Bg 4.17
karmaṇo hy api boddhavyaṁ boddhavyaṁ ca vikarmaṇaḥ
akarmaṇaś ca boddhavyaṁ gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ
Bg 4.18
karmaṇy akarma yaḥ paśyed akarmaṇi ca karma yaḥ
sa buddhimān manuṣyeṣu sa yuktaḥ kṛtsna-karma-kṛt
Translation:
17. For verily (the true nature) of "right action" should be known; also (that) of "forbidden (or unlawful) action" and of "inaction”; imponderable is the nature (path) of action.
18. He who recognizes inaction in action and action in inaction is wise among men; he is a YOGI and a true performer of all actions.
Commentary Excerpts:
Life means activity. Where activity has ended, death has entered. In active life alone can we progress or deteriorate. A stagnant pool of water decays and soon gets putrefied; while the flowing water of a river ever keeps itself fresh, pure and clean.
Life is constituted of moments of activity and moments of inactivity. Through inactivity, neither progress nor deterioration is ever possible. Deep-sleep or periods of complete cessation in existence are intervals of total holidaying from life, and they can neither make nor mar the individual's progress in his evolution.
Periods of activity create man. This creative-period depends upon what type of activity we venture upon. According to the ancient Seers, activities can be of two types, constructive or destructive. Constructive activities which contribute towards the evolution of the individual are termed here as Karma.
Destructive activities are those that are totally condemned by the Shastras, because they tend to devolve the individual, and those are termed in our text books as Vi-karma. The constructive activities (Karma) can be of three kinds: Nitya --- constant duties, Naimittika --- special duties on special occasions, and Kamya --- work purposeful and self-determined for winning a desirable result or reward.
Built upon the ancient Vedic doctrine, Krishna here expounds an elaborate theory of self-development. He says that life is but a name for continuous activities. These activities can fall within two distinct classifications as Karma and Vi-karma. Lord Krishna's advice to Arjuna is to avoid the forbidden actions (Vi-karma) and to pursue the constructive and creative activities of self-development (Karma). In this scientific analysis, without any formality, or mental reservation, Krishna totally rejects "inactivity" (A-karma).
It is necessary, it is said here, that a true seeker who is trying to live a diligent life, contributing to his material progress and to his spiritual self-development, must necessarily know this triple classification of life, considered as a bundle of activities.
Even after so beautifully defining the three clear and distinct classifications, Krishna admits that, for an ordinary man it is not easy to distinguish the one from the other, and to readily and successfully classify all his activities under these three headings, because, Krishna says, "THE NATURE OF KARMA IS IMPONDERABLE.”
In this statement lies the secret suggestion that an action is to be evaluated not merely on its face value but after a sincere consideration of the motive working behind it. If the motive, or desire, or intention of one is pure and constructive, then the action too is noble and meritorious for that particular individual. Since in this evaluation of actions the individual factor is so very predominant, one must agree with Krishna over the imponderability of the nature of Karma.
WHAT IS THERE TO LEARN ABOUT ACTION AND INACTION? THE ANSWER FOLLOWS:
By thus following the rules of right-living (Karma), as indicated in Vedanta, when an individual has lived a sufficiently long period of time, the doubt arises as to when exactly we can say that he has completely reached the State of Perfection. This question should necessarily throb in the intellect of all sincere students, and Krishna is trying to indicate this noble goal of fulfilment of all Karmas in this stanza.
Action, as we have already seen, is a gross expression in the outer world of some known, or unknown, deep "desire" in the intellect. A complete "STATE OF ACTIONLESS-NESS" would be necessarily the 'STATE OF DESIRELESS-NESS" or the "STATE OF INFINITE GOD-HEAD." But the goal indicated here is not this "STATE OF INFINITE PERFECTION," but only a wayside station on the pilgrimage. A true and diligent man can discover and recognize in himself that even in physical inaction there can be an intense mental and intellectual activity, and he can also recognize that he, even in the most intense activities, himself as an observer of it, is revelling in "unactivity" (A-Karma). This is the maximum Sattwic state.
Such an individual has thereby reached a State of Great Equanimity, which is almost unavoidable in living a successful life of meditation. It is not said here, as it is usually believed, that right action itself will take us to the Infinite. This is impossible. As action itself is a child of "desire," through action alone we can create things; and created 'results' are, in their very nature, finite. Thus, a God-head reached through activity can only be a Sunday-God-head which must depart from us the following Monday morning!
Shankara and other great Acharyas have all been tirelessly repeating that, right action, undertaken with a sense of devotion and dedication, creates in the bosom of the student a sense of complete detachment, as though he himself is a disinterested observer of all that is happening within and without him. When thus an individual detaches himself and observes his own activities as part and parcel of the world of activities around, he gains in himself an indescribable poise which is essential for the practice of meditation.
