Gita 03.30 – Focus not on detaching from the entangling but on attaching to the liberating

Bhagavad Gita 3.13 mayi sarvani karmani sannyasya adhyatma cetasa nirashir nirmamo bhutva yudhyasva vigata jvaraha Here Krishna is introducing himself as the object of the process of Karma Yoga this is the first time in this chapter where Krishna is talking about the devotional side of the process of Karma Yoga till now the focus has been on detachment and if one works with detachment then one does not get entangled yes if we don't do the work for our own gratification but then for what do we do the work we do it for Krishna's satisfaction we offer it to him so this is how Karma Yoga blossoms gradually into Bhakti Yoga so in this chapter of course Krishna has once referred to his distinctive position when in 3.22 he says so he doesn't have any duty in any of the three worlds that does indicate that he is a special person not an ordinary person it's an indirect reference to his supreme position but even then he is talking about the stress has been that even I do duty even I do duty and I practice I do Karma so there Krishna was taught more as the is depicted more as a exemplar of Karma Yoga one who exemplifies Karma Yoga not as one who is the object of Karma Yoga one to whom the one to whom the fruits of the work which we perform with attachment are to be offered ultimately so that is revealed in this verse now something similar was revealed in 3.9 but Yajna is a more generic description and here it is much more specific immediately after that it was followed by the whole process of Yajna and how Yajna plays a vital role pivotal role in the cyclic cosmic cooperation that sustains the universe and sustains all of us so there the contact with Krishna connection of all that with Krishna needs to be revealed by the Acharyas we can't see directly in the text but here it's there directly Mayi Sarvani Karmani all your works Mayi Sanyasya, renounce them for my sake Adhyatmachetasa and let your consciousness be spiritual that means there are at the Karmakand level also sometimes people give charity and they may give a large portion of charity also and they say that oh whatever money we give now we will get 10 times of that in heaven so it's a very good investment so even if one is thinking of future life still their Adhyatmachetasa is not there Chetasa is still bhotik, material thinking of oneself as the body and heavenly pleasures are also material bodily pleasures but Adhyatmachetasa when we understand that I am a soul then we understand that the only auspicious goal for me is liberation Nirashir Nirmamobhutva so Krishna is talking about two things here give up desire and give up proprietorship these are what should be bind us to the world and becoming Sanyasya Adhyatmachetasa becoming renounced and becoming situated in spiritual consciousness means not desiring to enjoy anything of this world and not claiming proprietorship over what one has so this is more on disconnection with the world and Krishna will later on say that Yogakshemam Vahamyaham in 9.22 there he will say that although that the implication will be that although devotees Nirashir Nirmamoh a devotee does not desire what is not devotees don't desire what they don't have and devotees don't claim possessiveness over what they have but Krishna protects what they have and Krishna provides what they lack so Nirashir Nirmamoh without an understanding of Krishna being a protector can seem quite a prohibitive demand but when we understand Krishna to be the to be the protector to be the provider then we focus not on contemplating the insubstantiality the futility of material things rather we focus on contemplating the glory of Krishna and how we can attain him so at this level Krishna is not talking about that but he is focusing work for me and renounce desire, renounce possessiveness and then yudhyasva, yudhyasva means fight how should you fight digata jwara the word jwara can mean lethargy or it can mean feverishness so giving up that which is going to obstruct you in your fight, fight in doing your duty put aside the obstacles which are holding you back from doing your duty Arjuna and do your duty properly so this verse can be analyzed in multiple ways one is that we can see that Krishna is talking about being situated in the transcendental level so the first line is talking about transcendence that is goodness stretching transcendence in goodness one works with detachment and one is one has knowledge knowledge of one's spiritual identity also so second verse talks about being situated in goodness third verse talks about fighting of the rejecting the mode of passion desire and possessiveness are what drag us drag our consciousness to the material level for the sake of material pleasure and that is the essence of the mode of passion the consciousness being at the material level for the sake of material enjoyment and then the