Guest guest Posted October 3, 2005 Report Share Posted October 3, 2005 Hare Krishna. Pranam to all Vaishnavas, Sri Krishna advises Arjuna to abandon the fruits of all action which means not to expect the fruits of action and take refuge in Him. What Sri Krishna emphasizes is to do the duty without attachment and the fruits of your action will come automatically by My Grace. As the beings are moving within Krishna, whatever they do also go to Him only and in return they get the fruits of their actions by way of Krishna’s grace . Krishna and Arjuna , two Contradictory Pictures. Sri Krishna and Arjuna arrive at Kurukshetra,the former driving the chariot and the latter impatient to fight. The implications of the war that is about to commence flash in Arjuna's mind just now. He throws away the bow and arrows and sits quiet.Bhagavan Krishna and Arjuna now present two different pictures, one contradicting the other. Krishna is the embodiment of ‘inaction in action’ . His duty is to drive the chariot. With the left hand He wields an iron grip at the reins of the four spirited white horses, ever ready to dash forward. His right hand assumes ‘Chinmudra’ , the finger pose of imparting wisdom to His dejected devotee, Arjuna . While the hands are fully engaged this way, the face beams with some other message. Calmness reigns supreme in Him indicating that the mind is firm as a rock . Poise in the midst of purpose, inaction in action -this inspiring principle gets revealed thru Krishna . Arjuna,on the other hand, has cast off his bow and arrows. He puts on the appearance of inaction, though the fact is otherwise. Great commotion goes on within .Fear is on one side wrecking his heart. Confusion is on the other side piercing his mind to pieces. He who seems to have easily renounced his duty is tortured by the conflict of duty. The miserable Arjuna embodies ‘action in inaction’. Action, desiring fruits Action actuated by design and desire has the power to bind the doer. Egoism prompts the action-bound man to exert himself for the procurement of his bodily needs. He is envious of other’s prosperity . An attitude of this type is born of ignorance. Action, without desiring fruits . If the Doer assumes an attitude that all his actions emanate from Krishna thru him as a mere instrument, he is not bound by that action. There is neither any feeling ‘doer-ship’ nor egoism in him. They are all burnt away in the fire of knowledge that Krishna alone is the real performer of all activities taking place in the universe. Such a person is content with what comes to him unsought. Happenings such as success and failure ; honour and dishonour ; are the pairs of opposites. A wise man is not affected by any of these happenings. Whatever falls to his lot, he accepts as Krishna’s divine dispensation. He never envies his neighbor’s prosperity . A Practical ApproachWhatever action we do we can't expect a corresponding response in mundane or spiritual level unless we are backed by the meritorious karma during previous births backed by Krishna’s Divine Grace. It is a mistaken belief that a person who doesn't accept Krishna , will succeed in all kinds of activities merely due to his brilliance . Such thought is not only dangerous but will lead one to accomplish unsavory things and harm the society. All the Demons have perished by imbibing such thoughts. So too the terrorists and other anti social elements will have their own nemesis. If a person finds working without expecting reward to be difficult , then he should do the work as an offering to Krishna. The fruits of the same will come automatically according to his past karma and Bhagavan’s grace. There is no necessity for us to run after the fruits which may always be elusive and may fall in the deserved or undeserved hands due to the play of Nature. A pious prayer to Sri Krishna to solve a personal problem is acceptable to the merciful Bhagavan. Dasaratha prayed to have a heir to the throne after him. That was a reasonable desire and therefore acceptable. Ravana wanted boons for evil designs and so it is sinful. King Viswamithra sought divine help to become a powerful Sage not for any personal benefit but to help the humanity . circumstances forced Arjuna to seek Krishna’s help to defeat his enemies and it was acceptable . Having come into this world if a man does not do the duties expected of him, he is a burden and dead weight to the society. Instead of fulfilling, he frustrates Krishna’s divine plan for the purpose of Nature. Of course individual success or failure is subject to the law of Karma. But there is a specialty in the functioning of mind. When the mind impinges on the materialistic world to seek selfish gains , sinful reactions are on the increase. But when the mind is fixed on Krishna and ‘Karma’ is done for Him, all negative reactions automatically vanish. Absence of attachment leads to the pacification of the mind. Work and rest go on side by side. Calmness of mind is not for him who neglects duty. Rewards will automatically come uncalled for when the mind gets stilled by remembering Krishna in whatever work one performs and ultimately enlightenment will dawn that what one has done is not for any reward but a way of surrender to Him. Conclusion Bhagavan Krishna is absolutely right when He says that doing one's duty with detachment and as an offering to Him, fruits of action will come back to the devotee in the form of His Grace and hence His emphasis on surrender to Him unconditionally. That will lead one to spiritual enlightenment and Krishna’s eternal abode. When we think we are the doers, the capacity to do the work is reduced by our own limitations . Bhagavan Krishna is so compassionate that he never gets in to the way when we want to do things in our own way. But when we acknowledge that, Krishna is the doer, and request him to carry out his plan through us, His power starts working through us. Our body then just becomes an instrument to carry out what Krishna wants. He is so much more intelligent and powerful than all of us put together. We can then imagine the quality of work, when He is the Doer. In our daily life, while doing whatever Duty we are assigned to, if we surrender the results to Bhagavan Krishna and beg Him to take over, we will be amazed by the results. Sri Krishna says in Gita (11.33) "Therefore, you get up and attain glory. Conquer your enemies and enjoy a prosperous kingdom. All these (warriors) have already been destroyed by Me alone. You just become My instrument, O Arjuna." Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya!!! SriKrishnaDasa Rajeev ------------------------------- Hare Krishna, vijay pranesh <vijaypranesh Cc: "Group krishna_lovers" <krishna_lovers > Sun Oct 2, 2005 2:27pm Karma Yoga - is it practical? in today's world. Hare Krishna! My Pranams to all Devotees. Karma yoga is it practical in today's world? 1) For example, we are going to a bank for a purpose, but in the bank they are making us to wait, finally the purpose is not accomplished means - our is getting waste & it leads us to dejection. It involves, in heavy traffic, during working hours, within bank timing we have to plan for that task. 2) without, Aim or objective/without interest (which leads to attachment towards karma), if we try to do some task, will it be successful. if we couldn't able to achieve, then the task is not accomplished leads to failure. can any one throw lights - on how karma yaga is practical to todays life. Hare Krishna! humble servent, Vijay. To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new Security Centre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.