Gita 18.24 Disconnection from our Lord leads to the consumption of our consciousness by passion

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Bhagavad Gita 18.24 यत्तु कामेऽप्सुनाकर्मा साहंकारेणवापुनः क्रियतेबहुलायासम् तद्राजसमुदःरुतम् यत्तु कामेऽप्सुनाकर्मा When we work with the craving for results, साहंकारेणवापुनः And we work with ego also. क्रियतेबहुलायासम् And we put in a lot of labor to get the work done.
तद्राजसमुदःरुतम् That is work in the mode of passion. So Krishna used three broad characteristics for work in the mode of passion. Desire, ego and labor.
Labor here is used in the sense of excessive or disproportionate labor. As in the sense of workaholism. Where when there is disproportionate work, Then that work consumes our consciousness and our life itself.
It becomes like a cancer in the body. Normal bodily growth is natural and essential. But when the growth becomes cancerous, It becomes disproportionate and dangerous.
So similarly, बहुलायासम् When one works disproportionately, Not considering the overall picture of things, Not seeing what is the overall nature of reality, Within which, what is the role that we are meant to play, Then can’t do much, can’t move forward beyond a particular setting. So the consciousness gets consumed in the work, In the fruit of the work and in the ego. That I am the doer.
So basically, when we do work, We, the doers, have a particular conception about ourselves. We have a particular conception about the work itself. Say, what is the nature of the work? What is the quality of the work needed over here? How demanding it is going to be? And we have a particular conception of the result.
Oh, if I get this, then this will be achieved. And then we will be able to move forward in our life constructively. By, say, if I think of myself as a very intelligent person, Then I think, oh, this particular exam, say GRE or IIT, JEE or IAS, These are tough exams.
And if I can crack them, then I can prove to the world how intelligent I am. And the whole world will praise me as a topper then. So that understanding that every one of us is meant to move forward in our life And for moving forward in our life, We need to focus on connecting with our Lord.
And ultimately the work that we do is not just for the result in this world. It is meant ultimately for taking us beyond this world to the Lord, Who is the source of the world and who is the source of all of us. It is meant to take our consciousness towards Him So that we can become absorbed in Him.
So that we can become happily, joyfully, cheerfully consumed by Him. That is our aspiration. And to achieve that aspiration, Every one of us needs some kind of conception of transcendence.
Some understanding of how transcendence can permeate our life And take us to a life of greater fulfillment. Without that, as long as we work with the material conception, We can’t do anything which is enduring beyond the arena of matter. Which will not lead to a transcendental elevation of our consciousness.
Every one of us needs this transcendental elevation of consciousness. Because it is only in such elevation of consciousness that satisfaction is to be found. It is only in such elevation of consciousness that we are meant to move towards Krishna and attain Krishna.
Unless each one of us can show how we are ourselves meant to promote not our position in the world, But elevate our consciousness. So work in the mode of passion is simply entangling. It entangles us and it entangles our consciousness with craving, with ego, with effort.
Consider if somebody works in a business field. Now they can work to earn money. They can work to gain fame.
They can work to show how they are better than their competitors. They can work to dismiss or deride doubts which they have about themselves, Which have been created by society’s labels that have been affixed on them. They can work in various ways for various things.
But ultimately each one of us needs to work for purifying our consciousness. It’s to the extent that we understand that we are souls, we are parts of Krishna. And we are meant to unite with him.
To that extent the work will become spiritually uplifting. Otherwise whatever work we do, we will do the work. But far from it being spiritually uplifting, it will remain materially entangling.
And materially entangling work is not the kind of work that either Arjuna wants to do or Krishna wants to teach. So here Krishna is giving us an explanation of work in different modes. So that Arjuna and through Arjuna all of us can choose how best we can act for elevating our consciousness in a way that will be uplifting for us.
And ultimately Arjuna’s question was he wanted to be liberated. So how can he be liberated? That is what Krishna is going to tell him in this section of the Gita. And ultimately as we will see Krishna will take things forward and culminate this talking of working in various modes.
So ultimately talk about working in transcendence. And thereby every one of us can attain liberation and life’s perfection.