Category Archives: sarvakarmaani

Bhagavad Gita Verse 57, Chapter 18

15 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by in 18.57, bhava, buddhiyogam, chapter 18 verse 57, chetasaa, macchitaha, matparaha, mayi, sanyasya, sarvakarmaani, satatam, upaashritya

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chetasaa sarvakarmaani mayi sanyasya matparaha |
buddhiyogaamupaashritya macchitaha satatam bhava || 57 ||
 
Mentally surrender all actions to me, designate me as the supreme goal, fix your mind on me by depending upon the yoga of intellect.
 
chetasaa : mentally
sarvakarmaani : all actions
mayi : to me
sanyasya : surrender
matparaha : me as supreme goal
buddhiyogam : yoga of intellect
upaashritya : depending upon
macchitaha : mind fixed on me
satatam : always
bhava : make
 
Shri Krishna summarizes karma yoga and bhakti yoga in this shloka. As we saw in the previous shloka, we need to continue performing our duty, and not to worry too much if we inadvertently perform a prohibited action, and to consider Ishvara as the one and only one aashraya, the ultimate refuge. How does this actually work in practice? A step by step approach towards karma yoga and bhakti yoga is enumerated in this shloka for the convenience of the seeker.
 
First, the seeker should fix Ishvara as his ultimate goal. This is mat paraha, one who is completely oriented towards Ishvara. Next, such a seeker should surrender all his actions to Ishvara. In the ninth chapter, Shri Krishna had said – whatever you do, whatever you consume, whatever you offer or donate, and whatever penance you perform, submit it to me. This is sarvakarmaani sanyasya. Nothing is done for selfish ends such as wealth, power, position, vanity and so on. All is done for Ishvara only.
 
Now, when the seeker faces challenges in life, he needs to have a method to deal with them. Equanimity is the answer. All actions are performed with full awareness and knowledge, as an offering to Ishvara. No action is perform haphazardly. Once the action is complete, the seeker should neither be attached to success, nor to failure. Such an attitude will only develop as a result of accepting every object, person or situation encountered in life as a gift or a praasada from Ishvara. This is buddhi yoga, as described in the second chapter.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 56, Chapter 18

14 Sunday Jul 2013

Posted by in 18.56, avaapnoti, avyayam, chapter 18 verse 56, kurvaanaha, madvyapaashrayaha, matprasaadaat, padam, sadaa, sarvakarmaani, shaashvatam

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sarvakarmaanyapi sadaa kurvaano madvyapaashrayaha |
matprasaadaadavaapnoti shaashvatam padamavyayam || 56 ||
 
Always engaging even in all actions, one who considers me as his refuge, through my grace attains that eternal, imperishable state.
 
sarvakarmaani : all actions
api : even
sadaa : always
kurvaanaha : engaging
madvyapaashrayaha : one to whom I am the refuge
matprasaadaat : through my grace
avaapnoti : attains
shaashvatam : eternal
padam : state
avyayam : imperishable
 
Arjuna, after having heard the final message of the Gita discourse, would probably have had felt quite dejected and sad, like many of us. Unless one gave up all actions, took up a life of a monk, lived in a secluded place and contemplated constantly upon the eternal essence, liberation is not possible. How many of us, who are currently quite entrenched in the world, can see ourselves taking up a path of monkhood? It is next to impossible. We may begin to think that the Gita is not for us.
 
Anticipating this frustration, Shri Krishna brought the discourse back to Arjuna’s level, as it were. Arjuna, like us, was not in a state to renounce his actions and retire to a state of monkhood. Shri Krishna reassured Arjuna that liberation is absolutely possible for such people. It is because of one key point. Whether one continues to act in this world, or takes up renunciation, liberation is entirely up to the grace of Ishvara. We can make all the preparations we want to fall asleep, but ultimately, whether or not we fall asleep is not in our hands.
 
So then, having known this, Arjuna, who had temporarily given up hope of attaining the shaashvata avyaya padam, the eternal and imperishable state of liberation, regained his interest in the discourse. Shri Krishna now began winding up the entire Gita, by summarizing its key aspects from a very practical standpoint. The simple practical advice given here is to continue performing our duty, not to worry too much if we inadvertently perform a prohibited action, and to consider Ishvara as the one and only one aashraya, the ultimate refuge.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 13, Chapter 5

16 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by in 5.13, aaste, chapter 5 verse 13, dehee, eva, kaarayan, kurvan, manasaa, na, navadvare, pure, sannyasya, sarvakarmaani, sukham, vashee

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sarvakarmaani manasaa sannyasyaaste sukham vashee |
navadvaare pure dehee naiva kurvanna kaarayan || 13 ||

Having mindfully renounced all actions, the conqueror remains established in bliss. The embodied one, in the city with nine gates, neither acts nor causes to act.

sarvakarmaani : all actions
manasaa : mindfully
sannyasya : having renounced
aaste : remains established
sukham : bliss
vashee : the conqueror (of mind and senses)
navadvaare : with nine gates
pure : city
dehee : the embodied one
na : not
eva  : ever
kurvan : acts
na : nor
kaarayan : causes to act

Having spoken about the karmayogi’s vision, Shri Krishna now provides an illustration of the enlightened seeker’s vision in these shlokas. The picture he paints here is that one who identifies himself with the eternal essence, knows that he is only a dweller in the body, just like the resident of a city knows that he is a dweller, who is totally distinct from the city.

