ACTION OR KRU OR KARMA IN BHAGAVAT GITA
1 referring to the collective results of past action that you are or
will be experiencing and this focus is more on the idea of my destiny, I
guess - what I am destined to experience - and the reason there is this
focus is primarily because of—people have this quite strong interest in the
idea of what’s going to be my fate, what’s going to be my destiny and
that’s very much tied to the idea or the desire of wanting to find some
perfect place in this world to experience happiness or fulfilment or having
a life that people consider to be very ideal.
2 What is the actual meaning of this word ‘karma’, the word actually
denotes and solely denotes action. It’s doesn’t denote the result of
action; it is the action itself that we perform. The result, in Sanskrit is
referred to as karma phalam. Karma phalam. This phalam means fruit; the
fruit or the result of my actions. In the Bhagavad-Gita, the 4th chapter
has a lot to do with karma and a way of approaching it through what is
called Karma Yoga - where we are introduced to this idea of acting in a way
that is not going to cause us pain, is not going to cause further suffering
and entanglement in this world but we can become a free from any form of
real suffering condition. So, in this particular verse, the 17th verse of
the 4th chapter, Krishna states:
Bhagavad-gita 4.17
कर्मणो ह्यपि बोद्धव्यं बोद्धव्यं च विकर्मण: |
अकर्मणश्च बोद्धव्यं गहना कर्मणो गति: || 17||4
karmaṇo hyapi boddhavyaṁ boddhavyaṁ cha vikarmaṇaḥ
akarmaṇaśh cha boddhavyaṁ gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ
karmaṇaḥ—recommended action; hi—certainly; api—also; boddhavyam—should be
known; boddhavyam—must understand; cha—and; vikarmaṇaḥ—forbidden action;
akarmaṇaḥ—inaction; cha—and; boddhavyam—must understand; gahanā—profound;
karmaṇaḥ—of action; gatiḥ—the true path
HOW MANY KARMAS? KARMANA; BODAVYAM KARMA; BODAVYAM KRU @ KARMA; VI-KARMANA;
A KARMANA; GAHANA KARMANA.
karmano hyapi boddhavyam boddhavyam cha vikarmanah
akarmanash cha boddhavyam gahana karmano gatih
BG 4.17: You must understand the nature of all three—1 recommended action,
2 wrong action, and3 inaction. The truth about these is profound and
difficult to understand.
3 Patanjali describes in the 2nd pada or the 2nd chapter on the 15th
verse of the Yoga Sutra: To the discriminating yogi, all fruits of past
actions (both pleasurably and painful) are considered sorrowful because
they all result in further bondage and suffering.
Yoga-sutra 2.15 Gold or metal chain?
But from the vision of the yogi they see no difference, no actual
difference from a bigger picture. They don’t see any actual difference
between these two situations because both of them are temporary. So for
this reason the yogis describe, as Patanjali has stated here, that all, all
the fruits of past actions - both pleasurable and painful - are considered
sorrowful because they all result in further bondage and suffering. So what
is this further bondage and suffering? We sometimes use the example of like
people—say two people in a dungeon in some castle somewhere and both of
them are in the same dungeon, rats running around everywhere. One guy is
chained to the wall with golden chains and he’s just feeling like, “Oh, my
god! Look at these shackles! They are just beautiful! Oh they are just—“
and then he’s looking at his cell mate who has got these rusty iron
manacles on and he’s in danger of getting tetanus just from the rubbing
against his wrist and he’s all depressed, “Oh my chains are so horrible and
disgusting. You are so lucky you have golden chains,” (laughs) you know.
Looking at something like that you would go, “Oh my God! What’s wrong with
this person? Doesn’t he see, both of them see, that they are in exactly the
same place? and experiencing the same overall situation only they are bound
by different types of metal, metal chains.”
4 So this is the actual state of things. When you act, when you act,
as you sow, so you shall reap. When you act, you must experience the result
of the fruit of all your actions. It is inescapable. So even if you are in
what’s considered an elevated state of material existence, living in luxury
or whatever, you are still acting and the actions that you are performing
will make it so that you must take birth again, you must remain within the
material world. When we think of the fruit of karma, the fruit of our
action, we can consider that this fruit exists in four states or conditions
and I’ll liken it to plants or fruit. Right now, you could be eating some
fruit and it may be tasting very sweet or it might be tasting very bitter
and have worms in it and be utterly disgusting; make you want to be sick.
