Om vasiṣṭha sutaṁ daivaṁ kauṁsa śārṇeya drummaṁ Dhanaṁjaya devakī paramanandaṁ kṛṣṇaṁ vande jagadguruṁ
In the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, the subject of Karma Yoga has started. Sri Krishna has taught Jnana Yoga - the nature of the self, that I am the absolute existence consciousness bliss. This has been taught, and as a means to the realization of that absolute, Karma Yoga has now been introduced.
We were on verse 40, we had done verse 40, and now we’re on verse 41. Sri Krishna is making a case for Karma Yoga. What is the necessity of this practice? What is the practice going to start? We know in general what he is going to talk about - how to spiritualize our actions. And how do you do that?
We also know that the advice would be to connect it to God. Instead of thinking that the primary motive is our own selfish fulfillment of our own selfish desires, I am doing this action as a worship of God. This is going to be the attitude for a Karma Yogi. So that’s what he’s going to teach - do an action as worship of God.
If you are a devotee, the same thing can be done as “I am doing this selflessly for the welfare of others” without even bringing God into the equation. So people might ask, “If I don’t believe in God, can I do Karma Yoga?” Yes, you can. That’s also possible, and Sri Krishna talks about that also. But “I don’t believe in God” is not to my credit. So if you have some kind of faith in God, it’s good. You can put that to use. Connect it to Karma Yoga. Do your actions as a worship of God.
The second aspect of Karma Yoga is that it’s without a desire for what is called the fruits of action. That means I am not doing it for what I’ll get out of it. Though once I perform the actions, the fruits will come, the results will come of themselves, but I’m not doing it primarily for that anymore. Earlier I was doing it primarily for that, but now I’m doing it primarily as a spiritual practice. And of course, results will come.
In fact, in Vedanta, which is almost nothing new - the roots of everything that is taught down to the present age, the seed of that, the roots of that, they all run back to the Vedas, to the Upanishads. You can trace it back. But definitely, Sri Krishna’s teaching of Karma Yoga in the Bhagavad Gita was a turning point. It was a major contribution. The contribution is where he emphasized it, and the methodology, and the way he taught it, and what great importance he gave to it. So that way, Sri Krishna’s genuine contribution, new approach is there.
Sri Krishna was the great teacher of Karma thousands of years ago, and in this age, it’s Swami Vivekananda who again has realized how do you spiritualize your daily life.
If you notice, that’s exactly what I have said - Karma Yoga as a means to what? I mentioned the structure of sadhana last time - that matrix. This is what he’s referring to. So you can read, if you keep the matrix in mind, you can understand these comments. This comment is according to Shankara’s thinking, Adi Shankaracharya’s thinking. The matrix is, if you’ve got it written down somewhere:
Problem - Solution - Method
Notice the teaching of Sankhya, that means the teaching of the nature of the self, was that you are Brahman, you are the absolute. That should solve the problem. If I am existence consciousness bliss, what problem actually remains if I’m really convinced about that, if it’s clear to me? But the problem is it’s not at all clear to me. I don’t realize it at all. The problem is ajnana, ignorance.
Then the method is Jnana Yoga. Shravana, manana, nididhyasana - listen to it, study it, engage with it, reasoning and meditate upon it till it becomes clear. That’s not working. Then what is the problem? That the mind is scattered, the mind is impure. That is what the commentator is talking about.
If the mind is scattered and impure, what will happen at that stage is I’m hearing about it, I am reasoning, I’m asking the questions, I’m memorizing the verses, I am even trying to meditate after it, after a fashion, but it remains - it’s not a direct living realization. That’s what’s called paroksha. Paroksha means beyond direct experience. It remains as something that I have read, I’ve heard, and I feel I have. People at this stage, people will say, “I understand intellectually.” But then immediately the teacher knows the nature of the problem. This is where the problem lies - “I understand intellectually.”
But then Krishna says, alright, verse 39, let’s start. I understand the problem. The remedy is here, and that’s true for most of us, almost all of us. Vivekananda, he says, you can imagine his chuckle when he says that “I know where the shoe pinches.” So we come down to our daily life, our life as we are leading it - Arjuna’s life, our life, what we are doing in life. How do you spiritualize that? There is a need for that.
What is the need? The need is that without that, enlightenment is not possible for most of us. But theoretically, you must leave a little option for the rare few who don’t need all this. Vedanta will, of course, say that such people have already done Karma Yoga in past lives, so they are equipped for enlightenment, direct enlightenment. And those fortunate few - but otherwise, most of us, we have to go through a graded course of spiritual practice, and that starts here.
