Gita 18.45 Inclusive spirituality centers on rejection of work, but on its reconceptualization and redirection

Transcript

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Veda 18.45 Krishna is now going to talk about how we can work in a way that we can attain perfection स्वे स्वे कर्मन्य by doing one’s own work अभिरतः be engaged in संसिद्धिम् लभते नरहां संसिद्धिम् लभते one can attain perfection कर्मनिरतः सिद्धिम् that by engaging in one’s work ताविन्दति तश्रुणू how perfection can attain, hear that now तश्रुणू तश्रुणू is a phrase which Krishna has used earlier also for example in 7.1 he has stated that मय्या सत्तमन्ह पार्थ योगम्युञ्जन्मदाश्रयः असम्शयं समग्रम्माम् यथा ज्ञासि तश्रुणू he has said that how you can attain, how you can make your mind attached to me by practicing yoga by cultivating knowledge about me by becoming free from doubt taking shelter of me, this you can understand hear that now subsequent verses, so this verse is also a flow verse which gives an indication of what Krishna is going to speak in the future Arjuna’s concern at the start of the Gita was that he did not want to get sinful reactions he did not want to get bound so he wanted to know what was the right course of action for him the right course of action is the action that will lead to elevation and liberation or perfection the word samsiddhi has also been used by Krishna many times earlier for example when he has talked in the 6th chapter about the yogis who somehow are not able to complete their spiritual journey in this life Arjuna asks about their fate in 37, 38 and 39 and in response to that from text 40 to 45 Krishna replies and in the 45th verse he says that that they endeavour over many lifetimes they become thoroughly purified sama is completely means they become completely purified and samsiddhas that after endeavouring for many lifetimes they attain perfection samsiddhas they attain life supreme destination so siddhi can refer even to yogic siddhis siddhi refers to perfection Krishna has used the word siddhi also that those who turn away from shastra who reject the injunctions of shastra they cannot attain perfection nor happiness nor the supreme destination so samsiddhi will refer to the complete perfection different people can have different ideas of perfection so for a person who is a seeker on the yogic path even getting some mystic powers is a perfection but it is not samyak it is not a samyak rupena siddhi it is not samsiddhi so Krishna is telling over here that by engaging in one’s work one can attain perfection so in a sense the two halves of the verse might seem repetitive here tautological by engaging in one’s own respective work perfection can be attained therefore Arjuna now hear how by engaging in your own work in one’s own work perfection can be attained so in a sense it is not exactly repetitive it is an assertion and it is going to be followed by elaboration sometimes when speakers give a class they may in a nutshell write in the beginning this is what I am going to explain and then say now I will elaborate this so there could be an assertion and then an elaboration and when the assertion comes it is followed by a statement of intent that hereafter this is what I am going to elaborate now from Arjuna’s context the point of swe swe karmanya abhijatah samsiddham labhate narah that by engaging in one’s own activity one can attain perfection that is especially relevant because Arjuna was thinking that engaging in his own work will lead him to entanglement and degradation because for him he had to fight with his relatives fight with his esteemed elders and this he felt he just could not do thinking if I fight with them then still will overcome me asma naravaya mantam therefore I feel that fighting against them is not the right thing to do thus the key thing is for everyone of us to recognize that the bhagavad gita is talking not so much about rejection of the world as its reconceptualization or its redirection that we can do it with proper consciousness what that proper consciousness is will be explained in the next verse we work with proper consciousness then we can attain perfection even by doing our own work so thus the gita talks about an inclusive form of spirituality which doesn’t ask us to reject our occupation, reject our vocation but to redirect it for a higher purpose so beyond the specific context of Arjuna when he is fighting against Kauravas Krishna is also giving a universal principle that the sve-sve karma one’s own work which is talked about in the previous series of three verses that Krishna talked about he talked about the qualities and corresponding activities associated with the four varanas so now Krishna is telling that it’s not that one has to give up one’s varana and do some other varana’s activity to attain perfection so a kshatriya doesn’t have to become a brahmana to attain perfection a kshatriya can be a kshatriya and still move onwards in life and eventually perfection will be attained thank you