The Gita tells us to do karma, but also asks us to understand karma – what karma does it refer to?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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so when krishna talks about karma in the gita he says we should do our karma but he also says that we have to understand what is karma so what is the karma that he is referring to he says about karmanya vadika raste that’s 2.47 in the gita we have right to do our work but be detached from the results but then the fourth chapter in the section 16 17 18 he talks about and even the wise had bewildered about what is karma and what is akarma and then there is another enigmatic verse where he says he says that one who sees action in inaction and inaction inaction that person is wise so that is quite a intricate concept to understand so firstly the gita is a philosophical book for practical action because arjuna he had to fight a war so in that sense it’s a it’s a guidebook for practical action but it gives philosophy philosophical understanding as a foundation for the action so now when krishna uses the word karma broadly speaking the word karma can have four different meanings one is karma simply refers to action the second is karma can refer to the reaction to our action we are all we all have to go through our karma we all have to suffer our karma we can’t escape our karma there we are referring to karma as the reaction to our action sometimes we may also use the word karma to refer to the law of the connection between action and reaction that means the law of karma is universal so there we are using karma as the principle that correlates action with reaction and then beyond that krishna also uses the word karma as a contrast to vikarma so karma in that sense is good karma you could call it as more specifically as su-karma and vikarma would be bad karma so with these four meanings action reaction law of action reaction correlation and good action so vikarma is is a is action that will give bad reaction okay that is something it’s not something very specific or it could be vicious action yeah it could it could be for different people there can be different vikarma say for a resulting in something negative something negative yeah for example if a person robs a bank that’s vikarma for the thief but if a security guard does not do anything this allows the bank to be robbed that is vikarma for the all other security was not doing anything but that inaction is also a vikarma so now when krishna says in the beginning 2.47 there he’s telling arjuna that don’t let thoughts of the result dominate your consciousness focus on the work because he’s thinking that if i fight this war my relatives will be killed our dynasty will be destroyed so how can i do this so krishna says that you are a part of something much bigger than you you have to play your role in it you alone don’t determine the results don’t think that if you don’t find the war then they will live because later on he says by my arrangement my arrangement they have already been destroyed you can only become an instrument so don’t think that by not doing your action they will be saved and don’t think that just by your action they will be killed it is rather your action is there but there are higher factors so the external result that comes it’s not determined only by our action this is a different subject i won’t go into that right now but i’ll just mention it our karma plus daiva plus kala leads to phala so like in farming the farmers plowing the land and sowing the seeds of the karma the rains coming in time and in the right quantity is the daiva the destiny and then that kala the season has to change till the harvesting season comes and then the phala the crops will come that’s why krishna says you have a right to do your work don’t be attached to the fruits why not think that you are the cause of the result of karma you play a part but you alone don’t determine the result and at the same time don’t be attached to not doing your work because your karma is your dharma that’s your duty you should do it so we have we have to play our part irrespective of without being obsessed with the results so in that sense if we consider doing our duty or playing our part that is karma which we have to do so this can be in different senses at one level we need education to know which karma will lead to bad reactions and that has to be avoided so broadly speaking the bhagavatam bhagavad purana which is extension which is a further development of the themes in it says that four broad activities meat-eating intoxication gambling and illicit sex these are considered to be great weak karmas which are to be avoided now beyond specific activities which are to be avoided in our particular situation also there are particular right actions wrong actions which ethically may be right which will be wrong so that we have to use our intelligence to understand it but broadly when krishna says do your karma he’s saying do your duty regular mundane activity whatever yeah both it is actually that’s that’s a then duty there are two parts to it because krishna at one level says dharma samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuga he says i have come to establish dharma that is in 4.8 but then in 18.66 towards the end he says sarva dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja give up all dharma and surrender to me so what he means over there is that we have a duty in the world that’s a worldly duty and we also have a spiritual duty so our spiritual duty is what will lead to our spiritual growth so for example studying the bhagavad-gita doing some meditation practicing spirit coming in satsang so all this is what will help us to grow spiritually so this is also our duty so we have our material duty now sometimes some people think that just the material duty will lead to spiritual growth it will lead to what it is very gradual because spiritual understanding may not just emerge just by doing our material duties so doing our karma means doing our duties both material duty and our spiritual duty without being too attached to the result not expecting them because i have done this has to come even if it doesn’t even in the spiritual duty we don’t need to expect anything yeah it is not that see at one level expectations are natural so just like say if you have if i come for a program i expect that people be there and people be interested the problem is not expectation the problem is attachment to expectations so expectations can act as a as a as a medium or a channel by which we can shape reality positively if i have certain expectations then i’ll make plan accordingly i’ll prepare accordingly i’ll make sure that things happen that way but sometimes still the reality may turn out to be completely different then so our expectations can help us to shape reality but sometimes the same expectations can become a block to our facing reality so when they happen that way then we have to put aside the expectations deal with reality so in spiritual path also for example we study the gita understanding comes but sometimes we may study here but still some concepts we just not understand so then we have to be at that time recognize that maybe right now this is not the time i have to grow more spiritually then understanding will come so we don’t we are not we can have expectations but don’t be attached to the expectations and when he says we have to understand karma in arjuna specific case arjuna was thinking that by by renouncing the kingdom by going to the forest he felt that i can avoid bad karma say that instead of killing my relatives let me just give up my weapons even if they kill me that is better even if i go to the forest that will be better so krishna is telling him that in your situation you are a kshatriya you are a martial guardian of society yeah so if you do not protect society from those who are doing adharma then you are neglecting your duty so when he that when he says that to see action in inaction and inaction inaction what he means is just like i said the security guard doing nothing when the robbery is happening that security guard does nothing but is culpable by that also to see inaction to see action in inaction that means the security guard does nothing but still the security guard will be culpable so for arjuna not fighting will make him culpable on the other hand if say somebody is robbing a bank and at that time a security guard comes and shoots the person that they are robbing threatening maybe killing going to kill then they shoot the security guard will kill maybe injure but the security guard will not be considered culpable that is inaction inaction so although he’s acting but he’s not culpable he’s not going to get reactions for that so krishna tells arjuna that in your situation even if you fight you will not get karmic reactions because you’re fighting for the cause of dharma so therefore arjuna fight so when he says what is action what is inaction even the wise are bewildered so there he’s referring to karma in the sense of what action leads to reaction and what action does not lead to reaction so a karma if simply meant just action and inaction then that doesn’t make sense whether i say right now i’m sitting inactive or inactive that even a child can see but what he means is karma means the action that will lead to reaction a karma means the action that does not lead to reaction so krishna is telling arjuna over there that even if you fight your fighting will not lead to reaction so therefore if we do if we play our part even if that is difficult even if that hurts some people but if you’re doing our duty and bhagavata says we won’t be entangled by that super okay good it’s nice oh yeah it’s nice