Panchajanyam hrshikesah-karmayoga

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Krishna told Arjuna to fight and do his duty without attachment ,

which itself is baffling to Arjuna in his present state of mind , and

in the same breath Krishna explains the path of renunciation by

describing the state of the sthithaprajna. Arjuna now raises a

legitimate doubt about the real intention of Krishna and says

vyamisreneva vaakyena buddhim mohayaseeva me meaning, " I don't

think that this is your intention but it looks as though you want to

confuse me, by extolling about the path of knowledge after insisting

the importance of doing my duty. " He asks Krishna that if the path of

jnana is superior, why should Krishna goad him to fight, which is

dreadful, tatkim karmani ghore maam niyojayasi Kesava. Then Arjuna

asks Krishna not to beat around the bush and tell him which is good

for him, sankhya the path of knowledge or yoga the path of

action.    

Like an eminent physician Krishna has given Arjuna a shot

in the arm to bring down the fever of despondency by describing to

him the state of realization in which one attains peace. This has

brought him out of his delusion about dharma dharmasammoodachetaah ,

but he is now confused as to what is good for him , the path of

knowledge or that of action. Anyway, confusion is better than

delusion! Now the doctor is ready to treat the patient by milder

doses of medicine and Krishna gave Arjuna a glimpse of the ideal to

be attained in order to take his mind away from his dilemma, namely,

katham Bhishmam aham sankhye Dronam ca ishubhih pratiyothsyami " How

can I fight Bhihma and Drona. " Now Arjuna is ready to take normal

advice as he is out of his delirium.

There are two courses of spiritual discipline, says

Krishna, the path of knowledge and the path of action .This is not

left to the choice of the individual. One cannot decide that from

tomorrow onwards he will give up all actions and follow the path of

renunciation unless he is capable of doing so. Here it should be

noted that Krishna has not repudiated the superiority of knowledge to

action but what He means is that the two are to be practised by

different agents.

Unless one is ready for renunciation it is not possible

to give up action. If Krishna has confirmed that the path of

knowledge is superior, Arjuna would have been delighted because it is

exactly what he wanted. The path of karma which involved fighting is

what he detested. Krishna is not going to help him to take an easy

way out and tells him that mere abstention from work is not

renunciation. Man does not attain freedom from karma by giving it up

because it is virtually impossible to remain inactive. How a man acts

depends upon his propensities  and if he controls his senses and

refrain from action he will be mentally dwelling on the sense

objects . Such a man is vimoodaatma and mithyaachaara, says Krishna,

he is a deluded person and a hypocrite.Therefore action is superior

to inaction.

Now what is Karmayoga? Yastvindriyaani manasaa

niyamyaarabyate Arjuna karmendriyaihi karmayogam asaktah sa

visishyate , says Krishna. One who controls his senses through his

mind and does his allotted duty with detachment is a karmayogi .This

is not as easy as it seems to be. Krishna gives a clue. Do

everything with the spirit of sacrifice, because,  man is bound by

his action except when it is performed for the sake of sacrifice

yajnaarthaath karmano anyathra loko ayam karmabhandhanah. The word

yajna is translated as sacrifice which normally taken to mean the

ritual of yaaga as enjoined in the Vedas. But it is the spirit with

which it is done is meant here and not the mere ritual.

 

Yajna was created along with man, says, Krishna, so that

man can prosper by it. Anena prasavishtyadhvam eshavo asthu

ishtakaamadhuk, `You shall prosper by this; may this yield the

enjoyment you seek.' Yajnaas elaborated in the karmakanda of the

Vedas are supposed to yield the fruit for which they were

performed. The same done without attachment brings about release from

the bondage of karma. To understand this one has to know something

about the way yajnaas are performed.

 

Yajna in those days was a cooperative endeavour

undertaken for the welfare of the society. It was done by the people

from all the varnas, which were formed on the basis of the division

of labour and not birth. Brahmanas were so called because they were

the custodians of the knowledge of the Vedas which culminates in the

realization of Brahman. The word Brahman in Sanskrit denotes the

Absolute Reality, veda and yajna. Hence they were in charge of

conducting the yajna, or the priests. Kshathriyas were those who

protect the people from enemies and maintain law and order. The king,

a kshathriya was usually the yajamaana, the master of the ceremony,

as he had the authority to organize. Vaisyas were the men of trade

who supplied the commodities needed by the society an they were in

charge of providing the materials for the yajna. Sudras were the

unskilled labourers doing the manual work. All contribute their share

towards the success of the yajna and what is left over as the result

of the yajna is distributed equally to all.

