Category Archives: kriyate

Bhagavad Gita Verse 24, Chapter 18

12 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by in 18.24, bahulaayaasam, chapter 18 verse 24, kaamepsunaa, karma, kriyate, punaha, raajasam, saahankaarena, udaahritam

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yattu kaamepsunaa karma saahankaarena vaa punaha |
kriyate bahulaayaasam tadraajasamudaahritam || 24 ||
 
But, that action performed by a person desiring pleasure, or with egoism, with exertion, that is called raajasic.
 
yat : which
tu : but
kaamepsunaa : one with desire for pleasure
karma : action
saahankaarena : with egoism
vaa : or
punaha : also
kriyate : performed
bahulaayaasam : with exertion
tat : that
raajasam : raajasic
udaahritam : is called
 
To understand raajasic action, we need to revisit the notion of raajasic knowledge. As we saw earlier, raajasic knowledge presents a highly fragmented, chopped-up version of the world. It gives reality to the differences created by the senses and the mind. Additionally, it gives different “values” to objects, people and situations perceived by the senses and the mind. Simply put, we either like, dislike, or are indifferent to objects, people and situations. A classic example is the precious stone that is liked by its owner, disliked by the owner’s enemy, and treated with indifference by a monk.
 
Such raajasic knowledge results in commencement of raajasic action. Shri Krishna says that a raajasic action is begun in pursuit of an object, person or situation that will give pleasure to the doer of the action. It involves exertion of mental or physical effort, and therefore, the mind is good at calculating how much effort is needed for acquiring one object versus the other. Another aspect of the raajasic action is that the I, the ego, is given a lot of prominence. We want the entire world to know that we helped such and such person, or we did someone a favour. Unfortunately, such thinking interferes with the action, causing us to shift our attention from the action to the ego.
 
Let’s constrast this with saattvic action. Instead of pursuing an object of pleasure, a saattvic action is done with a sense of duty. There is no calculation that weighs the effort needed for object a verses the effort needed for object b. All actions happen spontaneously. Also, there is no sense of egoism. Instead, there is a firm understanding that the action is being performed by me who is an instrument, a nimiitta, of Ishvara. This lack of egoistic thinking makes the actions more efficient. In fact, people with high degrees of sattva are the most productive, simply because they are performing their svadharma with no ulterior motive.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 9, Chapter 18

28 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by in 18.9, arjuna, chapter 18 verse 9, kaaryam, karma, kriyate, mataha, niyatam, phalam, saattvikaha, sangam, tyaagaha, tyaktvaa

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kaaryamityeva yatkarma niyatam kriyaterjuna |
sangam tyaktvaa phalam chaiva sa tyaagaha saattviko mataha || 9 ||
 
Whatever action is done, should be performed only as an obligatory duty. In this manner, giving up attachment and also the reward, that giving up is saattvic, in my opinion.
 
kaaryam : action
iti : in this manner
eva : only
yat : whatever
karma : actions
niyatam : obligatory
kriyate : is performed
arjuna : O Arjuna
sangam : attachment
tyaktvaa : giving up
phalam : reward
cha : and
eva : also
saha : that
tyaagaha : giving up
saattvikaha : saattvic
mataha : opinion
 
Shri Krishna explains the correct way, the saattvic method, of performing actions. Let us look at this step by step. The first step is to only perform actions that are within the realm of our state in life, our aashrama, and our career, our varna. Actions that are prohibited or actions that are purely out of selfishness should not be performed. These actions are termed as niyatam karma in the shloka. A high degree of awareness is required to first ensure that we are not stepping into any prohibited actions.
 
The second step is to give up attachment to the reward, the phala, the fruit, of the action. Attachment to the reward need not be something tangible and physical. It could be subtle things like praise and adoration received from others on successful completion of the action. It could be a subtle thought such as “I have helped that person, so nice of me to do so”. The goal is to slowly wean the mind away from its natural tendency to expect rewards for every action. We can do so my substituting our personal motive with a motive for selfless service.
 
