Gita 18.26 The doer is not a non-doer but is a component in doing

Transcript

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Bhagavad Gita 18.26 mukta-saṅgo anhaṁ vādhi dhritya-utsaḥ samanvitah siddhya-siddho nirvikāraḥ kartā sāttvika uchyate so in these three verses 26 to 28 Krishna will speak about the doer in the three modes kartā so he has spoken about karma and before that he has spoken about jnana in the three modes after speaking kartā about kartā in 26 to 28 then he will speak about buddhi, dhriti and sukha buddhi from 30 to 32 33 to 35 is dhriti and 36 to 38 will be sukha and between there are some summarizing verses 29th is a summarizing verse for flow as is 36 so it’s interesting that Krishna puts kartā as a distinct category and Krishna has earlier said that prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ ahaṁ kārvim mūḍhātmāṁ kartāḥ aham iti manyate so this verse is often translated as one who thinks himself as a doer it’s an illusion but then Krishna tells that one of the components of action is the doer so obviously the very fact that this particular component of action is called a doer indicates that here they do something otherwise they would not be called as doers at all so it’s important for us to always keep in mind that philosophical statements have to be seen in context not in absolute terms divorced from context the soul is the doer in the sense that the soul is the desirer the soul is also the doer in the sense that the soul is the initiator of action when a child is watching a movie say a cartoon show on TV the child doesn’t determine so much what happens in the cartoon show but a child does start the cartoon show or even if the cartoon show is already on the child starts watching the cartoon show in that sense the child is a doer and if that were not a cartoon show if say that’s a video game involving cartoon characters then the child is one player in that game and the child obviously plays so the child is of a different category than the other cartoon characters say if this is a game of war then this attacker attacks from here this defender defends from there this person is shot there that weapon works that way now all this may be determined by the program of the video game the child is playing is something which the child is doing so to say that a child is not the doer is an illusion but if the child starts thinking that I alone am the doer and just see I have overpowered so many soldiers I have won so many battles well actually the child has done nothing except sit on the chair or a bed and move buttons on a digital device child is not literal here warrior who has physically fought wars so now in the making of the video game in the functioning of the video game the child is also one particular component child we could say the vital component without the child starting the video game other things won’t happen but even after the child starts the video game if the video game’s program is not written properly if the video game is not understood in a holistic way then no matter what one does nothing will happen so there has to be that proper understanding that life itself doesn’t work by either our endeavor alone or entirely independent of our endeavor and to understand what our role of being a doer means that requires goodness at least to a significant extent goodness alone doesn’t illumine fully we also need to go beyond goodness towards transcendence but goodness is a fairly good and fairly important starting point without goodness nothing can be understood so here Krishna talks about the karta the doer in the three modes and he states that actually every one of us can contribute to the system of action reaction in different ways and how we may contribute in goodness is mentioned over here mukta-sango-anahamvadi Krishna earlier said how attachment and arrogance, ego they shape action in the lower modes so mukta-sango means this person is not driven by the results alone by the desire for results mukta-sango-anahamvadi anahamvadi anaham means one doesn’t think of himself as I am the doer utsaha samanvitaha still one is enthusiastic and determined dhruti is determination and utsaha is enthusiasm so both of these are important and both of these are present and provided for over here utsaha samanvitaha siddhya siddho nirvikaraha so how does one do like this because of the detachment from the result because of understanding that the process itself leads to purification the process itself leads to growth doing our actions in a mode of devotion itself leads to the elevation of consciousness or even if we do it do the actions in a mode of dutifulness understanding that by acting thus we will grow in knowledge we will grow in self-understanding we will grow in understanding of the world around us then such action itself is elevating such action itself is contributing to our liberation so by understanding that every one of us contributes to the system of action-reaction and if we understand our proper position and if we contribute properly then one works not driven by the infatuation for the results but guided by the desire for elevation and liberation of consciousness thank you