Summary of Bhagawad Gita Chapter 4

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This is an excellent summary of Gita Chapter 4 from

the book, Srimad Bhagavad Gita, By Vinoba Bhave.

Vinoba is a Karma Yogi and is one of the most

qualified to explain this chapter. For his services,

he was awarded the honor of 'Bharat Ratna' the highest

life-time award given by the Government of India.

 

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VIKARMA - THE KEY TO KARMA-YOGA

 

How Vikarma helps Karma

1. In the last Chapter we discussed yoga of the

desireless action. If we give up our svadharma (one's

own dharma) and take over another's dharma, it is

quite impossible to attain the goal of desirelessness.

It is the merchant's svadharma to sell wholesome and

necessary goods. But when he gives up his svadharma

and starts selling luxuries got from across the seven

seas, the motive is mercenary. How then can that

action be free from desire? Cherishing one's svadharma

is therefore indispensable, if one is to free one's

action from desire. But even the pursuit of svadharma

can be full of desire. Let us take even the matter of

non-violence (ahimsa). To the devotee of non-violence,

violence is of course, unthinkable. But it is possible

to be non-violent in externals, and yet in fact be

filled with violence; for violence is a quality of the

mind. It is not as if by abstaining from violent

action outwardly, the mind becomes full of

non-violence. Drawing the sword proclaims the attitude

of violence; but it is not true that by dropping the

sword a man becomes non-violent. The practice of

svadharma is exactly like this. To be free of desire,

it is essential to keep clear of other's dharma. But

this is only the first step towards freedom from

desire. With this alone, we have not reached the goal.

Desirelessness too, is a quality of the mind. As a

means of creating this, the pursuit of svadharma is

not enough; other aids are needed. To light a lamp,

one needs not only the oil and the wick, but a flame.

When the lamp is lit, the darkness disappears. How is

this lamp to be lit? For this, we need to purify the

mind. By self examination, we have to cleanse the mind

of its dirt. At the end of the Third Chapter, the Lord

gave this important suggestion, and from it the Forth

Chapter takes its origin.

2. In the Gita, the word "karma" (action) is used in

the sense of svadharma. Our eating, drinking,

sleeping, are all actions, but it is not these actions

that the Gita refers to when it talks of karma. Karma

there means the practice of svadharma. But in order to

achieve freedom from desire through the practice of

svadharma, something more is necessary - victory over

kama and krodha, craving and anger. As long as the

mind is not as pure and peaceful as the waters of the

Ganga, desirelessness will not come to us. These

actions performed to purify the mind, the Gita calls

"vikarma." The three words, "karma", "vikarma" and

"akarma", occurring in the Fourth Chapter, are of

utmost importance. Karma is the concrete, outward

action performed as svadharma. The participation of

the chitta, the mind and heart, in this external act

is "vikarma." We bow our heads to someone, but if,

while we are doing this, the heart too does not bow,

the external act is meaningless. The inner and the

outer must become one. I worship the Siva-linga,

Symbol of Lord Siva, perform abhisheka (ceremonial

bath), by bathing it in a continuous stream of water.

But if, as I do this, the stream of my meditation too

is not unbroken, what is the value of this ritual?

Then the Siva-linga is a stone, and I am another. It

only means that two stones confront each other. The

yoga of desireless action is achieved only when the

outward action is combined with the purity of the mind

within.

3. When we say "desireless action", the word

"desireless" is more significant than the word

"action", just as in "non-violent non-co-operation,"

the adjective "non-violent" is more important than

"non-co-operation.". If we leave out the non-violence

and hold on to the non-co-operation, it could become a

terrible thing. In the same way, if the vikarma of the

mind does not enter into the performance of svadharma,

it would be a mockery.The people who do social service

today are only performing their svadharma. To serve

people who are poor or lame, or are unhappy and in

difficulties, and to make them happy, is the dharma

that falls to us in the ordinary course. But we should

not therefore conclude that all social workers have

become karma-yogis. If the attitude of mind (bhavana)

in social service is not pure, it can become a

terrifying thing. All the egotism, the hatred and

envy, the self-seeking and other distortions that we

develop in serving our own families - all this we

develop in social service too. We see with our own

eyes how this happens in the social service

organizations today.

 

Karma + Vikarma = Akarma

 

4. The mind must stand united with the action; this

application of the mind, the Gita calls "vikarma".

There is the common action which is outwardly one's

svadharma, and there is the special inward action.

