Gita 04.17 – Action-reaction correlation is incomprehensible, but right action is discernible

Bhagavad Gita 4.17 karmano yapi bodhavyam bodhavyam chavi karmanah akarmanas cha bodhavyam gahana karmano gatihi Krishna is continuing describing how one can act in a way that does not cause bondage and here he mentions three terms karmano yapi bodhavyam bodhavyam buddhi is intelligence bodhavyam means to know with one's intelligence so understand what is karma bodhavyam chavi karmanah understand what is vikarma akarmanas cha bodhavyam repetition of the word bodhavyam in all the three lines along with some variants of the word karma creates a beautiful poetic structure for this verse so the first line is starting with karma ending with bodhavyam second line is starting with bodhavyam and ending again with karma slight variant of that, of course the meaning is entirely opposite vikarmanah but still the sound of karma is there and again the third line starts the third line structure reflects the first line so akarmanas cha bodhavyam again it has the word karma in it so in English this sort of structure, especially the first and second line is called a chiasmus where the second part inverts where the second half of the sentence inverts the elements of the first half for example we may say that John F. Kennedy said ask not what the nation has done for you ask what you have done for the nation or we may say that Krishna lives in a devotee lives in Vrindavan and Vrindavan lives in the devotee so basically it's not exactly a chiasmus here because the words are slightly different but it's something similar and this is also an example of the poetic nature of the Bhagavad Gita often the poetry of the Gita along with its artistic qualities, its literary ornaments is overlooked because the Gita is usually studied either as a religious or a philosophical book but we can also see it as a literary work and relish it in that way also now know these three things karma, vikarma and akarma now what does this mean in this context the previous verse introduces two terms karma and akarma so knowing what is karma and what is akarma is difficult even for the sages that was what was stated over there now in this verse it is stated that three words are there karma, vikarma and akarma now akarma continues to mean the same thing as it meant in the previous verse, it is not just plain inaction but it is non-reactive action action that does not produce any reaction and the word karma from the previous verse has been expanded into two categories here, karma and vikarma so karma can at a generic level mean action that produces reaction but at a more specific level it can be categorized into two where karma is the same as su-karma that means action that produces good reaction and vikarma is the opposite of that action that produces bad reaction in that way we have karma and vikarma so both are categories of reactive work so we could have two levels of categorization here karma and vikarma is a meta level categorization that is reactive work and non-reactive work and within the category of karma we have two further categories that is karma and vikarma or more to avoid ambiguity we could say su-karma and vikarma so now Krishna is telling understand all these three what will be action that will give good reaction what will be the action that will give bad reaction and what will be the action that will give no reaction so in Arjuna's context he has a choice either to fight the war or to renounce the war now which will comprise what he has to decide and Krishna concludes this verse by stating that actually the working of karma is gahan gahan means deep it is difficult to understand gahan karmano gati gati means progress, movement towards some destination so gahan gahan means extremely dense so dense that it is not penetrable by one's intelligence gahan karmano gati now what this specifically means is that in our life how which reaction will come that is difficult to understand now this verse is usually quoted for this last part gahan karmano gati and gahan karmano gati is used usually to refer to how the how we will not be able to figure out why a particular reaction is coming in our life so why something suddenly go wrong why some obstacles or reversals come in our life why certain things happen it is very difficult to figure out and that is definitely a valid application of this verse because even the reactions that we get are a part of karmano gati are a part of the movement of karma because karma is a whole network our action set of a chain of events that culminate in a reaction that comes to us proportionate to our action so normally we use the word this particular verse in most classes and discussions gahan karmano gati is used to talk about the incomprehensibility of the reactions that come upon us why reaction is coming and what a particular thing that happens in our life is a reaction to which particular activity that we had done and when we had done it all this correlation is very difficult to understand in addition to the complexity of the patterns of reaction that come upon us this verse in the flow of the Gita refers to the complexity of the choices that lie before us when we are to act so as of now Arjuna's dilemma is primarily what action should I do so gahan karmano gati when Krishna is saying over here he is focusing here on what action should you do Arjuna what action will comprise non-reactive work will it be simply becoming peaceful and announcing the war or will it be do your duty in the mode of detachment so this is what you should carefully understand bodhavyam and when Krishna is saying understand this that means that he is going to explain to Arjuna as he has mentioned in the previous verse that knowledge of karma I will speak to you and knowing this you will become free from auspiciousness so even when a teacher speaks the understanding of the student is not guaranteed the student has to be attentive has to engage the intelligence and participate actively in the educational process so Krishna is calling for such participation through the use of the word bodhavyam understand so I am speaking now you hear and you understand and then you will also be although it is very difficult to understand karmano gati it is gahan but still if you understand what I am speaking then at least you will be able to know what is the best course of action for yourself and that way you will be able to choose wisely.