Guest guest Posted July 24, 2002 Report Share Posted July 24, 2002 Bhagavat Gita - 9 The Gospel of dedicated work (Chapter 2 verses 40-53) Having reminded Arjuna of the real nature of man as the eternal Spirit, Sri Krishna now proceeds to declare the disciplines by which one could gradually realise this Divinity inherent in oneself. For, it is a matter of realisation, and not mere talk. Sri Krishna therefore teaches further as follows: " I taught you till now about the philosophy of the Atman. Now hear from me about the doctorine of communion through work. Man is generally after many worldly enjoyments and ambitions, and hearing that they can be secured through Vedic ritualism, he performs various ritualistic works, one after another, hoping for success. Though they may look like acts of piety, they are only expressions of pure worldliness. They make the mind restless and scattered. But if you can work without an eye on their fruits, your mind will get more and more ingathered and concentrated gradually. The more we are motivated by selfish gains in our work, the more we get steeped in worldliness; and the more we work in a spirit of duty without caring for gains, the more we shall get spiritually oriented. You have therefore got the right only to work as a matter of duty, and not to expect any selfish gain from it, if you want to evolve spiritually. But lack of interest in selfish returns should never make you lethargic or slipshod in your work. For, communion through work (Karma Yoga) consists in maximum efficiency combined with detachment. It is for this reason that Karma Yoga is described as " skill in action " . A man who discharges his duty in the manner described, acquires neither merit nor demerit, but evolves spiritually and becomes fit to realise his real nature as the immortal and impervious Atman. He attains to liberation from the trammels of ignorance. When one is free from longings for worldly enjoyments, one gains spiritual conviction and one's intelligence is established in steadiness. " ============================================================================ Based on " Srimad Bhagavat Gita - The Scripture of Mankind " a translation by Rev Swami Tapasyanandaji, published by Sri Ramakrishna Math - Chennai. http://www.sriramakrishnamath.org/ -- --------------- Email: gokulmuthu Webpage: http://www.geocities.com/gokulmuthu/ --------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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