Imagine that you move into a new city for a job. As part of the move, you begin to utilize the city’s services such as water, electricity, garbage collection, telephone, cable etc. But while you utilize these services, you know that you are a resident of the city. You don’t begin to think that you are directly responsible for running the city. For example, when you someone picks up the garbage, it is part of the city’s services. You are in no way “running” the services.

Similarly, the enlightened seeker knows that he is the eternal essence, which is a dweller in the body and separate from the body. The body is pictorially depicted as a city with nine gates, each gate being an orifice (ear, nostril, eye) and so on. So when the seeker uses his hands, for example, he knows that the body, mind and intellect are operating independently. The enlightened seeker is in actuality, doing nothing at all. Just like the resident knows that the city’s services operate by themselves, and he is just a witness, similarly the enlightened person knows that the self is just a resident in the body, totally separate from the body.

Another indication of the seeker’s state is that he has complete control of his senses, and that he has mentally renounced the notion of doership. He knows that it is the body, mind and intellect that is performing action. This is indicated in the first part of the shloka. The end result is that the seeker, knowing that he is separate and distinct from the actions of the body, mind and intellect, lives in complete bliss.

Footnotes

1. Adi Shankaraachaarya in his commentary of this shloka gives an indicator that differentiates an enlightened seeker from an ordinary seeker. Let’s say we ask someone the question: “where are you sitting?”. If the person answers “on a chair” etc, then he is an ignorant seeker. If he answers “I am always sitting in the body”, he is an enlightened seeker.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 37, Chapter 4

27 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by in 4.37, agnihi, arjuna, bhasmaat, chapter 4 verse 37, edhaamsi, jnyaana, kurute, samiddhaha, sarvakarmaani, tathaa, yathaa

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yathaidhaamsi samiddhognirbhasmasaatkuruterjuna |
jnyaanaagnihi sarvakarmaani bhasmasaatkurute tathaa || 37 ||

Just as a burning flame turns fuel into ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge turn all actions into ashes.

yathaa : just as
edhaamsi : fuel
samiddhaha : burning
agnihi : flame
bhasmasaat : ashes
kurute : turn into
arjuna : O Arjuna
jnyaana-agnihi : fire of knowledge
sarvakarmaani : all actions
bhasmasaat : ashes
kurute : turn into
tathaa : so does

Previously, Shri Krishna mentioned that having gained knowledge, we will be able to cross over all our sins. But does that mean that the sins remain hidden somewhere? In this shloka, he says that all sins or karmaas get destroyed with knowledge. Just as fire has the capability to burn fuel in the form of wood or coal into ashes, so does knowledge totally destroy karmaas.

Karmaas accumulate in our psyche due to ignorance of our true identity. Now, knowledge and ignorance are mutually exclusive. One cannot remain when the other is present. Take an example from early school. Once you what the addition symbol “+” does, you no longer get confused when you see a question on addition.

So when knowledge comes, ignorance is destroyed, as well as karmaas that were created a result of ignorance. And when the sense of doership and enjoyership vanishes, then situations do not cause joy or sorrow. No more karmaas are accumulated.

In this manner, Shri Krishna continues to praise knowledge in this shloka and the following two shlokas.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 26, Chapter 3

03 Tuesday Jan 2012

Posted by in 3.26, ajnyaanaam, bhedam, buddhi, chapter 3 verse 26, janayet, joshayet, karmasanginaam, na, samacharan, sarvakarmaani, vidvaan

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na buddhibhedam janayedajnyaanaam karmasanginaam |
joshayetsarvakarmaani vidvaanyuktaha samacharan || 26 ||

No wise individual should create confusion in the minds of ignorant people who are attached to action. He should engage them in all actions, himself performing them diligently.

na : not to
buddhi : mind
bhedam : confusion
janayet : create
ajnyaanaam : ignorant people
karmasanginaam : attached to action
joshayet : engage
sarvakarmaani : all actions
vidvaan : wise individual
yuktaha : alert
samacharan : diligently act

In the previous shloka, Shri Krishna asked Arjuna to follow a “live and let live” approach towards other people in this world who have not yet realized the extent of their attachments. In this shloka, Shri Krishna provides the reason behind that statement. We shall first look at an example in this regard.

Consider a car going at a fast speed on a major highway. Other cars on the highway are going equally as fast. The car contains a driver and one passenger who have divided the responsibilities equally : the driver is in charge of driving, and the passenger is in charge of navigation and directions. The passenger keeps the driver informed of where to turn, how much time is left before the next food break and so on.

Now in the middle of the journey, the passenger realizes that they are on the wrong highway. What is the best course of action for the passenger? If he says to the driver “Stop! We have to turn back!” it could unsettle the driver and potentially cause a major accident on the highway. Instead he choses to gently inform the driver to take the next exit, stop for a few minutes in a safe area, and then figure out how to get back on the proper highway.

Similarly, when working with other people, the practitioner of karmayoga should continue to perform actions diligently instead of preaching to others about karmayoga, in other words, change their way of doing action. There will always be a tendency to misinterpret the message of karmayoga if we begin preaching it to others. As evidence, note that even Arjuna had incorrectly assumed that one should give up actions altogether.

Therefore, this shloka advises us to act diligently, and let others act to the best of their ability, and not to unsettle them in any way.