 

Now, if we examine the words of Krishna, ishtaan bhogaan

hi vo devaah dhasyanthe yajnabhaavithaah, `fostered by sacrifice the

gods will give all the desired results' which only mean that if we do

our duty towards devas, the powers behind the natural elements they

will be kind to us and bestow their bountiful blessings.. We seem

to be learning this the hard way, judging by the state of affairs at

present.

 

Krishna then sets out to describe the wheel of creation.

Annaath bhavanthi bhoothaani parjanyaath annasambhavah yajnaath

bhavathi parjanyah yajnah karmasamudhbhavah, All beings are evolved

from food; production of food is dependent on rain; rain ensues from

sacrifice, and sacrifice is rooted in action and yajna, which is

Brahmodbhava, has its origin in the Vedas. The fact that every action

culminates in Brahman is denoted by karma brahmodbhavam viddhi

brahmaaksharasamudbhavam; thasmaath sarvaghatham brahma nithyamyajne

prathishtitham. Vedas proceed from akshara, the indestructible

reality, Brahman. Hence the all pervading reality, Brahman   is

always present in sacrifice, yajna.

 

Krishna further insists the necessity of doing one's duty

and says that one who does not perform his duty with a spirit of

sacrifice is aghaayuh,indhriyaaraamah, sinful and sensual, and his

life is worthless. These words emphasise the importance of working in

harmony with the world, selfless and without attachment, which is

Karmayoga, elaborated subsequently.

Karmayoga alone is to be followed by one who has not

attained jnana. To a sthithaprajna, however, there is no duty

because he has no desire for anything as he does not depend upon any

thing for his happiness, being delighted in the Self alone.

Aatmanyevachasanthushtah thasya kaaryam na vidhyathe. Therefore,

Krishna advises Arjuna to do his duty without attachment in order to

attain the Supreme; asakthohyaacharan karma paramaapnothi poorushah.

Here Krishna  cites he example of Janaka, the father of Sita , who

was an example of karmayogi. It is said that Janaka was not at all

perturbed when someone told him, just to test his detachment, that

his palace was in flames. He seemed to have said that he owned

nothing in this world as everything belongs to God. And that God's

will be done. Janaka and others like him, says Krishna attained

perfection without renouncing their works. They went on doing their

duty for the welfare of the world because yadhyadhaacharathi sreshtah

thaththadhevetharo janaah, the world follows the doings of the

foremost man and conforms to the standards set by him.

 

It should be remembered that throughout the discourse of

Gita Krishna was not talking as the son of Devaki but only as the

Supreme Self .In the same vein He is saying now Na me Partha asthi

karthavyamthrishu lokeshu kimchana naanavaptham avaapthavyam vartha

eva cha karmani , " There is nothing for me to do in all the three

worlds but still I am incessantly working though there is nothing to

be obtained by me by doing so. " Krishna gives two reasons for doing

so. First as Krishnavasudeva, He is the leader of His times and in

accordance with His own saying `yadhyadhaacharathi sreshtah' He is

bound to set an example to others. Secondly, speaking as the Lord

Almighty, if He stops His work, namely sustaining the world He

Himself created there will be chaos all around. Even to a nonbeliever

it is an undisputable fact that the world follows a certain order and

functions in a pattern which requires some Super Intelligence, call

it God or by any other name, but its existence is unquestionable. So,

when Krishna says `uthsedhyuh ime lokaah na kuryaam karma

chedhaham' " If I cease to act these worlds will perish " He is

talking as the Supreme Self.

 

Krishna, even as a son of Devaki, was an example of a

sthithaprajna, when we consider the exploits and behaviour, which no

ordinary human being is capable of. He was portrayed in Bhagavatha in

exactly the same way as He himself describes a realized soul,

jeevanmuktha in Bhagavatgita. Rama says to Kaikeyi `Rshibhisthulyam

maam vidhdhi', " Know me to be similar to a sage " , to show His

equanimity on being told to give up the throne and go to the forest.

