Our un-surpassing desire for any achievements or result engage us in actions, which is termed in Sanskrit as KARMA. Often KARMA is defined as KAMA YOGA but there is hale and heaven difference between KARMA and KARMA YOGA, this need to be understood through an unbiased and logical mind.
to have a clear understanding; as in all action i.e. according to the said verse KARMA has three aspects, Actor, Action and Fruit of the Action. The Actor is the cause of the Action and similarly Action remains the cause of the Fruit of the Action.
Merely because one is dreaming a result of action doesn’t make you the cause of the result of action. Like bricks is the cause, building is the effect. Cause means the reason, the reason of something. So “Ma karmaphal heturbhu” defining us that a person cannot be the reason of the result of the action. Result of the action is produced by the action not by the doer. Your art of action will produce the result. One may expect any result but don’t have any choice and authority to produce the result. That’s what the first line is clarifying therefore if one doesn’t have choice and authority on action then one feel like not doing anything. So predominantly there is a possibility that one may become idle. “Akarmani” means idleness; don’t be attached to the idleness. When one doesn’t have any choice of result, whatever be the result may come or not. This may lead you to inaction (idleness).
Then a doubt appears and a sense of demotivation prevails that why one should do the work?
That’s not also the right approach. It’s also not right to consider oneself as the reason and cause of the result. The cause of the result is one’s action but not the doer of the action. In the stand point of “cause and effect theory” this may better to understand that it’s oneself, who is the cause and action is the effect; action is the cause similarly the result is the effect. You cannot straight jump unto produce the result.
Question: How can the person decide that the particular action is that right action or wrong action for him to do?
Answer: We have seen Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha the four human goals. Dharma is the first goal, Dharma means balancing these two artha and kama in a very right and harmonious manner. Now what is right action and wrong action you don’t required any theory. You do only action. You hear that call from your within. Inside there is the call, you always hear the call, this is wrong thing I am doing, this is right thing that I suppose to.
Question: Yes, I agree that but the sound is always post performance not prior to that, so how to judge that?
Answer: Yes that’s predominant in post performance but it’s not true that there is no call prior to the action. But in fact the call is equally present prior to the action in similar pitch. So why don’t we feel that because we are so engrossed and infatuated to action (and expectation of its forthcoming fruit), which we carry out that under certain impulses, which do not make us to hear that. But who is making that call. That’s the inner conscience who is always guiding us while in conflict between right and wrong. As we have become habitual to ignore that call, so the presence of that has become insignificant. In Sanskrit that is called “vivek”. In English called the discriminative knowledge. Vivek means conscience. More you are loyal to your conscience, more that’s proactively guides you. When you do some work which is contrary to the conscience, you will hear a unhappy sound within you, if you do good work you will get good feeling from within you. So where you get the good feeling that is the right work. The permanent good feeling, the permanent happiness, from which of the work you get permanent happiness that is the right.
I said there are the two bulls fighting inside you. One bull is the good bull and other is the bad bull. Now its up to you, which bull you feed more. The bull, which you feed, more, that become powerful. If you feed bad bull then bad bull always win within you. And you become the differentially wrong person. So if you feed the good bull, then the good bull be winner and you will become the righteous person. This depends upon you.
So the Karma theory says that “ te karmani eva adhikarah”, karmani is the plural form of Karma. As the Gita says that we have the only choice of actions. We have choices of different karma, multiple variey of karma. From morning to night, night to next morning, you have to perform the series of Karma. Thus is called regular karma, which you do regularly. In Sanskrit which is called “nitya karma”. Apart from that you have to perform some special Karma, which you have to do occasionally, that which is called “nitya neymittik karma”
As you can choice your actions, so also you can change that too. Suppose you have decided to change the pursuit of life like by opting the monastic vows then need not to participate in any social functions. Neither in marriage nor in funerals ceremony. There is no obligatory karma for you as one performs having been in the society. You have changed the pursuit of the life. Therefore there is no responsibility of doing so, because you have taken Sannyas. The Sannyas meas, you are socially dead. This is the social death.
Like for us India is our country but for a monk there is no country. A monk has no nationality. A monk has to pray for Pakistan too, so to pray for India. Pakistan doesn’t mean only the military and the government. Countrymen should not be suffered, as every countryman is the manifestation of Supreme Self. Even though the military and government are there but always we should respect the humanity, the manifestation of Supreme Self.
Why there is international pressure and its significance upon doctrine of Karma?
