Panchajanyam Hrshikesah-chapter25-adhayaya18

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Chapter25- Action, knowledge and agency

 

 

What is action and how and why is it performed?

The answer is given in the forthcoming verses.

 

aDhishTAnam thaThA karthA karaNam cha prthagvidham

viviDhAscha prthakcheshta dhaivam chaivAthra panchamam

(BG.18-14)

 

SareeravAngmanobhiryath karma prArabhathe narah

nyAyyam vA vipatreetham vA panchaithe thasya hEthavah

(BG. 18-15)

 

Whatever action is undertake by man, with his body, mind or

intellect, whether right or wrong, that is, enjoined by the

sasthras or forbidden, there are five causes that help the

accomplishment of an action. They are, the seat of action, the

agent, sense organs, different and distinctive functions of the

vital air and the divinity as the fifth.

1. The seat of action is the body, which is the conglomeration of

the five elements because all actions are performed only through the

body, words or mind.

2. The agent is the individual self who is also the knower.

3. The sense organs are the instruments of action

4. The functions of the vital airs sustain the body and the sense

organs.

5.The divinity the supreme self is the inner ruler who is the main

cause in completing an action.

 

The Supreme self is the controller of the agency of the individual

self, who is supported and empowered by the former. Those with

perverted mind does not see this at all.

 

On the other hand,

 

Yasya nAhamkrtho bhavahbuddiryasyasna lipyahte

HatthvApi sa imAn lokAnna hanthai na nibhadhDhyathe.

(BG.18-17)

 

 

" The one to whom no sense of agency belong is not tainted by the

actions and he is not bound even if he kills all these men, " says

Krishna to make Arjuna understand that he is not the slayer of

Bheeshma etc. but only an instrument in the hands of the Lord as it

was said by Krishna in the adhyaya11, `mayaivaithe nihathAh

poorvameve nimitthamAthram bhava savyasAchin, ` that is the emn

iffront of Arjuna were already killed by the Lord and Arjuna is only

a pretext for the destruction.

 

Now Krishna explains how the action is induced and what are the

constituents of action.

 

Knowledge, jnanam, the knowable, jneyam and the knower, parijnAthA

are the inducement to work while, the instrument ,work and the agent

are the constituents of work. Among these action itself, karma,

which is the object of knowledge, jneya, is briefly described as

three-fold., namely , the instrument , agent and action.

 

The knowledge of one who sees unity in diversity is sAtthvika and

that which makes one see the diversity as if it is separate is

rajasik and the thAmasik knowledge is the one which creates a

clinging to the particular as though it is the whole. This clinging

to a particular thing as if it alone matters is normally found in

people who crave for worldly things like power or wealth etc. But it

could exist even about good things which becomes an obsession. In

Srimadbhagavatham the Lord says that if one worships Him and does

the rituals but shows no love towards His creations is not dear to

the Lord and such a person will not get the fruit of his pious acts.

 

There is a story to illustrate this. A man was praying earnestly to

God to come in front of him and God appeared in his dream and told

him that He would come the next day. The man prepared all things for

worship and to offer to God and waiting anxiously. Then a beggar

came to his door but he had no patience lest God might walk in any

time and drove him away. Next an old woman came asked for food and

even her he turned out because he was waiting for God and could not

waste time in looking after her needs. It was nearly night and still

there was no sign of God and lastly a weary traveller came to his

door and asked shelter for the night. The man was furious and

showed him the door. Then the day ended and he went to bed

disappointed. God appeared to him in his dream and the man asked God

why did He not come as promised. God replied, " I came to you thrice

but you sent me away! "

 

Next the action is classified threefold.

 

Niyatham sangarahitham arAgadhveshathah krtham

aphalaprepsunA karma yath thath sAthvikam uchyathe

(BG.18-23)

 

An obligatory action done without hatred and desire and with

detachment and not expecting result is sAthyvik. The same idea has

been elucidated in the earlier sloka `kAryamithyeva yath karma---`

(BG.!8-9)

 

Yatthu kAmepsnA karma sAhamkAreNa vapunah

Kriyathe bahulAyAsam thadhrAjasam udhAhrtham

(BG.18-24)

 

Any action done by exerting oneself for gaining the fruit of desire

or out of pride and arrogance is rAjasik.

 

The thAmasika action on the other hand is started with a deluded

intellect, without worrying about the consequences, or loss or

injury to others is thAmasik. It is done purely on selfish motive

relentless of who gets hurt or what is lost as a result.

 

Of the three inducements to action mentioned earlier, jnanam is the

knowledge explained above whole the jneyam is the karma known

through the knowledge and the agent of action karthA is the

parijnAtha the knower.

 

Now the agent of action , kartha is classified.

 

The sAthvik agent is the one who has given up attachment,

mukthasangah, is without ego, anahamvAdhee and is endowed with

firmness and zeal. He is not affected by success or failure. This is

because he has given up the sense of agency.

 

The one who is moved with desire with expectation of fruit, greedy,

harmful to others and impure in his thoughts is rAjasiK agent of

action.

 

A thAmasik doer is one who is unqualified, unrefined, stubborn,

depraved, dishonest, indolent despondent and procrastinating.

 

The actions are directed by the intellect which is also classified

into three, the intellect which has a clear perception of what is

right and wrong, that which is riddled with doubt and has no clear

notion and the intellect which has perverted notion and imagines the

wrong to be right and vice versa are sAthvik, rAjasik and thAmasik

respectively.

