Gita Overview Mumbai 18.12-17 Five factors of action

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
without attachment, basically work without attachment.
And then the question remains how will one become detached, how will one stay unentangled or rather become liberated further. That is by the gyan that is latent within the karma yogi and that gyan develops by the practise of karma yogi. So what is that gyan? Krishna will explain in the coming section.
But let’s complete this karma yoga section now. So till now we have discussed about how tyaga can be in the three modes and how Krishna said that some people say you should renounce work, some people say you should do work, Krishna says you should do work but without attachment. Now we will continue that theme which he has talked about working without attachment.
Normally we use the word kushala in terms of expertise, kaushal. So yoga is the art of work, the expertise of work. So here the word kushala refers to not just expertise, here it refers to sort of auspiciousness.
Sometimes we ask, are you okay, is everything fine with you? So here the word kushala is used in that sense, the work which is auspicious and the work which is inauspicious. That means work which we like to do, work which we do not like to do. So some work may be inauspicious but if it is a part of one’s prescribed duty, one should do it.
For example, say for a Brahmana to perform animal sacrifices, for a Kshatriya to kill in the battlefield, for a Vaishya, maybe to do some small thing which are required for the business. We will talk about this later in the 46th, 47th verses of this chapter when Krishna will talk about sarvarambhahi doshena, dhume nagnirvavritaha. He says that all work is covered by some fault just as fire is covered by smoke.
So he says don’t be averse about work that is inauspicious and don’t be attached to work that is auspicious. How is it possible? It should be some sattva samavishto. Sattva is the existence or goodness.
Sattva samavishto is that such a person is absorbed in goodness and such a person is medhavi. Medhavi is related to medhasa. And because of intelligence, what has happened? Chinna samshaya.
The doubts are destroyed, doubts are cut apart. So, Krishna is recommending Arjuna to become this kind of worker who is intelligent and who understands that there is no bondage if one works properly and that’s why such a person is neither attached nor averse to different kinds of works if they are what is required in the call of duty. Now this medhavi, this intelligence, is what Krishna will elaborate in the next two sections.
What is the medha? What is the intelligence which ensures that the karma yogi can work without bondage will be elaborated in the next section from verse 13 onwards. So now Krishna emphasises this point in another way before going on to the next section. He says that if somebody says no no I will not work then actually it is not possible.
We have to work. So Krishna will explain in the next verse. Nahi deha vrata shakhyam.
Tyaktum karmanya shesh taha. Yastu karma phala tyagi. Satyagi ityabhidiyate.
So this is similar to 3.6 isn’t it? 3.5? Nahi kashyat karma karyate yavasya karma sarva prakrati jaya guni. So similar to what Krishna is saying. Nahi deha vrata shakhyam.
Deha vrata for the embodied soul. Tyaktum karmanya shesh taha. To give up work entirely is impossible.
Even from the point of view of logic actually somebody says I will not do any work. But then doing no work is also work. Doing no work is also work because of several ways.
One is that actually it requires a lot of effort to not do any work. Isn’t it? To just sit inactive and do nothing even if I want to do it sincerely it requires a lot of effort. And the whole idea that it’s like the idea of doing no work is a self contradictory statement.
You remember I discussed about self contradictory statements earlier. If I say I don’t know even one sentence of English. Well I am speaking English obviously I know.
Or if I say that I don’t exist. Only when I exist can I make a statement like that whether I exist or not. So these are self contradictory statements.
So similarly the idea that one should do no work or one should have no thoughts. These are all self contradictory statements. And it’s not possible because not doing work is also a form of work.
And it is work. It is work in several ways. So that is also a lot of work in fact.
So it’s a self contradictory statement. Now what is the problem with the self contradictory statements? That they might seem to be very appealing initially. But actually when you go to they’re not sustainable intellectually.
And not only that they are impossible practically. From a practical perspective. So nahi dhevrata shakhyam vaktum karmāṇe śeṣa.
