Karma Revisited
करमण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर् भूर् मा ते सङ्गो-स्त्व अकर्मणि ।।Your right is to action alone; Never to its fruits at any time whatsoever.
Never should the fruits of action be your motive; Never let there be attachment to inaction in you.
- Bhagavad Gita, 2.47
This is probably the most popular sloka from the Bhagavad Gita. You’ll come across it work places, airports, railway stations, as well as references to it in popular movies.
There are plenty of deeper and more profound verses in the Gita. So why does this one get such popularity? Probably because it motivates people “to do”, and to do whatever they do with dedication and sincerity. Maybe also because “to do” prevents you from being idle (the idle mind being the devils playground). In that sense this verse forms the basic scaffolding, before people can move onto higher truths.
The “to do” concept is desireless. This contrasts with the “can do” attitude of the West, which is driven by desire and passion and even obsession, which is considered materialistic. Anything with attachment (desire, passion, obsession) can take control of your mind, can even cloud it, and can cause suffering – like for example if the object of the attachment is taken away.
Often times the above sloka is abused to make people work without compensating them properly. Like a person may make someone work, and if they dare complain about their salary, working conditions, unfairness… then they throw in the above sloka telling them to hush. This is a problem in general regarding proverbs (see “Proverbs” in Selected Articles).
The above sloka asks one “to do” for “to do”‘s sake and not for the reward, but it is works at a much deeper level. If a manufacturer focuses on the product (not on profitability), the product will be great. If an engineer focuses on the work itself, then it will speak for itself (the work itself is the reward). If a scientist focuses on his work (not in trying to discover something), then he will discover something. If the artist focuses on his work (instead of its appeal), then his artwork will be timeless. However, when you focus on the fruits instead of the work itself, then all sort of vices surface, ranging from greed, power, fame, jealousy, envy…
The following quote carries a similar theme:
Care about people’s approval,
and you will be their prisoner.
Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.
- Tao Te Ching (translated by Stephen Mitchell)
India
One might say that the above sloka is almost built into Hindu culture. It is no small wonder how within 55 years of being squandered by the British, India is now #3 in the world in terms of GDP (and had always been an economic and knowledge powerhouse).
India was such an economic superpower, that it is now well known (at least in academic community) that a major factor that contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire was the trade deficit with India — causing them to go bankrupt (resulting in corruption, poverty, and unrest that challenged the ruling class of Rome). Rome had imported everything from India: steel, cotton, silks, linen, wool, jewellery, spices, and most importantly knowledge (ranging from architects, builders, engineers, ship-builders, knowledge in medicine, mathematics, astronomy, banking, finance, etc.). India was the greatest ship-building nation in the world whose commerce extended across the globe. In fact, the word navigation and navy comes from the Sanskrit navagati (meaning to navigate). All this was squandered by 400 years of Islamic and British conquest of India (see “Hindu Holocaust” in Selected Articles).
As Arnold Toynbee said (a century ago), India will conqueror its conquerors again at the turn of the twenty-first century — as is happening today with rise of other nations like India and China to challenge the Western nations in terms of productivity and knowledge (in fact far less people today are migrating to the USA for jobs or advanced education).
Note also, that in India the above quote is also balanced by another philosophical current which does not believe in the obsession with perfection (a place where this balance is not seen is in Japan, where the above quote is taken in absolute).
Karma Yoga
In the Kali yuga, were we’ve become so drugged by life, for most people it will take enormous effort to become disillusioned with life to take the pure path of yoga (as sadhus, rishis, bhakti saints, etc.).
So we take the path that is most practical to us today — to engage in life, with yoga.
In the end, maybe this is what is meant by karma yoga — and not just the stereotyped “to engage in selfless effort” that it is made out to be, but simply about fulfilling your duty as you see fit.