So he’s making a case for Karma Yoga. Why is it necessary?
vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekeha kurunandana > bahuśākhā hyanantāś ca buddhayo ‘vyavasāyinām
So he says to Arjuna, in this, there is a single one-pointed determination. The thoughts of the irresolute are many-branched and infinite.
So the first argument, argument for spiritual practice - Karma Yoga here, he means the entire range of spiritual practice, including of course transformation of our work into spiritual practice. All kinds of spiritual practice have, for the first most important argument for that, is one word - focus. Focus.
The word he has used here is a technical term - vyavasāyātmikā buddhi. Vyavasāyātmikā buddhi means one-pointed clarity, conviction about spiritual life. One might have clarity about many things. I am clear that I want to be a millionaire. I’m clear I want to be the next Hollywood star. So that’s the kind of clarity, and it helps if you are really clear about something. It clears the decks for action. But here he means clarity about spiritual life.
So what is this clarity, this one-pointed clarity about spiritual life? My goal in life is enlightenment. Doesn’t mean that I have to become a monk or something like that. I might or I might not. But ultimately, my purpose in life is enlightenment, God realization. This is real, this is worthwhile, this is what I’m going to pursue. This is the highest thing open to me. This is the noblest endeavor of human civilization - the search for spiritual enlightenment.
If I am a seeker, and we all are - you wouldn’t be here otherwise, you wouldn’t even think of yourself as a seeker, but you are. There’s a whole range, this is a spectrum depending on intensity and how advanced we are, but we are all seekers. We’re all seekers.
I remember as a young monk, as a novice, I used to ask lots of questions. So those who have questions, never don’t feel bad. And one day I asked this Swami, the monk in charge, the abbot of the monastery, “Swami, I bother you with so many questions. Don’t you feel, I mean from your point of view, isn’t it irritating? You must have heard these questions so many times, and so many, you know, you’ve been a monk for more than fifty years now.”
So you know his answer was illuminating. He said, “No, why should I get irritated? We are all walking on the same path.” That’s a very interesting thing. We are all doing the same thing. We are researching the same, we are in the same project together. So why should I get irritated? You’re talking about what I am interested in. He didn’t say all these things. He just said, “No, why should I get irritated? We are all walking on the same path.”
So that one-pointed conviction - my aim is God realization, my aim is Nirvana, moksha, salvation, whatever you call it. Interestingly enough, Vedanta would say that is our aim whether you say it or not. Even the man who’s trying to make a million bucks on Wall Street, even the person who is a drug addict, or just your common man on the street just trying to muddle his way through life, doing his or her best in life - all of us, whatever we are doing, no matter how confused, no matter how determined in life, no matter how materialistic or spiritual, we are trying to find fulfillment, happiness in the best way that we can.
This primal urge - overcoming suffering and finding satisfaction, fulfillment, happiness - this is the goal. Now there is a wise way of doing it, which is spirituality. That is the claim of all the religions of the world. There’s a wise way of doing it, and there’s an unwise way of doing it, which is what the rest of humanity is doing.
Now what Sri Krishna is saying - Karma Yoga starts with first step: declare it, at least to yourself, “I am a spiritual seeker.” Yeah, I am. No, not like that. Not one of the ten things to do - pick up the milk and remember to reply to emails and do a little bit of Vedanta. Not like that. I am primarily a spiritual seeker. That’s my definition. That’s how I define myself.
So the comment is - the one I am holding here is Sridhara Swami’s commentary. The commentators put a very beautiful spin on this. So Sridhara Swami, he gives a devotional approach to it. What is vyavasāyātmikā buddhi? One-pointed conviction, clarity about spiritual life. In terms of devotion, a beautiful thing is said here:
vyavasāyātmikā buddhir iti parameśvara-bhaktyā eva bhavantarāsaṁbhāvanā-niścayātmikā evaikaṁ sthāyī buddhi
But simple Sanskrit - by the grace of Bhagavan Paramesvara, by the grace of the Lord, by the grace of God, I shall certainly cross the ocean of transmigratory existence. I shall certainly get freedom, liberation, moksha, salvation. Certainly, this will happen. This, he says, is one-pointed conviction, clarity. This is what is meant by vyavasāyātmikā buddhi. My goal is liberation, and my support is the grace of God. God is my support and nothing else.
This kind of clearing of the decks for action in my life - does this not mean that I will become a monk or something? Sounds like that. Not necessarily. Arjuna continued to be a warrior. So this message has been received by people across the ages, and they continue to do what they are doing, but their entire orientation about why they are doing what they are doing is changed. It changed. And it also makes it very clear - once you have a high goal in life, a clear goal in life, decision-making also becomes very clear. Should I do this? Or should I not do it? Should I go there? Should I meet this person? This is what I want to do in life. All those things become very clear once you have a clear purpose in life.
