Narayanasramam

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Karma – the Very Pulse of Life by Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha

 

Karma is something that none can escape or eschew. Nature keeps every

living being incessantly active – a point Krishna has already

stressed and substantiated in the 3rd chapter (Karma Yoga). He wants

every one to remain constantly engaged in his own kaarmic life.

 

If karma is thus inevitable, there arises the natural enquiry –

what, then, is to be renounced? Karma-phala alone, is Krishna's

answer. The phala Krishna refers to or implies is certainly not the

object-results of actions. For, these are something that can never be

avoided by anyone.

 

Any karma has its clear objective. When rightly pursued, that objective will be

gained. In fact, the completion of an action is itself, in a way, the emergence

or gaining of its result. Where is the question then of separating the objective

of an action from the action itself?

 

Every objective-result can evoke only one of the three distinct mental responses

– pleasant, unpleasant or a combination of the two. These inner, mental results

alone Krishna wants the seeker to deal with and sublimate. The way to do it has

already been discussed beginning with the 2nd chapter, when he first defined

karma yoga (2.48). The repeated, and hence constant mental sublimation or

evenization of the kaarmic results, has ever since become the focus of his

dialogue. In various words and settings, Krishna has made mention of samatva,

saamya, samabuddhi, sama darsana, driving home their comprehensive relevance and

benefit.

 

While undertaking an action, the actor should not be obsessed by the

possibility of desirable or undesirable or partially desirable result. He must

set his objective and begin his faithful effort to realize the objective. By the

laws of nature and the processes at work, the natural outcome will follow. And

whatever that be, the actor should accept it without any reluctance and be

reconciled to it. Such a reconciling attitude does not in any way adversely

affect the fruition of what he does, rather it is a help and a support for the

right outcome.

 

That the objective effort for the object-result aimed at, gives a

beautiful opportunity to strengthen such a reconciliation, is what every seeker

should repeatedly contemplate upon and understand. Besides the objective effort

and object processes at work, the performer also strives simultaneously for his

subjective, spiritual sublimation and elevation. And this has the sublime effect

of harmonizing his actions, making them more effective and powerful every time.

 

Thus, the process of action and its pursuit should flow naturally and

harmoniously. Not to allow it, or to try to intercept it in one way or another,

will be against the natural scheme of things. This natural attunement,

integration and harmony is what constitutes the essence and enrichment called

sannyaasa, renunciation. Krishna ardently emphasizes this fundamental truth.

 

True asceticism implies arriving at such an inner sublimation and

enrichment, through proper study, reflection and meditation, whatever

may be the circumstantial activity the ascetic is engaged in. The core

attainment is always inner – it is in the nature of mind-sublimation and

mind-enrichment.