The international community has the moral right to impress upon any nation if there is violation of human rights. So when Indian Pilot, Abhinanda Varthaman was captured, when his aircraft was collapsed on the Pakistani land. Although he has driven the aircraft and destroyed the Pakistani aircraft but that was not the decision of the pilot. This is the decision of the government. He was mere doing the duty by adherence to the command of the order.
He is doing his duty. Even the Bhagwat Gita Verse 35 Chapter 3 gives injunction that for doing the duty there is no Adharma. That’s what he says “karmani eva adhikarste” there is some obligatory duty, soldiers have license to kill enemies when they are on duty. But we have not. Even there is an enemy I know that fellow is the enemy of my country I can not kill him. I have to handover him to judiciary through law enforcement agency. But the army has given the authority to kill him. And for killing hundreds of enemies they are not going to suffer any adverse consequences with respect to the result of action. So what is the karma that one should do like that pilot, as he merely did his duty. This is not his choice. His choice is the choice according to the arm forces. And the political leadership of a nation bestowed it’s choice upon arms forces choice. What’s the right or wrong all the result of the action goes to credit of the political leadership. And political leadership is also not going to suffer because they are mandated by the people of the country to protect the nation. As Dharma Shashtra tells us that consensual decision of the sum total of mass is the decision of God.
Why you have only choice of action not the choice of result?
Because the choice of result is partially align with the art of your action and partially in the hands of intelligent force of nature, which we call God or Ishwara. The Intelligent force of the nature influences while producing the result of the action. Therefore the influence by the intelligent force of nature is uniformly upon any actions to produce it’s result. For instance, you might have noticed that some time a glass is fallen on the floor but it’s not broken. Sometime glass is on the table and some slight touch upon it resulted into crack of pieces. Your art of action is small but the result is big. How? The intelligent force of the nature put it’s higher degree of force into that to produce the result and it’s destroyed, which apparently may look as a disproportionate result. If it has fallen from the hand. Your force is more but the intelligent force of nature is very minimal or insignificant that’s why glass is not broken. So each and every result of actions is produced by the sum total of two types of force as discussed. Therefore The result of the action is depending on
(1) The art of your actions and
(2) Intelligent force of the nature.
Otherwise you see two same car is produced from the same factory, came to the showroom. The showroom released them but after releasing from the showroom after half of the mile one of the cars is burnt. How it has been burnt?
Same quality control and production has given the full certification despite of that why it has happened?
You have no answer. The intelligent force of nature worked upon the car some different manner. That’s what in Sanskrit its called (1) Drishtafala (2) Adristfala . Drista means what you can see, adrista means what you can not see, ‘Adristfala’. People say in the village and all this what is written in our fate. That is adrista. Meaning is that how intelligent force work upon you. You decide to do anything and you can do anything. But there is no guarantee, is this going to happen? There is no guarantee what the result will come. You can plan for everything, even can plan for next hundred years but you don’t know what’s going to happen in next moment.
You can plan to fly, you can go to airport, you can catch the flight and the flight will reach to the destination or not it depends on partially upon the pilot and rest upon the intelligent force of nature. And the both the things go together in the manner then you will reach safely. This is very complicated things. And its always you cannot guarantee anything there is no guarantee in life. There is two guarantee only, you will born and you will die. There is alphabet ‘B’ and ‘D’ and between that there is ‘C’, the connectivity with choice. The rest is your choice. But your choice how it will work? That also depending on somebody’s choice. Who is the somebody else?
The nature. The nature’s intelligent force is the choice. That’s what its said when there is a dristfala and adristfala , how it will act upon. What result will produce. What you don’t know. In that case he says to be serious into your performance don’t be dismissive being attached by the idleness. Even if you act with hundred percent skill and force in order to the possibility of getting the best result but the ultimate may be anything.
But you must know there is the four results always. This is the guarantee; there is four range of result of any actions.
What are the ranges of result?
(1) What you expect equal to that.
(2) What you expect less than that.
(3) What you expect more than that.
(4) What you expect opposite to that.
These are the four ranges of result. There is no fifth variety. You are standing in the bus stand, waiting to catch the bus to go to your home bus came on time, you get up into the bus, you got down at your native and went to home. What you expected you got.
Next day you are at same place, you are waiting to catch the bus, the moment you about to go to the bus, bus was over full, you can not go to the bus. And you have to wait for another bus, here what you expected you get less than that.
Third is that you are waiting for the bus, there one of your friends came with his car and said why you are waiting here?, he asked you to come to his car. He gave you a lift to your home. Its more than what you expected.
Next day you are about to catch the bus, as usual at the bus stand after that you don’t know what was happened? Finally when you got the sense you are lying in the hospital bed and asking the people around you, “where I am”. Its opposite to that what he was expecting.
That means what you can do anything but the possibility of getting the specific result is only 25% either all. If you distribute 100% the possibility of the result is only 25%. Even if you putting 100% effort possibility of any result is 25%.
But you see “ma te sangostva akrmani”. Whereas no choice of result of may lead to idealness, therefore is the warning, that one shouldn’t be attached to idleness. That means after seeing four types of result, any result will come and then you may choose not to do any action. Even through your 100% effort, the possibility of result is 25%. Then if you reduce 50% what will be the result? You will get the opposite result. So that’s what the warning thereon.
If your action, art of action makes equal impact to the nature’s intelligent force, the result is similar to what we expect. That’s why he says always your focus should be on action not anywhere else. Like if you say there is no guarantee of result, what type of result will be, I get or not, there is no meaning of doing anything. So you become idle like, this is the misinterpretation of Shloka by everyone.
There is a common miss-understanding that you can act but don’t expect the result. Unfortunately that’s the wrong interpretation as there is no injunction that one shouldn’t or cannot expect the result. Expectation is not barred; therefore you have the enough liberty to expect the result of your action. You can desire anything. But despite of that your expectation you have to perform action with full and exclusive art. You have to perform actions but don’t think that your action can produce the result, what you want.
What you want it can not happen. Very rarely it happens. So that’s what two force should be very tandem workable upon the actions then the expected result be produced. Nevertheless one should know that every action has also the two results, create the two result. That’s called (1) Dristfala (immediate visible result) (2) Adristfala (invisible and long term result). You give the examination you got the good marks, this is your immediate result. What is the second result i.e. adristfal, by having the good marks you go to the next class. Going to next class is the adristfala. You are going to other class is not visible. Its only you who know that in which class you are sitting? Outside people don’t know which semester student you are! You have killed someone. State has caught you. The judiciary has punished you. But that’s not enough. You have to face the consequences. The intelligent force of the nature will punish you in due course of your life. Then what about the hang-man. The hang man is who is executing the people by hanging the people until death. That’s he is doing his duty as ordained by the state and handed down through the supreme judiciary. He is not going to suffer anything for action of hanging.
That means you have to have the right choice of action. When you have the right choice of action you should do full effort on action. When you have full effort of the action, then result is anything. You are not the cause of the result. For instance, if you are playing the cricket, and always your eyes on the score board then how can you play? So while action if your eyes and mind only on result, you can’t perform at all.
The score board is important but before the score board, what’s important that’s is the ball and bat. Ball and bat has to connect always. You have to be the very vigilant with the bat. Every stroke of the bat hit on the ball. That will move the scoreboard. You cannot move the score board. That’s what the purport of the Shloka is all about. You have not the choice of the result means you can hit on the ball by your bat. But you cannot move the score board “ma phalesu kadachna”. Score board movement is subject to your movement upon the ball. Same as to the football so as to all action whatever you perform
Your score of the football is subject to how you use the ball. Using the ball is subject to your effort. And your effort will bring the movement of the ball. And your movement of ball makes kick towards the goal but the goal keeper stopped the ball. That means the intelligent force of the nature has resisted. Similarly there is a very good goalkeeper; you got the ball when towards that goal post. The goalkeeper couldn’t understand from which side you will do the kick. There is a renown footballer called Michel Platini from France and Roger Milla from Cameroon. These are the famous stricker in the world cup football. They used to spin the ball. The goal keeper could not understand how the ball will come in. This is the technique. But nowadays I don’t find it. This is the art. So that you can do art. But after kicking the ball the ball, will it go inside the goal or not that depends up on the intelligent force of nature.
Because everything is the direct or indirect creation of the nature. For that one should not be perturbed. Here the direction from Bhagwat Gita : Chapter 2 Shloka 48 “Yogastha Kuru Karmani“ (“y==eg=sq=/ ku:o k:m==*ò[=”) Remaining steadfast in yoga, Dhanañjaya (Arjuna)! perform actions abandoning attachment and remaining the same to success and failure. This evenness of mind is called yoga.
“yogstha kuru karmani” that’s what all action you have to do being into the state of Yoga. What is the state of yoga called?
“Samatvam” is the state of Yoga “samatvam yoga uchchyate”. Samtvam is the equanimity of mind. The steadfast state of mind is called Yoga. Your all action should be performed having been in the state of yoga. You should understand that all action is not yoga but there is the suggestion that what’s the yoga is all about. Your all action should be performed through your righteous attitude.
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