It’s not possible to give up work. Therefore what should one do? Because one cannot give up work. Therefore it’s best that one work according to scripture.
Now what Krishna says over here is. So who is a real tyagi? Not one who gives up work. Yes tu karma phala tyagi.
One who actually gives up the fruits of work. So tyagi iti abhidhiyete. The person is actually the tyagi.
See now what do we mean by no. The effort. Actually the whole idea is that when do no work means don’t endeavour, don’t strive, don’t exert the energy.
But then to stay inactive it requires effort. If somebody decides to, some people go for Vipassana or some sort of yoga which is completely inactive. It requires effort.
And it’s not easy to do that for a long time. So the idea is effort is required. So now the principle is.
So for example in the Abrahamic tradition in Judaism they have the concept of sabbath. That is a sacred holiday. So they have the idea that on that day no work should be done.
So now that is fine in the Judaic history it is there that when they have this day of sabbath when no work should be done. Then at that time the enemies of Israel attack. And then what do the soldiers do then at that time? Because it is a sacred day if you do no work should you not fight at that time? If you don’t fight you’ll be killed.
They fought and said it’s as they defended themselves. But after they defended themselves and there was a division of opinion among the Jewish rabbis that was that a violation of the sacred code. So then Jesus among the many reforms that he made actually Jesus in never rejected Judaism.
Jesus was a orthodox Jew. His teachings were also more or less a continuation of the teachings of Moses. But he was he reformed many of the aspects of Judaism.
So trying to go beyond the letter of the law to come to the spirit of the law. So the point was the idea that do no work essentially means that okay don’t get engaged in materialistic activities. Focus on spending time on God.
That is the essential principle of sabbath. But when it is required certain activities and they’re important they have to be done. You can’t avoid them.
So in that sense work is indispensable. We can’t avoid work. We cannot become entirely inanimate.
And the statements wherever when they come in scripture that don’t do work the principle is that the word work is often used in the sense of a materially entangling work. So don’t do that and keep yourself available for being devoted to God for getting connected with God. Now Krishna has gone a round circle by the end of by the section.
He started with the definition of tyag is sarva phala tyaga tyaga vichakshadhah. So one who gives up, there was a spell for 18.2, and now he’s come back and he says yasthu karma phala tyagi. One who gives up the fruits of work is a tyagi.
Such a person is called a tyagi. And now he will sort of conclude this section by describing how. Now Krishna for all functional purposes uses the word tyagi as sanyasi equivalent.
And this verse he used the word sanyasi for the same point. Anishtam ishtam ishram cha trividham karmanah phalam tyagi naam predhya rathu sanyasi naam ko chet. Here he’s telling that anishtam ishtam ishram cha.
So these are three kinds of fruits that one can get from one’s work. The good fruit, the bad fruit, and the mixed fruits. But who gets this? A tyagi naam.
One who is not renounced. One who is detached. Now normally the opposite of a tyagi would be tyagi.
But Krishna while talking about the converse statement instead of using the word tyagi as the opposite of a tyagi naam, he uses sanyasi. So from the functional point of view Krishna using the two words equivalently. First he has clarified that sanyasi means one who gives up kamya karma and tyagi means one who gives up all kinds of karma phalam.
But then afterwards he doesn’t become legalistic in terms of differentiating the two terms. The concept is clear. Tyagi and sanyasi essentially means giving up.
But such a person is an actual sanyasi, actual renouncer. So Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, he doesn’t sort of stick to legalistic meanings of terms. For example in the sixth chapter also when he is talking about how a person who is 6.2, what is 6.2? Such a person is a yogi and such a person is a sanyasi.
What is the verse? 6.2. So here Krishna is equating yogi and sanyasi. So he says that that which is sanyas that is the same thing which is yoga. Why is that? Same point.
