The Bhagavad Gita – the Karma Yogi

The Bhagavad Gita – the Karma Yogi
॥ श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता ॥ ॥ ॐ श्री परमात्मने नमः ॥ ॥ अथ श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता ॥
 
The enlightened Karma yogi has no sense of agency, evenness of mind in favourable or unfavourable conditions and offer fruits of actions to almighty. Such yogi is free from bondages.
 
Initially, he shall have the feeling of agency, so he should offer all the fruits of action to the Brahman. Later, the sense of agency is destroyed. Dedicated and detached actions are brought by Bhakti element.
 
Real sanyasi and real karma yogi are not so different. Both should abandon all passions and attachments, hope and expectations. The only difference is that one who is early stages of the discipline, struggling to gain the non-attached conditions.

The detailed explanations, chapter wise and verse-wise are as under (the relevant Sanskrit verses of Bhagavad Gita are mentioned at the bottom): 

Evenness of mind:

1. The Karmayogi, who is contented with whatever is got unsought, is free from jealousy and has transcended all pairs of opposites like joy and grief, and is balanced in success and failure, is not bound by his action (4.22).
2. The Karma yogi who neither hates nor desires should ever be considered as an ever Sanyasi. He who is free from the pairs of opposites is easily liberated from bondage. Renunciation of egoism and desires, not the physical renunciation of objects liberates from bondage (5.3).

 
Absence of sense of agency:

1. All actions of karma yogi get dissolved entirely, when he is free from attachment and have no identification with the body and free from the feeling of mine, his mind is established in the knowledge of Self and he works merely for the sake of sacrifice (4.23).
2. The Karma yogi is one who has fully conquered his mind and mastered his senses, whose heart is pure, and who has identified himself with the Self of all beings (viz., God), remains untainted, even though performing action (5.7).
3. The Karma yogis perform action only with their senses, mind, and intellect and body as well, without the feeling of mine in respect of them and shaking off attachment, simply for the sake of self-purification (5.11).

 
Karma as duty:

1. Some offer as sacrifice their senses of hearing etc., into the fires of self-discipline. Other Yogis without attachment & aversions offer sound and other objects of perception into the fires of the senses (4.26).

 
Self-Surrender:

1. Karma yogi, who keeps his mind fixed on God, reaches Brahman in no time (5.6).
2. One, who acts offering all actions to God, and shaking off attachment, remains untouched by sin, as the lotus leaf by water (5.10).
3. Offering the fruit of actions to God, the Karma yogi attains everlasting peace in the form of God-realization; whereas, he who works with a selfish motive, being attached to the fruit of actions through desire, gets tied down (5.12).
4. The Karma yogi depends on Me (Brahman, Almighty, Shree Krishna), attains by My grace the eternal, imperishable state, even though performing all actions (18.56).

 

Reference:

1. The Bhagavad Gita, Gita press, Gorakhpur
2. Bhagavad Gita, by Swami Sivananda, a divine life society publication
3. Srimad-Bhagavad Gita, by Swami Tapasyananda, Sri Ramakrishna math, Mylapore, Madras – 600004.   
4. https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_giitaa/bhagvadnew.html?lang=sa

 
Chapter: 4
यदृच्छालाभसन्तुष्टो द्वन्द्वातीतो विमत्सरः । समः सिद्धावसिद्धौ च कृत्वापि न निबध्यते ॥ ४-२२॥ गतसङ्गस्य मुक्तस्य ज्ञानावस्थितचेतसः । यज्ञायाचरतः कर्म समग्रं प्रविलीयते ॥ ४-२३॥
 
Chapter: 5
ज्ञेयः स नित्यसंन्यासी यो न द्वेष्टि न काङ्क्षति । निर्द्वन्द्वो हि महाबाहो सुखं बन्धात्प्रमुच्यते ॥ ५-३॥ यत्साङ्ख्यैः प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि गम्यते । एकं साङ्ख्यं च योगं च यः पश्यति स पश्यति ॥ ५-५॥ संन्यासस्तु महाबाहो दुःखमाप्तुमयोगतः । योगयुक्तो मुनिर्ब्रह्म नचिरेणाधिगच्छति ॥ ५-६॥ योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रियः । सर्वभूतात्मभूतात्मा कुर्वन्नपि न लिप्यते ॥ ५-७॥ ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः । लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा ॥ ५-१०॥ कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या केवलैरिन्द्रियैरपि । योगिनः कर्म कुर्वन्ति सङ्गं त्यक्त्वात्मशुद्धये ॥ ५-११॥ युक्तः कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम् । अयुक्तः कामकारेण फले सक्तो निबध्यते ॥ ५-१२॥)
Chapter: 18
सर्वकर्माण्यपि सदा कुर्वाणो मद्व्यपाश्रयः । मत्प्रसादादवाप्नोति शाश्वतं पदमव्ययम् ॥ १८-५६॥
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