This is the current experience of karmic fruit that we are experiencing
right now and what we are not seeing is that we are bringing with us a
whole bunch of unripen fruit, still green, hard, unripen but they are
ripening and as they ripen, going forward in my life I will have to taste
all of this fruit also, which may be sweet or may be very sour and
distasteful. So from the yogic perspective it’s kind of like, okay, if you
look at action, what is the driver? What is the cause of action? First it
usually starts with desire and there’s a whole slew of things. There’s one
particular, there’s a few verses in the Bhagavad-Gita; it talks about the
contemplation, contemplating, thinking about the object of the senses.
Things that you see, taste, smell, hear, feel. By contemplating on the
objects of the senses, one develops attachment. From this attachment desire
for them grows stronger and develops into lust. And by this lust, one then
becomes compelled to act. Desire drives action. Action, apart from having a
fruit, also causes new desire to arise and the desire actually determines
what type of life we will have gone forward, not just in this lifetime but
even in the future.
5 There is a verse in the 8th chapter, 6th verse of the Bhagavad-Gita
where Krishna states, addressing Arjuna as the son of Kunti. She was a
queen, Kunti. And Krishna says: Whatever state of being one remembers when
he quits his body, O son of Kunti, that state he will attain without fail.
Bhagavad-Gita 8.6
यं यं वापि स्मरन्भावं त्यजत्यन्ते कलेवरम् |
तं तमेवैति कौन्तेय सदा तद्भावभावित: || 6||
yam yam—whatever; vā—or; api—even; smaran—remembering; bhāvam—remembrance;
tyajati—gives up; ante—in the end; kalevaram—the body; tam—to that; tam—to
that; eva—certainly; eti—gets; kaunteya—Arjun, the son of Kunti;
sadā—always; tat—that; bhāva-bhāvitaḥ—absorbed in contemplation
yam yam vapi smaran bhavam tyajatyante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya sada tad-bhava-bhavitah
BG 8.6: Whatever one remembers upon giving up the body at the time of
death, O son of Kunti, one attains that state, being always absorbed in
such contemplation. [WHAT WE THINK WE BECOME]
6 So if we understand that the whole karma thing is actually a
gigantic bummer because if I am acting, driven by material desire, then I
will be perpetually bound to the material world and I will be on this
roller coaster - sometimes in the peaks, sometimes in the pits. Probably
more often in the pits than on the peaks which is generally what life is
like even within one lifetime. So then the question is—there’s a couple of
things. It’s like, “Oh my God, if I actually look and I could see how much
karma I’ve already amassed, how much karmic fruit is waiting for me”—It’s
kind of like, “Oh my God! I’ve got this load of stuff coming down the track
at high speed and this is not cool. Is there any way for me to get free
from all this stuff that I have to endure? Is there any way to get past it?
To not be affected by it?” And of course, the answer is yes. Again, a verse
from the Bhagavad-Gita in the 6th chapter, 27th verse. Krishna says, The
yogi whose mind is fixed on Me verily attains the highest perfection of
transcendental happiness. He is beyond the mode of passion and he realizes
his qualitative identity with the Supreme, and thus he is freed from all
reactions to past deeds.
Bhagavad-Gita 6.27
प्रशान्तमनसं ह्येनं योगिनं सुखमुत्तमम् |
उपैति शान्तरजसं ब्रह्मभूतमकल्मषम् || 27||
praśhānta—peaceful; manasam—mind; hi—certainly; enam—this; yoginam—yogi;
sukham uttamam—the highest bliss; upaiti—attains; śhānta-rajasam—whose
passions are subdued; brahma-bhūtam—endowed with God-realization;
akalmaṣham—without sin
prashanta-manasam hyenam yoginam sukham uttamam
upaiti shanta-rajasam brahma-bhutam akalmasham
BG 6.27: Great transcendental happiness comes to the yogi whose mind is
calm, whose passions are subdued, who is without sin, and who sees
everything in connection with God.