Krishna lived as He said in Ramaavathaara.-(It is not the other way

round like some people say. It is partly in answer to Arjuna's

question in the seccnd chapter of the Gita, `sthithadheeh kim

prabashetha samaaseetha vrajetha kim', " How does a sthitha

prajna  speaks, acts and lives, " Krishna now says, Sakthaah

karmanyavidhvaamso yathaa kurvanthi bhaaratha kuryaathvidhvaan

thathaasakthah chikeershshurlokasangraham,  the enlightened one would

act in exactly the same way as an unenlightened but without

attachment.

 

But should not the wise teach the unwise to be detached?

No, says Krishna, because it would only unsettle mind of the latter

to give advice before he is ready for it. So a  wise man should only

encourage the worldly men to do their duty and should not turn them

away from it.

..

Those who do not have the knowledge that all actions are

the result of interaction of gunas within us and the gunas of the

objects outside, are deluded by egoism and think `I am the doer.' The

wise who have the true insight into the respective spheres of

gunas, the modes of prakrthi, and their actions, do not get attached

to their actions `gunaa guneshu varthantha ithi mathva na saajjathe.'

Though the actions of the enlightened seem to be no different than

the others it is the attitude that differentiates them. The life of

Krishna was an excellent example of this fact. ( vide: mypage-epic-

yadhavaabhyudhaya, where significance of Krishnaavathaara will be

brought out.)

 

How to cultivate the attitude `gunaaguneshu

varthantha?'  W hen one gets anger he thinks " I am angry " and does

not say that his anger is the interplay of rajas and thamas in him

towards those outside When one learns to stand apart and views his

actions as an outsider he will be aware of the gunas, the

constituents of his body and mind, moving among those of the sense

objects outside, producing the various emotions, with which he

identifies himself. Krishna shows the way to do this `Mayi sarvaani

karmaani sanyasyadhyaathmachethasaa niraaseernirmamao

bhoothva.' " Dedicate all your actions to Me, " He says " with your

mind fixed on Me, the self of all, thus freed from desire and ego,

act on in the world. "

 

The doctrine of Karmayoga, about which Krishna is

advising Arjuna, is based on the scriptural authority and has to be

followed, says Krishna, by those who are sraddhaavanthah and

anasooyanthah, unenvious and devout. Those who find fault with this

teaching(asooyanthah) or have no faith will be deluded and lost. We

see that even in worldly affairs as when one wants to find his way to

a destination, one must have faith in following the directions given

or he gets lost. It is much more so if one aspires for spiritual

progress. But Krishna talks with compassion and says that it is not

very easy to exercise self control necessary for Karmayoga because

even a man of knowledge tends to act according to his natural

inclinations depending on the three gunas within. Sadhrsam

cheshtathesvasyaah prakrtherjnanvaanapi. Hence external restraint is

of no use unless the inner equipment, consisting of mind and

intellect, is trained with the discipline of discrimination and

detachment, viveka and vairagya. So, Krishna tells Arjuna, a man

should never allow raga and dvesha, attraction and repulsion  to

overpower him because they are like highwaymen on the path of

perfection. Indhriyasyindhriyasyaarthe ragadveshou vyavasthithou

thayornavasamaagaccheth thou hyasya paripanthinou.

 

 Thus the root of all evil as explained in the

sloka  dhyaayath vishayaan pumsah while describing the sthithaprajna

are  pinpointed here again. Then comes the oft quoted stanza of the

gita, sreyaan svadhrmo vigunah paradharmmth svanushtithaath svadharme

nidhanam sreyah paradharmo bhayaavahah.  This was not only oft quoted

but also often misinterpreted. Those who want to perpetuate the cast

system quote this to suit their purpose. The meaning of the

sloka, `one's own duty, though devoid of merit is preferable to that

of another,  though more meritorious,' is often misconstrued to mean

that one should stick on to the work or kind of life with which he

is born and should not strive to come up in life. They quote the

words paradharmo bhayaavahah, another's duty is fraught with fear. .