In any field, anybody who has done anything great, they have this overwhelming concentration of effort. Somebody said beautifully, whether it is Einstein or whether it is the Buddha or whoever it is, we all had this one thing in common - we all have 24 hours in a day. The difference between me and them is what they did with those 24 hours in a day. Generally, people who have achieved something great in life, they do that one thing most of the time.
Even in management science, they tell us that 80% of the results come from 20% of our work. Of all the things that we do, it’s just 20% - 1/5 of our activities - which give 80% of the results in our life. That means the rest of the activities is, I won’t say wasteful, but not really productive. And so you should concentrate on that part of your life which is most closely connected to your goal in life, your purpose in life. That’s the advantage of having a great purpose, an overwhelming purpose in life.
And here you don’t have to ask what should be my purpose in life. We’re telling you: God realization, however you understand it - moksha, liberation. And you are in very good company, whether it is Buddha or Krishna or Christ. You’re in good company. So this is, in fact, the wisest recommendation of all civilizations across time - that the highest thing that you can aspire for is spiritual liberation. How it has been understood differs depending on the religions and on the philosophies.
In fact, Swami Vivekananda would say, “I have a goal, I have a high goal in life,” and he would say it should be your own highest goal. Notice the words: your own highest. So whose goal is it? It’s mine. Like the Buddha said, do something not because you have been told to believe it, not because you have read it, that it is so, not because your elders have said it, but because you have examined it and found it to be true and good. If you have found something to be true and good, therefore believe in it, therefore practice it in your lives.
So it should be your own. Listen to everybody, attend all the classes, read all the books, but it should be something that you own yourself. You feel that “I want this” from your heart. And then the question would be that I have so many things that I feel are my own, that I like. Which one? It is often said there are many things that I like. I would watch it on TV, I want to be like this person or that person, I want to do this. So all of those things appeal to me, especially when you are young, many things appeal to you.
So Swami Vivekananda says, the highest among each of them. Whatever your heart says “I want these things,” examine them and see which is the noblest, which is the highest. Often the highest or noblest would mean something that is of great good to you and to everybody else. Often it is something that is extolled, praised greatly in our civilization. So your own highest goal.
We used to tell students back in India that you should have a goal in your life. And I remember the way I would tell it to them is, there would be students and there would be monks present. I would say, “Look, if I asked you what is your goal in life, I’m sure you can give a lecture on what should be our goal in life. But what is your goal in life right now? If I ask you, most of you sort of scratch your heads - nothing specific. I mean, I have my day-to-day targets, to-do list, but overall I don’t know. Just make it through. I kiss from day to day.” Most of you would say that.
And then I would point to the monks and the novices who would be sitting there. I said, “If you ask these people who are wearing the orange robe or the white of the novices, if you ask them from the youngest novice to the senior-most monk, if you ask them this one question - what is your goal in life? All of them will immediately say, ‘Yes, we have a goal in life, and it is realization of God.’ In our order, the goal is for your own liberation and for the welfare of the world, for enlightenment, freedom, salvation, whatever you call it, and for the good of the world.”
Now, that’s what this dress stands for. I have a spiritual goal. That’s the declaration. That’s addressed transformed. And this is what Krishna says. You don’t have to put on a fancy dress. Somebody asked me, I think recently in Hollywood, I was walking down Hollywood Boulevard towards the library and somebody said, “Why are you wearing an orange bedsheet or something?” No, it doesn’t… It is… Somewhere not in Hollywood. In Hollywood, somebody stopped me and said, “I like it.”
You don’t have to put on an orange bedsheet, but as the saying in India goes, you have to color your mind orange. That means man raṅgāyā. There’s a saying in India that, “Oh yogi, what a mistake you have made! You have colored your cloak but not your mind.” That means, yogi, you have put on the cloth of a monk, but you haven’t made your mind a monk’s mind. So you have indeed made a great mistake.
So we shall all over here, see, Krishna says the mind of a spiritual seeker. We have a vyavasāyātmikā buddhi - one-pointed clarity, conviction. I am a spiritual seeker, and that’s my goal. So my success and failure, I will measure according to that.
There’s an old saying in India: a rainy day is not a bad day. It’s a… it’s an unfortunate day when I forget to take the name of Hari, when I forget to take the name of God. That’s the unfortunate day. The rainy day is not an unfortunate day. It’s coming tomorrow - snowy day.
Okay, one more point here. He says those whose minds are not one-pointed, their minds are multi-pronged. They have multiple desires and they run after those desires. So bahuśākhā, the minds are divided into multiple streams and the energies flow out. Year after year, life goes by like that.