7 So the Third Chapter of the Bhagavad-Gita is actually entitled
‘Karma Yoga’. And it is a really important chapter. And if a person was to
carefully study this and frequently revisit it and consider it, one would
be able to map out a direction in their life to make it so that they don’t
have to be tied to this world and to be experiencing the natural suffering
that comes from material existence. There is one group of yogis that talk
about living a life of tremendous restraint; that if you could become free
from action, you wouldn’t have to suffer anymore. And so they really
promote the idea of restraint. So the idea that you can withdraw from the
world and live a very austere, extremely austere life - do not cause
violence on anything, not to be disruptive - is impossible, impossible to
do. But sometimes you get people that think that this is possible and then
they will withdraw and then they will try to live a life of artificial
restraint. But what they have not been able to do is actually conquer their
mind; their mind which is full of desires and is inspiring them towards
other desires which will eventually manifest this action.
So in the Bhagavad-gita, in the Third Chapter, Sixth verse, it states: One
who restrains the senses of action but whose mind dwells on sense objects
certainly deludes himself and is called a pretender.
Bhagavad-gita 3.6
कर्मेन्द्रियाणि संयम्य य आस्ते मनसा स्मरन् |
इन्द्रियार्थान्विमूढात्मा मिथ्याचार: स उच्यते || 6||
karma-indriyāṇi—organs of action; sanyamya—restrain; yaḥ—who; āste—remain;
manasā—in the mind; smaran—to remember; indriya-arthān—sense objects;
vimūḍha-ātmā—the deluded; mithyā-āchāraḥ—hypocrite; saḥ—they; uchyate—are
called
karmendriyani sanyamya ya aste manasa smaran
indriyarthan vimudhatma mithyacharah sa uchyate
BG 3.6: Those who restrain the external organs of action, while continuing
to dwell on sense objects in the mind, certainly delude themselves and are
to be called *hypocrites. [DEFINITION OF HYPOCRICY]*
8 And then you hear about, “You shouldn’t commit sin. You shouldn’t
be sinful,” and everything. And you are in this quandary as a little kid,
“Oh my God. All the stuff I’m told that is sinful looks like so much fun.
And not being sinful like kneeling down in church or whatever, it’s like,
oh boring!” (laughs) And you’re kind of like, “Why is it like that?”
Because there is this strong desire for happiness and we think that
happiness will come from material pleasure. And so the idea of artificial
restraint doesn’t change anything internally. It doesn’t really change
anything. But there is an alternative. There is an alternative to live
within this world but not be part of it. And the example is given like a
lotus. I don’t know if any of you have ever seen real tropical lotuses
where they can grow, I mean, like huge, beautiful and you see them
sometimes in areas where the water is like swampy, dirty, disgusting,
really filthy water. Yet the lotus rises above it and it opens and it is
fragrant, it is dazzlingly beautiful. It is just like so wonderful to see.
And we are admonished, we are encouraged to become ourselves like lotuses
where we may live in the material world but not to be part of it, to have
risen above or transcend it. So Krishna advices, He says; On the other
hand, if a sincere person tries to control the active senses by the mind
and begins karma-yoga without attachment, he is by far superior.
Bhagavad-gita 3.7
स्त्विन्द्रियाणि मनसा नियम्यारभतेऽर्जुन |
कर्मेन्द्रियै: कर्मयोगमसक्त: स विशिष्यते || 7||
yas tvindriyani manasa niyamyarabhate ’rjuna
karmendriyaih karma-yogam asaktah sa vishishyate
BG 3.7: But those karma yogis who control their knowledge senses with the
mind, O Arjun, and engage the working senses in working without attachment,
are certainly superior. [nishkamyakarma]
Now this verse follows the one before. This is Chapter Three, Seventh
verse; where Krishna’s discouraging this idea of being a pretender or
engaging in artificial restraint, but rather, one must study and live a
life guided by the principles of karma-yoga. So this word karma means
“action” and yoga means “union”, a union with the Supreme.So in the same
way that our karma, or action, binds us to the material world, our action,
if it is now focused in another direction can become something that
liberates us from the material condition. It brings us to the platform of
real spiritual understanding and experience.
