painting by Surendran Nair: Temporality-A study for an epic
Karma is the kinetic form of body and mind. One is condemned to do non-stop karma from birth onwards till death. The objective of karma is to free oneself from the condemnation itself. In other words, one is doing one’s karma just to delink the karma chain permanently. The first riddle is here.
You are implementing a scheme just to do away with the scheme itself. Confounded?
Can you imagine a point where time and space do not matter? Can you further imagine a steady-state level comprising only of consciousness? Karma starts when energy interacts with consciousness. The Gita says that the thing which appears to us as Universe or Multiverse is just a transience (or illusion) and one has to get back to the original steady-state. In other words, karma itself is a judgemental error. (Remember the example of the serpent and the rope). However, the Gita does not baffle us with its high-sounding funda. It urges us to cut across illusions. Definite prescriptions have been given for the purpose and to reach at the end-point.
The first, foremost and most quoted prescription is the sloka,
“KarmanyeVyadhikaraste Ma Faleshu Kadachana
Ma Karmaphala Heturphurma Te Samgostakarmani”
One has to do one’s karma in the best possible way without worrying about the results. The doer is just a tool. His/her freewill does not have much significance.
Here lies the second riddle. Without propeller, how can the boat move? How can a person accomplish a job without any urge for doing it in the most efficient way? Any involvement less than one hundred per cent in body, mind and intellect results in wastage. If one is indifferent about the result, one is bound to become lazy and laziness is one of the major root-causes of all evils today. The book cannot promote laziness, by any reckoning. Take the life and times of a Mahatma or Guru and we’ll soon find that they have deleted the word laziness from dictionary. Zest, fearlessness and equanimity are their trademarks. I have a feeling that the real meaning of result is to be sourced elsewhere. As a matter of fact, almost all of us aim money, power, fame or unlimited enjoyment (euphemism for pleasure) as the reward for our various projects whether we do it single-handedly or as a team. These objects of desire, per se, are not a cause for worry but it’s our craving that makes matters worse. We never make use of our faculty for discrimination. Each successful project adds more fuel to the insatiable desires and we still want more! The greed will be checkmated in due course after which discontentment grows manifold. When our grandiose plans fail, we get dejected. Anger follows which ultimately leads to a break-down. Unless we control the passions, it is impossible to work out any plan effectively. The less passion there is, the better we work. The calmer we are, the better for us, and the more the amount of work we can do. Best decisions – personal, official or business - stem from detachment!
Yes, calmness is rooted in detachment.
And, decision-making is faultless if it comes from a calm mind.
(In a nutshell, this is yogahakarmasukausalam).
Hence, the sloka can be translated in a different way.
Try your level-best to MAXIMISE the result with the right decisions taken by a tranquil and unattached mind and you will feel contentment at the end of job.
There is no short-cut for doing this; you have got to be original. The bhavana (mind-set or attitude) while doing the karma does matter and one just cannot fake this. The physical side of karma is secondary or even less.
Now, think of the possibility when one throws his/her worries about the result of karma. It’s the renunciation of the first order. The acts become entirely selfless. Such a person should be called a sanyasi, not the types who move around in black, white or saffron robes.
