RE: [Guruvayur/Guruvayoor] Work and Reward.

July 13, 2005

!! Sri Rama Jayam !!

That's a great description. My regards be acceptable for you Shri A G Raman.

But I have some of my thinkings to share with. Please validate !

Let me exactly quote the phrase which u have projected, as it comes from Bhagavad Gita - 'Don't expect any rewards for what you hv done?'

To me work & reward are two sides of the same coin...no matter u wish to have it or not !

Lord Krishna in the midst of the battlefield persuades the departing warrior 'Arjuna'. Arjuna has decided to abandon the fight from his side...This is not becoz he is afraid of war, but of the outcome of war (In other words, he is not afraid of KARMA but the PHALA itself). Knowing the inner combat of Arjuna, the spiritual master Krishna attacks at two different levels of Arjuna's consciousness. First he says - 'If u don't fight, the coming generations will defame ur personality' & secondly, he adds, 'If u fight & then die also, the world will sing ur glories till the end'. "Now, u shud select the path Arjuna !."

Indirectly, Krishna has declared the fruits of Arjuna's actions to be executed in future.

But to be remembered, the fruits of such actions are materialistic, of what Krishna is sharing with Arjuna now.

He has not yet entered into the domain of spiritual fruit of work. Bhagavad Gita aims at attaining that spiritual fruit through 'Bhakti Yoga'. So, the desire of fruit is not wrong to me, but what u r really focussing at is IMP !

To be more simple, if my Krishna bhakti is aimed away from Krishna (my actual fruit) himself, it will definitely give me materialistic pleasure, but not Spiritual (real) pleasure. Examples, Ravana, Hiranyakshipu, Jarasandha etc.

Let me share something about Dasharatha's Putrakameshti now.

That sacrifice was not arranged for a mere display of Dasharatha's wish & will. It has to do more with DHARMAPALANAM & DHARMARAKSHA. Becoz the fruit of that Yagya was Lord himself ( & not anybody or anything else). Dasharatha, after the sacrifice, gave his undying word to the assembled sages/rishis/maharshis/devas/upadevas etc. that he will never depart from donating his 4 sons to the welfare of DHARMA. That's why Vishwamitra & Vashishtha reminded him his word when Rama was asked with Lakshmana for Yagyaraksha. Such yagyas (karmas) with the desire of Lord to incarnate on earth cannot be an ordinary/personal desire which can decline our spiritual values.

One more thing, I wud like to stress upon. Let's observe Bhagavattam. Prahlada is standing in front of Sri Narasimha moorthy. Pacified by Prahlada's achanchala bhakti, Lord demands Prahlada to ask for a boon. But Prahlada refuses it straight way for "Bhakti has nothing to do with business". The helpless Lord then himself grants salvation to the gone 7 & coming 7 generations of Prahlada unconditionally. Still Prahlada is not quaked, as he has already received the thing he desired for - Sri Narayana darshanam !

So, desire of fruit is not really wrong as long as it decorates the path of our Karma.

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Hare Krishna

Hare Rama

guruvayur [guruvayur ]On Behalf Of GANAPATHY RAMANWednesday, July 13, 2005 2:46 AMguruvayur Subject: [Guruvayur/Guruvayoor] Work and Reward.

Lord Krishna says in Gita to do one's duty or work without expecting the fruits or reward.It is ok as far as the Lord is concerned.But in the present age will anybody ,there may be exceptions,do a work without expecting any reward?It is difficult to answer as human nature being such it is ridiculous and obnoxious to expect such a great mind from an ordinary mortal.Agreed or not the fact can't be suppressed.Preachers are galore to advise that leaving everything to God will bring protection to the human being.But it is always a debatable point...When one embarks on a spiritual path one has to understand both aspects of leaving everything to God and expecting rewards for his work.Simply following the dictums of the sages won't enlighten anyone.There are innumerable instances in the Puranas that many renowned characters hv prayed for boons and in turn they offer sacrifices.Dasaratha conducted Putrakameshti Yaga for getting progeny.Ravana did penance to acquire lot of boons.! Arjuna prayed Siva to get the Pasupatastra.Viswamitra did tapas to get lot of powers so as to make him a Brahmarishy.All these are not going against the Teachings of Sri Krishna in Gita.Don't expect any rewards for what you hv done?

Coming to the present age people flock temples with prayers to reward them for the work done.How many go to temples with prayers to see Him only in everything and expecting no benefits or blessings in the work they hv undertaken?We do poojas and all such things not with the sole aim of leading us to Him but to help us in solving our problems in work or in matters that are purely mundane.If such things are not answered in our favour frustration comes.Frustrations increases with increasing urbanisation and modernisation.Frustration is the direct result when the work does not yield results.A further frustration arises when our success is not appreciated by our friends and particularly by our family members.If loneliness is physical,

frustration is psychological.Is there a cure for frustration or for loneliness?

