Category Archives: saattvikaha

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 11, Chapter 17

01 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by in 17.11, aphalakaankshibhihi, chapter 17 verse 11, ijyate, manaha, saattvikaha, saha, samaadhaaya, vidhidrishtaha, yaajnaha, yaha, yashtavyam

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aphalakaankshibhiryaajnau vidhidrishto ya ijyate |
yashtavyameveti manaha samaadhaaya sa saattvikaha || 11 ||
 
That which is performed by one without expectation of result, according to scripture, with a mental resolve of duty alone, such sacrifice is saattvic.
 
aphalakaankshibhihi : one without expectation of result
yaajnaha : sacrifice
vidhidrishtaha : according to scripture
yaha : that which
ijyate : performed
yashtavyam : duty
eva : alone
iti : in this manner
manaha : mind
samaadhaaya : resolve
saha : that
saattvikaha : is saattvic
 
So far, Shri Krishna revealed that the type of food we can reveal texture of our faith. He now lists the types of yajnya, the types of sacrificial rituals for worship, so that we can analyze the texture of our faith through them. Yajnyas are extremely elaborate rituals, but can be reduced to three basic components – the offering, the flame and the result. The person conducting the ritual uses items such as oil or butter as an offering to the deity. The deity is represented by the flame that consumes the offering. A yajnya is typically performed with a specific goal or result in mind, such as a longer life, marriage, children, prosperity and so on.
 
How does this matter to us in today’s day and age? Symbolically, yajnya refers to all of our interactions with any entity or object in this world, and comprises of the very same components. First, the offering is the effort we put in to perform an action. This action could be something we perform at our job, for example. Second, the flame represents the recipient of our action. Lastly, the recipient responds to our action in the form of a result, which could e something tangible such as money, or intangible, such as goodwill towards us.
 
As we saw earlier, three people can perform the same action with three different attitudes of sattva, rajas and tamas. Here, Shri Krishna describes the attitude of a saatvic person. Such a person performs his action driven by a sense of duty to a higher ideal, without any selfish desire. The higher ideal could be service of one’s country, for instance. There is no expectation of any result from the recipient of the action. Furthermore, the action is performed in line with a set of selfless laws, such as the law of a country, humanitarian laws, or laws that have come from scripture.