakrishnan states the following quotation by St.

Thomas Mount: "As the production of a thing into

existence depends on the will of God, so likewise it

depends on His will that things should be preserved;

hence He took asway His action from them, all things

would be reduced to nothing." Summa Theology I, IX,20.

 

AnjAnis conduct work with attachment and with God's

action, they turn their work from selfish desires to

desires that preserve the world! Veses 25 and 26

support this interpretation strongly,

 

regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

 

 

--- Gummuluru Murthy <gmurthy

wrote:

>

>

> namaste.

>

> I appreciate the efforts of shri Madhava and his

> team of

> volunteers in bringing us this weekly bhagavadgItA

> material.

> Of this weeks's presentation, I have the following

> additional

> comments and a question which I trust the learned

> members will

> clarify.

>

> I see this group of verses as stressing the need to

> do work,

> action, both for jnAnis and ajnAnis. The stress is

> on the point

> that karma, action, cannot be abandoned either for

> jnAni or ajnAni.

> This re-emphasizes the point of Isha upanishad

> "kurvanneva iha

> karmANi...". JnAnam does not advocate abandoning

> action, but

> abandoning phalApeksha, attachment to the fruit of

> the action.

> The difference between jnAnam (Knowledge) and

> ajnAnam (ignorance)

> is not in abandoning or doing action, but only in

> the mode of

> performing action. AjnAni does actions with

> attachment to the

> fruit of action; jnAni does action without

> attachment to the fruit.

> Because of the way the ajnAni performs action, he is

> bound to the

> karmaphala. Jnani is not bound to karmaphala (again,

> Isha upanishad,

> verse 2 second line). We can interpret lokasaMgraham

> here as doing

> good deeds with pure heart and be a leader of the

> people.

>

> Verse 3.26 also says that if an ajnAni is doing

> actions with

> attachment to the fruits of action, the jnAni should

> encourage

> action by the ajnAni, with jnAni him/herself doing

> the actions.

> If the jnAni does not do actions, he/she is

> misleading the ajnAni.

>

> An example here may be useful. An ajnAni may be

> performing vratAs,

> and charity work anticipating betterment in this and

> other worlds

> and lives. If the jnAni advocates to the ajnAni that

> God is only in

> our heart and that he (ajnAni) does not have to

> perform these vratAs

> and that there is no need to visit sacred places,

> and that all these

> visits to sacred places and performing vratAs is

> created by selfish

> people for profit-making, then the jnAni is doing a

> dis-service and

> is leading the ajnAni to lower levels.

>

> Now, my question on verse 3.24. The meaning given

> is, as Lord Krishna

> saying "If I do not perform action, these worlds

> will be ruined....".

> Can the "I" in this sentence be interpreted to

> encompass also work

> done by ajnAnis as well? I (GM) do not think that

> Krishna is

> separating the work done by Him and the work done by

> the ajnAnis

> in this context. After all, the work done by the

> ajnAnis is also the

> work done by Krishna. Thus, it seems to me, the

> meaning of this verse

> may be "If work is not performed, the worlds will be

> ruined....".

> Is that interpretation possible?

>

> Regards

> Gummuluru Murthy

>

----

>

>

>

>

>

>

>