Karmaneyavaadikarasthay

Gita Chapter -2 called as Saankyayogam is actually a gist of the entire Bhagavad Gita. Most of the things that have been explained later have been well presented here in capsule - A crash course like thing.

So we now get into some of the most dicussed and perhaps the most misunderstood slokas as well

Sri bhagavan uvacha,

karmaneyvaadikarasthay

ma phaleshu kadhachana

ma karmaphalahethurbhoor

ma thay sangosthwakarmani

Meaning: You have rights on karma only and you should never have any desire on its fruits or results and thus you should also not become the means for the results. Also you should not be attracted to or attached to akarma because of lack of motivation (in form of results) to do karma. Then how should we do karma? Answer is:

yogastha kuru karmanisangam

thyaktwa dhananjaya

sidhyasidhyo samo bhootwa

samathwam yoga uchyathay

Meaning: Hey Dhananjaya, we should see the state of having an outcome and no outcome as the same. We should not be attached to the outcomes of our actions but do actions with a sense of detachment. It is this sense of impartiality that is called "yogam".

Let us try to analyze the same.

To be frank, I still need to be clearer on “Karma yogam” and “Jnana yogam” but let us keep the ball rolling. So this would be more of a superficial analysis and a detailed analysis may follow, in fact will follow when we discuss the “Jnana yogam” or “Sanayasajnana yogam”

According to Sankara Baashyam on Gita, Bhagavan says, you can either tread karma yoga or jnana yoga. They are like two roads which lead you to the same destination – moksha. To my understanding as of now, suppose you have decided to be a part of this saansarik world then you should do your karma. But if you need to attain moksha or nirvana, you need to do karma without attachment to the results. It is not that you should work without an aim, but you should accept a win or lose in that attempt, in the same manner. The major reason for disappointment is that when we do things we attach too much of value to the result and when we do not get the results that we looked forward to, we feel disappointed. But just imagine a situation when we understand that we have right only to do the karma (as per dharma) and we have no control over the results and are ready to accept the results whatever it may be, then we would never be unhappy.

So fearing a loss, is it right not to do karma? In fact as per scriptures karma is nothing but movement and then you can very well assume that no man can ever be on this world without doing karma. There are actually only 5 types of karma and 5 kinds of its impact. The definition of karma ends there. To it you can add 3 kinds of karmas at the individual level. We will explain that in detail in future posts.

So then how should we do karma? We should do karma as if it was an offering at the Lord’s feet. It is just an offering to Him and even it should not be an attempt to appease Him. It is well said in the following mantra (very well known to those who have done Sandhya Vandhanam or read Vishnu Sahasranamam)

Kayena vacha manasendriyairva

Buddhyatmana va prakrite swabhavath

Karomi yadyad sakalam parasmai

Narayanayeti samarpayami

Meaning: Whatever I do with my body, speech, and mind or with other senses of my body, or with my intellect and soul or with my innate natural tendencies I offer (dedicate) everything to Lord Narayana