Giving up these multiple projects in life - you will still do something. You’ll have a job, you take care of it, do your duties, definitely, like Arjuna is being asked to do his duty. But seeking, seeking for fulfillment in the world, from the world, going about the world with a begging bowl - “Give me happiness, a couple of words of praise, a little success, a little happiness there, little pleasure there” - going around with the begging bowl to the world, that should stop. Giving up this project of finding happiness in sense pleasures.
So there is an interesting point here. Notice how the spiritual disciplines, the five fundamental practices in Vedanta, and similarly it is in Yoga also - ahiṃsā, brahmacarya, satya, asteya, aparigraha - non-violence, self-control (especially control of lust), truth, non-stealing, non-acceptance of gifts. So these are practices for a yogi. But consider how giving up these negativities, all of them have the same form.
What I mean is this - one teacher pointed this out - all spiritual practices have the same effect: peace, śrī, quietude, calmness, peace. What I mean by that is this: violence, anger, it can have many forms depending on whether you are irritated with your neighbor, irritated or angry with politics, or furious at yourself, angry with the kids. It could be of many, many, many forms, many forms, many textures - anger, irritation, fury. But giving up anger, giving up violence in thought, word, and deed is of only one form - that is peace. Do you see what I mean?
Actually doing that in life, that means giving free expression to anger and violence can take many forms. Anger and violence can take many forms - angry thought, angry word, and depending on the person you are angry with, the situation you’re angry with, many, many, many endless forms. What he says, bahuśākhā, divided into many forms. But giving up anger and violence, that ahiṃsā, practice of non-violence, it is only one form - peace.
Sense pleasures are of many types depending on the sense objects. There’s a desire for a cookie, for a movie, for the company of a friend, for all kinds… So many objects of pleasure in the world. And as many objects of pleasure, so many different types of enjoyment and desires. So desires are multiple for sense pleasure. But the practice of brahmacarya, giving up, letting go of that, is of one nature only - peace, śānti.
Similarly, truth - falsities are of many types. They say the truth is one, lies are many. Aristotle put it very beautifully. He said there’s only one way to stand up straight, there are many ways to fall down. Lies are many, and as we… if I tell lies, the uneasiness, anxiety, the complications in my life will be of various sorts, endlessly multiplying, various sorts. But giving up lies is a one-shot only - peace.
You see where I’m going with this? All the vices are of multiple sorts. All passions and worldly desires are of an enormous multiplicity. But giving them up, why? Because I… it’s no longer… I don’t think that I am going to get permanent satisfaction or joy in them. That’s no longer my primary pursuit. So giving that up, in Sanskrit, yoga is of one type only - peace.
That peace and this one-pointed desire for God realization, this one-pointed pursuit of spirituality, they go together. Without that peace, this one-pointedness will not come. I cannot have a hundred worldly projects running and 101 will be “realize God.” It won’t work. Those have to be put aside.
Put aside means the formula Swami Vivekananda gives: neither seek nor avoid. Life will present you with plenty of things to do. Don’t… for your days will be occupied. And as it is, even without adding two things, you will not… you will still keep running out of time. I remember seeing this cartoon, I mentioned it, and the Father Time… There is a cartoon, a Father Time, and next to it is Mother Not Enough Time. Mother is running around with kids and lots of chores to do and things like that. So Mother Not Enough Time.
So what? The world will present you with plenty of things to do. Your life will be over full. So don’t worry that what will I do if I give up all those things. So peace, giving up those worldly pursuits, the result is of one type only - that is peace. That peace and focus on spirituality, yeah, they are one and the same.
Another point, Swami… This is a point that Swami Rama Tirtha made in his book on the Gita, commentary on the Gita. I haven’t found it elsewhere, but it’s a very subtle and interesting point. I’ll put it before you. He says, contrast it with Jñāna Yoga, what preceded earlier. In Jñāna Yoga, knowledge is primary. One must intuitively grasp that I am the Ātman. Once that clarity comes, that Ātman you will see inside and outside. In every experience, it’s the same Ātman, same awareness, same consciousness, same…
Being we read that in the sixteenth verse of the Bhagavad Gita: nāsato vidyate bhāvo. If you remember that “is-ness” everywhere, it’s there. So in every experience, we will recognize that I am. The serenity of mind, the focus of mind, concentration will come after that automatically. It will come in Jñāna Yoga.
He says in Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Raja Yoga, the process is reversed. First, a peace of mind and concentration must come, then only enlightenment will follow after that. So Bhakti Yoga starts with this vyavasāyātmikā buddhi.
