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. I’ve seen it in many work places, airports, railway stations, etc. in India, as well as used in opening or closing credits of many spiritual films.
There are plenty of more deeper and more profound slokas 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 sloka forms the basic scaffolding, before people can move onto higher truths.
This sloka is built into Hindu culture – 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).
Nearly every kind of manufacture or product known to the civilized world – nearly every kind of creation of Man’s brain and hand, existing anywhere, and prized either for its utility or beauty – had long, long been produced in India. India was a far greater industrial and manufacturing nation than any in Europe or than any other in Asia. Her textile goods – the fine products of her loom, in cotton, wool, linen, and silk – were famous over the civilized world; so were her exquisite jewelry and her precious stones, cut in every lovely form; so were her pottery, porcelains, ceramics of every kind, quality, color and beautiful shape; so were her fine works in metal – iron, steel, silver and gold. She had great architecture – equal in beauty to any in the world. She had great engineering works. She had great merchants, great business men, great bankers and financiers. Not only was she the greatest ship-building nation, but she had great commerce and trade by land and sea which extended to all known civilized countries. Such was the India which the British found when they came.
Basically, it asks one “to do” for “to do”’s sake and not for the reward. 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.
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.
This is actually the third gripe I have in Vivekananda’s over simplification. But then, not a fault of Vivekananda, it was the easiest way to introduce it to the West. You always have to learn and unlearn as you advance in knowledge. Just as when in 8th grade we were taught the electron is a particle, then in 10th that it’s energy distributions, then in 12th that it’s a wave-particle, then in college, that it’s an energy distribution governed by particular “probably states” that makes an electron (Schroedinger Wave Equation)… and so on.