Unless one is detached, one cannot, unless one gives up material desires, one cannot actually become a transcendentist. So here when Krishna is using the 6.2, he is saying that, he is talking about sanyas means disconnection from the material world and yoga means connection with the spiritual world. And he says in that sense both are equivalent.
And then he says if you want to connect with the spiritual reality, you have to disconnect from the material world. That’s why he says cannot become a yogi without renouncing, without becoming detached from worldly connections. And in this verse also, what we were discussing in the 18.12, he says essentially the same thing that the sanyasi will actually get freedom from the fruits of bondage because that person is detached.
Any questions? Okay. So now we will move forward to the next section where Krishna will talk about the inner consciousness, the inner wisdom that enables the karma yogi to stay disentangled while doing karma. Panchaitani Mahabaho, Panchaitani Mahabaho, Karanani Nibhodhame, Karanami Nibhodhame, Sankhe Kritante Droghtani, Sankhe Kritante Droghtani, Siddhaye Sarvakarmanam, Siddhaye Sarvakarmanam.
So Panchaitani Mahabaho. There are five causes. Karanani, five causes of action.
And Sankhe, in Sankhe we have talked about. Kritante, Praptani is to speak about. And Siddhaye Sarvakarmanam.
Siddhaye means to attain perfection or completion. So for all kinds of work there are these five factors or five causes of action. So let’s look at what these five causes are.
Krishna is talking about Sankhe Yoga over here. Sankhe Yoga is the analysis of the material world into its components. Adhishtanam tatha karta, Adhishtanam tatha karta, Karanam cha prathakvidam, Karanam cha prathakvidam, Dividhas cha prathak cheshta, Dividhas cha prathak cheshta, Daivam chaivatra panchamam, Daivam chaivatra panchamam.
So let’s look at these five causes one by one. So Krishna, he may seem to be repeating some concepts. But while repeating some concepts, he also uses some higher understanding of those concepts.
So Adhishtanam. Adhishtanam is the area or place of action. Arena or place of action.
So let’s understand this with a… First we will take a very contemporary practical example. Then we’ll move on to more philosophical example. Say if a cricket match is going on.
So first thing that is required for a cricket match is a pitch. Now if there is rains and even if there are no rains going on now. But because of the rains the pitch has become spoiled or the outfield has become spoiled.
Then players cannot play over there. So every activity requires a suitable arena. So example, you could say pitch and ground.
Adhishtanam tatha karta. So what is this? So karta is the doer. Now this will refer to the player.
Karanam refers to the senses. So for example, it’s a batsman. The batsman should have his hands and legs and eyes and like that.
So essentially there are specific senses which are required for specific actions. So a musician, that person, it may be that his legs are not very good. Some musicians might even, Mozart was blind almost.
But then the specific senses, you know, he has to have the sense of ear and things like that. Maybe he should be able to sing or hear and judge. So specific senses are required for specific actions.
And those have to be… Adhishtanam tatha karta. Karanam cha prathak vidham. And so prathak means because there are different senses, various senses are required for various actions.
And then Krishna says, Vidhashya prathak cheshta. Cheshta is endeavour. Endeavour here refers to practise.
Now even cricketers, they may be very good cricketers, but ultimately they want to become good. They have to practise for hours and hours and years and years. So the way they practise, there may be some talent.
But even when there is talent, for the talent to actually rise to the level of genius requires painstaking practise. So without that, if there is no talent, the person may not become an extraordinary star. The person may become an average or little above average performer.
But even if somebody has talent, actually speaking, just talent alone is not enough for a person to rise to the level of genius. It requires consistent, determined endeavour, cheshta. And then ultimately, the ever, that is divine sanction.
So here, what they call it as, in modern parlance, it is called luck. In cricket match, they would say, OK, the last ball somehow, you needed to hit a sixer and just the ball or the ball in the way and you swung the bat and it hit the middle of the bat and went off. So many things could have gone wrong.