 

All actions are undertaken with the expectation of joy and no one

proceed to do something which will bring him unhappiness. But the

concept of joy and sorrow differs according to the temperament and

to enjoy eternal joy one must have a right idea of joy.

 

There are two paths prescribed to man, one is that of preyas and the

other is that of Sreyas. The former is the pleasant course of action

but not conducive to spiritual welfare. The latter is not pleasant

or easy to follow but secures permanent happiness in the end. Hence

Krishna classifies even the joy as threefold.

 

Yadhagre visham iva pariNAme amrthopamam

Thathsukham sAthvikam proktham Athma buddhiprasAdhajam

(BG.18-37)

 

That which is like poison at first but becomes like nectar in the

end born from the serene state of mind focusing on the self, is

sAthvik pleasure.

 

vishayendhriyasamyogAth yath thath agre amrthopamam

pariNAme visham iva thath sukham rAjasam smrtham

 

That pleasure arising from the sense contacts with the objects ,

which is like nectar at first but turns out to be like poison in the

end is rAjasik.

 

Any discipline conducive to spiritual welfare is difficult to pursue

and hence like poison in the beginning but when it starts yielding

results it is like nectar. But the one who is full of desire and

enjoys his life goes on and on in to a cycle birth and death, never

getting a respite from samsara.

 

Even in the worldly sense all that fetch longstanding joy are

distasteful in the beginning like working hard to become successful

or to study hard to pass with flying colours. Only the one who

sacrifices his comforts in his youth, may he be a student or a

business man, is able to enjoy later the fruit of his labour . On

the contrary, one who enjoys his life while young comes to grief in

his old age either due to disease or due to poverty.

 

Yadhagre cha anubanDhe acha sukham mohanam Athamanah

nidhrAlasya pramAdhottham thath thAmasam udhAhrtham

(BG.18-39)

 

That pleasure which is deluding both in the beginning and in the

end, like that of sleep laziness and or mistaken notion is thAmasik.

These may delude the individual into feeling happy but it is not a

real joy but a delusion. Typical example can be that of a drunkard

or drug addict.

 

Next Krishna shows that the attitudes and actions of people in

general follows the three gunas. This is just an elucidation of the

earlier statement,

 

chathurvarNyam mayA srshtam guNathrayavibhAgaSah

(BG.4-13)

 

Krishna here describes the attributes of the four varnas according

to the three gunas.

 

Samo dhamah thapah Soucham kshAnthih Arjavam eva cha

jnAnam vijnAnam Asthikyam brahmakarma svabhAvajam

(BG.18-42)

 

The nature of actions of a brahmana is described as that consisting

of control of senses and the mind, austerity, purity, forbearance,

uprightness, knowledge, and application of it and faith.

 

Souryam thejo Dhrthih dhakshyam yuddhe cha apalAyab nam

dhAnam eesvarabhAvascha kshAthram karma svabhAvajam

(BG.18-43)

 

Valour, invincibility, steadiness, adroitness, and non-fleeing from

battle, generosity and lordliness are the traits of a kshathriya.

 

Krishih gorakshyavANijyam vaiSyakarma svabhAvajam

paricharyAthmakam karma SudhrasyApi svabhAvajam

(BG.18-44)

Agriculture, cattle-breeding and trade are the natural duties for a

vaisya and for sudhra it is one of service.

 

So whichever karma that is natural to one is due to the texture of

the three qualities that makes the individual and this makes it all

the more clear that the varnas are by nature of the individual and

not by birth.

 

Each one should take up the work which is suitable for his

disposition and aspire for salvation through that only, by doing it

as worship.

 

Neat comes the sloka which was misinterpreted often and was the

cause of the evil that is perpetrated by the caste system.

 

SreyAn svadharmO vigunah paradharmAth vanushtithAth

svabhAva niyatham karma kurvan Apnothi kilbisham

(BG.18-47)

 

Better is one's own duty, however badly done than that of another

because by doing his duty ordained by his nature no one incurs stain.

Krishna has explained so far about doing work as worship and the

work which comes naturally to one is that to be undertaken. So there

is no mention about doing the work which is assigned to the caste in

which one is born because the caste- distinction is man-made and

has no sanction of the scriptures.

 

Here it should be noted that Arjuna wanted to give up his duty as a

kshathriya because it involved killing of his elders and opted for

the life of a hermit and Krishna, in saying that his own work ,

though considered to be faulty is better than that of another ,

namely that of a recluse, though it may seem to be superior. The

reason for this is given in the next sloka.

 

Sahajam karma kountheya sadhoshamapi na thayajeth

sarvArambhA hi dhosheNadhoomerAgnirivAvrthAh

BG.18-48)

 

One should not relinquish one's own work, though it may be imperfect

because all work is enveloped by imperfections as the fire with

smoke.

 

The meaning is that any work undertaken may be difficult at first

and may present a picture that the grass is greener on the other

side. It is usually the case in the world. Everyone complains about

his lot and thinks that the other man is doing a much simpler job

and getting better results. but when he switches jobs he finds that

he was not cut out for it and finds himself to be a square peg in a

round hole. This is most important in students when they select a

course of study just because that presents a possibility of getting

more lucrative jobs, instead of pursuing course for which they have

the aptitude. This they do out of their own desire or by the

persuasion of their parents.

 

Spiritually speaking, it means that till one is ready for jnanayoga

karma yoga is the best. Krishna elaborates on the jnana yoga next

and culminates His discourse by extolling bhakthiyoga.