Chapter 3 Karmayoga (Yoga of selfless and desireless action)
1. Renunciation of the fruit leads to infinite gains – Friends, in the Second Chapter we viewed the whole science of life. The Third Chapter provides further elaboration of that science. Renunciation of the fruit of actions is very important. The question then is, does any gain accrue to a karmayogi or not? The Third Chapter tells us that by renouncing the fruit a karmayogi gains it in infinite measure.
An ordinary man closely guards the fruit of his actions so that none else could have it. But thereby he loses infinite gains that could otherwise have been his. The man attached to worldly affairs toils a lot, but gets little in return. On the other hand, a karmayogi receives infinite gains with little effort. It is the difference in their mental attitudes that makes all the difference.
Worldly people put in arduous labor; but that is in the pursuit of petty gains. We get what we seek; as is the desire, so is the fruit. The world will not pay more for our goods than the price that we ourselves mark on them.
Love and devotion behind Karma increases its value and strength.What, after all, is a currency note? It is just a little piece of paper. But it has the stamp of the government on it, and that gives it value.
The act (Karma) may be the same outwardly; but the difference in the inward feelings makes a world of difference. Action by a spiritually motivated selfless person contributes to his moral and spiritual development whereas the same action by a worldly person serves to bind him. A karmayogi farmer will look upon farming as his swadharma. It will, of course, fill his stomach; but he is not farming for that purpose. He will eat only to enable him to perform the swadharma of farming. Swadharma is the end for him, and food is a means for achieving Swardharma. But to another farmer, food is the end and farming a means for food. These two attitudes are the opposite of each other.
The actions of a worldly person and a Karmayogi look alike, but what is important is that a karmayogi enjoys work leaving aside any attachment to the fruit of his actions. He will eat and sleep like others, but his attitude towards everything will be different.
Every act of a karmayogi unites him with the whole universe. There is a custom of watering the Tulsi plant before taking meals. This is for creating a bond of love with the whole world of plants. How can I eat, keeping the Tulsi plant starved? Beginning with the identification with the cow and the Tulsi plant we are to progress till we are one with the whole creation.
2.Various gains from karmayoga –
A karmayogi, who follows his swadharma, does get his daily bread. Besides, his industriousness makes his body healthy and pure. His work also contributes to the well-being and prosperity of the society in which he lives. A karmayogi farmer will not cultivate opium or tobacco to earn more money. He links his work to the welfare of the society.
A society which has in its midst such karma yogis who have identified themselves with those around them, forgetting their selfish interests, will be marked with prosperity, order and harmony.
Work of a karmayogi keeps his body healthy and intellect radiant. Apart from these two fruits it also confers on the karmayogi a great gift in the form of the purity of his mind. It is said that work is a means for the purification of the mind— ‘कर्मणा शुध्दि:’. For Ex, While removing weeds from the field, it occurs to a karmayogi that the weeds of base desires and passions should be removed from one’s own mind.
‘Tuladhar’ Grocer in Mahabharata or saint ‘Gora Kumbhar’ were such karma yogis. They gained true knowledge through their vocations. To them,their Karma( actions) were like schools of the spirit. Their work was associated with the spirit of worship and service. Although it appeared worldly, it was spiritual in essence.
A karmayogi is happy and content with fulfillment; still he continues to work. Saint Tukaram says, “Should I give up singing bhajans, now that I have realized God through them? Singing bhajans has now become my nature.”
“ आधी होता संतसंग I तुका झाला पांडुरंग
त्याचे भजन राहीना I मूळ स्वभाव जाईना II “
(‘Earlier, Tukaram used to keep company with the saints. Eventually he became one with Lord Pandurang. Still he cannot help singing bhajans. One’s original nature does not, after all, change.’)
The karmayogi reaches the summit of spiritual liberation using the ladder of work. He does not kick off that ladder even thereafter. He just cannot do so.
Therefore, a karmayogi continues to work like an ordinary man
It is not necessary to put a stamp on any action and mark it as spiritual; no action should be publicized as such.
3.Obstacles in the way of Karmayoga –
A karmayogi’s work is much better than that of others. For him, work is worship.Karmayogi works his best and then he dedicates that work to God.He does not measure the value of his work in gross terms.
We have developed some absurd ideas about spirituality. People feel that a spiritual seeker need not do any work. They wonder how a farmer or a weaver could be a spiritual seeker.
The Lord of the karmayogis—Lord Krishna—rubbed down horses.He grazed the cattle whenever he visited Gokul, his childhood abode. The saints have sketched the picture of such a karmayogi Lord.
The saints themselves have attained liberation while working as a tailor ( Namdeo), or a weaver ( Kabir), or a gardener (Sawata Mali), or a potter ( Gora Kumbhar), or a grocer( Tukaram Maharaj), or a barber ( Sena Nhavi) and while grinding flour( Janabai).
A person slips from the observance of such a divine karmayoga on account of two reasons. We should keep in mind the peculiar nature of our senses.Love and hate, desire and anger pounce upon a man and prey on him. The Lord is warning us, at the end of this Chapter, to shun them. A karmayogi should also become an embodiment of self-restraint like the sthitaprajna.