Actually, anybody, even cricketers, many of them may not be directly believers in God. But all, most cricketers have their own set of superstitions. Some cricketers may just keep a red handkerchief in their pocket with three-fourths of it, one-fourth hanging out.
And that is the way they keep it. Some other cricketer may be in the air only one year, lefty. So, there’s another famous batsman, whenever he would go out to bat, before he would go out to bat, first he would go to the washroom and make sure that all the door, all the washroom shutters were closed.
And if he would get out early, he would come back and see, one of them was open. He would say, who kept it open? He would blame that person. So now, what is the correlation? Actually speaking, there is no correlation.
But the point is that actually, whenever one, whenever anybody tries to attain perfection in any field, or not even perfection, expertise in any field, or any extraordinary success, a person naturally has to recognise this, that there are forces that are greater than me that are involved. Without that, one will not really attain extraordinary success. Because always there are many forces and many factors, which could have gone wrong.
And they work out to be right. So now, they may not attribute it directly to God. But they do recognise that there is something called luck.
And that plays a role. So for example, who wins the toss? That luck is inbuilt right in the beginning. So in every game, there is a game of chess.
One person plays with white, one person plays with black. So whoever is playing with white has a starting advantage. One move ahead of the opponent.
So now how is that decided? That is decided by toss. Or even if you don’t use toss, some way it has to be decided. So anybody in any field of life actually recognises that luck does play a role.
So now, that can be attributed as luck. But actually it is, as we mentioned earlier, coincidences are God’s ways of staying anonymous. I’m like, okay, this also works, this also works, this also works.
And everything works out perfectly. That’s a coincidence we say. But coincidence is, accidents are no accidents.
They all happen. There may be lucky accidents, there may be unlucky accidents. Whatever you want to say.
But they are all, there is something happening underneath it. Some underlying plan is there and that’s how the things work out. So now, these are the five factors of action.
Okay. Okay, okay, fine. Anonymous means that you don’t mention the name of a person.
For example, you may have a poem or a book that is written anonymously. So, generally whenever in management circles you want to criticise somebody you send an anonymous email. So, the idea is that then who is complaining will not be found out.
But anonymous means there is no name mentioned. So, sometimes there are many factors, lucky factors which work out right. And people say this is a coincidence, it worked out like that.
So, it is not a coincidence. It’s actually God’s arrangement. When God wants to do something, but he doesn’t want to directly say that I am doing it.
Then at that time, it is actually God working anonymously, without mentioning it. Yes, please. I asked.
What was the concept? It’s similar to this. I asked. Little loudly please.
And tell the question clearly. Well, I had talked about this simply. Have I discussed something earlier? I talked about Karmavada and Daivavada.
You remember? So, Karmavada and Daivavada is the example of a field. For a field to produce crops, the farmer has to flow and rains have to come. So, when both are together, then the result comes out.
Actually speaking, we will discuss that over and then we will correlate this. I think this analysis is from one of the Puranas. Skanda Purana somewhere.
Okay. Yeah. Correct, correct.
There actually it is said that. I am not sure Skanda. I will find out if you want exactly which it is.
One of the Puranas shows it. Old BDG article is there. Karma, Daiva and Kaad.
So, Karma is the endeavour. So, example could be flowing the field. And Daiva is the providence, arrangement of providence.
That could be in this case rains. Now, Kaala is the passage of time. So, example from sowing season to harvesting season.
So, actually speaking, even when I do work, even when rains come, the results don’t come immediately. So, even when there is Karma and Daiva together, some Kaala has to pass and then the result will come. So, looking at another way, when I study for exam, first of all, I have to study.
Then after I study, when the paper is being checked, the examiner has to be in a good mood. Examiner has quarrelled with the spouse or her spouse and then in an irritated mood, the examiner is checking the exam and they give less marks. But even when the Daiva is good, after that also, Kaala has to pass.
