KARMA YOGA –I AM NOT DOER June 05th, 2018

KARMA YOGA –I AM NOT DOER

In Sanskrit, Kri means to do; all action is Karma. Whatever we do (thinking, talking, listening, breathing, walking etc.) that is karma, physical or mental and it leaves marks or impression or samskara on the mind-stuff. These impressions are sometimes not obvious on the surface but they work beneath the surface, subconsciously. The sum total of these impressions on the mind form character of the person at that moment. If good impressions prevail, the character becomes good; if bad, it becomes bad.
 
But good and bad are both bondages of the soul. The solution reached in the Gita in regard to this bondage-producing nature of work is that, if we do not attach ourselves to the work we do, it will not have any binding effect on our soul. By non-attachment, you overcome and deny the power of anything to act upon you.
 
Bhagwat geeta (verse 5 chapter 3) - न हि कश्चित्क्षणमपि जातु तिष्ठत्यकर्मकृत्‌ । कार्यते ह्यवशः कर्म सर्वः प्रकृतिजैर्गुणैः॥
i.e. Indeed no person can remain without doing work anytime. Because of nature-generated qualities force him to do work.
 
Bhagwat geeta (verse 27 chapter 3) - प्रकृतेः क्रियमाणानि गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः। अहंकारविमूढात्मा कर्ताहमिति मन्यते ॥
i.e. In fact, all the karmas are done due to qualities of nature. Since the soul is fascinated by ego, one thinks due to ignorance, ‘I am a doer'.
 
Bhagwat geeta (verse 47 chapter 2) - कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भुर्मा ते संगोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥
i.e. Actions done with expectation of its rewards bring bondage. Our duty is only in doing karma, never in its fruits. If we do not be attached to it, we get purification of heart and ultimately knowledge of the Self.

The dynamics of Karma Yoga such as ‘Good or Bad Karma – the bondage of the soul’, ‘motives of karma’, ‘karma without attachment’, ‘what is good karma’, ‘forces of karma’, ‘instruments of karma’ and ‘Karma for liberation’ are mentioned hereunder.
 
Good or Bad Karma – the bondage of the soul
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All karmas are by nature composed of good and evil. We cannot do any work which will not do some good somewhere; there cannot be any work which will not cause some harm somewhere. Every work must necessarily be a mixture of good and evil; yet we are commanded to work incessantly. Good and evil will both have their results, will produce their Karma. Good action will entail upon us good effect; bad action, bad. But good and bad are both bondages of the soul.
 
Motives of Karma
karmas are done with various motives or to fulfill desires such to get fame, power, money, heaven etc. There are some who work for the sake of work. There are others who do good to the poor and help mankind from still higher motives, because they believe in doing good and love good.

Karma without Attachment
The selflessness brings "Vairagya", dispassion or non-attachment. By non-attachment, we overcome and deny the power of anything to act upon us. If actions are done for the sake of God, without desire for the fruits, one is released from the bonds of birth and death and attains to immortal bliss.
Bhagwat geeta (verse 51 chapter 2) - कर्मजं बुद्धियुक्ता हि फलं त्यक्त्वा मनीषिणः। जन्मबन्धविनिर्मुक्ताः पदं गच्छन्त्यनामयम्‌ ॥
i.e. Knowingly giving up the result which comes from knowledgeable actions, one becomes free from the bondage and the highest post is attained.
 
Bhagwat geeta (verse 28 chapter 9) - शुभाशुभफलैरेवं मोक्ष्य से कर्मबंधनैः। सन्न्यासयोगमुक्तात्मा विमुक्तो मामुपैष्यसि॥
i.e. By offering all karmas to me (God), person with good karma become free from bondages from karma and attains me.
 
What is good Karma 

• It is a privilege to help others. It is not the receiver that is blessed, but it is the giver. Be thankful that you are allowed to exercise your power of benevolence and mercy in the world, and thus become pure and perfect.
• We have to bear in mind that we are all debtors to the world and the world does not owe us anything. It is a great privilege for all of us to be allowed to do anything for the world. In helping the world we really help ourselves.
• This world will always continue to be a mixture of good and evil. Our duty is to sympathise with the weak and to love even the wrongdoer.
• The calmer we are and the less disturbed our nerves, the more shall we love and the better will our work be.
• The householder should sacrifice for the welfare of others and not look at beauty and money and power. He must speak the truth, and speak gently, using words which people like and do good to others. He must not talk in public of his own fame; he must not preach his own name or his own powers; he must not talk of his wealth, or of anything that has been told to him privately. Good or bad treatment should not change him even to the smallest extent.

