Gita 04.21 – Nirasha is not disappointment in fulfilling desire, but detachment from the fever to fulfill desire

Nirasheeryat chittatma tyakta sarva-parigraha shariram kevalam karma kurvann apnoti kilvisham 4.21 bhagavad-gita nirasheeryat chittatma nirasheer One who does not have desires nirasha Asha is desire, nirasheer is one who does not have desires. chittatma One who has controlled his mind.

chittatma One who has controlled his mind and intelligence. chitta and atma can be translated variously. But essentially it refers to one's inner faculties.

One who has conquered or one who has controlled one's inner world. tyakta sarva-parigraha One who has given up all possessive mentality. shariram kevalam karma And one who shariram kevalam karma One who works only for the sake of maintaining the body.

kurvann apnoti kilvisham Such a person will not, even kurvann, such a person acts Such a person will not incur, will not accrue kilvisham, contamination, entanglement. So, Krishna is continuing with the theme of non-entangling work over here. And he states that how one can stay free from karmic bondage.

So he says kurvann apnoti kilvisham So, nirashiryat chitta-atma One who works without desires. So now, in vernaculars, often the word nirashya has a negative connotation. Nirashya means one who has become disappointed.

But nirashya is seen in Sanskrit usage more positively as a state of not frustration due to unfulfillment of desires but freedom from bondage to desires. As long as we think that fulfilling desires is the source of happiness, then the unfulfillment of desires is seen as the source of frustration. And then we want to get from that stage of unfulfilled desires to fulfilled desires.

But when we become more spiritually mature, then we realize that it is desires themselves that are the cause of our bondage. It is desires themselves that are the cause of our tribulation. So it is not the unfulfillment of desire that is the cause of frustration.

It is the desire to fulfill desire that is the cause of frustration. And when we understand this point then it is a dramatic spiritual breakthrough in our growth. Not dramatic in the sense that suddenly some lightning will illumine the sky or some thunderbolt will fall on our head or something like that.

But dramatic in terms of the reorientation that happens in our inner world. When we understand that I have spent so much of my time and energy thinking should I fulfill this desire or should I fulfill that desire. But now I understand that actually no matter what I do it is not that the fulfilled desires will bring happiness and the unfulfilled desires will cause frustration.

It is the desire to fulfill desire that causes frustration. Because in the desire to fulfill desire, by the word desire which we use in this context refers to material desires. And the desire to fulfill desires, fulfill material desires keeps us locked in material consciousness.

And as long as we are locked in material consciousness we are deprived of spiritual consciousness. We are deprived of Krishna. And when we are deprived of Krishna we cannot experience any higher happiness.

And in this way that lack of higher happiness which comes from our relationship with Krishna, that is the cause of real frustration. So when we understand this single point, it's a crucial point in our spiritual life to understand that it's like the fish comes out of water and whether the fish finds some desirable object outside the water or not, that doesn't matter. As the fish has come out of the ocean, there is going to be misery.

And maybe if there is a mirage, there is great misery. Even if there is a small little bit of, say, a little puddle of water, there might be some pleasure. But actually it is not finding the mirage that is the cause that is the fundamental cause of suffering of the fish.

But it is the coming out of the water. That is the cause of suffering. So when we look at things from this philosophical perspective, the nirasha, so nirasha becomes very positive because one understands, there is no point for me to search for a fish, to search for some solace and shelter on the land.

Then the fish will start seeking water and returning to the water will bring supreme happiness. So like that, when we get nirasha, when we get disappointed with material life, then actually we start our journey towards spiritual life and towards Krishna in earnest, towards spiritual realization in earnest. And it is that realization that is vital for our spiritual growth, for our sustained spiritual progress.

And in that sense, nirasha is positive. So, in the Pingala pastime, in the Vishwamitra Bhagavatam, in Uddhava Gita, the Pingala pastime concludes with the statement that āśāhi paramam duḥkham nairāśyam paramam sukham that desire is the cause of great misery and nairāśya, that freedom from desire, that is the cause of great happiness. Because that freedom from desire, freedom from material desires is the foundation by which we turn from matter towards Krishna.

It is the foundation by which we turn from material reality, from seeking material happiness to seeking spiritual happiness. So, we shouldn't equate the material nairāśya or the nirāśya, which is the word, the usage that is there in material life to nirāśya. He has become disappointed.

So, that is not the sense in which the usage is usually in the scriptural text. So, here nirāśya yaccha ātmā When a person becomes nirāśya, that does not mean disappointed, but it means actually detached, distanced from material desires. One has become, one has recognized that oh, that these desires will not make me happy, so I will no longer pursue these desires.

And that's why, yato chitta ātmā Now, our inner consciousness, because of past conditionings, will still keep seeking pleasures, will still seek pursuing desires. But a wise person refuses to indulge in that pursuit, knowing that nirāśir yato chitta ātmā yato chitta ātmā tyakta sarva-parigraha So, giving up all possessiveness, shāreeram kevalam karma Now, giving up all karma, giving up nirāśya, becoming nirāśya, giving up desires does not again mean that one does not work. It's not that one gives up activity.

Rather, one gives up the attachment to do different kind of working for bodily gratification. Rather, one works for spiritual realization. And that's why, shāreeram kevalam karma One works for just maintaining the body.

Does not think that Oh, if I get a better dress, if I have a smarter physique, if I have more makeup, then I'll become happy. shāreeram kevalam karma Now, when one acts in this way, pursuing, making spiritual realization and not sensual gratification as the goal of one's life, then kurvan nāpnoti kilvisham Even if one such a person acts, that person will nāpnoti One will not accumulate karmic reaction. kurvan nāpnoti kilvisham So Arjuna, can Arjuna be nirāśir while fighting the war? Won't he be desiring victory in the war? Yes, he will be.

But it is not the desire for victory that is the driving desire. It is the desire to serve Krishna that is the driving desire. And that service can come in many forms and Krishna will accept that service.

Specifically for him, that service comes in the form of wanting to fight. And so Krishna will do that fighting also. So Arjuna, sorry not Krishna, Arjuna will do that fighting also.

But because the desire is not, because the desire to win is not the dominating desire, or the desire to fight is not the dominating desire, the desire to serve Krishna is the dominating desire, is the driving desire. So that will not cause disconnection from Krishna, but will rather deepen the connection with Krishna. And that way, Arjuna can stay, kurvan nāpnoti kilvisham, can work without entanglement.