The whole checking process has to happen and then after some time the results will come out. So, Karma, Daiva and Kaala, all three come together to produce the result. So, in the Vedic scriptures, just like we discussed earlier, that the material elements can be classified into various elements.
20, 15, 24, 25, 20, 16, 18, like that. So, the number can vary depending on the framework by which things are classified. Similarly, or we can talk about different people approaching God.
So, you could talk about Artha Jijnas or Artha Artha Jnani. Those are four motivations by which people approach God. Or you could talk about fear, desire, duty, love.
They are the four levels that people approach God. So, now whenever the typology is like this, we cannot superimpose one typology on another. Every typology is done with a particular context, a particular purpose.
So, that’s why this analysis of Karma, Daiva and Kaala is slightly different from the analysis of the Bhavaita in 18.4 and 15. But we are just discussing over here an analytical way to understand how things work. Remember, we earlier also discussed in the fifth chapter about how Jeeva, Ishwar and Prakriti, all three work together.
So, Jeeva desires, Ishwar sanctions and Prakriti executes, implements. And that’s how work happens. So, if you use that typology over here, then here actually we see, So, now the three factors are, what is it? First, Jeeva desires, Ishwar sanctions, Prakriti executes.
So, now among these three, if you correlate this with Artha Jnani, Jeeva is the Karta. Then, Ishwar is the Daiva. And the Prakriti includes the remaining three over here.
There is Adhistanam, then there is Karanam. And Cheshta can be included. Let’s explain how it works.
So, basically, that’s how we can correlate it. Now, Cheshta is Endeavour. Now, who does the Endeavour? Ultimately, you could say the Jeeva who is Endeavour.
Jeeva Endeavours with the body. And the result of the Endeavour is manifested in the body. If I become a very good singer by practise or if I become a very good writer by practise, it’s not that those writing abilities will necessarily go with me from this life to the next life.
In some cases, there are some people who are precociously talented. And sometimes those abilities, like for example, Mozart’s singing ability, Mozart’s musical capabilities. Now, if people look back in his genetic pool, neither his parents nor grandparents or anyone like that had any musical inclusion.
And this was a musical genius. So, if our abilities just come from our genes, these cases are unexplainable. So, genes play a role.
So, sometimes the more things are related with the gross body, they are shed off. Because the subtle body goes from one body to another. That’s why things connected with the subtle body may stay.
And things connected with the soul will always stay. So, in a sense, what is connected with the soul, that is Bhakti. Bhakti or spiritual attraction, that will always stay.
What is connected with the body, it is material possessions. They will always stay back. They will never stay with the soul.
Now, what is connected with the mind? If you look at the mind, actually subtle body, there are desires, there are passions, there are habits, they do stay. If I have attraction to lust or greed or whatever, attachment, they will stay with me. Now, these are more a matter of say the soul’s choices.
The more a person acts on lust, the person becomes more and more lusty. It is a matter of choices. Now, what about abilities? Where are the abilities stored? If somebody is a very good singer, is that singing ability stored in the throat? Is it in the head, in the brain? Actually, the abilities that we have, they do require physical instruments.
But if we sort of do a CT scan of the throat of a great singer and do the CT scan of the throat of an ordinary person, a mediocre singer, it is not that you will find that the throat has some special composition. Because of which, that person is able to sing so nicely. No, it is not like that.
In some people, let us not talk about, for some people, they are so expert at playing Kartal, or say playing Mrutanga. And others, they struggle. Now, if you look at, if you do an X-ray of their fingers, it is not that we will find some difference between the composition of the fingers of an expert, of an ordinary person.
So, although the fingers are critical, and when we observe, how expertly the fingers are moving. But the fingers are only the instruments by which the talents are expressed. Those talents are not stored in the fingers.
There is no sort of memory cells or anything like that in the fingers. So, we could say that some part of it is in the brain. But ultimately, even our abilities are stored in the subtle body.
