Gita In Daily Life - Chapter-2 - Part 3 of 4 (Karmasu-Kausalam)

[Guest guest]

"amba tvAmanusandDAmi bhagavadgItE BhavadvaeShiNeem"

 

Namaste all.

 

Ch-2 Summary so far till 2-38:

-------------------------------

The Lord surprises Arjuna by starting a completely

different line of conversation with 2:11: asOchyA.

 

Having got his attention, the Lord very quickly,

without wasting any time, gives him the zist

in 3 slOkas : 2:12, 2:13, 2:14 by giving him the

knowledge of the nature of Atma,

nature of Atma's relation to body, and nature of body.

 

Further slOkas till 2-38 explain the same in detail.

Until 2:38 : Knowledge of the Nature of Self(sankhya).

>From 2:39 : Start of knowledge of karma-yoga to get

released from the bondage of karma (and not karma).

-------------------

 

Firstly, the Lord says that there is no wasted effort

nor any evil/sin involved in following dharma

(karma-yoga in the context) and that even a little of

it protects from great fear. 2:40

Practical observation: We had seen, dharmO rakshati...

 

Due to having a single-pointed direction from

Atma-jignAsa, Karma-yoga is single pointed whereas the

minds of those not directed by Atma-jignAsa are

irresolute, going away in many branches and endless

with rebirth as fruit of their work. 2:41-46

 

Thus, one has to develop skill to work with right to

work alone and not impelled by the fruits of work.

 

Karmasu-Kausalam consists of the following:-

a) Establish in yoga (atma-jignAsa)

b) Loosen and gradually abandon attachments

c) Perform works with even mind for success and

failure and without motive for results

 

Practical observation:

Thus one develops skill in action, karmasu-kausalam.

 

2:53: The Lord gives the possibility of attaining

to the yOga by being firmly established in samAdhi.

 

Arjuna gets very curious about the person possessing

such firm wisdom, as to how he talks, how he sits and

how he moves, called sthita-prajna. 2:54

 

To be continued... Part4

 

With Love & Regards,

Raghava

 

______________________

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[Guest guest]

Namaste Raghavaji and all,

 

It is good to see postings with references to Mahabharata and other

scriptures. I am also a firm believer that a student of Gita should

be able to *see* the message of the Gita in normal, day to day

events.

 

Here is an example from Corporate America from last week - probably

as far removed from the settings of the Mahabharata etc as you can

imagine.

 

Below is a email extract from a senior manager leaving this Fortune

10 company (company & person's name hidden for privacy reasons).

 

// EMAIL EXTRACT

 

Hello everyone,

 

Today I am announcing that after almost 32 years at XXX I will be

leaving this great company. I know this may come as a surprise to

some and probably not for others. I realize a lot could be read

into the timing given the unknowns each of us are facing around

shifting the mix of $ and people to our strategic programs etc etc.

 

Let me assure you that I am leaving for very different reasons. You

all know that I've been on leave for several months. During that

time I've had a chance to slow down and reflect on what is really

important in my life......

 

I stepped into someone's office at the XXXXXXX site and because

I've spent vacations on sail boats a picture of one caught my

eye.

More important than the picture was the text below it.

 

====================================================================

"You cannot always control the direction of the wind, but you can

always choose how you adjust your sails."

====================================================================

 

For me this is a reminder that I usually have more choices (and

therefore control) than I often recognize at first. Therefore, I

truly create my own destiny.

//END EMAIL

 

The portion within ======== struck me as relevant to the Gita

discussions. One of the definitions of Karma Yoga is purposeful

action with proper attitude.

 

regards

Sundar Rajan

[Guest guest]

advaitin, "Sundar Rajan" <avsundarrajan>

wrote:

>

> Namaste Raghavaji and all,

>

> It is good to see postings with references to Mahabharata and

other

> scriptures. I am also a firm believer that a student of Gita

should

> be able to *see* the message of the Gita in normal, day to day

> events.

 

Namaste

 

"karmasu kaushalaM" : Dexterity or Efficiency in Action.