Merely because an individual is keeping quiet, we cannot ever conclude that he is inactive. Physical inactivity is no criterion to call one an idler. On the other hand, it is a fact well-known to all of us, that, when we are intensely thinking --- whenever we are in a state of creative thinking --- we are invariably quiet and inactive, physically. Therefore, in the physical inactivity of one, which is labelled as idleness by the hectic foot-path-walkers in life, we can detect intense activity in his deep "within." A Buddha under the fig-tree, an artist at his easel, a musician at his instrument, a writer at his desk --- all of them punctuate their activities with 'still moments of intense inactivity'-called unactivity-and they bend forward to pour out their artistic and literary creations. All these physical moments of cessation are not mere inactivity but they are the necessary quietude and silence when the mind and intellect function with the highest velocity. Thus, he who has a capacity to introspect, can easily detect perfect action in complete inaction.
As I am writing these words a certain part in me can stand apart and visualise how my fingers, constituted of mere minerals, can hold the pen at the right slant and carry it along the paper so that the words may be spelt properly thereon. So, in all activities, this capacity to visualise discriminatingly our own activity --- this capacity to observe ourselves functioning in a given field with or without the other members of the community --- is not very rare and those who can do it can realise how, in spite of all our activities, the observer in us which OBSERVES the activities is most INACTIVE.
The train runs, but not the steam. The fan moves, but not the electricity. The fuel burns, but not the fire. The body, mind and intellect function and act, but not the Self, the Life in them!
Such an individual who can thus stand constantly apart from himself and observe "the activity in inactivity" and "complete inactivity even in the highest activity... called UNACTIVITY"... is termed here, we must carefully note, not a man of realisation (Jnani), but an intelligent, full-grown human creature (Buddhiman). "He is the intelligent one among men," and he is certainly one who is very near to the Self (Atma Yuktah).
In short, desireless activities, when undertaken and performed in a spirit of dedication, purify us, and the intellect thereby gains a new keenness. Out of such a purified head, a new faculty, as it were, arises. The capacity to observe oneself as an actor on the stage of life, is a capacity divine and noble, inasmuch as it immediately redeems us from our selfish preoccupations with life's ever-changing incidents and accidents.
Sources: Vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
karmaṇo hy api boddhavyaṁ boddhavyaṁ ca vikarmaṇaḥ
akarmaṇaś ca boddhavyaṁ gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ
Bg 4.18
karmaṇy akarma yaḥ paśyed akarmaṇi ca karma yaḥ
sa buddhimān manuṣyeṣu sa yuktaḥ kṛtsna-karma-kṛt
Translation:
17. For verily (the true nature) of "right action" should be known; also (that) of "forbidden (or unlawful) action" and of "inaction”; imponderable is the nature (path) of action.
18. He who recognizes inaction in action and action in inaction is wise among men; he is a YOGI and a true performer of all actions.
Commentary Excerpts:
Life means activity. Where activity has ended, death has entered. In active life alone can we progress or deteriorate. A stagnant pool of water decays and soon gets putrefied; while the flowing water of a river ever keeps itself fresh, pure and clean.
Life is constituted of moments of activity and moments of inactivity. Through inactivity, neither progress nor deterioration is ever possible. Deep-sleep or periods of complete cessation in existence are intervals of total holidaying from life, and they can neither make nor mar the individual's progress in his evolution.
Periods of activity create man. This creative-period depends upon what type of activity we venture upon. According to the ancient Seers, activities can be of two types, constructive or destructive. Constructive activities which contribute towards the evolution of the individual are termed here as Karma.
Destructive activities are those that are totally condemned by the Shastras, because they tend to devolve the individual, and those are termed in our text books as Vi-karma. The constructive activities (Karma) can be of three kinds: Nitya --- constant duties, Naimittika --- special duties on special occasions, and Kamya --- work purposeful and self-determined for winning a desirable result or reward.
Built upon the ancient Vedic doctrine, Krishna here expounds an elaborate theory of self-development. He says that life is but a name for continuous activities. These activities can fall within two distinct classifications as Karma and Vi-karma. Lord Krishna's advice to Arjuna is to avoid the forbidden actions (Vi-karma) and to pursue the constructive and creative activities of self-development (Karma). In this scientific analysis, without any formality, or mental reservation, Krishna totally rejects "inactivity" (A-karma).
It is necessary, it is said here, that a true seeker who is trying to live a diligent life, contributing to his material progress and to his spiritual self-development, must necessarily know this triple classification of life, considered as a bundle of activities.