To the extent the abilities are connected to the gross body, to that extent, those abilities may be sort of forgotten when we go from this gross body to the next gross body. But they can also be remembered. Generally, there is significant wipe-out of the memory, and that’s why most things are forgotten.
But some things can be carried on. That’s why some people may even have yogic siddhis from birth. Generally, yogic siddhis have to be acquired by practise.
But if some person has a lot of yogic austerities, and by that the person has acquired siddhis, and then the person somehow dies prematurely, and that person, because of the austerity performed over there, is meant to enjoy that yogic siddhi for a longer period, then that person may have the yogic siddhi from birth. Or that person may, at a particular time in that life, suddenly start developing that yogic siddhi. Or that yogic siddhi may be discovered, and that person may start, apparently, it may appear like magic.
But it is a result of the endeavour the person has done in the previous life. So, the point I’m making over here is, cheshta, the capacity to endeavour, is done in correlation between the body and the soul. When I endeavour, it is, in a sense, my determination, which is the soul’s determination.
But along with that, there is a proper bodily passage that is required. So, cheshta, we have to put at the junction of jiva and prakriti. It is not just entirely prakriti, nor just entirely jiva.
Not entirely jiva. Any questions about this till now? Is the daiva factor a result of past karma? Actually, you could say that all the factors are a result of past karma only. The adhishtanam, the kshetra that I have got, that is also a result of past karma only.
For example, let’s say, somebody was very talented. Somebody is a very talented musician. But suppose that person is born in a culture, somebody is a very good painter.
And say that person is born in an Islamic country, where painting is considered to be sinful. Then, because painting is used for visual depiction of, visual imagery is made using that. Then the person will not be able to express that painting ability, isn’t it? Or somebody is born with musical talent in a place where music is disapproved.
So, when that happens, then that is adhishtanam. So, why is that person born in that particular circumstance? That is also a result of karma. So, Krishna as a super soul, as a daiva, is not controlled by past.
He is the controller of past. And how he decides, he takes into account our past. But he is not a mechanical system.
It’s a conscious decision. Just like the judge, when the person judge, when judge passes sentence about a particular person, whether to punish or to reward, depending on whatever circumstance. There are certain principles by which things are decided.
And the basic principle is, what kind of action the person is in, and what kind of reaction that deserves. So, even taking this into account, there is the point that, actually, the person is, the judge is consciously choosing and deciding. This is what is done, this is what is done, and therefore they should be.
Judge should be disinterested. He should be impartial. That is true.
But still there is a conscious factor involved. So, when we say daiva is determined by, daiva is not exactly determined by past karma. Daiva is an independent action, which is chosen by the super soul based on our past.
Is the difference clear? It is not a mechanical function that cause will automatically produce effect, and effect will come in a particular kind of way. There is a conscious choice. Otherwise, it goes towards karma vimamsa.
The idea that we don’t need any controller, actions and not reactions are automatically connected. Any further questions? Yes. So, what was wrong in Krishna’s explanation of karma vimamsa and govardhana yuga? If I know the word, devatas are bound to do the results.
There is a difference between the power of the devatas and the power of the Supreme Lord. To some extent, devatas are bound. They are obliged.
But the Supreme Lord is not obliged. So, we could say that, the actions devatas do, although devatas are conscious beings, and they also have their intelligence and their desires, they are conscious beings. But those conscious beings more or less act based on those principles.
But Krishna is completely independent. And that transcendence of Krishna, is the basis of the power of bhakti. So, the problem with karma vimamsa is that it refuses to acknowledge any authority independent of the law of cause-effect mechanism.
So now, let’s try to visualise it this way. This is the earthly realm. This is the celestial realm.
This is the spiritual realm. Celestial is heavenly. So now, the action that we do in this world, that becomes stored as a reservoir in our karmic bank account.
And from that karmic bank account, certain withdrawals will take place. Certain reactions will come. So now, how do those reactions come about? Actually, it’s not automatic.