 
Forces on Karma

• According to the Sânkhya philosophy, nature is composed of three forces called, in Sanskrit, Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. These as manifested in the physical world are what we may call equilibrium of activity and inertness. Tamas is typified as darkness or inactivity; Rajas is activity, expressed as attraction or repulsion; and Sattva is the equilibrium of the two.
• Sometimes Tamas prevails. We become lazy. At other times activity prevails, and at still other times that calm balancing of both. Pure Sattvikas never make any stir, but only melt down in love.
• Inactivity should be avoided by all means. Activity always means resistance. Resist all evils, mental and physical; and when you have succeeded in resisting, then will calmness come. It is very easy to say, "Hate nobody, resist not evil," but we know what that kind of thing generally means in practice.
• State of calmness and self-surrender comes generally after one fulfills his desires and suffers.
• It is the most difficult thing in this world to work and not care for the result, to help a man and never think that he ought to be grateful, to do some good work and at the same time never look to see whether it brings you name or fame, or nothing at all.

Instruments of Karma 

• A soul with certain tendencies would by the law of affinity take birth in the body which is fittest instrument for the display of the tendencies. This explains natural habits of a new born soul.
• Bodies’ acquire certain tendencies from heredity, but these tendencies only mean the physical configurations through which a peculiar mind alone can act in a particular way. There are other tendencies peculiar to a soul caused by past actions.
• All the actions that we see in the world are simply manifestation of the will of man; and this will is caused by character and character is manufactured by karma.
• First it is feeling, then it becomes willing, and out of that willing comes the tremendous force for work that will go through every vein and nerve and muscle, until the whole mass of your body is changed into an instrument of the unselfish Yoga of work, and the desired result of perfect self-abnegation and utter unselfishness is duly attained.
• There is no action which does not bear good and evil fruits at the same time. To take the nearest example: I am talking to you, and some of you, perhaps, think I am doing good; and at the same time I am, perhaps, killing thousands of microbes in the atmosphere; I am thus doing evil to something else. Every bit of the food we eat is taken away from another’s mouth.
• What we are now has been the result of our own past actions and likewise, whatever we wish to be in future can be produced by our present actions.
• Normally, we work for gains i.e. with selfish motives and become attached to its results which create samskara. But gradually this selfishness will melt by persistence, till at last will come the time when we shall be able to do really unselfish work. The moment we attain to perfect unselfishness, all our powers will be concentrated, and the knowledge which is ours will be manifest.

 
Karma for liberation
Bhagwat Geeta has explained in detail, the following qualities of person who remain unattached to karma:
Bhagwat geeta (verse 28 chapter 3) - तत्त्ववित्तु महाबाहो गुणकर्मविभागयोः। गुणा गुणेषु वर्तन्त इति मत्वा न सज्जते ॥
i.e. Person who have knowledge of qualities of trigun maya, five senses and five karmendriyas and believes that these elements are working as per their nature & qualities, remain unattached.
 
Bhagwat geeta (verse 20 chapter 4) - त्यक्त्वा कर्मफलासङ्गं नित्यतृप्तो निराश्रयः। कर्मण्यभिप्रवृत्तोऽपि नैव किंचित्करोति सः॥
i.e. The man who has abandoned the attachment in all his deeds and in his work has become devoid of the worldly shelter and is always contented in God; he does not do anything in reality even if he does good deeds.
 
Bhagwat geeta (verse 23 chapter 4) - गतसङ्‍गस्य मुक्तस्य ज्ञानावस्थितचेतसः। यज्ञायाचरतः कर्म समग्रं प्रविलीयते॥
i.e. Whose attachment has been completely destroyed, which has become devoid of compassion, whose mind is constantly situated in the knowledge of the divine - that only the whole work of a person who performs the task of Yajna is merged.
 
Bhagwat geeta (verse 41 chapter 4) - योगसन्नयस्तकर्माणं ज्ञानसञ्न्निसंशयम्‌। आत्मवन्तं न कर्माणि निबध्नन्ति धनञ्जय ॥
i.e. Who has given all the karmas in the divine and who has destroyed all the doubts by discrimination, do not bind the man with karma.
 
Bhagwat geeta (verse 7 chapter 5) - योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रियः। सर्वभूतात्मभूतात्मा कुर्वन्नपि न लिप्यते ॥
i.e. One whose mind is in control, who is pure at heart, who has won over its senses and who see Ishwar in all beings; despite doing karma, does not immerse in it. 
 
Bhagwat geeta (verse 10 chapter 5) - ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्‍गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः। लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा ॥
i.e. One who surrenders all karmas to God and work without attachment, he lives in this world like a lotus leaf and never immerse into evils.
 
Bhagwat geeta (verse 28 chapter 7) - येषां त्वन्तगतं पापं जनानां पुण्यकर्मणाम्‌। ते द्वन्द्वमोहनिर्मुक्ता भजन्ते मां दृढव्रताः ॥
i.e One who do good karma without getting attached to it and whose all sinful deeds are destroyed, such person are free from klesha such as attachment (raag), aversion (dwesh), emotional attachment (मोह) etc  and are devoted to me in every way. 
 
