Bg 4.19
yasya sarve samārambhāḥ kāma-saṅkalpa-varjitāḥ
jñānāgni-dagdha-karmāṇaṁ tam āhuḥ paṇḍitaṁ budhāḥ
Bg 4.20
tyaktvā karma-phalāsaṅgaṁ nitya-tṛpto nirāśrayaḥ
karmaṇy abhipravṛtto ’pi naiva kiñcit karoti saḥ
Translation:
19. Whose undertakings are all devoid of desires and purposes, and whose actions have been burnt by the Fire-of-Knowledge, him the "wise" call a Sage.
20. Having abandoned attachment to the fruits-of-action, ever-content, depending on nothing, he does not do anything, though engaged in actions.
Commentary Excerpts:
We have already discussed how the desire-for-results during any activity dissipates our energies. The fruits-of-an-action can only mature in a future period of time and therefore, to court the results is to escape from the present and live in the unborn periods of time. It is a law that the effects depend entirely upon the causes, and so to be sincere and complete in our activities is the greatest guarantee for all successful achievements.
One who is a perfect Sage, says Krishna, is one who will undertake to act "WITHOUT PLANNING" and "WITHOUT ANY DESIRE FOR FRUITS." In this context, these two qualifications of a perfect act are to be understood with kindness and sympathy. A literal meaning of these two terms should not be used here, as in that case the statement would become absurd.
The instruction to act "WITHOUT PLANNING AND DESIRE" does not mean that a man-of-Equilibrium, in his inspired activity, should not make use of his better intelligence and plan his activities to gain a desired result. It only means that, WHILE HE IS AT WORK, he should not allow his abilities and capacities to run to waste, with his mental preoccupations and sentimental fears regarding the results-of-his-work. Vedanta does not in any way ignore man's intellect. The way of life as advised in the Geeta provides only a more efficient means to act and achieve, to live and to enjoy, cultivating and applying our own potentialities more intelligently.
An individual, who has thus come to live intelligently and act diligently, becomes fully wedded to the piece of work in hand and gets so entirely drunk with the joy of his own inspiration, that the action cannot leave upon him even a trace of its reaction. Our mind and intellect will venture forth to worry over the unknown possibilities and dangers, unless they can find a more secure hold upon something nobler and diviner. A perfect Sage is one whose mind is ever hitched on to the cognition of the Divine, so that, even when he functions in the world outside, he is revelling in his own Consciousness within.
By thus painting the psychology of a Sage-at-work, Lord Krishna is indicating with what mental attitude and intellectual composure, Arjuna, a seeker, should enter his fields of activity. These instructions, given by Vyasa through the mouth of Krishna, are meant for all generations of seekers and, therefore, words addressed to Arjuna are also words addressed to you and to me.
We are not asked here to renounce the fruits-of-actions as such nor to ignore them, but we are only warned to renounce our MENTAL SLAVERY and INTELLECTUAL CLINGING to the "expected-fruits." Only when we get preoccupied with the expected fruits of our actions do we come to exhaust ourselves, and thus become inefficient in our activities. Forsaking (tyaktwa) our clinging (Sanga) to the fruits-of-action (Karma-phala), we are advised to strive for and to achieve the welfare of the society.
A true painter never willingly sells his masterpiece! To him, that piece of canvas upon which he has lavished long periods of effort, is now by itself a complete reward, even if he be starving!! As compared to the satisfaction and joy that it gives to the painter, he feels that even all the wealth in the world would but be too little a payment for it.
When the seeker-after-Truth rediscovers his ego to be the Infinite Truth, the limited ego ends its career of sorrow, and naturally, the agony and the incapacities of the imperfect ego also end. The reflection of the sun in a cup of water can be broken up when the water in the cup is shaken. But when the water is poured out, the reflection also ends, and no more can the sun in the sky be shaken by any known method.
Such an individual, who has rediscovered the Self, "THOUGH SEEMINGLY ENGAGED IN ACTIVITY," does not do anything.
The body, mind, and intellect act in the world-of-objects, but not the All-pervading Self --- the Life --- in us. Without 'Life' the body cannot function; but when the body functions, 'Life' as such cannot be said to function. Therefore, one who is established in the Self, though he engaged himself in action, cannot be said to do any action. The train may move but it would be incorrect to say that the steam is moving.
It is generally a doubt in the students that, even if all the reactions of the past actions have ended at the time of Self-re-discovery, when such a prophetic Master undertakes activity in the world, he would, perhaps, be initiating new actions of sins and merits for the enjoyment of which he may again have to take up births. This false idea has been completely eradicated in this stanza. After the God-experience, when the saint functions in the world outside, "THOUGH ENGAGED IN ACTION HE DOES NOT DO ANYTHING."