9 So in the very next verse in Chapter 3, verse 8, and I’ll read 8
and 9. Krishna advises: Perform your prescribed duty, for doing so is
better than not working. One cannot even maintain one’s physical body
without work. AN IMPORTANT VERSE: NIYATHAM-KURU-KARMA A FINE PHRASE. WHY
ACTION IS SUPERIOE TO INACTION? KURU =PL DO; KARMA=THE ACTION; WHAT WOULD
BE THE IMPACT OF THE “INACTION”? SUPPOSE YOUR BODY WHICH YOU WORSHIP AS
SASVATHAM, STRIKES A DAY, THEN WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOUR SYSTEM? SO TOO
BEING IN “INACTION”.
Bhagavad-gita 3.8
नियतं कुरु कर्म त्वं कर्म ज्यायो ह्यकर्मण: |
शरीरयात्रापि च ते न प्रसिद्ध्येदकर्मण: || 8||
niyatam—constantly; kuru—perform; karma—Vedic duties; tvam—you;
karma—action; jyāyaḥ—superior; hi—certainly; akarmaṇaḥ—than inaction;
śharīra—bodily; yātrā—maintenance; api—even; cha—and; te—your; na
prasiddhyet—would not be possible; akarmaṇaḥ—inaction
niyatam kuru karma tvam karma jyayo hyakarmanah
sharira-yatrapi cha te na prasiddhyed akarmanah
BG 3.8: You should thus perform your prescribed Vedic duties, since action
is superior to inaction. By ceasing activity, even your bodily maintenance
will not be possible.
10 So this is a reality, an accepted reality. You can’t live a life of
complete abstinence and renunciation. That according to your station in
life, you will have responsibility and one must learn to act in order to
maintain your body, and to maintain a family, if one has one, and that this
in and of itself is not bad. It is something that must be done. But then
Krishna speaks to the actual solution to the problem. He says, Work done as
a sacrifice for Vishnu [this term Vishnu is a name of God]. Work done as a
sacrifice for Vishnu has to be performed, otherwise work causes bondage in
this material world. Therefore, O son of Kunti, [this is another name for
Arjuna] therefore, O son of Kunti, perform your prescribed duties for His
satisfaction and in that way, you will always remain free from bondage.
Bhagavad-gita 3.9
यज्ञार्थात्कर्मणोऽन्यत्र लोकोऽयं कर्मबन्धन: |
तदर्थं कर्म कौन्तेय मुक्तसङ्ग: समाचर || 9||
ajnarthat karmano ’nyatra loko ’yam karma-bandhanah
tad-artham karma kaunteya mukta-sangah samachara
BG 3.9: Work must be done as a yajna to the Supreme Lord; otherwise, work
causes bondage in this material world. Therefore, O son of Kunti, for the
satisfaction of God, perform your prescribed duties, without being attached
to the results. [WORK SHALL NOT BE PERFORMED LIKE BUBBLECUM STUCK IN YOUR
HND. IT IS A WORSHIP. PERFORM LIKE A YAGNAM, A PUJA A WORSHIP}
11 So here we have, like, a solution. Okay. We’ve learned that if we
attain a transcendental position, all the load of past karma, the fruit of
all the past karma, can be terminated. We can become free from that. And
from this point in our life going forward, if we live a life that is
focused on not me being the center of it and I’m doing everything simply
for myself, but rather I act with a sense of duty and responsibility and I
act in a way offering and wanting to be pleasing to God, to the Supreme,
then the very activity that I undertake in this life can become the source
of my spiritual emancipation. So it’s about refocusing, the refocusing of
our life. The purpose, the actual real discovering, the real purpose of our
life. Most people think the purpose of their life is to find happiness;
that they are this body, that I’m simply going to feed material desires in
the hope that I will become happy. No. That is not the purpose of your
existence. The purpose of your existence is to regain this lost condition
of perfect spiritual love and engaging in a mood of great devotion and
service to both the Supreme Lord and to His children. That I will be able
to again experience that which has been lost to me and I will attain a
condition of the highest spiritual happiness. In order to attain that,
Krishna describes in the 4th Chapter, 20th verse, abandoning all attachment
to the results of his activities, ever satisfied and independent, he
performs no fruitive action, although engaged in all kinds of undertakings.
