Attachment and aversion are two opposing sides of the same coin. Too much attraction for something is much like too much aversion for it’s opposite. Both take us away from a detached perspective of the issue. Ultimately the goal is not to become averse to love and relationships, for example, perhaps due to the hurt they incur. Rather, the goal is to become attached to the eternal relationship of love that we have with divinity, god or the higher self.
Similarly, the goal in this case is not to be averse to the material energy, but rather to engage it with detachment to the outcome or result of the engagement. Work, but don’t be attached to the result. This is the message of the ancient Veda when discussing the subject.
This technique of work without attachment to the result, is called karma yoga, which is discussed throughout the Bhagavad Gita. In fact the entire chapter three is called Karma Yoga, as you will see in coming articles that I post when we get to that chapter in time. And here in chapter two, Krishna is already hinting at this philosophical point. Work or action comes in three types, namely prescribed action, non-action, and bad action. Bad activities are obviously to be avoided. Whatever gets in the way of your spiritual life is to be avoided, regardless of the result. A life of crime that rakes in millions is only going to drag you down spiritually, in the eternal scheme of things.
Non-action is also not the best understanding of work. The impersonalist school of thought may adhere to this principle by renouncing matter and work, with the view that it is illusion and to be avoided, since it is an obstacle on the path to transcendence. And that is fine if you can get it right. Try living a peaceful healthy life without getting up to collect your food or without lighting a fire to cook it. You will struggle.
Therefore, the real spiritual vision is called “yukta vairagya” or real renunciation. It implies using the material energy in the service of the master of the energy, the original owner, god. It suggests that one can work, but offer the results in sacrifice to Vishnu, or your deity. That is real renunciation. Rather than avoid money, the better option is to return that money to its original owner, god.
If you remember Ramayana, the epic pastime of god in his incarnation as King Ramachandra many millennia ago, you will know how the demon Ravava stole Queen Sita away, kidnapping her to use her for his own pleasure. As you remember, Rama is the incarnation of Vishnu and Sita is his consort Lakshmi, who is the goddess of wealth and fortune. By trying to use the profits of our action for our own pleasure, we are as good as the demon Ravana who steals away the goddess of fortune for himself. Ultimately he was punished with beheading.
The real work is to act and give the results back to god, the original source and proprietor of all in existence. Actually, we are not even the doer, when we act. It is not by our prowess that results come out for better or worse. It is all going on by the higher will of god. Thus, the results of work are best offered up, rather than trying to enjoy them selfishly. If you are attached to the results, then they will oblige you to reap the rewards, either good or bad. They will bind you to the cycle of repeated birth and death.
You will be obliged to come and enjoy or suffer your karmic reactions. And even the enjoyment involves coming back for another lifetime to reap the rewards. Rather give up all materially motivated work and engage in spiritual work. This is true renunciation, as opposed to simply sitting down and doing nothing with the hope that you can avoid karma and its results.
“Give unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s”, as Christ said when the Romans were sent by the jealous Jewish priests to threaten him. But then give unto god that which is god’s. That is the implication. We all have to act in some way or another to survive, so do your work, according to your nature, yet turn it into a spiritual work with spiritual rewards, otherwise it will bind you to the world of pleasure and pain, lifetime after lifetime.
And I don’t mean only giving your profits to the local priest or insitutionalised or self-imposed intermediary between you and god. Such people can be charlatans sometimes. Just because a person is in priest’s robes does not make them a saint. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it won’t improve anything. Throughout history we have seen how sometimes the most materially motivated people take to the cloth or to a religious vocation simply to enhance their material situation, either by the ability to solicit monetary donations or to acquire name and fame and the power over others which it brings. Such charlatans are to be seen for what they are.
We have seen this throughout history, whether it is the Roman Catholic church in the Middle Ages who sold tickets to heaven for coin, or the caste brahmana in India who, to this day, exploits those below them for profit based purely on birth in a so-called higher caste family, while showing none of the character of a brahmana. Saintly qualities are described in the Gita, and include peacefulness, detachment, learning, simplicity, cleanliness and punctuality, among others. In fact, during previous periods in history the brahmanas would never receive a salary, but only live from donations, given to them by the kshatriyas (rulers) whom they advised or by householders whom they educated in spiritual matters.
And so if you can’t trust the priests of god any more, although some are obviously still decent, then you will do well to remember that god is not in the temple or church, but rather in your heart. You are a temple of god and Vishnu resides in the heart of all living entities as Paramatma or Supersoul. Offer the results of your work to your deity or divinity by engaging the profits in service, not merely by supporting the poor materially but by educating humanity about their spiritual life. For example by printing and publishing literature spoken by god, like the Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavat Purana or the Vedas in general. That is the real spiritual service to humanity. Feed the body and they will be hungry tomorrow. Feed the soul and you will nourish the person for life and for eternity.
Rescuing the clothes of a drowning person is useless. Similarly, catering to the body is like dealing with the outer dress of the spirit soul. It is a shallow attempt at service or humanitarianism. Real service is to be directed toward the eternal upliftment of all the fallen conditioned souls here on earth by reminding us of our eternal nature as spirit and how to awaken that. Such use of the material energy in spreading the knowledge of god and of our eternal relationship with him, is beyond karma or material results. It is karma yoga and thus a spiritual service, if done in devotion to god and compassion for all living entities. In this way your work is transformed into yoga and a means of liberation instead of bondage.
Bhagavad Gita ch2:47
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥ ४७ ॥
karmaṇy evādhikāras te
mā phaleṣu kadācana
mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr
mā te saṅgo 'stv akarmaṇi
karmaṇi—prescribed duties; eva—certainly; adhikāraḥ—right; te-of you; mā—never; phaleṣu—in the fruits; kadācana—at any time; mā—never; karma-phala—in the result of the work; hetuḥ—cause; bhūḥ—become; mā—never; te—of you; saṅgaḥ—attachment; astu—be there; akarmaṇi—in not doing
TRANSLATION
You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.
COMMENTARY
There are three considerations here: prescribed duties, capricious work, and inaction. Prescribed duties refer to activities performed while one is in the modes of material nature. Capricious work means actions without the sanction of authority, and inaction means not performing one's prescribed duties. The Lord advised that Arjuna not be inactive, but that he perform his prescribed duty without being attached to the result. One who is attached to the result of his work is also the cause of the action. Thus he is the enjoyer or sufferer of the result of such actions.
As far as prescribed duties are concerned, they can be fitted into three subdivisions, namely routine work, emergency work and desired activities. Routine work, in terms of the scriptural injunctions, is done without desire for results. As one has to do it, obligatory work is action in the mode of goodness. Work with results becomes the cause of bondage; therefore such work is not auspicious. Everyone has his proprietory right in regard to prescribed duties, but should act without attachment to the result; such disinterested obligatory duties doubtlessly lead one to the path of liberation.
Arjuna was therefore advised by the Lord to fight as a matter of duty without attachment to the result. His nonparticipation in the battle is another side of attachment. Such attachment never leads one to the path of salvation. Any attachment, positive or negative, is cause for bondage. Inaction is sinful. Therefore, fighting as a matter of duty was the only auspicious path of salvation for Arjuna.
Reference: Bhagavad Gita As It Is, translation and commentary by Swami A. C. Bhaktivedanta, original 1972 Macmillan edition (www.prabhupadabooks.com)
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