Gita 03.04 – Don’t equate the external with the essential

We will discuss in our future sessions here Krishna in Bhagavad Gita 3.4 is answering Arjuna's question asked in 3.1 and 2 about what is the best course of action for him in the previous verse it was stated that actually there are two kinds of two levels this karma yoga and this jnana yoga two paths and now Krishna is telling here that the externals don't automatically lead to internals we can't equate the external with the essential so so not doing karma not endeavoring to do one's karma, one's duty that is not going to let a person enjoy to get or attain or enjoy is a state of freedom from karmic bondage and Naishkarana comes because one recognizes that I am or Naishkarana essentially means that one is not getting karmic reactions so Krishna is telling inaction is not the formula for freedom from reaction we will discuss this let's look at the second part first which is Sanyasanaadeva and similarly taking Sanyas Siddhim Samadhi Gacchati that does not lead to attainment of Siddhi perfection so the externals whether it is stopping an action or whether it is Sanyas they don't lead to the internal Naishkaranya or Siddhi perfection or liberation now it is understood in a spiritual culture spiritually informed culture, philosophically aware culture that whatever action we do that brings reactions and those reactions in order to endure that we have to take birth again and in that way karma leads to karma bandhana so now action leads to bondage so then one may think okay then if I want action leads to entanglement so if I do inaction if I give up action then that will lead to disentanglement but will it that is what is being questioned over here Krishna says it is not necessary that inaction will lead to freedom from reaction why because sometimes inaction can also be a culpable action culpable means blameworthy for example if a doctor sees a patient suffering, dying and the doctor knows and has the medicine to save the patient, doctor doesn't save the patient then the doctor may say I have not done anything, I did not kill the patient, no the doctor may not have given poison to kill the patient but inaction is also action, culpable action because that is that is a crime by negligence as it is said so when the doctor had the power to save the patient doctor didn't say that's culpable so inaction can also lead to reaction if one has the power and the ability to do some right action and doesn't do it and many other examples can be given police don't protect the citizens when they are in a position to that is also blameworthy so Krishna makes a general principle that just because action leads to bondage doesn't mean inaction will lead to non-bondage it is and similarly renunciation alone doesn't lead to liberation so rather accepting the renounced order that sannyas doesn't lead to siddhi the perfection of liberation, why? because sannyas is an ashram and accepting an ashram is an external that we take up so that it facilitates the further development of the internal we surely need to have some level of internal so for a person to take sannyas some substantial level of renunciation has to be there but then sannyas also helps one to develop the renunciation further and then when one is totally renounced then one may become liberated so there are many aphoristic statements in Sanskrit also which are not necessarily correct but they are thought to be correct so it is sometimes said as soon as a person takes sannyas so one acquires danda and thereby the jiva merges into the absolute truth and therefore nara becomes narayana this may sound dramatic in terms of visual, oh just take a danda and you will become narayana in terms of visual imagery but it is far from the philosophical truth the philosophical truth first of all is that nara will never become narayana because we are we are eternally the parts of Krishna and further we will not become narayana and further actually leave alone becoming narayana because we are always this part eternally that's how we will stay but we will not even become liberated why because what causes bondage is our attachment and just taking to the renounced order is no guarantee of freedom from bondage so if one wants freedom from bondage for that one has to actually become free from attachment and the externals are the aid to the internals and the internals are what guarantee the eternal so there is the external, the internal and the eternal the eternal is what is desired by any spiritual seeker when we understand I am not the body I am the soul then we will naturally want to live at the level of the soul that is we will want to live eternally because the soul is eternal live life at an eternal level relishing eternal happiness but now there are certain actions certain religious practices that can be done to progress towards the eternal and these practices may be external they may be having a very visually very visible external component such as say somebody stopping action somebody takes mauna vrata somebody wears saffron clothes this is very visible actions but these externals don't immediately lead to the internal and they don't necessarily mean that one has attained the eternal so Krishna is saying don't assume that the jnana marga will automatically lead to liberation or perfection for you it is not that just by acquiring the externals of the jnana marga's position jnana marga's position giving up action and taking renounce to outer one attains liberation, one has to develop the internal substance and there is a process that is recommended for developing the internal substance and that process will vary depending on the level of the individual seeker so for some people renounce to outer may be suitable, for others being engaged in the world being a householder may be suitable so don't assume by simplistic formula that the jnana marga is higher but understand your adhikar, understand your level and then choose the right path and the future verses Krishna will analyze and reason for Arjuna how the path of karma yoga is the best for him.