Even after so beautifully defining the three clear and distinct classifications, Krishna admits that, for an ordinary man it is not easy to distinguish the one from the other, and to readily and successfully classify all his activities under these three headings, because, Krishna says, "THE NATURE OF KARMA IS IMPONDERABLE.”
In this statement lies the secret suggestion that an action is to be evaluated not merely on its face value but after a sincere consideration of the motive working behind it. If the motive, or desire, or intention of one is pure and constructive, then the action too is noble and meritorious for that particular individual. Since in this evaluation of actions the individual factor is so very predominant, one must agree with Krishna over the imponderability of the nature of Karma.
WHAT IS THERE TO LEARN ABOUT ACTION AND INACTION? THE ANSWER FOLLOWS:
By thus following the rules of right-living (Karma), as indicated in Vedanta, when an individual has lived a sufficiently long period of time, the doubt arises as to when exactly we can say that he has completely reached the State of Perfection. This question should necessarily throb in the intellect of all sincere students, and Krishna is trying to indicate this noble goal of fulfilment of all Karmas in this stanza.
Action, as we have already seen, is a gross expression in the outer world of some known, or unknown, deep "desire" in the intellect. A complete "STATE OF ACTIONLESS-NESS" would be necessarily the 'STATE OF DESIRELESS-NESS" or the "STATE OF INFINITE GOD-HEAD." But the goal indicated here is not this "STATE OF INFINITE PERFECTION," but only a wayside station on the pilgrimage. A true and diligent man can discover and recognize in himself that even in physical inaction there can be an intense mental and intellectual activity, and he can also recognize that he, even in the most intense activities, himself as an observer of it, is revelling in "unactivity" (A-Karma). This is the maximum Sattwic state.
Such an individual has thereby reached a State of Great Equanimity, which is almost unavoidable in living a successful life of meditation. It is not said here, as it is usually believed, that right action itself will take us to the Infinite. This is impossible. As action itself is a child of "desire," through action alone we can create things; and created 'results' are, in their very nature, finite. Thus, a God-head reached through activity can only be a Sunday-God-head which must depart from us the following Monday morning!
Shankara and other great Acharyas have all been tirelessly repeating that, right action, undertaken with a sense of devotion and dedication, creates in the bosom of the student a sense of complete detachment, as though he himself is a disinterested observer of all that is happening within and without him. When thus an individual detaches himself and observes his own activities as part and parcel of the world of activities around, he gains in himself an indescribable poise which is essential for the practice of meditation.
Merely because an individual is keeping quiet, we cannot ever conclude that he is inactive. Physical inactivity is no criterion to call one an idler. On the other hand, it is a fact well-known to all of us, that, when we are intensely thinking --- whenever we are in a state of creative thinking --- we are invariably quiet and inactive, physically. Therefore, in the physical inactivity of one, which is labelled as idleness by the hectic foot-path-walkers in life, we can detect intense activity in his deep "within." A Buddha under the fig-tree, an artist at his easel, a musician at his instrument, a writer at his desk --- all of them punctuate their activities with 'still moments of intense inactivity'-called unactivity-and they bend forward to pour out their artistic and literary creations. All these physical moments of cessation are not mere inactivity but they are the necessary quietude and silence when the mind and intellect function with the highest velocity. Thus, he who has a capacity to introspect, can easily detect perfect action in complete inaction.
As I am writing these words a certain part in me can stand apart and visualise how my fingers, constituted of mere minerals, can hold the pen at the right slant and carry it along the paper so that the words may be spelt properly thereon. So, in all activities, this capacity to visualise discriminatingly our own activity --- this capacity to observe ourselves functioning in a given field with or without the other members of the community --- is not very rare and those who can do it can realise how, in spite of all our activities, the observer in us which OBSERVES the activities is most INACTIVE.
The train runs, but not the steam. The fan moves, but not the electricity. The fuel burns, but not the fire. The body, mind and intellect function and act, but not the Self, the Life in them!
Such an individual who can thus stand constantly apart from himself and observe "the activity in inactivity" and "complete inactivity even in the highest activity... called UNACTIVITY"... is termed here, we must carefully note, not a man of realisation (Jnani), but an intelligent, full-grown human creature (Buddhiman). "He is the intelligent one among men," and he is certainly one who is very near to the Self (Atma Yuktah).
In short, desireless activities, when undertaken and performed in a spirit of dedication, purify us, and the intellect thereby gains a new keenness. Out of such a purified head, a new faculty, as it were, arises. The capacity to observe oneself as an actor on the stage of life, is a capacity divine and noble, inasmuch as it immediately redeems us from our selfish preoccupations with life's ever-changing incidents and accidents.
Sources: Vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
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