Yes, there is a mechanical law involved. But the law of karma is not like the law of gravity. The law of gravity is simply, I drop it from here, it falls over here.
So, there is no immediate intervention of a conscious being over there. For example, now, in the scriptures, it is talked about when somebody does papa, actually that person goes to Yamaraja and Yamaraja judges and decides. That means the law of karma is there, but the way the karmic reactions will come, there is a conscious person who judges.
Isn’t it? But there is no reference that if a stone is dropped, somebody has to judge whether the stone will fall down or not. So, although both are laws, there is a difference in the way the laws are implemented. Because this is basically, a stone falling is just interaction of matter with matter.
Whereas the law of karma involves the interaction of consciousness with consciousness or consciousness with matter. And that’s why judging that will involve supervision by a conscious being. So, the law, the Karma Mimamsa basically makes the law of cause-effect as supreme.
Whereas the Vedic scriptures indicate that the law of cause-effect is important. But more important than that is the transcendence of the law. There is a conscious being who is beyond these laws and by the grace of that conscious being, the person can become free from karmic reactions.
So, Jiva Goswami gives the analysis in Sandarbha. He quotes two statements from the Tamasic scriptures and he says that certain statements are given to create fear. They are not necessarily the absolute truth.
And when we understand the spirit of those statements, then we can see how those statements fit with the broad philosophy. He says, for example, in Tamasic Puranas, just see the power of the law of karma by which even the powerful Vishnu has to take ten incarnations in this world and suffer during those incarnations. And just see the power of the law of karma by which Shiva has to carry a skull and wear snakes and wander around in crematoriums.
Such is the power of karma and one should not ever violate. One should never do bad karma. So, he says, what is the purpose of statements like this? It is actually to create a sense of fear.
Now, at a particular level of consciousness, the concept of exceptions to the law are not what people are capable of knowing. Once people understand that exceptions to the law, people will just take advantage of those exceptions and demand whatever they are doing to be exceptions. So, initially, this is the law and one has to follow it.
But over a period of time, as people’s consciousness evolves, then they start understanding, okay, actually Vishnu and great devotees of Vishnu, the empowered beings, they can perform Leela. And in that Leela, it’s not the law of karma, it’s actually some higher principle, for example, loving reciprocation being demonstrated. But those things which are higher, they can also be understood at a lower level for a particular contextual interpretation.
Just like, I had discussed this earlier, how apparently in the Raft Leela when Krishna disappeared from the Gopis, that was because the Gopis became proud. But Anandam Chepa explained that the whole Leela was done to glorify Radharani. Now, Krishna left all the other Gopis to be with Radharani.
So, now the explanation of pride is also valid. But higher explanation is the explanation of the intention to glorify Radharani. Similarly, the principle of the law of karma is also important.
And for people who do not understand, who have not yet clearly understood how serious the implications of the law of karma are, it is best for them to recognise that this is a very serious law and I have to be very careful about it. Is it clear what I am saying? So, now let’s move forward. So, Krishna has talked about three kinds of austerities earlier, body, speech and mind.
These are the same things. Whatever work one does with any of these three, karma prarabhate rara and jnayam va viparitam va jnaya means morality, justice. So, whether the action is just, is moral, it is right or viparitam, it is opposite, means it is bad.
Whatever it is, panchayate dasya hetava these five factors are involved in all the actions that he does. Then after that he will describe So, now the whole purpose of this analysis, what is it? It is to show how a person becomes entangled by action and how a person can stay disentangled in action. So, here Krishna gives the analysis by saying He says, if a person thinks that I am the only doer, then that person will become bound.
And a person is illusioned. He says, He is not able to see. And he is His buddhi is not yet developed.
So, this word is very important. Kevala is only. So, I am the only doer.
So, we are certainly doers. But the illusion is to think that we are the only doers. Generally, actions won’t happen unless we take initiative.
