Summary :

Distinguishing between the body and the Self helps karmayoga:

The Gita, Vyasa is not inclined towards elaboration. Here he has only tersely stated, like Euclidean geometry, the principles useful for life. There are no long discussions in the Gita; brevity is its distinctive characteristic. It is so mainly because everybody can test for himself the veracity of the Gita‘s teaching in his life; and it is meant to be so tested. The Gita tells only those things which are useful for life.

Our main reason in studying the Gita is to get help and guidance in life whenever we need it. Such help is always forthcoming. The Gita is a treatise that tells us how life is to be lived.

One who performs swadharma should give up the fruit of actions : it is the main thing that is emphasised everywhere in the Gita. One must act, but one must also renounce the fruit; one must water a plant and tend it with care, but should not expect for himself any return therefrom in the form of its shade, fruit or flower. This is what karmayoga in the form of performance of swadharma means.

It may be easy to say or even understand, but difficult to put into practice, that one should perform swadharma properly—not just any sort of karma—and renounce the fruit, as desire for fruit is considered to be the incentive for action. Action without desire for the fruit for oneself is against the prevalent current; it is diametrically opposite to what normally goes on in the world.

You can hardly find a single karmayogi of the Gita’s definition among the millions who work; he is rare even among the millions who perform swadharma. In fact, judging by the true and subtle meaning of karmayoga, a perfect karmayogi can hardly be found. To work and then to renounce its fruit is something most unusual. 

Another complementary point has been put forth in the Thirteenth Chapter. It is the distinction between the body and the Self.

To know a thing fully we have to enter into its interior. We have to peel off the skin of a fruit to taste the pulp within.A jackfruit too has a rough exterior but inside there is sweet and juicy pulp. We need to distinguish between the outer and the inner while looking at ourselves as well as at others. The outer cover is to be set aside. What does it mean? It means that we should make a distinction between the outwardly visible form of anything and its inner essence. Everything has an outer body and an inner soul; just as we have a physical body outside and the soul or the Self within. 

This is true about karma as well. The fruit of the karma is like its outer body which should be discarded, and the purification of mind that results from it is its soul which should be cherished. We should inculcate the habit of making this distinction; we should acquire this penetrating insight. We should train and discipline the eyes, the mind and the reason through constant practice to achieve this purpose. Everywhere we should leave aside the body and adore the Self. The Thirteenth Chapter has explained this distinction for us to reflect on it.

The basic foundation of betterment 

Nowadays, bad education is imparting extremely evil samskaras. This education does not lift us out of our total identification with the body.We are doing everything to pamper the body.The body is thus being vainly worshiped; there is no awareness of the bliss that lies in the experience of the Self. This condition has resulted from the present system of education. Day and night, indulgence of the body is being continually and insistently taught.

There is nothing wrong in being aware of the defects in the body and the mind. It helps in removing them. But one must understand clearly that one is not the body. My ‘Self’ is altogether distinct from the body. It is wholly beautiful, faultless, pure, sublime and holy. 

There can be improvement only when it is realized that the body is but an instrument given to us.It is like an agricultural implement, an implement to cultivate the Lord’s field. If it is impaired, it should be repaired.

The body is here as a means. I should strive to purge myself of defects and faults by detaching myself from the body. I am distinct from the body, which is an instrument. I am the master, the owner of the body. I am the one who gets good work done by the body. Such a discerning attitude should be inculcated by us.

 Attachment to the body wastes life :  

 Man is always striving to somehow prolong the life of the body even after it has become old and decrepit. But how long can this body, this shell be sustained? At most until death; not a moment longer. All the vanity is reduced to naught when death stares one in the face. Still man continues to produce various things for this worthless body; he ceaselessly worries about it. Nowadays, some people find no harm in meat-eating to sustain the body. In their view, human body is so precious that one may eat flesh without compunction to sustain it; animals’ bodies, on the other hand, have little value. But what, after all, is the ground for this opinion? The only ground could be that animals eat anything and think nothing beyond themselves while human beings take care of the creation around them. This very basis for considering human beings superior is undermined by meat-eating. Human beings are superior because they exercise self-control, because they care for other creatures. Man is superior because of this quality that is not found in animals. That is why it is said to be a rare gift to be born as a human being. How can man be considered superior, if he undermines the very basis of his superiority? When man begins to eat flesh like other animals without any qualms, he undermines the foundation of his superiority. It is like cutting the branch of a tree on which one is sitting.

The body is an instrument at our disposal and we should certainly do whatever is necessary to keep it in order.

To sum up, the body is a means and not an end. Once this is deeply realised, man will not make much ado about nothing. Life will then appear markedly different. Man would not then revel in decorating the body. 

You should be concerned about making the mind and the heart pure and beautiful, about developing the intellect.

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