last line is in the mode of passion if you are told that we are not going to gain anything what's in it for me if you are told that oh there is nothing in it for me you are not meant to get anything you should not desire anything you will not possess anything then why should I work at all but no that thought is a thought of the mode of ignorance give up that thought and giving up lethargy giving up laziness fight so Sri Prabhupada writes in the purport that Krishna is as if telling Arjuna to fight let me discipline so the idea of putting aside lethargy putting aside everything that will prevent us from working diligently we put aside and we fight for Krishna's sake this verse describes the consciousness that will mature into pure devotional service in future but here it's moving from karma yoga where the focus is on distancing oneself from the body and things related with the body because one knows that those will cause attachment and entanglement so karma yoga focuses on more on detaching oneself from the entangling whereas bhakti yoga focuses on attaching oneself to the disentangling and when we attach ourselves to Krishna who is supremely all attractive person then we naturally become disentangled from material existence as a byproduct so as devotees we focus more on how can I best serve Krishna in every situation if I can just continue serving Krishna then as a consequence I will be liberated from material existence and Krishna will talk about that how faithfully abiding by his instructions leads to liberation and faithlessness leads to bondage and misery in the next two verses when he contrasts faithfulness the consequence of faithfulness with the consequence of faithlessness but here Krishna is giving a clarion call this is not an informative verse, it's not an analytical verse it's an imperative verse imperative means Krishna is giving an instruction over here yudhisvavigatajvaraha so Arjuna, give up lethargy give up desire and possessiveness situate yourself in spiritual consciousness and renunciation and when you work when you fight, fight for my sake, offer all your works to me and implication is if you do like this then you will attain perfection, you will attain liberation so this verse comes just ten verses after Krishna has given an example of how someone was liberated of karmanaivai samsiddhim astita janaka daya samsiddhim so just as janaka attained samsiddhi perfection you will also attain perfection Arjuna, if you work thus thank you.

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Bhagavad Gita 3.13 mayi sarvani karmani sannyasya adhyatma cetasa nirashir nirmamo bhutva yudhyasva vigata jvaraha Here Krishna is introducing himself as the object of the process of Karma Yoga this is the first time in this chapter where Krishna is talking about the devotional side of the process of Karma Yoga till now the focus has been on detachment and if one works with detachment then one does not get entangled yes if we don’t do the work for our own gratification but then for what do we do the work we do it for Krishna’s satisfaction we offer it to him so this is how Karma Yoga blossoms gradually into Bhakti Yoga so in this chapter of course Krishna has once referred to his distinctive position when in 3.22 he says so he doesn’t have any duty in any of the three worlds that does indicate that he is a special person not an ordinary person it’s an indirect reference to his supreme position but even then he is talking about the stress has been that even I do duty even I do duty and I practice I do Karma so there Krishna was taught more as the is depicted more as a exemplar of Karma Yoga one who exemplifies Karma Yoga not as one who is the object of Karma Yoga one to whom the one to whom the fruits of the work which we perform with attachment are to be offered ultimately so that is revealed in this verse now something similar was revealed in 3.9 but Yajna is a more generic description and here it is much more specific immediately after that it was followed by the whole process of Yajna and how Yajna plays a vital role pivotal role in the cyclic cosmic cooperation that sustains the universe and sustains all of us so there the contact with Krishna connection of all that with Krishna needs to be revealed by the Acharyas we can’t see directly in the text but here it’s there directly Mayi Sarvani Karmani all your works Mayi Sanyasya, renounce them for my sake Adhyatmachetasa and let your consciousness be spiritual that means there are at the Karmakand level also sometimes people give charity and they may give a large portion of charity also and they say that oh whatever money we give now we will get 10 times of that in heaven so it’s a very good investment so even if one is thinking of future life still their Adhyatmachetasa is not there Chetasa is still bhotik, material thinking of oneself as the body and heavenly pleasures are also material bodily pleasures but