Swami Vivekananda on the Message of the Gita

[Guest guest]

From the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 5: 246-49. When the Gita was first preached, there was then going on a great controversy between two sects. One party considered the Vedic rituals (yajnas) and animal sacrifices to constitute the whole of religion. The other preached that the killing of numberless horses and cattle cannot be called religion. The people belonging to the latter party were mostly monks (sannyasins) and followers of the path of knowledge (jnana). They believed that the giving up of all work and the gaining of the knowledge of the Self (atman) was the only path to spiritual freedom (moksha). By the preaching of His great doctrine of work without attachment, the author of the Gita set at rest the disputes of these two antagonistic sects. Many

are of opinion that the Gita was not written at the time of the Mahabharata but was subsequently added to it. This is not correct. The special teachings of the Gita are to be found in every part of the Mahabharata, and if the Gita is to be expunged as forming no part of it, every other portion of it which embodies the same teaching should be similarly treated. Now, what does it mean to work without motive? Nowadays many understand it to mean that we must work in such a way that neither pleasure nor pain touches our minds. If this be its real meaning, then the animals can be said to work without motive. Some animals devour their own offspring and they do not seem to feel any pangs at all in doing so. Robbers ruin other people by robbing them of their possessions; but if they feel quite callous to pleasure or pain, then they also would be working without motive. If the meaning of it be such, then one who

has a stony heart, the worst of criminals, might be considered to be working without motive. The walls have no feelings of pleasure or pain, neither has a stone, but it cannot be said that they work without motive. In the above sense the doctrine is a potent instrument in the hands of the wicked. They would go on doing wicked deeds, and would pronounce themselves as working without a motive. If such be the significance of working without a motive, then a fearful doctrine has been put forth by the Gita. Certainly this is not the meaning. Furthermore, if we look into the lives of those who were connected with the preaching of the Gita, we should find them living quite a different life. Arjuna killed Bhishma and Drona in battle, but withal, he sacrificed all his self-interest and desires and his lower self millions of times. The Gita teaches karma yoga. All work must be done with

concentration (yoga). In such concentration in action (karma yoga), there is no consciousness of the lower ego present. The consciousness that "I am doing work" is never present when one works through yoga. Westerners do not understand this. They say that if there be no consciousness of ego, if this ego is gone, how then can a person work? But when we work with concentration, losing all consciousness of ourselves, the work that is done is infinitely better. Every one may have experienced this in their own lives. We do many things unconsciously, such as the digestion of food etc. We do other things consciously, and some things we do by becoming immersed in Samadhi, as it were, when there is no consciousness of the ego. If painters lose the consciousness of their egos and become completely immersed in painting, they will be able to produce masterpieces. Good cooks concentrate their whole self on the

food-material they handle; they lose all other consciousness for the time being. But people are able to work perfectly in this way only in fields they specialize in. The Gita teaches that every work should be done in that way. Those who are one with the Lord through Yoga do all work by becoming immersed in concentration. They do not seek any personal benefit. Such a performance of work brings only good to the world, no evil can come out of it. Those who work thus never do anything for themselves. The result of every work is mixed with good and evil. There is no good work that has not a touch of evil in it. Like smoke round the fire, some evil always clings to work. We should engage in those activities that bring the largest amount of good and the smallest amount of evil. One example of this is the killing of Bhishma and Drona by Arjuna. If this had not been done, Duryodhana could not have been conquered, the

force of evil would have triumphed over the force of good, and thus a great calamity would have fallen on the country. The government of the country would have been usurped by a body of proud unrighteous kings, to the great misfortune of the people. Another example is the killing of Kamsa, Jarasandha, and other tyrants by Sri Krishna. Not a single one of Krishna’s deeds was done for himself. Every one of them was for the good of others. We are reading the Gita by candle-light but, at the same time, many insects are being burnt to death. Thus it is seen that some evil clings to even good work no matter what. Those who work without any consciousness of their lower ego are not affected with evil, for they work for the good of the world. To work without motive, to work unattached, brings the highest bliss and freedom. This secret of karma yoga is taught by Sri Krishna in the Gita.

Cheap Talk? Check out Messenger's low PC-to-Phone call rates.