Yoga and Sannyasa

(1)Outward action is  a mirror of the mind :Samsara (Samsara, in fact, is untranslatable in English. It includes the whole of man’s this-worldly life and affairs in the material world in which he is totally immersed and to which he is attached. The term has to be understood with reference to the context.) is something very terrible. It is often compared to an ocean. In the midst of an ocean, you see water wherever you look. Same is the case with samsara. It has surrounded us from all the sides

There is, therefore, no attenuation of samsara simply through reduction in the involvement in worldly business and / or reduction in one’s possessions. One may be in the midst of family or alone in a forest, attachment does not leave one’s mind.The attachment does not get reduced even by iota .A yogi retired to the Himalayan caves for doing penance may burn with envy if he happens to hear another yogi praised.

Samsara has thus engulfed us and is ever tormenting us. It does not leave us even if we decide to remain within the bounds of swadharma. Even if we curtail our activities, engagements and affairs, attachment to ‘I and mine’ remains the same.

How can one have detachment? For this, the mind must cooperate fully. Nothing can be achieved without the cooperation of the mind.Outward performance of swadharma and the inward mental vikarma—both are necessary.

The true nature of our minds, the real quality of our minds is revealed through such work. Water in a pool may appear clear, but the moment you throw a stone in it, the dirt settled at the bottom will immediately rise up.Action is the mirror that reflects our true nature. We should, therefore, be grateful to it. If the mirror shows that our face is unclean, would we smash the mirror? No. We would rather thank it and wash our face. Likewise, should we avoid action because it reveals the dirt in our minds—our defects and weaknesses? 

Is the mind going to be pure simply by avoiding action? We should rather continue to act while trying continually for the purification of mind.Is the mind going to be pure simply by avoiding action? We should rather continue to act while trying continually for the purification of mind.

To sum up, karma is very much needed to enable us to understand the state of our minds. We can remove our defects only when we become aware of them. Without such awareness, all efforts for progress and growth will come to naught. It is while doing work that we become aware of our defects. Vikarma is then to be employed to get rid of those defects.When karma becomes effortless and burdenless, it is transformed into akarma. 

(2)The nature of the state of akarma:Let us take a familiar example to understand the naturalness of an action. When a child first learns to walk, what effort does he put into it! We encourage him, appreciate his efforts. ‘Hey, he has learnt to walk!’, we say with delight. But later, walking becomes natural; the child can then walk and talk at the same time. 

The mind is in the habit of getting tired; it gets tired when it is consciously engaged in work. But when actions flow naturally, no strain is felt. Karma then becomes akarma. It is then full of joy. 

Such transformation of karma into akarma is what we want to achieve. It is for this purpose that we should perform karma in accordance with our swadharma. In doing so, our defects will come to light. To remove them, we should take recourse to vikarma. If all this is constantly practiced, the mind reaches a stage where it is no longer perturbed by actions. It remains calm and clear even though we are doing thousands of actions.

Such transformation of karma into akarma is what we want to achieve. It is for this purpose that we should perform karma in accordance with our swadharma. In doing so, our defects will come to light. To remove them, we should take recourse to vikarma. If all this is constantly practiced, the mind reaches a stage where it is no longer perturbed by actions. It remains calm and clear even though we are doing thousands of actions.

It is impossible to describe this ‘akarma’ state. One can at best give a rough idea. The sun rises daily. But does it rise to remove darkness, urge the birds to fly and set men working? It just rises and that is all. Its very existence makes the entire world go round. But the sun is not aware of it.The sun performs akarma naturally.The sun says, “Light is my nature. What else but light could there be in me? I am not conscious of giving light. For me, to be means to shine and give light. I do not feel any strain in it. I do not feel that I am doing anything.” 

Giving light is natural to the sun. It is the case with the saints also. Their very existence is enlightening. If you praise a man of wisdom for his truthfulness, he would say, “If I adhere to the truth, what is so special about it? What else can I do?” Untruth just cannot exist in such a man. 

For a man of wisdom, performance of good actions becomes as natural and effortless as singing is to the birds. Just as a child thinks of his mother naturally, the saints think of God. 

It is natural for a sage to speak the truth, to have compassion for all the living beings, not to find fault in others, to serve everybody. He cannot, in fact, live without this karma. 

