Gita 05.12 – Action per se is not binding – attached action is

Yuktaha karma phalam tyaktva shantim apnoti naishthikim ayukthaha kama karena phalesakto nivadyate bhagavad-gita 5.12 yukthaha karma phalam tyaktva yukthaha one who is well connected karma phalam tyaktva giving of the fruits of work shantim apnoti naishthikim shantim apnoti attains happiness what kind of happiness? naishthikim very stable very strong undisturbed undisturbable ayukthaha kama karena ayukthaha one who is not connected with higher spiritual reality one who is not harmonized then that person naturally seeks happiness elsewhere at the material level therefore kama karena works out of kama karena out of the desire for material enjoyment and then phalesakto nivadyate phalesakto becoming attached to the fruits nivadyate person becomes bound nivadyate so this is at one level a summary of the section but Krishna is summarizing two different things over here as compared to similar summary that had been offered in 5.6 Arjuna has Arjuna starts the discussion of the Bhagavad Gita with two courses of action in mind one is action which he thinks will lead to bondage and the second is inaction or renunciation of action which he thinks will lead to liberation now Krishna explains in 5.6 so Krishna explains that actually inaction or renunciation of action because it is unnatural because there is no higher yoga connection which will bring higher satisfaction so it is distressing on the other hand if one acts in yoga then that will lead to attainment of brahman soon so here attainment of brahman doesn't necessarily mean attainment of brahmajyoti it simply means attainment of the spiritual level of consciousness so this is now if you see what Krishna has said here is Arjuna has thought of two courses of action one is two options open to him action leading to bondage and inaction leading to liberation Krishna says that actually action can lead to liberation and actually action can lead to liberation in a far less distressing way in a far less demanding way than inaction that is what 5.6 is stating that renunciation will be distressing now Krishna has told earlier in response to Arjuna's question first was 5.2 was that both are good so Krishna has stated that both sannyas and the karma sannyas and karma yoga are good because both elevate one both take one towards liberation but here in the sixth verse he has said that actually action, detached action is better because it is natural and inaction, renunciation is more demanding so that was the contrast between those two things detached action and inaction but now here in the twelfth verse Krishna is comparing two different things he is talking about detached work and attached work so whereas Krishna, Arjuna thought of only two options action and inaction Krishna has shown that there are three options actually for him there is detached action, there is inaction and there is attached action now in one sense if you consider these as three level A, level B and level C so level A is detached action, level B is inaction and level C is attached action so Arjuna had thought that there are only two options B and C, there is inaction and attached action so and he naturally thought that B is better than C detached action is better than attached action but Krishna has told Arjuna that there is a third option where you can act but with detachment detached action and detached action is the best so the sixth verse 5.2 as well as 5.6 are a comparison between A and B between detached action and inaction and both of them say the same thing that detached action is better than inaction and now in 5.12 Krishna is comparing A and C, it is detached action and attached action this sort of comparison not exactly comparison but putting both of them together Krishna had done also in third chapter when he said that the detached should also work the way the attached work should set an example for them so for example he said that several times between 3.25 to 3.30 he said that for example that Prakriter Gunasamudha Sajjante Gunakarmasutana Krishna Vidho Vandana Krishnavinna Vichalayet Buddhivedam Janayet Ajnanam Karmasanginam Joshyet Sarvakarmani Vidvan Yuktah Samacharan Saptah Karmanya Vidwamso Yatha Kurvanti Bharata Kuryat Vidwams Tha Saktash Chikhirsurlok Sangraham so all of these are the same thing that there are two different kinds of people Saktah and Vidwams attached and ignorant and there is a Saktah and Vidwams detached and enlightened so Krishna had said that detached and enlightened should also act but for the sake of setting an example for the attached and ignorant so that they will also gradually come to a higher level so there the point was that there is so B is higher than C so I will repeat this once again in case this becomes confusing A is detached action, B is inaction and C is attached action so what Krishna is telling is that the people who are at A level should still act because they can set an example for people at C level now for people who are who are into action for them the B level example is not suitable because they don't have the Adhikar to give up all action and if they are told to give up all action for the sake of spiritual advancement they will give up the pursuit of spiritual advancement itself so don't create too much disturbance for them by giving them and by instructing them to do something for which they don't have the Adhikar, which they don't have the capacity to do so instead Krishna states that instead act in a way, so stay in the same realm where you are staying, act the way they are acting but when you act with detachment they will also learn from you and they will also act with detachment so Krishna has said in third chapter that level A is better for the sake of Loka Sangraha, it is an example for people in general and they will be able to rise from level C to A bypassing B because B is impractical, renouncing action is not very suitable for them most people cannot renounce action in this verse Krishna is clearly differentiating between A and C and he is saying I am telling you Arjuna to act but don't think that action will lead to bondage because I am talking to you of a significantly different kind of action so here here is one who is engaged in Yoga the word Yukta is actually a variant of the word Yoga Bhagavata has primarily the word Yoga in three forms, Yoga, Yogi and Yukta Yukta is very common Yukta basically means it simply could mean engage it also means engage in Yoga so the person who is Yukta such a person being connected with a higher spiritual reality, being engaged in Yoga that is meant for the pursuit of higher spiritual reality that person gives up the immediate fruits of books Karma phalam tyaktva and then what happens by such a person Shantim apnoti naishtikim that person attains a great profound unshakable peace naishtikim that which cannot be disturbed unshakable peace now in this world we all can get peace but the peace that we get in this world is something which comes which is fragile because somewhere some disturbance can come up some agitation can come up somebody can come and speak something which is very distressing or someone may just directly some natural disturbance may come up or even our mind only suddenly some desires may come up which trouble us so all these threats to peace are always there and when this threat will spring and take away our peace we can't say so the way to get peace is not to imagine that I will get more and more power and the more power I get then the less control outer things will have on me and by that I will have more control on outer things and then I can minimize and eliminate disturbance and then I will be peaceful that is never going to happen the way to peace is to become to rise to spiritual level of consciousness by becoming Yuktaha so when we rise above to higher level of consciousness and just as a a fire on a in a place may disturb people but if somebody is in an airplane above that place then the fire doesn't disturb so like that when we have raised our consciousness upwards then we are not disturbed by whatever happens at the material level and Ayukthaha so Shanti Maapna Aishtike so Arjuna you are thinking that just by avoiding the war you will get some peace but that peace is fragile any moment it can break down but if you raise your consciousness by doing your duty which is fighting in a mood of attachment then you will by the spiritual growth that you attain there you will get Aishtike Sukhi and then he says further Ayukthaha Kama Karena Krishna is differentiating this is how you should act and how you should not act Ayukthaha if you are not engaged in yoga if you are not spiritually purposeful then you will automatically become materially driven because we cannot live without pleasure our need for pleasure will immediately make us seek pleasure at the material level and then by that we will Kama Karena the Kama that is already there in the body the senses the mind the intelligence which need to be purified as was mentioned in the previous verse so they will impel Ayukthaha Kama Karena and then you will become motivated okay I do this I will get this result then I can enjoy this form of self gratification such a person will naturally become bound so by clearly contrasting between detached work and attached work between A and C Krishna is making it very clear for Arjuna what way he should act and why this is the way if he acts he will be free from.