Sources: Vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
yasya sarve samārambhāḥ kāma-saṅkalpa-varjitāḥ
jñānāgni-dagdha-karmāṇaṁ tam āhuḥ paṇḍitaṁ budhāḥ
Bg 4.20
tyaktvā karma-phalāsaṅgaṁ nitya-tṛpto nirāśrayaḥ
karmaṇy abhipravṛtto ’pi naiva kiñcit karoti saḥ
Translation:
19. Whose undertakings are all devoid of desires and purposes, and whose actions have been burnt by the Fire-of-Knowledge, him the "wise" call a Sage.
20. Having abandoned attachment to the fruits-of-action, ever-content, depending on nothing, he does not do anything, though engaged in actions.
Commentary Excerpts:
We have already discussed how the desire-for-results during any activity dissipates our energies. The fruits-of-an-action can only mature in a future period of time and therefore, to court the results is to escape from the present and live in the unborn periods of time. It is a law that the effects depend entirely upon the causes, and so to be sincere and complete in our activities is the greatest guarantee for all successful achievements.
One who is a perfect Sage, says Krishna, is one who will undertake to act "WITHOUT PLANNING" and "WITHOUT ANY DESIRE FOR FRUITS." In this context, these two qualifications of a perfect act are to be understood with kindness and sympathy. A literal meaning of these two terms should not be used here, as in that case the statement would become absurd.
The instruction to act "WITHOUT PLANNING AND DESIRE" does not mean that a man-of-Equilibrium, in his inspired activity, should not make use of his better intelligence and plan his activities to gain a desired result. It only means that, WHILE HE IS AT WORK, he should not allow his abilities and capacities to run to waste, with his mental preoccupations and sentimental fears regarding the results-of-his-work. Vedanta does not in any way ignore man's intellect. The way of life as advised in the Geeta provides only a more efficient means to act and achieve, to live and to enjoy, cultivating and applying our own potentialities more intelligently.
An individual, who has thus come to live intelligently and act diligently, becomes fully wedded to the piece of work in hand and gets so entirely drunk with the joy of his own inspiration, that the action cannot leave upon him even a trace of its reaction. Our mind and intellect will venture forth to worry over the unknown possibilities and dangers, unless they can find a more secure hold upon something nobler and diviner. A perfect Sage is one whose mind is ever hitched on to the cognition of the Divine, so that, even when he functions in the world outside, he is revelling in his own Consciousness within.
By thus painting the psychology of a Sage-at-work, Lord Krishna is indicating with what mental attitude and intellectual composure, Arjuna, a seeker, should enter his fields of activity. These instructions, given by Vyasa through the mouth of Krishna, are meant for all generations of seekers and, therefore, words addressed to Arjuna are also words addressed to you and to me.
We are not asked here to renounce the fruits-of-actions as such nor to ignore them, but we are only warned to renounce our MENTAL SLAVERY and INTELLECTUAL CLINGING to the "expected-fruits." Only when we get preoccupied with the expected fruits of our actions do we come to exhaust ourselves, and thus become inefficient in our activities. Forsaking (tyaktwa) our clinging (Sanga) to the fruits-of-action (Karma-phala), we are advised to strive for and to achieve the welfare of the society.
A true painter never willingly sells his masterpiece! To him, that piece of canvas upon which he has lavished long periods of effort, is now by itself a complete reward, even if he be starving!! As compared to the satisfaction and joy that it gives to the painter, he feels that even all the wealth in the world would but be too little a payment for it.
When the seeker-after-Truth rediscovers his ego to be the Infinite Truth, the limited ego ends its career of sorrow, and naturally, the agony and the incapacities of the imperfect ego also end. The reflection of the sun in a cup of water can be broken up when the water in the cup is shaken. But when the water is poured out, the reflection also ends, and no more can the sun in the sky be shaken by any known method.
Such an individual, who has rediscovered the Self, "THOUGH SEEMINGLY ENGAGED IN ACTIVITY," does not do anything.
The body, mind, and intellect act in the world-of-objects, but not the All-pervading Self --- the Life --- in us. Without 'Life' the body cannot function; but when the body functions, 'Life' as such cannot be said to function. Therefore, one who is established in the Self, though he engaged himself in action, cannot be said to do any action. The train may move but it would be incorrect to say that the steam is moving.
It is generally a doubt in the students that, even if all the reactions of the past actions have ended at the time of Self-re-discovery, when such a prophetic Master undertakes activity in the world, he would, perhaps, be initiating new actions of sins and merits for the enjoyment of which he may again have to take up births. This false idea has been completely eradicated in this stanza. After the God-experience, when the saint functions in the world outside, "THOUGH ENGAGED IN ACTION HE DOES NOT DO ANYTHING."
Sources: Vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
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