Just as eating, drinking, sleeping are normal and natural actions for worldly persons, serving others is natural to a man of wisdom. Helping others is his second nature. Even if he were to decide not to help others, it is impossible for him to do so. Karma of such a sage can be said to have become akarma. Such a state has also been given the sacred term ‘sannyasa’. Sannyasa is nothing but the blessed state of akarma. It can also be called karmayoga. It is karma yoga since the man of wisdom goes on acting; and it is sannyasa since there is no feeling of doing anything even while actions are done.. The man of wisdom acts with such ingenuity that the actions do not bind; hence it is yoga; and as nothing is done even while doing everything, it is sannyasa.

This is how is the dual nature of Sanyasa.In this fifth chapter,both the sides of Sanyasa are compared.One ( that is Yogi) does not do anything although he works round the clock for 24 hours.The other ( that is Sanyasi) does everything without working even for a moment.

 (3)Two analogies : Geometry and *Mimamsa:(*One of the six systems of Indian philosophy. It is divided into two parts : Purva Mimamsa and Uttaramimamsa. The former is usually referred to as Mimamsa. It deals mainly with the interpretation of the rituals in the Vedas.We can roughly say Mimansa is Analysis and Mimansak is Analyst)

How are we to compare the two? It will have to be done with the help of some analogies. While doing so, one does have a feeling of falling down from the high altitude of these ideas, but it cannot be helped. In fact, absolute karma-sannyasa and absolute karma-yoga are ideas too magnificent to be manifested in a living person. These ideals cannot be fully realized when one is confined within the body. Hence we have to take illustrations from the lives of great men who had realized these ideals to the extent possible. Analogies are never perfect, but for the time being one has to assume that they are.

In Geometry we say, let AB be the segment of line. A line, by definition, has length but no breadth. How to draw such a line on a blackboard? Breadth invariably accompanies length whenever one attempts to draw a line. Hence one has to use the word ‘let’. One has to assume that what has been drawn is a line.

Is not the same thing applicable in the science of bhakti (devotion)? There too the devotee says, ‘Let this tiny image be the Lord of the universe.’ If someone calls it idiocy, you may ask him, “Is there idiocy in geometry? We are seeing quite a thick line and you are asking us to assume that it has no breadth!”

Just as certain postulates are made in geometry, certain postulates are made in bhakti shastra too. It asks us to assume that there is God in an image. If one says that God is indestructible, but the image could break on being hit, it would not be a thoughtful statement. If postulates are valid in geometry, why can not they be so in bhakti shastra?

(4)The sannyasi and the yogi are one: That is why the Lord says,’एकं सांख्यन्  च योगन् च यः पश्यति स पश्यति(‘He truly sees who sees both sankhya and yoga, that is, knowledge and selfless action as one’)

Nevertheless, the Lord has given a little more weight to yoga. He says that karmayoga is superior to sannyasa. Why does He say so when there is no difference between them? What does it mean?

When the Lord says so, it is from the standpoint of a seeker. Doing everything without being active is possible for a realized soul, not for a seeker. But it is possible for a seeker, at least to some extent, to follow the way of doing everything without getting attached to work, i.e. acting outwardly but remaining inactive within. Working without outward action will be a riddle for a seeker; he will be at a loss to understand it. For a seeker, karma yoga is both the way and the goal. But sannyasa is only the goal; it cannot be the way. Hence, from the standpoint of the seeker, karmayoga is superior and preferable to sannyasa.

By the same reasoning the Lord has, in the Twelfth Chapter, said that saguna is preferable to nirguna. 

(‘Saguna’ means ‘with attributes’ while ‘nirguna’ means ‘without attributes’. These are two aspects of Brahman, or God, who could be saguna (Personal God with attributes) as well as nirguna (Impersonal, Unmanifest and Absolute). Saguna sadhana or bhakti includes service and image-worship. Brahman can also be ‘saakaar’ (with form) as well as ‘niraakaar’ (formless). Different religions and traditions believe in one or more of these aspects. For example, for an image-worshiper, God is saguna as well as a saakaar. In Islam, God is saguna but niraakaar.)

Saguna is superior to nirguna for a man encased in the body, because it is easier. The ingenuity in seeing that the actions leave no trace on the mind is better than doing work without acting, because it is easier.

Although sannyasa and karmayoga are of equal worth in their perfect states, karmayoga has an additional practical value.Karmayoga, is a path as well as the destination while sannyasa is only the destination.

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