Let me repeat again the contrast between the two approaches:
In Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Raja Yoga, which we are going to speak about now, it starts with a clearing of the decks. “I want to give up all other pursuits and pursue spirituality.” One-pointed clarity and conviction - it starts with this. Then only the spiritual progress is possible. This is the normal way to approach it.
But there is a direct approach which was talked about first. There, instead of talking about these things, Sri Krishna pointed out the nature of the absolute. If one can grasp it, one is fortunate among the fortunate few who can grasp this. Then this one-pointedness follows by itself.
You see, it’s like this: I look at the necklace and the bangle and the ring, and if I’ve understood what is gold, then whatever I see, I’ll see gold. When I see the necklace, I see gold. When I see the bangle, I see gold. When I see the ring, I will see gold. One-pointedness has come instead of multiplicity. I’m seeing the one, though I’m seeing all the ornaments.
Do you remember the example of the ornaments and gold? The enlightened person, in whatever experience - men, women, children, good and bad, in youth and old age, in success and failure - it is the same existence consciousness bliss with different names and forms. So one-pointedness, stability automatically comes there once that is grasped.
But it’s very difficult to grasp it to begin with. So the other way is spiritual practice. Having known that theoretically, now they get into spiritual practice proper. He starts with Karma Yoga, and so we have vyavasāyātmikā buddhi, this one-pointed clarity and conviction.
Is this distinction clear? I have not found it anywhere, but it’s a subtle but important point which Rama Tirtha points out.
Another place, I think it was Swami… (I forget, one of the direct disciples, maybe Saradananda or somebody) who writes: there are actually two broad spiritual paths. One is the path of Jñāna Yoga, the path of knowledge. The other one is the path of action, devotion, meditation - Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Raja Yoga.
If you look at it from a meta sense, if you step back and see the approach, there are these two approaches:
Yes, yes, yes, we are not already saints. That’s what I mean. So we are moving towards that. For us, all these practices - in fact, the rest of the Gita - are about spiritual life. What is spiritual life? How do I live and how do I practice spirituality? All of that. But we must make allowance for the rare few who are like that. It is a possibility. Such people are there, and we all have to go to that point.
Yes, isn’t Bhakti…? Yes, but remember the framework that we are taking here is in a very broad sense Advaita Vedanta, non-dual Vedanta. So there, Bhakti is sort of… you know, knowledge is privileged above devotion. Because in this framework, what they will say is: Bhakti towards God, devotional love and surrender towards God, will ultimately lead you to that realization also, because God will give you that knowledge. Whatever is needed, God will add on to you. But that’s still a little indirect because you are taking from the individual to God to the absolute. And the Jñāna Yoga is to the absolute directly.
You are Brahman. But that’s all in the paradigm of Jñāna Yoga. If you’re coming from the paradigm of Bhakti, then Bhakti is obviously the most direct path. There is a devotional paradigm where God exists, I exist, and my relation to God is one of devotion and surrender. That’s it, story’s finished.
But Advaita Vedanta says there is something beyond that. Beyond God and individual jīva and Īśvara, there is the absolute Brahman. And real freedom is realizing your identity with the absolute: “I am Brahman” - aham brahmāsmi.
Then what is the role of devotion in that? That’s what we are coming to. Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga are all helps, secondary means to the attainment of knowledge. This commentator, which he said that until you practice these things, that knowledge which I taught you earlier, that knowledge will remain parokṣa jñāna - secondary knowledge, indirect knowledge. It becomes direct knowledge with the practice of these things.
Do you see the two different paradigms? One must… it’s complicated, but one must be big enough to see different paradigms. The spiritual life is vast. See what’s written there just above you: “Truth is one, sages call it variously.” We are all talking about the same thing, but one may look at it from a knowledge perspective, one may look at it from a purely devotional perspective.
In our order, we look at it from knowledge and devotion. Sri Ramakrishna… I was just reading Swami Turiyananda. He says in this age, Sri Ramakrishna primarily taught jñāna-miśra bhakti - devotion with knowledge, knowledge and devotion. But there are paths of pure devotion, and there are paths of pure knowledge.
If I were talking about the path of pure knowledge, I would have stopped at verses 37-40, before starting all of this. “You are Brahman, realize that. What’s your problem?” And there are teachers who do that. There are teachers who do that - the so-called direct path teachers. There are some, especially in this country. And naturally, United States people are impatient - realization here and now. So there are teachers who teach the direct path, and it’s very attractive because of two reasons:
There’s a catch there. But the problem with that is, often you will notice the teachings of these direct path teachers (I will not take some names) - some of them are actually genuine, many of them are not, they don’t know what they’re talking about. But some, because it’s easy to talk… But some of them are genuine. Even the ones who are genuine, in many cases you will find they have themselves pursued this graded path for a long time - some form of meditation, some form of devotion, some form… many different practices. They have been inquiring for years and years and years. Then they make a breakthrough, and then they say, “Oh, it’s so clear and direct. Let me teach that.”
But what they are making a mistake is… for them to come to this understanding - it’s so clear and direct and evident - they had to go through a lot. And if the other person in front of you has not gone through that, they will just look at you with a blank expression when you say, “It’s here right now. Don’t you see it?” “Huh? What?”
Yes, so a graded approach is good. I was reading Swami Turiyananda… (His birthday’s day after tomorrow.) So look at the difference. We will identify easily with it. He talks… He says when Swami Vivekananda would say “I”, he identified with the consciousness in everybody. He did not… The words he uses is: he did not identify with the upādhi, with each body-mind. “I” as consciousness in everybody.
And then Swami Turiyananda, who is himself a great non-dualist, but he says, “That does not come so naturally to us.” So I like this: “I surrender everything to God.” In Bengali, he said, “Āmār tā māi nāi” - that doesn’t come so easily to us. So for us, “I surrender to God, everything to God,” though he is a great prasiddha non-dualist.
Then somebody asked him the question: “So for a devotee, if somebody who loves God, a dualistic approach, is it good to study these non-dualistic texts?” He asked this question, and I’ve been asked this question. I was very interested to see what Swami Turiyananda said. And you know what he said? He said, “For the devotee who continuously surrenders everything to God and says ‘Thou alone, not me’, what difference is there between that and Advaita? What difference is… where is the difference between that and Advaita and non-duality?”
And then he goes on to say, “Sri Ramakrishna used to say, ‘Tie the knowledge of Advaita to the hem of your cloth, and then do whatever you like.’” “Whatever you like” means you can take the devotee’s path also, you can take the path of service, you can remain immersed in meditation. Whatever you like - you can be dynamic and active, you can withdraw to a cave and sit in serene meditation, you can be an ecstatic devotee. It can be a combination of all of these, which Sri Ramakrishna himself was.
Alright, let’s go on. Before we go on, before the actual teaching of Karma Yoga, the other kind of karma which we are used to, Sri Krishna is pointing out the danger in that - the problem in what we are doing right now.
Now, the Karma that we are doing has two aspects, one of which we are very familiar with:
So in Sri Krishna’s time, people, ordinary people in the world, they did both kinds of work:
All of this work, whether this-worldly or other-worldly, whether secular or religious, all of this work, Sri Krishna classifies as ordinary karma, sākāma karmaṇi. The one connecting feature of them is that they’re prompted by worldly desire - this-worldly desire, other-worldly desire. In this world, I want money and pleasure and power and fame, therefore I work. And in the other world, I want to go to heaven and have a good time, therefore I work - which means I do religious rituals.
Now the next three verses are about those religious rituals, but they equally apply to our worldly activities also. And this is not something he’s recommending. He is condemning them. He’s saying these are not spiritual. Let alone the worldly activities prompted by desire, but also the Vedic or the religious activities prompted by desire - they are religious but not spiritual.
So look at the three tiers established:
We have to read verses 42, 43, and 44 together:
yām imāṁ puṣpitāṁ vācaṁ > pravadanty avipaścitaḥ > veda-vāda-ratāḥ pārtha > nānyad astīti vādinaḥ
kāmātmānaḥ svarga-parā > janma-karma-phala-pradām > kriyā-viśeṣa-bahulāṁ > bhogaiśvarya-gatiṁ prati
bhogaiśvarya-prasaktānāṁ > tayāpahṛta-cetasām > vyavasāyātmikā buddhiḥ > samādhau na vidhīyate
The portion of the Vedas that repudiates the earlier portion - if you ask why should it be so, as I just explained, it’s because we want it. If the Vedas had their way, they would take us straight to spirituality. The Buddha tried that. Have you noticed in Buddha’s teaching was centrally about moksha? Born in Varanasi, it became a heavily monastic religion. But ultimately the result was not good for India when thousands and thousands of people who were not really cut out for the ultimate spiritual goal, not cut out for monastic life, it became a prestigious thing to be a Buddhist monk or a nun. They gave up their worldly life and they all went to the monasteries. Society collapsed and the monasteries, the quality there went down. All sorts of malpractices entered into monastic life.
Yes, absolutely. All the bigger Upanishads, they also have rituals, but they just show that ritual as a preparatory spiritual practice, not for attaining worldly goals. For people, it will make it clear - if you have worldly goals, then this or other-worldly goals, then this very ritual will give you those goals. But you will not get spirituality. If you want spirituality, then this very ritual will give you purity of mind.
Someone asked, “Is this Karma Yoga Krishna’s invention?” No, it is actually there in the Upanishads. These rituals, which are supposed to be part of karma-kāṇḍa, they are also found in the Vedas. In Katha Upanishad, there is a ritual which is taught. It’s a kind of Vedic fire sacrifice. No details are given there. Now what the Upanishad wants to say is: if you want heaven, heavenly existence, you can use this ritual, collect enough credit merit, and after death you go to heaven. But you will not be spiritual, you will not get enlightenment. But if you want enlightenment, then this same ritual will help you to get purification of mind. You should not want the worldly or other-worldly results.
So the same work, you see, the root of Karma Yoga is there. The same action can make you worldly if your goal is worldly. The same action can set you free from action and make you spiritual if your goal is spiritual. That’s the seed of Karma Yoga right there. Of course, Krishna will give a much more developed teaching here.
What one has to be clear about - see, in many cases when you see, explicit need is not there, but we generally have the need. It’s like this: “Let things go well for me, let things go well for everybody.” And often there’s an element of fear involved. “If I don’t do it, will something bad happen to me?” That is a clear indicator that I have some amount of worldliness left in me.
I am doing it for God realization. God will be pleased with me. My beloved Lord will be pleased with this worship. That is Karma Yoga, whether it is worship or doing my daily duties. Look at Arjuna - he enters into his battle for worldly reasons. “I want the kingdom, I want to take revenge on the evildoers.” That’s selfish, actually. All justifiable, but selfish, worldly. Now Krishna is saying, “Do the same thing as an offering to God. You have put me in this situation, this is my duty, I shall do it. What do I want? I want God. I don’t want this.” It will come of its own accord. It did - the Pandavas won the battle, they got the kingdom. All of that came, but no longer was it for that purpose anymore. With that, karma becomes Karma Yoga.
Kriyā-viśeṣa-bahulāṁ - so many rituals will be prescribed. Even nowadays, if you go to a Hindu temple, the priests will have a whole menu of rituals for you to perform. One should look at the price list before you go!
Yes, your question. Yes, this is true, and your question basically is: is desire for God also not a desire? Are you giving up all desires when you say “I want God”? Literally, “I want God” is a desire.
Sri Ramakrishna gave the answer to that. He said desire for God is not to be counted among other desires. Why? Because it roots out all other desires. Notice the desire for God is not a desire. If you put it in non-dualistic terms, it becomes even more clear: “I want to realize my own true nature, Ātman, which is the Ātman of everybody.” Then I become identified with everybody.
If you actually look at the life of such a person, usually the life of such a person will be one continuous self-sacrifice. They do not want anything for themselves. So the person is transformed into a saint. It would be very different from everybody else. Now, what made this person, him or her, become like this? That “I don’t want these worldly pursuits, I want to realize Who I am.” You might say even that is for yourself. It is true, but then that self will be the capital S, not an individual self cut off from everybody else.
Notice how if one person becomes a saint, an enlightened person, everybody else actually benefits immediately. Everybody surrounding that person, everybody in society - even the presence of such saints is a blessing to society. So it’s not that they gained by themselves, it is everybody gains with the presence of such people. And they identify with everybody. They don’t feel that “Ah, now I’m enlightened and you are fools.” No, they feel most ardent. They feel that “I am not, God alone is.” That individual identity, either in devotion or in knowledge, individual identity is submerged.
What is the harm in pursuing worldly pleasure and success?
bhogaiśvarya-prasaktānāṁ > tayāpahṛta-cetasām > vyavasāyātmikā buddhiḥ > samādhau na vidhīyate
Those whose minds are swept away - apahṛta means robbed, stolen, swept away - by this overwhelming desire for pleasure, for worldly success, their minds will never stabilize on God. That one-pointed clarity, conviction will not come. It will keep getting swept away. You keep getting swept away.
You see, now you understand what is a monastic life. Basically, it’s just a formalization of what is being taught here. The dress, the codes, the behavior - we are told do not mix with worldly people, those whose goals are worldly. Do not mix with them. Why not? Are they bad people? No, it’s simply that if those desires, those things, are again rekindled within you - they’re already there within us - rekindled within you, you will again be swept away from your spiritual conviction and it will be swept back into the worldly path.
I know, I remember there are a number of such examples. A monk I remember, he was a doctor before he became a monk, but he was what is called an MBBS. Do we have such a thing in USA? What would be equivalent? An MD? No, but in India also you have an MD which is above MBBS. So this monk, very nice Swami, is much more senior to me. One day he was posted to our hospital, the hospital run by the monks in Calcutta. But they have a big hospital, and one day I heard he had left. He had left the order, the monastic order. What happened?