Bhagavad-gita 4.20
त्यक्त्वा कर्मफलासङ्गं नित्यतृप्तो निराश्रय: |
कर्मण्यभिप्रवृत्तोऽपि नैव किञ्चित्करोति स: || 20||
tyaktva karma-phalasangam nitya-tripto nirashrayah
karmanyabhipravritto ’pi naiva kinchit karoti sah
BG 4.20: Such people, having given up attachment to the fruits of their
actions, are always satisfied and not dependent on external things. *Despite
engaging in activities, they do not do anything at all*.
12 So this speaks to how a person can live a truly spiritual life.
In the next chapter, the 5th Chapter, 10th verse, Krishna says, One who
performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the
Supreme Lord, is unaffected by sinful action, as a lotus leaf is untouched
by water.
Bhagavad-gita 5.10
ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति य: |
लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा || 10||
brahmanyadhaya karmani sangam tyaktva karoti yah
lipyate na sa papena *padma-patram ivambhasa*
BG 5.10: Those who dedicate their actions to God, abandoning all
attachment, remain untouched by sin*, just as a lotus leaf is untouched by
water.*
And then, reading from another verse that actually perfectly encapsulates,
I mean if there was one verse that you would take to heart from the
Bhagavad-Gita and completely guide your life for the best possible outcome
of your life, then taking this direction to heart and living this would be
of tremendous significance. So this is from the 9th Chapter, the 27th
verse, addressing Arjuna as the son of Queen Kunti, He says, O son of
Kunti, all that you do [not some or most, but all that you do], all that
you eat, all that you offer and give away as well as all austerities that
you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me.
13 Bhagavad-gita 9.27
यत्करोषि यदश्नासि यज्जुहोषि ददासि यत् |
यत्तपस्यसि कौन्तेय तत्कुरुष्व मदर्पणम् || 27||
yat—whatever; karoṣhi—you do;
yat—whatever; aśhnāsi—you eat;
yat—whatever; juhoṣhi—offer to the sacred fire;
dadāsi—bestow as a gift;
yat—whatever; yat—whatever; tapasyasi—austerities you perform;
kaunteya—Arjun, the son of Kunti; tat—them;
kuruṣhva—do; mad arpaṇam—as an offering to Me
yat karoshi yad ashnasi yaj juhoshi dadasi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kurushva mad-arpanam
BG 9.27: Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer as oblation
to the sacred fire, whatever you bestow as a gift, and whatever austerities
you perform, O son of Kunti, do them as an offering to Me.
If we could actually fully appreciate and take this instruction to
heart then our life would be utterly transformed. Not only would we be
living, experiencing such contentment, you would experience positive and
unlimited spiritual happiness and our interaction with others and with this
world would be utterly transformed.
K RAJARAM IRS 21125
On Tue, 21 Jan 2025 at 07:34, venkat giri <[email protected]> wrote:
> *Respected sir/s,*
>
> SUBJECT*: **THOUGHT OF THE DAY21stJAN2025*
>
> *"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." *
>
> *— Walt Disney*
>
> *T**his **implies* *the importance of moving past the mental aspects to
> action to succeed. *
>
> *“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”*
>
> *Too many times we keep thinking and talking **emphasizing **our goals.
> Instead we need to learn to start taking action.*
>
> *This advice **on how to succeed from him should be cherished.* * Believe
> in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable."*
>
> *Instead of TALKING …Start planning, Set milestones, Start doing and then*
> *Feel
> the pace **and keep it up!!!!*
>
> *Regards*
>
> *V.Sridharan*
>
> *Trichy*
>
>
> On Tuesday 21 January, 2025 at 04:14:23 am IST, Jambunathan Iyer <
> [email protected]> wrote:
>
>
> *"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." *
> *— Walt Disney*
>
> N Jambunathan Rengarajapuram-Kodambakkam-Chennai-Mob:9176159004
>
> *" What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you
> become by achieving your goals. If you want to live a happy life, tie it to
> a goal, not to people or things "*
>
>
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