For this it may not be necessary (though advantageous) to go along

the path of religious belief, involving an acceptance of the

divinity of man, the conviction that there is a supreme power, that

the authority of the scriptures is unquestionable, and so on. All

that is required is the belief in the dignity of man. Thus one may

encounter a staunch karma yogi who does not believe in God and

religion. Such a karma yogi will do his duties devotedly, not

because he will otherwise incur demerit but because he knows no

other way to be of use to himself and to society. Social

responsibilities will be meticulously discharged by him because he

is convinced that he owes service to society for his very sustenance

as a member of that society. He believes that each one of us must

do his or her job sincerely and to the best of one's ability. If the

returns of work do not properly match the amount of effort expended

and the efficiency and dedication with which it is executed, he

knows that these ills of society can never be corrected by

rebellion.

 

But he is not a conformist. He might well be an unusual person who

has struck out a new path for service to society, and in following

it exhibits zeal and steadfastness. Such a karma yogi has no

ambitions for himself except some residual attachment for the work

he is doing and he would, therefore not yield to anybody in

estimating the importance of his work. This kind of social action,

without any self-interest is a simple way of training oneself in

karma yoga . It is in fact the first thing that young people must

learn. Identifying oneself with a cause, with a social purpose, one

gets attracted by the charms and thrills of social service and the

innate satisfaction it provides.

 

PraNAms to all advaitins

profvk

[Guest guest]

Namaste

> "karmasu kaushalaM" : Dexterity or Efficiency in Action.

>

 

Dexterity or Skillfulness in Action is the normal translation for

the term "karmasu kaushalaM" but Sankara Bhagavatpadal points to

another important meaning while commenting on the Gita verse 2.50:

 

taddhi kausalam yat bandhanasvabhavanyapi karmani samatvabuddhya

svabhavat nivartante

 

That indeed is skilfulness which, through equanimity, makes actions

that by their very nature bind, give up their nature!

 

Sringeri Acharyal Sri Abhivana Vidyatheertha Swamigal has pointed

out to this in His speeches on Karma Yoga - the book reference

doesn't come to my mind immediately.

 

regards

Sundar Rajan

[Guest guest]

> Dexterity or Skilfulness in Action is the normal translation for

> the term "karmasu kaushalaM" but Sankara Bhagavatpadal points to

> another important meaning while commenting on the Gita verse 2.50:

>

> taddhi kausalam yat bandhanasvabhavanyapi karmani samatvabuddhya

> svabhavat nivartante

>

> That indeed is skilfulness which, through equanimity, makes actions

> that by their very nature bind, give up their nature!

 

Pranam all,

 

Mere dexterity or skill in action does not make it a 'kushal karma'. A

pickpocket is extremely dexterous and skilful. A skilful surgeon removing

somebody's normal appendix for money also falls in the same category. So the

word Kaushalam implies something more than mere skill or dexterity in the

mode of execution of an action. IMHO it indicates a comprehensive outlook

towards Karma. The Karma should not only be skilful in execution it should

be justified on moral and ethical grounds, conforming to the laws of the

society , scriptural guidelines or code of conduct for the particular

profession. Some people use a kind of * ready reckoner * to decide what

karma is justified. Here is an example:

 

Rotary members use what they call 'The four Way Test of all things we think,

say or do'. 'The four Way Test' was devised by Herbert Taylor Rotary

International President (1954-55). The test is as follows:

IS IT THE TRUTH?

IS IT FAIR TO ALL CONCERNED?

WILL IT BUILD GOODWILL AND BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

WILL IT BE BENEFICIAL TO ALL CONCERNED?

 

While formulating this test Herbert Taylor consulted his colleagues who

belonged to three different religious faiths. He adopted it as Company

Policy for a bankrupted Aluminium Company and brought it successfully out

of red.

 

Furthermore, karma which is justified on the above ground should be

performed with full concentration and dedication, without sense of personal

gain. Then it becomes 'Kushal karma'.

 

-Ravi Shivde