Bhagwat geeta (verse 5 chapter 18) - यज्ञदानतपःकर्म न त्याज्यं कार्यमेव तत्‌ ।यज्ञो दानं तपश्चैव पावनानि मनीषिणाम्‌ ॥
i.e. Sacrifice (यज्ञ), religious austerity (तपरूप कर्म) and charity (दान) is not worthy of renunciation, but it is a duty, because the sacrifice, religious austerity and charity - all three karmas are of wise men (the person is wise, who renounces fruit and attachment ) and he does good karma which purifies him.
 
Bhagwat geeta (verse 12 chapter 18) - अनिष्टमिष्टं मिश्रं च त्रिविधं कर्मणः फलम्‌ ।भवत्यत्यागिनां प्रेत्य न तु सन्न्यासिनां क्वचित्‌ ॥
i.e. One who does not renounce rewards of karma, he gets its fruits in future births but one who renounces the karma, never gets fruits of karma. 
 
Bhagwat geeta (verse 17 chapter 18) - यस्य नाहङ्‍कृतो भावो बुद्धिर्यस्य न लिप्यते ।हत्वापि स इमाँल्लोकान्न हन्ति न निबध्यते ॥
i.e. One whose conscience does not have feeling that “I am a doer”, whose mind is not immersed in worldly things & deeds, the man dies in reality, neither does he die in sin. 
 
Bhagwat geeta (verse 46 chapter 18) - यतः प्रवृत्तिर्भूतानां येन सर्वमिदं ततम्‌।स्वकर्मणा तमभ्यर्च्य सिद्धिं विन्दति मानवः॥
i.e. God who has created all the beings and from which it is pervading the whole world, by worshiping God by his natural deeds, one can attain divinity.
 

• There are two Sanskrit words. The one is Pravritti, which means revolving towards world (for wealth, name & fame and taking everything from everywhere for self) and the other is Nivritti, which means revolving away. Both Pravritti and Nivritti are of the nature of work: the former is evil work, and the latter is good work. This Nivritti is the fundamental basis of all morality and all religion, and the very perfection of it is entire self-abnegation, readiness to sacrifice mind and body and everything for another being. When a man has reached that state, he has attained to the perfection of Karma-Yoga.
• According to Karma-Yoga, the action one has done cannot be destroyed until it has borne its fruit; no power in nature can stop it from yielding its results. 
• For those who believe in God, they give up the fruits of work unto the god; they work and are never attached to the results. Whatever they see, feel, hear, or do, are for Him. For whatever good work we may do, let us not claim any praise or benefit. Sacrifice of your little self.
• We are simply working and have nothing to do with rewards and punishments. Seek no praise, no reward, for anything we do.
• The ideal man is he who, in the midst of the greatest silence and solitude, finds the intensest activity, and in the midst of the intensest activity finds the silence and solitude of the desert. He has learnt the secret of restraint, he has controlled himself. He goes through the streets of a big city with all its traffic, and his mind is as calm as if he were in a cave, where not a sound could reach him; and he is intensely working all the time. That is the ideal of Karma-Yoga.
• The Vedas teach that the soul is divine, only held in the bondage of matter; perfection will be reached when this bond will burst, and the word they use for it is therefore, Mukti — freedom, freedom from the bonds of imperfection, freedom from death and misery. This bondage can only fall off through the mercy of God, and this mercy comes on the pure. So purity is the condition of His mercy. He reveals Himself to the pure heart.
• There is constant struggle to become perfect, to become divine, to reach God and see God, and this reaching God, seeing God, becoming perfect even as the Father in Heaven is perfect, constitutes the religion of the Hindus.
• What becomes of a man when he attains perfection? He lives a life of bliss infinite. He enjoys infinite and perfect bliss, having obtained the only thing in which man ought to have pleasure, namely God, and enjoys the bliss with God.
• Man who has control over his motives and organs is unchangeably established. By this continuous reflex of good thoughts, good impressions moving over the surface of the mind, the tendency for doing good becomes strong, and as the result we feel able to control the Indriyas (the sense-organs, the nerve-centres). Thus alone will character be established, and then alone a man gets to truth. Such a man is safe for ever; he cannot do any evil.
• Bad tendencies are to be counter acted by the good ones, and the bad impressions on the mind should be removed by the fresh waves of good ones, until all that is evil almost disappears, or is subdued and held in control in a corner of the mind; but after that, the good tendencies have also to be conquered. Thus the "attached" becomes the "unattached". Work, but let not the action or the thought produce a deep impression on the mind.
• The right performance of the duties of any station in life, without attachment to results, leads us to the highest realisation of the refection of the soul.

 
 
Reference:

1. The complete works of Swami Vivekananda, Mayavati Memorial Edition, Volume I, Advaita Ashrama, 5 Delhi Entally Road, Kolkata – 700 014. Published by Swami Bodhasarananda, President, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Champawat, Uttarakhand.

1. http://hindi.webdunia.com/religion/religion/hindu/geeta/