This special action varies with the needs of each

individual mind. Many kinds of vikarma, with typical

examples, are given in the Fourth Chapter. These, the

Gita develops from the Sixth Chapter onwards. Only

when we perform this special karma, when we unite the

inner process with outward action, does the light of

desirelessness shine in it. When vikarma, the action

of the mind and heart, enters into karma the outward

action, desirelessness grows within us, little by

little. As the body and the mind are separate, each

has its own means of growth. When they are in harmony

the goal is within our reach. Lest the body and the

mind should go different ways, the great moralists

have shown a two-fold path - in bhakti-yoga (the way

of devotion) they mention austerity (tapas) without

and meditation (japa) within. When inwardly, the mind

does not meditate, outer forms of (tapas) austerity,

like fasting, are entirely wasted. While doing

penance, the inward flame, the bhavana should

constantly burn and shine. The very meaning of the

word "upa-vasa" (fasting) is 'to dwell close to God.'

It is in order that our minds and heart may stay near

God that we have to close the door against the

pleasures of the senses. But if we give up the

pleasures of the senses and do not think of God, of

what value is the physical act of fasting? If, instead

of thinking of God, we think of things to eat and

drink, the fast would be more dangerous than a feast!

There is nothing as terrible as this mental feasting

as thinking about pleasures. Tantra must be

accompanied by mantra, action by meditation. Action,

as such, has no value, nor mere meditation without

action. The hand and the heart must work together to

render true service.

 

5. If the outward action is not moistened by the

heart's affection then the performance of svadharma

would remain barren, it would not bear the flower and

the fruit of desirelessness. Suppose we are nursing a

sick man. If in such service to the sick, there is no

compassion, it would become dull and disgusting to us,

and a burden instead of a relief to the patient.

Moreover, where the heart is not engaged, egoism too

would show its head. We would entertain expectations

like this : "I served him today. He should serve me at

my need; he should admire and praise me." Or else, we

get fed up and say, "I do so much for him, and yet he

keeps complaining." Sick men are usually peevish - and

those who nurse them without the true spirit of

service will only be disgusted.

6. When the inner feeling goes with the action, the

latter is transformed into something unique. When the

flame is applied to the wick in the oil, light is

born. When vikarma is applied to karma, desirelessness

comes into being. When a spark touches the gunpowder

it explodes. A power is released from the gunpowder.

The mere act, the karma, is like powder, which has to

be activated by the fire of feeling, vikarma. The

power that karma develops at the touch of vikarma is

indescribable. A pinch of lifeless powder in one's

pocket blows up a whole body when a spark explodes it.

In the same way, the infinite power of the practice of

svadharma lies latent. Touch it with vikarma, and see

what work it can do! In the resulting explosion desire

and anger are destroyed, and the way made clear for

the attainment of supreme wisdom.

 

7. Action (karma) is thus the wick of the lamp of

knowledge (jnana). There is a log of wood lying

somewhere, when you set fire to it; it becomes a mass

of glowing embers. What a difference between that wood

and this fire? But it is the wood that has become this

fire. When you apply vikarma to karma, the latter

begins to acquire divine radiance. The mother strokes

her child's back. A hand moves up and down a back, and

no more. But who can describe the feelings arising in

the hearts of the mother and the child from this

commonplace action? But if you frame an equation that

if, on a back of such length and such breadth, a hand

of such weight and such softness is moved; so much joy

will result, it would be absurdly comic. The action of

the moving hand is quite insignificant - but the

mother has poured her heart into it, she has added

vikarma to it. It is this that causes the thrill of

joy. There is a situation in Tulasi's Ramayana. The

monkeys were returning from a battle with the demons,

with their bodies wounded and bleeding. But when

Rama's loving look rested on them for a moment, all

their pain vanished. Now, if someone else had taken a

photograph of Rama's eyes and look at that moment, and

carefully opened out his own eyes in the same way,

could this have the same power? The very attempt would

be ridiculous.

 

8. When vikarma is combined with karma, a power is

released which results in akarma (inaction in action).

The huge log of wood burns and becomes a handful of

ashes, with which we can joyfully smear our bodies. In

the same way, the fire of vikarma reduces karma to the

ashes of akarma. What is the relation between the wood

and the ash? "Kah kena sambandhah?" (What is the

relation and with what?) They have no common

properties, and yet there is no doubt that the ash

came from the wood.