There was a famous scientist who by dint of hard work earned a great name

but unfortunately struck by a strange disease he lost his mobility and speech but not his thinking.He spoke thru a computer which was specially designed to synthesize his voice.A lady knowing fully well his disabilities preferred to marry him and they got three children .Surely it was no easy task to be a wife of such an invalid,especially when he was a famous scientist.That lady deserves appreciation.

..

The support she gave him physically is indescribable.It requires a big heart to put oneself thru ordeals and be in attendence on him all his waking hours.She

did it for years and decades.After all these trials and tribulations, she began to feel frustrated becoz she did all the work and the credit came to him.Fame came to him becoz of his findings as a scientist.However her frustration arose from the fact that her work was not rewarded.So eventually she decided to leave him and left.It is not rational to expect rewards for work not done by us.

Frustration comes by failure.For one who is serious,there is no failure that can't be rectified by learning and training.If one refuses to learn and meets with frustration,he can't consider himself rational.Patient learning converts any failure into success as we hv seen in the number of industrial giants or great people in any other field.Then there are people who expect results for talents they don't have.They too are frustrated.That is not frustration but failure to learn.Frustration also comes by comparing oneself with others whose talents are different and greater.That is not frustration but jealousy.That is not permissble.All work yields rewards.To expect reward that are not one's due is not right.Work has a personality.It never fails to reward one who takes interest in it.I goes further.When his attention is complete,the work returns to hm more than his due.In the livesof successful people we often hear 'I don't know anything .I simply worked.I did not know all t! hese things were ever possible.What happened baffles me.I don't know where they have come from'.The personality of work rewards a sincere worker who offers unselfish toil to it, a reward that is beyond the scope of that work.It comes from its infinity,which is its spirituality.

Now coming to the point of intrepreting the Teachings of Lord Krishna He also stresses the fact that He never means when He advocates that you shuld not expect any rewads for the work done.A pious prayer to Him for a selfish end may not be a sin,but it is not meritorious as a prayer offered for common weal.An action becomes sacred to the extent the ego gets obliterated.Partaking of food is an obligatory work.Cooking the daily food has therefore to go on as a matter of course.But one ought to think of and provide for the hungry and the needy as much as for oneself.He who is exclusive and self centred in the procurement of food and in the partaking of it, is a sinful man.What he eats is nothing but sin.Dasaratha prayed for progeny in his anxiety to hv a heir to the throne after him.That was a reasonable desire and there is nothing sinful in that.Ravana wanted boons for evil designs and so it is sinful.Viswamithra wanted to become powerful like Vasishta not for his o! wn good but to help the humanity though in the process he had many pitfalls as his aim firstly was to overcome Vasishta but subsequent events proved he acted as a benefactor and so he too cannot be termed as a sinner.Arjuna wanted Pasupathastra to defeat his enemies and without proper weapons it is difficult to win powerful enemies and circumstances forced him to obtain the same and hence he too can't be dubbed as a sinner.

Having come into this world if a man does not do what is expected of him,his advent amouts to nothing.As a drone he drags on a wretched existence.He is no asset but a burden and dead weight to the society.Instead of fulfilling,he frustrates the divine plan and purpose of Nature.Man ought to be a fulfilment and not a failure in life.Of course success or failure is subject to theory of Karma.But there is a speciality in the functioning of mind.When it impinges on the external world with the aid of senses or even without their aid,activities are on the increase.But when it revolves back on the Self its activities automatically vanish.The river is active until it reaches the ocean.On merging in it,its functioning is over.Likewise the functioning of the mind is over in its being resolved in Atman.So what Lord Krishna emphasises is that do your duty but without attachment of the fruits.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 Him 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 and the realisation slighting or allowing godly gifts go to waste ,amounts to slighting God Himself.So 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 awards and hence His emphasis on surrender to Him unconditionally.That will lead one to enlightenment and bliss.

Hare Krishna,

agraman

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July 13, 2005

I appreciate the points raised by you.There is no question of proving the validity or invalidity in such things as always the opinions are like parallel lines which will never meet.Perhaps you are carried away by the last sentene of the first para.What Sri Krishna emphasises is never expect fruits of your action and do your duty without attachment and the fruits of your action will come automatically by My Grace.I hv emphasised this in the last para and I think you must hv gone thru the whole presentation and not getting agitated by the opinion of first para.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 abt to commence flash in Arjuna's mind just now.He throws away the bow and arrows.'I want not this vainglorious warfare' says he and sits quiet.

Sri Krishna and Arjuna now present two different pictures,one contradicting the other.The Lord is the embodiment of inaction in action.His duty is to drive the chariot.With the 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 benign face beams with some other message.Calmness reignes supreme on the countenance indicating that the mind is firm as a rock.Action belongs to Prakriti.Atman embodied as Krishna is ever established in inaction.Poise in the midst of purpose,inaction in action -this inspiring principle gets revealed thru Yogeswara.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.Pang is on the other side piercing his body to pieces.He who seems to hv easily renounced his duty is tortured by the conflict of duty.The miserable Arjuna embodies action in inaction.Action actuated by design and desire has the power to bind the doer.But if the doer of action assumes attitude that all actions emanate from Iswara and whatever takes place thru him as a mere instrument,is all the glory of the Lord,is not bound by

action.There is neither agency nor egoism in him.They are all burnt away in the fire of knowledge that God alone is the real author of all that takes place in the Universe.Only the ignorant think that they are the doers.