Now, an MBBS is actually a lower degree and MD is a higher degree. Now then he’s there as a monk, he’s also working and serving the patients and everything, and he sees the other doctors. Now there are these other doctors who are well-known doctors or famous doctors who are really rich and they have flourishing practices and others. It’s a hospital after all, so other people are in awe of them. And this poor monk is working there, and he’s with them. Again and again, after some time, a desire grew in his mind: “I should also be an MD.” So he gave up the monastic life and he said, “What is he doing?” He enrolled in the MD course for being an MD. You see how it gets covered over again? A monastic aspiration suddenly, of only aspiration, again is weakened.
You have to be very careful where you put it. Sri Ramakrishna talked about the fence. A new sapling, it needs to be fenced in because he says otherwise the goats and cows will come and eat it. But he says when it becomes a huge banyan tree, you said dear friends, it’s not required. And in fact, you can tie an elephant to it, nothing will happen to it. So when we begin our spiritual life, protect it. Protect this aspiration.
I’ve seen it again and again. I know this couple in California who are now there. They are really rich, really successful, and spiritual. And telling me about their plans, how they will spend the time in meditation and all. And in between, they went for the cruise and they came back and all the time all the plans changed. Why? Because on the cruise they met these people who were richer than them, more successful than them, and they thought that maybe we want one more mansion than the latest luxury car and this and that. The desire awakened.
You may, we may laugh at it, but when it is, the desire comes and it is possible. I know I have the capacity, I know I have the money. Maybe a little more effort, a few more years of working and a few more investments and I can get that mansion. Then it takes possession of you. It’s like a ghost. You’re bewitched, possessed by a ghost. And what will happen is 5-10 years of your life will go away again before one swings back into the… This is how spiritual evolution goes. But one can shorten this torturous process.
Make a vyavasāya. Make about this… Very important is one takeaway from these classes. It’s a lifetime’s decision to make. I define myself as a spiritual seeker. You need not change anything externally. The external changes will come slowly over time. But make up your mind from now on: I am a spiritual seeker. Whenever it comes, you reaffirm this. It’s not something that we have done today and that’s it. Every day is a reaffirmation that I am a spiritual seeker. God is my very own. My purpose in life is enlightenment.
Yes, I want to be happy and peaceful and blissful. The way I will do it is through spirituality. That is the wisest way of doing it. I will not measure my success and failure in worldly terms anymore. Let it happen. Don’t measure your achievements in worldly terms anymore. Your friends and relatives who are on that path, they will go along that path and they will have, they’ll have our worldly achievements, accomplishments. Very good. Be happy for them. No regrets. Once you take this path, we have already seen some of that. That’s enough.
The wise man, the wise person sees a little bit and understands the rest of worldly life is like this. One person, a devotee in Detroit, he said to me, “You know, Swami, how this realization has come to this, that there’s no end to this what I’m doing.” He’s in the corporate ladder. Indian is a very big multinational American company. So there’s still a higher position to achieve. There is if you have a boat, you now you want your own airplane, and then things like that. It’s more and more and more. There’s no end to it. This is that saying, you know, if even if you win the rat race, you are a rat, really.
Make up your mind very clearly. Once you do it, it’s not very difficult at all. What’s done is done. I have learned my lesson from that and my purpose now is God realization. It’s not very difficult. Not even asking you to make a huge change. In fact, Arjuna wanted to make a huge change. “I want to give this all up and I become a monk.” Krishna says, “No, no, no, wait a minute. You stay right where you are. Keep doing right what you’d rather… I will show you how right here you can become enlightened.”
So that’s the whole grand topic of Karma Yoga. The teaching has not yet started, but like a good teacher, he’s building up the base. What is the need for the teaching? We realized this today. The need for Karma Yoga is that one-pointed clarity, conviction. It won’t come, it won’t be stable unless we do Karma Yoga. We’ll see what is to be done. If I’m not going to pursue worldly goals, then what am I going to pursue? What am I going to do with my time and energy? He’ll tell you. And if I don’t do that, what’s the harm?
So two things Krishna has said: in the 41st verse, he said what is the purpose of this, and the 42nd, 43rd, and 44th - if you don’t do it, if you remain engaged in worldly and other-worldly activities as we are right now, what is the harm? That’s what he pointed out.
Śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ Hariḥ Oṁ Tat Sat
Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇārpaṇamastu
Even this thing we chant - Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇārpaṇamastu - we offered this at the feet of Sri Ramakrishna. This is the Karma Yoga actually. We did all of this, and for what purpose? So that the Lord is pleased. And that’s the philosophy of work.