Look Within – Talks on the Bhagavad Gita by Swami Venkatesananda

[Guest guest]

Na hi kascit ksanam api jaatu tisthaty akarmakrit

 

Kaaryate hy avashah karma sarvah prakritijair gunaih

 

`Verily none can ever remain for even a moment without performing

action; for everyone is made to act helplessly indeed by the qualities

born of nature'.

 

Not even a single moment can you be inactive.

 

The expression that `I am doing nothing' is absurd. You cannot

do a thing called nothing!

 

If I am lying down and doing nothing, I am doing – I am lying down.

That is also an action.

 

If I am sleeping, that is also an action. It is not possible to do

nothing – action takes place, action goes on.

 

The fundamental question discussed by Krishna is not `to do or not

to do'. In the Gita, this problem is presented rather a puzzling

way:

 

Akarmanash cha bodhavyam gahana karmano gatih – `Hard to

understand is the nature (path) of action'; Gita 4 verse 17.

 

Krishna says, " you must know what to do and what not to do, because

action is extremely puzzling thing. "

 

We pretend we know what to do and what not to do, but that is not so.

Therefore it is not `to do or not to do' but it goes much deeper

than that – do I do anything at all?

 

That is the question.

 

Am I doing anything? Is there an ego sense, independent of the cosmic

whole that does something?

 

If you have this egoistic notion `I am doing this', you are

wrong; if you entertain the other egoistic notion `I won't do

this', then again you are wrong.

To be continued..