Egoism prompts the action-bound man to exert himself for the procurement of his bodily needs.An attitude of this type is born of ignorance.But a spiritual aspirant is he who is not obsessed with the thougt of bodily sustenance.

Providence provides for him who is attuned to the Supermundane.The aspirant

is therefore content with what comes to him unsought.Happenings such as success and failure.honour and dishonour are the pairs of opposites.He is not affected by any of these happenings.Whatever falls to his lot,he accepts as divine dispensation.A wordling becomes envious of the prosperity of his neighbour.,but the sadhaka is free from that canker.He is instead happy over the prosperity of the world.A man of this frame of mind is not bound by karma in the midst of his being tightly engaged in it.So Sri Krishna advises Arjuna to abandon the fruits of all action which necessarily means not to expect the fruits of action and take refuge in Him..As the beings are movig within the God whatever they do also go to God only and in return they get the fruits of their actions by way of Grace from Him depending on the nature of the action.

I agree with Vinod in the preset age we can't do actions without expecting reward and this also I hv stressed.But whatever action we do we can't expect a corresponding response in mundane or spiritual level unless we are backed by our Karmic effects and the Divine Grace.We see people who hv no qualifications for anything occupying great posts and deserving people are forced to work under those upstarts.What is the explanation for this.There is no harm in expecting reward for duty but need not necessarily happen as the same is subject to theory of karma and Grace.Hence though Sri Krisha advises the mentally battered Arjuna He knows well that Arjuna is not the doer and everything is done by Him only as in Him the whole cosmos is residing and His Teachings are meant for future generations making Arjuna as a tool.In essence the Lord wanted Arjuna to do his duty without expecting any rewards as the same won't go to him but only to the Lord but Arjuna got His Grace in return for being

obedient.Whether that is material or spiritual does not matter much.

So I don't emphsise that one shuld not expect any rewards for his duty which is impracticable in the present day world or at any time in the past but doing the same with a sense of non attachment and with the feeling that what we do is only due to directions from Him whether good or bad and the fruits of such actions we do will come back to us without ourselves expecting any rewards thru His Grace which may be favourable or unfavourable depending on our actions.Whether Arjuna was spiritually an evolved person or not I hv no idea but he was an ardent devotee of the Lord and that is suiffice to make him a great soul.It is also a mistaken belief that if we don't hv any mind spiritually

we will succeed in the material plane.Such thought is not only dangerous but will lead one to accompolish unsavoury things and harm the society.All the Rakshasas in the Puranas hv perished by imbibing such thoughts.So too the terrorists and other anti social elements will hv their own nemesis.Hence it is better not to entertain such a mind set up.

It is also true that Dasaratha gave words to the devas etc that he would give his sons to protect Dharma.Then why he wanted to break his vow when Viswamithra wanted Rama and Lakshmana to help him to kill the rakshasas when he was doing his yaga by offering himself to come with his army to kill the demons in the first place and only after Viswamithra got angry and due to the wise counsel of Vasishta agreed to send his two sons reluctantly?There he proved though he was wise and knower of dharmas still he had the human weakness.It is natural for any human being to part with his young kids for a journey which may not be palatable to thinking though Dasaratha knew Viswamithra had the powers to protect his sons from any harm..In such a situation where is the question of the degradation of our moral or spiritual values?It is only emphasising that human beings hv always the weak mind when something happens to his/her kith and kin.That is in no way be construed as an erosion of

ethical values which we cherish.

No doubt Prahlada was a great soul and his unflinching devotion to the Lord made him a great person worthy of emulation.

So I too agree that work without expecting reward is anathema to all but if the work is done as if it is an offering to the Lord the fruits of the same will come automatically according to our Karma and the Grace of the Lord and there is no necessity for us to run after the fruits which may always be elusive and may fall in the desreved or undeserved hands due to the play of Nature.

Anyway I appreciate, Vinod, for posting a nice reply and it is not my intention to praise and attack the wisdom of the sages and only an attempt to see from the other angle also as some may hv such things in mind and hence my posting in a different way instead of simply following the regular route of praising everything and only by making such argument and counter argument we can improve our knowledge and rectify our mistaken notions and correct ourselves and wade thru the path of spiritualism in a better way and the same need not be taken to wound the feelings of anybody's belief as I am a also a believer in spiritual values as you better know.This had happened even during the period of our geat Acharyas to discuss for and against and came to some conclusion by Sankara with Buddhist monks, and by other seers like Ramanuja and Madhwacharya to propound reasoning in values.Of course we hv not developed to such an extent but to hv an idea of others in

the matter of certain controversies is not a sin.

Hare Krishna,

agraman"PS, Vinod K (GE Energy)" <vinod.ps wrote: