Chapter 3: Karma Yoga “This chapter is called Karma Yoga. The term Yoga means the act of connecting the lower with the higher, through a technique consisting of one’s own self-evolution. Any method by which the lower in us is educated and trained to live a Higher way-of-life – wherein we gain a more effective control upon both our life without and life within – is called Yoga. Here is a method of self-development pointed out to the Arjuna-type of men, who, fully armed and standing on the battle-field of life, facing an array of opposing forces, more powerful, better organised, and well-supplied with equipments, are ready to fight and destroy them. In fact, every honest man in life is to a large extent – be he a fool, be he a saint – an Arjuna facing his problems with hesitations... wanting to run away, and yet, not daring to do so! The training of Karma Yoga prepares us for the greater fights on life’s battlefields.”
Chap 3 Shloka 5 na hi kaścitkṣaṇamapi jātu tiṣṭhatyakarmakṛt kāryate hyavaśaḥ karma sarvaḥ prakṛtijairguṇaiḥ
“Nobody can remain inactive for even a moment. Everyone is forced to act by their modes of nature.”
Some people think that action refers only to professional work, and not to daily activities such as eating, drinking, sleeping, waking and thinking. So when they renounce their profession, they think they are not performing actions. But Shree Krishna considers all activities performed with the body, mind, and tongue as actions. Hence, he tells Arjun that complete inactivity is impossible even for a moment. If we simply sit down, it is an activity; if we lie down, that is also an activity; if we fall asleep, the mind is still engaged in dreaming; even in deep sleep, the heart and other bodily organs are functioning. Thus Shree Krishna declares that for human beings inactivity is an impossible state to reach, since the body-mind-intellect mechanism is compelled by its own make-up of the three guṇas (sattva, rajas, and tamas) to perform work in the world.
Chap 3 Shloka 17 यस्त्वात्मरतिरेव स्यादात्मतृप्तश्च मानव: | आत्मन्येव च सन्तुष्टस्तस्य कार्यं न विद्यते || 17||
yas tvātma-ratir eva syād ātma-tṛiptaśh cha mānavaḥ ātmanyeva cha santuṣhṭas tasya kāryaṁ na vidyate
Only those who have given up desires for external objects can rejoice and be satisfied in the self. The root of bondage is our material desires, “This should happen; that should not happen.” Shree Krishna explains a little further ahead in this chapter (in verse 3.37) that desire is the cause of all sins, consequently, it must be renounced. As explained previously (in the purport of verse 2.64), it must be borne in mind that whenever Shree Krishna says we should give up desire, he refers to material desires, and not to the aspirations for spiritual progress or the desire to realize God.
However, why do material desires arise in the first place? When we identify the self with the body, we identify with the yearnings of the body and mind as the desires of the self, and these send us spinning into the realm of Maya.
Chap 3 Shloka 18 नैव तस्य कृतेनार्थो नाकृतेनेह कश्चन | न चास्य सर्वभूतेषु कश्चिदर्थव्यपाश्रय: || 18||
naiva tasya kṛitenārtho nākṛiteneha kaśhchana na chāsya sarva-bhūteṣhu kaśhchid artha-vyapāśhrayaḥ
Such self-realized souls have nothing to gain or lose either in discharging or renouncing their duties. Nor do they need to depend on other living beings to fulfill their self-interest.
Here, the distinction needs to be made between karm and bhakti. Previously, Shree Krishna was talking about karm, (or prescribed worldly duties) and saying that they must be done as an offering to God. This was necessary to purify the mind, helping it rise above worldly contamination. But self-realized souls have already reached absorption in God and developed purity of mind. These transcendentalists are directly engaged in bhakti, or pure spiritual activities, such as meditation, worship, kīrtan, service to the Guru, etc. If such souls reject their worldly duties, it is not considered a sin. They may continue to perform worldly duties if they wish, but they are not obliged to do them.
Historically, Saints have been of two kinds. 1) Those like Prahlad, Dhruv, Ambarish, Prithu, and Vibheeshan, who continued to discharge their worldly duties even after attaining the transcendental platform. These were the karm yogis—externally they were doing their duties with their body while internally their minds were attached to God. 2) Those like Shankaracharya, Madhvacharya, Ramanujacharya, and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who rejected their worldly duties and accepted the renounced order of life. These were the karm sanyāsīs, who were both internally and externally, with both body and mind, engaged only in devotion to God. In this verse, Shree Krishna tells Arjun that both options exist for the self-realized sage. Now, he states this in the next verse which of these he recommends to Arjun.
Chapter 3, verse 30 mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi sannyasyādhyātma-chetasā nirāśhīr nirmamo bhūtvā yudhyasva vigata-jvaraḥ Bhagavan Shri Krishna says, Performing all works as an offering unto Me, constantly meditate on Me as the Supreme. Become free from desire and selfishness, and with your mental grief departed, fight! Hey Arjuna, practice this in every action you do, thinking of me, offering it to me. In this was Bhagavan says anything that is becomes an Yajna! Chapter 3, verse 42 indriyāṇi parāṇyāhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ manasas tu parā buddhir yo buddheḥ paratas tu saḥ Chapter3, verse 43 evaṁ buddheḥ paraṁ buddhvā sanstabhyātmānam ātmanā jahi śhatruṁ mahā-bāho kāma-rūpaṁ durāsadam The senses are superior to the gross body, and superior to the senses is the mind. Beyond the mind is the intellect, and even beyond the intellect is the soul.Thus knowing the soul to be superior to the material intellect, O mighty armed Arjun, subdue the lower self (senses, mind, and intellect) by the higher self (strength of the soul), and kill this formidable enemy called lust. In conclusion, Shree Krishna emphasizes that we should slay this enemy called lust through knowledge of the self. Since the soul is a part of God, it is divine in nature. Thus, the divine bliss it seeks can only be attained from a divine subject, while the objects of the world are all material. These material objects can never fulfill the innate longing of the soul and so it is futile to create desires for them. We must exert and train the intellect to think in this manner, and then use it to control the mind and the senses.
This is explained very beautifully in the Kaṭhopaniṣhad with the help of the model of a chariot: ātmānagvaṁ rathinaṁ viddhi śharīraṁ rathameva tu buddhiṁ tu sārathiṁ viddhi manaḥ pragrahameva cha indriyāṇi hayānāhurviṣhayānsteṣhu gocharān ātmendriyamanoyuktaṁ bhoktetyāhurmanīṣhiṇaḥ (1.3.3-4) [v21]
The Upaniṣhads say there is a chariot, which has five horses pulling it; the horses have reins in their mouths, which are in the hands of a charioteer; a passenger is sitting at the back of the chariot. Ideally, the passenger should instruct the charioteer, who should then control the reins and guide the horses in the proper direction. However, in this case, the passenger has gone to sleep, and so the horses are holding sway. In this analogy, the chariot is the body, the horses are the five senses, the reins in the mouth of the horses is the mind, the charioteer is the intellect, and the passenger seated behind is the soul residing in the body. The senses (horses) desire pleasurable things. The mind (reins) is not exercising restraint on the senses (horses). The intellect (charioteer) submits to the pull of the reins (mind). So in the materially bound state, the bewildered soul does not direct the intellect in the proper direction. Thus, the senses decide the direction where the chariot will go. The soul experiences the pleasures of the senses vicariously, but these do not satisfy it. Seated on this chariot, the soul (passenger) is moving around in this material world since eternity. However, if the soul wakes up to its higher nature and decides to take a proactive role, it can exercise the intellect in the proper direction. The intellect will then govern the lower self—the mind and the senses—and the chariot will move in the direction of eternal welfare. In this way, the higher self (soul) must be used to control the lower self (senses, mind, and, intellect).
Chapter 3: Karma Yoga
ReplyDelete“This chapter is called Karma Yoga. The term Yoga means
the act of connecting the lower with the higher, through a
technique consisting of one’s own self-evolution. Any method
by which the lower in us is educated and trained to live a
Higher way-of-life – wherein we gain a more effective control
upon both our life without and life within – is called Yoga.
Here is a method of self-development pointed out to the
Arjuna-type of men, who, fully armed and standing on the
battle-field of life, facing an array of opposing forces, more
powerful, better organised, and well-supplied with
equipments, are ready to fight and destroy them. In fact,
every honest man in life is to a large extent – be he a fool, be
he a saint – an Arjuna facing his problems with hesitations...
wanting to run away, and yet, not daring to do so! The training
of Karma Yoga prepares us for the greater fights on life’s
battlefields.”
Chap 3 Shloka 5
ReplyDeletena hi kaścitkṣaṇamapi
jātu tiṣṭhatyakarmakṛt
kāryate hyavaśaḥ karma
sarvaḥ prakṛtijairguṇaiḥ
“Nobody can remain inactive for even a moment. Everyone is forced to act by their modes of nature.”
Some people think that action refers only to professional work, and not to daily activities such as eating, drinking, sleeping, waking and thinking. So when they renounce their profession, they think they are not performing actions. But Shree Krishna considers all activities performed with the body, mind, and tongue as actions. Hence, he tells Arjun that complete inactivity is impossible even for a moment. If we simply sit down, it is an activity; if we lie down, that is also an activity; if we fall asleep, the mind is still engaged in dreaming; even in deep sleep, the heart and other bodily organs are functioning. Thus Shree Krishna declares that for human beings inactivity is an impossible state to reach, since the body-mind-intellect mechanism is compelled by its own make-up of the three guṇas (sattva, rajas, and tamas) to perform work in the world.
Chap 3 Shloka 17
ReplyDeleteयस्त्वात्मरतिरेव स्यादात्मतृप्तश्च मानव: |
आत्मन्येव च सन्तुष्टस्तस्य कार्यं न विद्यते || 17||
yas tvātma-ratir eva syād ātma-tṛiptaśh cha mānavaḥ
ātmanyeva cha santuṣhṭas tasya kāryaṁ na vidyate
Only those who have given up desires for external objects can rejoice and be satisfied in the self. The root of bondage is our material desires, “This should happen; that should not happen.” Shree Krishna explains a little further ahead in this chapter (in verse 3.37) that desire is the cause of all sins, consequently, it must be renounced. As explained previously (in the purport of verse 2.64), it must be borne in mind that whenever Shree Krishna says we should give up desire, he refers to material desires, and not to the aspirations for spiritual progress or the desire to realize God.
However, why do material desires arise in the first place? When we identify the self with the body, we identify with the yearnings of the body and mind as the desires of the self, and these send us spinning into the realm of Maya.
Chap 3 Shloka 18
ReplyDeleteनैव तस्य कृतेनार्थो नाकृतेनेह कश्चन |
न चास्य सर्वभूतेषु कश्चिदर्थव्यपाश्रय: || 18||
naiva tasya kṛitenārtho nākṛiteneha kaśhchana
na chāsya sarva-bhūteṣhu kaśhchid artha-vyapāśhrayaḥ
Such self-realized souls have nothing to gain or lose either in discharging or renouncing their duties. Nor do they need to depend on other living beings to fulfill their self-interest.
Here, the distinction needs to be made between karm and bhakti. Previously, Shree Krishna was talking about karm, (or prescribed worldly duties) and saying that they must be done as an offering to God. This was necessary to purify the mind, helping it rise above worldly contamination. But self-realized souls have already reached absorption in God and developed purity of mind. These transcendentalists are directly engaged in bhakti, or pure spiritual activities, such as meditation, worship, kīrtan, service to the Guru, etc. If such souls reject their worldly duties, it is not considered a sin. They may continue to perform worldly duties if they wish, but they are not obliged to do them.
Historically, Saints have been of two kinds. 1) Those like Prahlad, Dhruv, Ambarish, Prithu, and Vibheeshan, who continued to discharge their worldly duties even after attaining the transcendental platform. These were the karm yogis—externally they were doing their duties with their body while internally their minds were attached to God. 2) Those like Shankaracharya, Madhvacharya, Ramanujacharya, and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who rejected their worldly duties and accepted the renounced order of life. These were the karm sanyāsīs, who were both internally and externally, with both body and mind, engaged only in devotion to God. In this verse, Shree Krishna tells Arjun that both options exist for the self-realized sage. Now, he states this in the next verse which of these he recommends to Arjun.
Chapter 3, verse 30
ReplyDeletemayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi sannyasyādhyātma-chetasā
nirāśhīr nirmamo bhūtvā yudhyasva vigata-jvaraḥ
Bhagavan Shri Krishna says, Performing all works as an offering unto Me, constantly meditate on Me as the Supreme. Become free from desire and selfishness, and with your mental grief departed, fight! Hey Arjuna, practice this in every action you do, thinking of me, offering it to me. In this was Bhagavan says anything that is becomes an Yajna!
Chapter 3, verse 42
indriyāṇi parāṇyāhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ
manasas tu parā buddhir yo buddheḥ paratas tu saḥ
Chapter3, verse 43
evaṁ buddheḥ paraṁ buddhvā sanstabhyātmānam ātmanā
jahi śhatruṁ mahā-bāho kāma-rūpaṁ durāsadam
The senses are superior to the gross body, and superior to the senses is the mind. Beyond the mind is the intellect, and even beyond the intellect is the soul.Thus knowing the soul to be superior to the material intellect, O mighty armed Arjun, subdue the lower self (senses, mind, and intellect) by the higher self (strength of the soul), and kill this formidable enemy called lust.
In conclusion, Shree Krishna emphasizes that we should slay this enemy called lust through knowledge of the self. Since the soul is a part of God, it is divine in nature. Thus, the divine bliss it seeks can only be attained from a divine subject, while the objects of the world are all material. These material objects can never fulfill the innate longing of the soul and so it is futile to create desires for them. We must exert and train the intellect to think in this manner, and then use it to control the mind and the senses.
This is explained very beautifully in the Kaṭhopaniṣhad with the help of the model of a chariot:
ātmānagvaṁ rathinaṁ viddhi śharīraṁ rathameva tu
buddhiṁ tu sārathiṁ viddhi manaḥ pragrahameva cha
indriyāṇi hayānāhurviṣhayānsteṣhu gocharān
ātmendriyamanoyuktaṁ bhoktetyāhurmanīṣhiṇaḥ (1.3.3-4) [v21]
The Upaniṣhads say there is a chariot, which has five horses pulling it; the horses have reins in their mouths, which are in the hands of a charioteer; a passenger is sitting at the back of the chariot. Ideally, the passenger should instruct the charioteer, who should then control the reins and guide the horses in the proper direction. However, in this case, the passenger has gone to sleep, and so the horses are holding sway.
In this analogy, the chariot is the body, the horses are the five senses, the reins in the mouth of the horses is the mind, the charioteer is the intellect, and the passenger seated behind is the soul residing in the body. The senses (horses) desire pleasurable things. The mind (reins) is not exercising restraint on the senses (horses). The intellect (charioteer) submits to the pull of the reins (mind). So in the materially bound state, the bewildered soul does not direct the intellect in the proper direction. Thus, the senses decide the direction where the chariot will go. The soul experiences the pleasures of the senses vicariously, but these do not satisfy it. Seated on this chariot, the soul (passenger) is moving around in this material world since eternity.
However, if the soul wakes up to its higher nature and decides to take a proactive role, it can exercise the intellect in the proper direction. The intellect will then govern the lower self—the mind and the senses—and the chariot will move in the direction of eternal welfare. In this way, the higher self (soul) must be used to control the lower self (senses, mind, and, intellect).