Whether it is material action or spiritual action. And the scriptures do talk about it. The lion is not going to enter into the mouth of the lion automatically.
So, we have to endeavour. But our endeavour is in a sense, necessary but not sufficient. But when we think that my endeavour is necessary and sufficient, then that is an illusion.
That my endeavour produces the result. So, that idea that I am the doer, I am the producer of the result, that is what causes bondage. So, Krishna is telling over here that He will contrast this.
First, remember I talked earlier that Krishna instructs by contrasting. So, here He will say that if you think that you are the doer and you are the producer of the result, you will become bound. Next verse He will say that actually if you don’t think like this, then you will not be bound.
So, now Krishna gives a very drastic example to illustrate the contrast. He says that even if you fight and you kill, generally fighting and killing is a very aggressive action. But even such an action will not lead to bondage if one is knowledge.
I am the doer, I am great. When one is not motivated by this false ego, one whose buddhi is not entangled like this, even if such a person kills, that is not a killer, such a person will not be bound. So, after the 11th chapter, this is the first verse that directly refers to fighting.
There has been no reference to fighting after 11.32-33-34, where Krishna has talked about war. So, even this is not a direct call for action, call for war, but it is indirect. Even if you kill, even if somebody kills, it is not a direct instruction, you should kill.
The general principle, even if somebody kills, that person will not be bound. That person will not be bound. But the whole philosophical discussion that has gone to lofty levels, lofty heights of analysis, now is returning back to the battlefield context gradually.
It is not that it will come back, it will come back directly, it will come back later only in 18.62-63 and 71-72 ultimately, when Arjuna will say, Krishna Vashinam Tava. But here the hints are coming, the premonitions, what is to come later, is being demonstrated over here. So, na hanti na nivartate, the person will not be bound.
This verse is not a licence for indiscriminate violence. Why is it not? Somebody may say that, oh, I don’t think I am the doer, and then I blow up a big building with a bomb. Say, na hanti na nivartate.
No. Actually, as long as we are selfishly motivated, there is going to be severe karmic repercussions. So, it is not a licence for violence.
Bhagavad Gita is, we discussed earlier, neither a message for, remember what is the Bhagavad Gita, it is not a message for? Three things I mentioned. What all it is not and what it is. Is it a licence for violence? No.
The Gita’s message is, not silence, not violence, but transcendence. So, not silence, not violence, but transcendence. That is the essential message of the Gita.
So, it is not really directly concerned with the specifics of worldly actions. Although it gives us guidelines for what kind of specific actions we should do, but the essential message of the Gita is that, we have to transcend the world. And that transcendence is best affected through adhering to scriptural guidelines of our youth.
And the scriptural guidelines of duty, if it requires us to fight, we will fight. If it requires us to stay disengaged from the world, we will do that. In general, our Acharyas have demonstrated quite significant engagement with the world.
Although, to some extent, the Vedic culture does talk about emphasis on, say, sannyas and renunciation of the world, but especially in the Bhakti culture, even renunciation is not necessarily and entirely a withdrawal from the world. It is withdrawal from one kind of engagement with the world, so that one can engage with the world in another way, in a broader, more effective way. So, the principle of Bhakti is to engage with the world, and by that, we engage the world in Krishnasaras.
So, that’s why Krishna is telling over here, na aham kruto bhavo, he is not directly talking about Bhakti here, but he is talking about, when a person does Karma Yoga with this bhava, he will not become bound. Yes? Question? Okay. So, any questions about this? So, let’s go.
Let’s continue tomorrow. So, now we have come to 18.17, and probably we should be able to complete before the weekend, and if you have any general questions, you can note them down, and we will have some classes, either one of the last class on Friday, or on Monday, we can have one extra class, where we can discuss some general things, if you have some questions. Okay? Thank you very much.
Srimad Bhagavad Gita ki jaya. Srila Prabhupada ki jaya. Gaurabhakta Vrinda ki jaya.