 

9. Now, what do we mean by saying that, by pouring

vikarma into karma, it becomes akarma? We mean that,

while acting, we seem not to act, we do not feel the

burden of action. Though we act, we are not the doer.

The Gita says, that though you have slain, you are not

the slayer. The mother beats her child: if you try

doing the same, the child will not stand it. But when

the mother beats her child, he still goes back to her

and hides his face in her lap - for there is

chitta-suddhi, purity of heart, behind the mother's

outwardly harsh action. Her punishment of the child

was disinterested. It had no selfish motive. By

vikarma, by inner purity, karma ceases to be karma.

That look of Rama's, because of inward vikarma, had

become a mighty ocean of healing love; but the action

cost Rama no effort. An action performed with pure

heart does not attach itself to us. It leaves no

residue of sin or virtue, papa or punya; else, what a

heavy pressure of action would our hearts and minds

have to bear! If the news gets abroad at 2 o'clock

today, that all political prisoners are to be released

tomorrow, people gather together from all sides, and

what confusion, what tumult! The problem of morality,

the goodness and badness of action, distracts us. We

feel that action crowds in on us from all sides, we

feel that it has caught us by the throat. Just as the

waves of the sea dash with force against the land and

make channels into it, the complexity of action

(karma) enters the mind and agitates it. The quality

of pleasure and pain, sukha and dukha, develops; all

peace is lost. The action takes place, and is over,

but its force remains behind. Action corrupts the

mind, and destroys sleep.

But if, with karma we combine vikarma, then, however

much work you do; you will not feel its strain. The

mind becomes still steady and radiant, like the

pole-star. When you put vikarma into karma, it becomes

akarma; it is as if you wrote karma on a slate, and

then rubbed it out.

 

The art of akarma - learn it from the saints

 

10. How does karma become akarma - how does action

become inactivity, and inactivity become action? From

whom can we learn this art? From the saints, of

course. At the end of the Fourth Chapter, the Lord

says, "Go to the saints and learn from them." In

describing how karma becomes akarma, the powers of

language are exhausted. To see it fully, we have to

sit at the feet of the saints. The Lord is pictured as

"santakaram bhujagasayanam" - he is asleep and at rest

on the coiled power of Sesha, the thousand headed

serpent. In the same way, the saints, though engaged

in a thousand action, do not allow a ripple to arise

in the still waters of their mind. One can never

understand this miracle until one goes to a saint and

sees it.

 

11. Now-a-days books have become very cheap. For an

anna or two, one can get books like the Gita and

"Manache Slok" (a Marathi book by Samarth Ramdas). And

of gurus there is no lack. Education too is widely

spread and costs little. Universities seem to

distribute knowledge in neat little packets. But no

one seems to be satisfied with feeding of this nectar

of knowledge. The more one looks at this mountain of

books, the more one realizes how necessary it is to

serve the saint. It looks as though wisdom is held

fast within the thick binding of these books, and

cannot come out. On such occasions I am reminded of a

Marathi abhang, psalm :-

In front of me stand the high mountains of craving and

anger :

Far, far beyond them is the Infinite.

Beyond the high mountains of craving and anger dwells

the Lord Narayana. In the same way, behind these

bookheaps, the King of Knowledge sits hidden. Though

surrounded by libraries and reading rooms, man

everywhere still remains a monkey without culture or

knowledge. Once in a big library in Baroda, a

gentleman was taking out a fat volume with pictures in

it. He thought it was in English. I asked him what

book it was, and he thrust it forward. I said, "But

this is French," and he replied "So it has turned out

to be a French book, has it? So you know French, do

you?" Clear Roman letters, fine pictures and a

beautiful binding - isn't this knowledge enough?

 

12. In English alone tens of thousands of books are

published every year. You may take it that this is so

in other languages too. Though knowledge spreads so

rapidly, how does man's mind manage to remain still

empty? One man says that human memory is getting

weaker; another, that men are losing the power of

concentration; still another, that whatever he reads

seems true to him, and he cannot discriminate; yet

another declares, "My dear Sir, I have no time to

think." The Lord Krishna says, "Arjuna, you have been

listening to so far too many things, and your mind is

dazed. Till it gets steady, you will not see the way

clearly. Stop reading books and listening to people,

now take sanctuary with the saints. There you can read

the book of life. There, silent speech clears all your

doubts. By going there you will understand how utterly

serene the mind can be while performing continuous

service; you will understand how, though action rages

without, the heart can be turned to produce unbroken music.