 

There is no other word more misunderstood in sanskrit

than the word svadharma,. It really means the work suited to one's

own nature, which may change as the individual changes. It is not

uncommon to find that a person qualified to be an engineer, for

instance, turn out to be a successful businessman because he has the

inborn talents to become one, or a man giving up his successful

profession and choose a less lucrative one because his attitude has

changed. So svadharma is what naturally comes to you and not

something which others do, however tempting it may appear to

be.  Here in the context Arjuna wanted to give up his svsdharma

which is that of a warrior and Krishna points out that to leave his

duty as a kshathriya is dangerous as he will come to ruin as he is

not fit for other life, say, that of a sanyasi.

 

Arjuna expresses a wish to know more about the

highwaymen, raga and dvesha so that he can avoid them. He observes

that men commit sin as though impelled by some great force even

though they know that it is wrong and asks Krishna the reason for

this. A sin is something which you feel guilty of doing. Every one

has an intellect which tells him what is right and what is wrong. A

sinner is the one who goes and does something fully well knowing that

it is wrong.

 

Kama and krodha, coupled as one, is the formidable enemy

of man, says Krishna. Kama esha krodha esha rajogunasamudhbhavah ,

born out of rajas. The craving for something is kama which changes to

krodha when obstructed. Hence they are not two but one,. Incited by

which, man commits sin. The knowledge of right and wrong becomes

obscured by this craving for the object of desire and hence Kama is

called jnaninah nithyavairi, the perpetual foe of man. Wisdom becomes

obscured by desire as the fire is by the smoke, mirror by dirt and

the embryo by the womb. Dhoomenaavriyathe vahnih yathaadharso

malenacha yatho ulbena aavrtho garbah thathaathenedhamaavrtham.

Aavrtho jnanamethena jnaanino niyhyavairinaa. The desire is

insatiable like fire. This is why it is termed as a formidable and

perpetual enemy of man. Desire never becomes extinguished by

fulfilling it. On the other hand it only increases like fire being

fed with fuel.

 

The three analogies given to describe the obscuration of wisdom

by desire are significant. First is the fire being obscured by smoke.

This denotes a nature predominant of satthva where the wisdom is

slightly obscured as the fire with smoke. Once the smoke clears of

its own accord the fire becomes visible. Similarly a person who is of

saathvik temperament needs only a little help from the sastras or his

guru to clear his ignorance which is only slight like smoke that

conceals the fire. The next example of mirror covered with dust

refers to one who has more rajas and thamas due to karma accumulated

in the past lives. It takes time for a mirror to become covered with

dust. This can be removed only through persistent effort like

cleaning a mirror with a cloth. That is the wisdom can be acquired

only through diligent spiritual discipline. The third example of the

foetus being concealed in the womb is applicable to those whose

nature is predominant of thamas. The ignorance is so great that it

can be removed only in course of time just as the baby is born only

at the appropriate time.

 

The first step towards fighting the enemy consists in

locating him. Krishna points out that the senses, mind and intellect

are abode of desire and hence the control of these is the only way to

vanquish and destroy this foe of man who hides behind the senses,

mind and intellect using them as his fortress deludes the embodied

soul by obstructing jnana and vijnana, knowledge and realization

 

Krishna then proceeds to show the way to control the

body, mind and intellect in order to conquer desire. Indhriyaani

paraanyaahuh indriyebhyah param manah manasasthu paraa bhaudhdhiih yo

budhdheh parathasthu saha evem bhudhdheh param bhudhdhvaa

samsthabhyaathmaanamaathmanaa jahi sathrum mahaabhaaho kaamaroopam

dhurasadham. The senses are said to be greater than the body but

greater than the senses is the mind. Intellect is greater than the

mind but the Self is the greatest of all. Therefore the inaccessible

enemy in the form of desire can only be destroyed by resorting to the

support of the Atman, the Self.

 

 

To understand this we must examine the process by which

the desire overpowers man. Does Krishna advise that one should wish

for nothing in life and live like a vegetable? No! It is absolutely

alright to have a wish for something or enjoy anything with which the

senses come into contact. But, as already explained in the previous

chapter only when the mind dwells upon the object it becomes desire.

So mind is more powerful than the senses. But even then the

intellect has got the power to turn one away from the object of

desire. To do this the intellect should identify itself with the self

and not with the mind. This is what Krishna means by saying,

samsthabhyaathmanamaathmana, controlling the intellect by the power

of the. Self, Atmashakthi. How to acquire this is explained by

Krishna in the subsequent chapters of the Gita. .