Gita 03.25 – The detached and the attached differ not in action but in intention

Thank you saktah karmanya vidvamso yatha kurvanti bharata kuryad vidvamsatah saktash chikhirsur lokasangraham this is Bhagavad Gita 2.25 Krishna is continuing his description of how one should choose one's course of action by proper philosophical understanding as well as by proper consideration of sociological consequence of one's choices so here he is saying that saktah saktah means those who are attached karmanya vidvamso karmanya means inaction so saktah the attached do actions and they are vidvamso they are not in knowledge so they have two disqualifications they are ignorant and they are attached the two are actually related the more ignorant we are of our spiritual identity the more attached we become to our material activities because then material activities remain the only source of pleasure for us yatha kurvanti bharata that bharata just here bharata is used to refer to Arjuna descendant in the Bharata dynasty yatha kurvanti so just as the ignorant and attached people act similarly kuryad vidvamsatah saktash similarly those people with the opposite characteristics that means they were avidvams these are vidvams these are knowledgeable enlightened and they were saktah these are asaktash these are detached kuryad vidvamsatah saktash chikhirsur lokasangraham they too act in that way for the purpose of lokasangrah this is the word coming for the second time now Krishna has talked about earlier in 3.19 tasmadasakta sattam karamkarmasam 3.20 asitajanakadaya lokasangrahamevapi sampashyankartumarasi so lokasangrah for the welfare of people the word sangraha actually means assimilation, sustenance for the maintenance of the world so Krishna is telling over here again giving to general principles so there is an alteration between the concrete and the abstract between the example and the precept so Krishna has given the precept before in the verse 19 and prior to that and then in 20th he gives the example of janaka then again in 21st he gives the principle of another principle broader principle apart from the principle acting with detachment that was setting example for society then 23rd, 22nd, 23rd, 24th Krishna again gives the example of himself and now after giving that example he is coming back and he is stating that therefore one should act therefore you should act and now he is emphasizing on the difference in consciousness, difference in motivation, difference in understanding between people who are acting at different levels so now Arjuna basically had the binary notions in his mind, binary means two notions, this or this so either I act and I become entangled or I renounce and then I stay disentangled Krishna has introduced a synthesizing option between the two when he has said that you act but with detachment so Krishna is stating that in this world nobody can stay free from action that's what he told earlier also start of 3rd chapter, you all have to act and here he is saying the difference between the people at various levels is not in their action it is in their motivation so he is giving the difference in motivation in two terms that the karmakandis those are the level at which Arjuna is thinking all action has to be Krishna is stating no, action can be at different levels depending on one's motivation so those who are karmakandis for them they are attached and they are avidvams, saptaha and avidvams they are considering that oh if we just do our duties right then we will get so much results, we will get opulence in this world and we will get heavens in the next world so there saptaha, Krishna has talked about these people in 2.42-43 when he talked about karmakandis and here he is using avidvams, there he had used avipashtaha, non discriminating so the essential point that is common in both cases is that Krishna is telling Arjuna that don't go by externals don't think the difference between you and others has to be in terms of actions both Durudhana and Arjuna are going to fight in the war and both are having similar chariots, both are having similar weapons, both are having similar armors but there is a huge difference between their consciousness so how are the avidvams, those who are attached understanding that they are not the body, they are the soul the soul is eternal and therefore they should seek an eternal destination that has never sunk into them they just think of progress and success in terms of better material situations that is something which is not going to be realized so Krishna is telling Arjuna so so just as they act they act because they think by doing our duty we want these results and these results will make us happy, going to heaven getting a big kingdom, getting this, that, getting so many material things and that's what they aim for now those who are wise, they are asaktahash, they are asaktaha and they are vidvams they are detached and they have knowledge, so that means what detached means that they recognize they are not infatuated by things of this world if I just possess those things then I will become happy and then they further say that vidvams vidvams means that they all have knowledge the difference between body and the soul they are seeking an eternal destination for the soul so externally both map similarly but internally there is a big difference based on the consciousness and the consciousness is that one is acting for gaining more control and enjoyment in this world, that is the karmakandis whereas the karma yogis or yogis of any kind ultimately bhakti yogis, they are acting for with detachment for gradually getting disentangled from this world so now the thrust of this verse is, just as they act you should act, that means what don't think that the difference between you and them has to be in terms of your action, the difference can be in terms of motivation inner conceptions now what is the need for acting like them actually Krishna is foreshadowing Arjuna's argument that Krishna has told Arjuna that you should set an example for others and he has given his own example about setting an example so Arjuna may get the question but these people are attached and if I act like them won't I become entangled, Krishna said no because you are not attached and because you have knowledge but they need an example so by providing them that example they will learn and they will also become attached and enlightened so just like when a child wants to teach, when a teacher wants to teach ABC to a child teacher doesn't write ABC and then write class end now the teacher actually writes ABC and then she writes further alphabets also and whatever the student sometimes the student is having a lot of difficulty the teacher may fully demonstrate a sentence or sometimes paragraphs also on the blackboard so that the message sinks in to the students now similarly when a person is meant to act we act but for the purpose of lokasangraha for the purpose of benefiting others now when the teacher is writing full alphabet A to Z or is writing basic word combinations and basic letter combinations in words or is just writing short sentences, now the important thing is that it's not that teacher has to learn anything, the action is similar as the children's but the purpose is entirely different similarly Krishna is telling that the if you are fighting, your opponents are fighting don't assume that because both are doing the same actions so both are the same level of consciousness no you are learned and you have detachment so you have a higher vantage point not just in terms of seeing but also in terms of contributing and benefiting so therefore you are as a leader, you are seated at a higher vantage point in society and therefore you should act and by acting, by seeing you others will also act similarly and gradually, although they may be attached and they may be ignorant but by seeing your example by learning more about you and by learning about how you are attached by how you are aiming for eternal perfection, gradually people will be able to also rise to a higher platform and that principle of rising to a higher platform we will talk about in the next verse, here essentially Krishna says that the differentiation between people who are doing action, it doesn't have to be literally in terms of doing action or inaction but it should be in terms of inner motivation.