gIta sArodhdhAra - English 1

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Dear hari bhaktas

 

Here is shrI Bannur Ramachandra Rao's English notes on the second verse of

the gIta sArodhdhAra. You will recall that we had already published his

translation of the first verse. He has gone beyond a mere translation of what

was provided earlier.

 

hari smaraNe mADo nirantara

madhusudhana bhimasena rao

hunsur sriprasad

 

 

Sloka 2-50

========

 

buddhi yukto jahAtIha ubhE sukRuta dushkRutE

tasmAt yOgAya yujyasva yOgah karmasu kaushalam

 

Word-by-word meaning:

==================

 

buddhiyuktah = one who has the right

knowledge; that is between the persons who perform

actions with a desire for fruit and those without

desire for fruit, the latter have the right knowledge.

 

jahAti iha ubhE sukRuta dushkritE = he shall drop

off the results of his good and bad deeds, that is

'punya' and'pApa' by attaining 'aparOksha' or getting

the vision of the Lord (by HIS GRACE).

 

tasmAt = since it is so

 

yOgAya yujyasva = practice this 'karma yOga'

(yOga = upAya)

 

yOgah karmasu kaushalam = this yOga of

non-desire for the fruits of actions is the

intelligent way of performing 'karma' or one's

actions.

 

Summary:

========

 

Since only actions performed without any desire for

fruit lead to mOxa and those performed with a desire

for fruit do not lead to it, the wise (jnanis or jignasus)

should always perform their actions without any desire

for fruit. This will lead to 'aparoxa jnana' and Moxa.

 

Explanatory notes:

==============

 

Thi sloka should be read with its preceding slokas

starting from 'karmanyEvAdhikArastE...' (2-47) and

ending with ' karmajam buddhi yuktA hi ...' (2-51).

It is the ' nishkAmakarma yOga', the main theme of

chapters 3 to 6, that is stated in these slokas in a

nutshell and sloka 50 is the essence of it all.

(perhaps that is why shrI viShNu tIrtha chose it)

 

All our actions should be performed without any

desire for fruit and as a service to the Lord (having

the concept of His supremacy over all beings). Man

has no control over the fruits of his own actions

and at the same time he cannot indulge in inaction,

because his mind does not stop working even if he

keeps his 'panchendriyas' tied up by force, and the

gItAcharya calls such a person a hypocrite. So, only

performing one's designated actions (vihita karma)

without a desire for fruit (surrendering them as his

'puja') will lead to Moxa through 'aparoxa jnana'

obtained by the grace of the Lord. Such a person

will shed all his accumulated 'punya' and 'pApa'

as soon as He gets the vision of the Lord.

 

Sri Satyadhyanatirtha explains here that there is no

need to retain the 'puNya' even though some may think

it is desirable to shed the 'pApa' and retain the

'puNya'. As an example he states that such 'puNya'

may lead to birth in a family of scholars or in a

rich family with good traditions. But once a person

has qualified for Moxa there is no question of

another birth and enjoying the benefits of such

'punya'. Incidentally, such 'puNya' is called

'anishta puNya' and may be tranferred to others for

their benefit).

 

The second chapter of the Bhagavadgita is said to

contain almost the whole teaching of the Gita which is

elaborated in the remaining chapters. This sloka (or

set of slokas) is one such example. We will see from

the slokas that follow how this theme is carried

forward and elaborated.