Adhyatmachetasa when we understand that I am a soul then we understand that the only auspicious goal for me is liberation Nirashir Nirmamobhutva so Krishna is talking about two things here give up desire and give up proprietorship these are what should be bind us to the world and becoming Sanyasya Adhyatmachetasa becoming renounced and becoming situated in spiritual consciousness means not desiring to enjoy anything of this world and not claiming proprietorship over what one has so this is more on disconnection with the world and Krishna will later on say that Yogakshemam Vahamyaham in 9.22 there he will say that although that the implication will be that although devotees Nirashir Nirmamoh a devotee does not desire what is not devotees don’t desire what they don’t have and devotees don’t claim possessiveness over what they have but Krishna protects what they have and Krishna provides what they lack so Nirashir Nirmamoh without an understanding of Krishna being a protector can seem quite a prohibitive demand but when we understand Krishna to be the to be the protector to be the provider then we focus not on contemplating the insubstantiality the futility of material things rather we focus on contemplating the glory of Krishna and how we can attain him so at this level Krishna is not talking about that but he is focusing work for me and renounce desire, renounce possessiveness and then yudhyasva, yudhyasva means fight how should you fight digata jwara the word jwara can mean lethargy or it can mean feverishness so giving up that which is going to obstruct you in your fight, fight in doing your duty put aside the obstacles which are holding you back from doing your duty Arjuna and do your duty properly so this verse can be analyzed in multiple ways one is that we can see that Krishna is talking about being situated in the transcendental level so the first line is talking about transcendence that is goodness stretching transcendence in goodness one works with detachment and one is one has knowledge knowledge of one’s spiritual identity also so second verse talks about being situated in goodness third verse talks about fighting of the rejecting the mode of passion desire and possessiveness are what drag us drag our consciousness to the material level for the sake of material pleasure and that is the essence of the mode of passion the consciousness being at the material level for the sake of material enjoyment and then the last line is in the mode of passion if you are told that we are not going to gain anything what’s in it for me if you are told that oh there is nothing in it for me you are not meant to get anything you should not desire anything you will not possess anything then why should I work at all but no that thought is a thought of the mode of ignorance give up that thought and giving up lethargy giving up laziness fight so Sri Prabhupada writes in the purport that Krishna is as if telling Arjuna to fight let me discipline so the idea of putting aside lethargy putting aside everything that will prevent us from working diligently we put aside and we fight for Krishna’s sake this verse describes the consciousness that will mature into pure devotional service in future but here it’s moving from karma yoga where the focus is on distancing oneself from the body and things related with the body because one knows that those will cause attachment and entanglement so karma yoga focuses on more on detaching oneself from the entangling whereas bhakti yoga focuses on attaching oneself to the disentangling and when we attach ourselves to Krishna who is supremely all attractive person then we naturally become disentangled from material existence as a byproduct so as devotees we focus more on how can I best serve Krishna in every situation if I can just continue serving Krishna then as a consequence I will be liberated from material existence and Krishna will talk about that how faithfully abiding by his instructions leads to liberation and faithlessness leads to bondage and misery in the next two verses when he contrasts faithfulness the consequence of faithfulness with the consequence of faithlessness but here Krishna is giving a clarion call this is not an informative verse, it’s not an analytical verse it’s an imperative verse imperative means Krishna is giving an instruction over here yudhisvavigatajvaraha so Arjuna, give up lethargy give up desire and possessiveness situate yourself in spiritual consciousness and renunciation and when you work when you fight, fight for my sake, offer all your works to me and implication is if you do like this then you will attain perfection, you will attain liberation so this verse comes just ten verses after Krishna has given an example of how someone was liberated of karmanaivai samsiddhim astita janaka daya samsiddhim so just as janaka attained samsiddhi perfection you will also attain perfection Arjuna, if you work thus thank you