The third step is to give up attachment to the action itself. We saw the types of attachment to action in the previous shloka, including attachment to the completion of action and attachment to one particular way of performing the action. The key is to realize that at every moment, we are giving it the best of our ability and attention. The rest is upto Ishvara, since there are several other factors at play in the outcome of an action. But in no circumstance should our energy level go down. We have to combine energy in our work with indifference to the reward of the work.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 19, Chapter 17

09 Thursday May 2013

Posted by in 17.19, aatmanaha, chapter 17 verse 19, kriyate, moodhagraahena, parasya, peedayaa, taamasam, tapaha, udaahritam, utsaadanaartham

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moodhagraahenaatmano yatpeedayaa kriyate tapaha |
parasyotsaadanaartham vaa tattaamasamudaahritam || 19 ||
 
That which is performed out of a foolish notion, causing pain to oneself, or for ruining others, that penance is called taamasic.
 
moodhagraahena : foolish notion
aatmanaha : self
yat : that which
peedayaa : causing pain
kriyate : perform
tapaha : penance
parasya : other
utsaadanaartham : for ruining others
vaa : or
tat : that
taamasam : taamasic
udaahritam : is called
 
The story of a any captured terrorist is all too familiar. At some point in their life, they start holding on to an idea or a notion which ends up becoming their mission in life. They then spend a long time, sometime years, learning all kinds of tactics and techniques that are usually reserved for the military. Eventually, they carry out their mission, in which a great deal of harm is caused to others, and to themselves as well. Either they get captured or they harm themselves in the process.
 
Shri Krishna describes taamasic penance in this shloka. He says that penance based on a foolish notion, a misconception or an infatuation comes out of the minds of taamasic individuals. The end goal of such penance is to cause great harm to others or to oneself. We can always refer to the Puraanas for the fate of individuals who conduct severe penance just to bring about the downfall of someone else. So called “black magic” is also conducted for harming someone.
 
We may look at this and dismiss it, since it sounds so extreme and not applicable to our daily lives. But many of us sometimes perform actions with a malicious intent. Politics sometimes becomes a venue for one party to perform actions simply for bringing the other party down, and not for the welfare of the country. Similarly, many people run businesses based on a personal vendetta. For instance, a person fired from a business may join a competitor just to get back. Any action performed for bringing someone else down usually backfires.
 

Bhagavad Gita Verse 18, Chapter 17

08 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by in 17.18, adhruvam, chalam, chapter 17 verse 18, dambhena, kriyate, maanaha, poojaartham, proktam, raajasam, satkaaraha, tapaha, yat

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satkaaramaanapoojaartham tapo dambhena chaiva yat |
kriyate tadiha proktam raajasam chalamadhruvam || 18 ||
 
That which is performed for praise, honour, worship and ostentation, that praise is called raajasic, is said to be of this world, and is unstable and temporary.
 
satkaaraha : praise
maanaha : honour
poojaartham : for worship
tapaha : penance
dambhena : for ostentation
cha : and
eva : also
yat : that which
kriyate : performed
tat : that
iha : this world
proktam : is said to be
raajasam : raajasic
chalam : unstable
adhruvam : temporary
 
The Puraanaas are filled with stories of all kinds of demons who performed extremely severe penance and austerities. It is said that Raavana chopped off each of his ten heads until Lord Shiva granted him a boon. Hiranyakashipu performed such severe penance that his entire flesh dropped off and only his bones remained. However, none of these demons desired self realization or liberation as the outcome of their penance. They wanted some boon, some power such that they could vanquish their enemies.
 
Shri Krishna says that whenever we conserve our energy and put in a lot of effort towards any material goal, any goal which is “of this world”, such type of penance will be called raajasic. This penance could be for boosting our ego, in other words, for praise, honour, worship or for showing off. People spend years working extremely hard so that they can buy a fancy house or a car that can be shown off. Dictators do everything they can to ensure that people fall at their feet and worship them.
 
Ultimately, any effort that is expended towards an earthly goal will be temporary. A simple illustration to explain this notion is that of a ball thrown by a person in the air. No matter how hard the throw is, the ball will eventually fall down and stop moving. Furthermore, any result that we see in the world is also unstable. Several people go on crash diets that, in addition to giving temporary results, may actually harm the body. Any result in the material world is subject to the laws of Prakriti, to the three gunaas themselves, which are inherently unstable.