Bhagwad Gita - Post 27

Verse 47 continued....

Even while working, give up the pride of doer-ship. 

Sri  Krishna wants Arjun to give up kartritwābhimān, or the ego of being the doer. He instructs Arjuna never to chase after preconceived motives attached to his actions nor consider himself as the cause of the results of his actions. 

However, when we perform actions, then why should we not consider ourselves as the doers of those actions? 

The reason is that our senses, mind, and intellect are inert; God energizes them with his power and puts them at our disposal. As a result, only with the help of the power we receive from him, are we able to work. 

For example, the equipments in the kitchen are all inactive by themselves, but they get energized by someone’s hand, and then they perform all actions. 

Now, if we say that the equipments by themselves are the doers of actions, it will be inaccurate. If the hand did not energize them, what would they be able to do? They would merely lie inert in the kitchen. 

Similarly, if God did not supply our body-mind-soul mechanism the power to perform actions, we could have done nothing. 

Thus, we must give up the ego of doing, remembering that God is the only source of the power by which we perform all our actions.

All the above thoughts are very nicely summarized in the following popular Sanskrit verse:

yatkṛitaṁ yatkariṣhyāmi

tatsarvaṁ na mayā kṛitam

tvayā kṛitaṁ tu phalabhuk

tvameva madhusūdana [v41]

“Whatever I have achieved and whatever I wish to achieve, I am not the doer of these. O Madhusudana, you are the real doer, and you alone are the enjoyer of their results.”.

Exactly the same revelation is given by Swami when He says,

"Man falsely imagines "I am doing this", "I am planning this". It is the supreme, all pervasive consciousness that motivates, unfolds the skills and operates the intellect.

Let God work through you and there will be no more duty. Let God shine forth. Let God show Himself. Live God, Eat God. Drink God. Breathe God. Realize the Truth and the other things will take care of themselves."

Sri Ramana has dealt with this subject wonderfully which has been captured in the form of question, answer, in the following link. 

Author has not included the entire text contained in the below link, as the post would get too long, do follow this link and read very relevant answers to the subject, given by this realized sage:

Ramana Maharshi on sense of doer-ship.

At the highest level, when man realizes God and exists verily as God, the individual identity is rend asunder in such a case and this dictum "Give up the doer-ship" is not even relevant at that state. The doer is gone, where is the doer-ship for such a Jiva turned Jivanmukhta, though He might be involved in so many actions!

Do not be attached to inaction. 

Although the nature of the living being is to work, often situations arise where work seems burdensome and confusing. In such cases, instead of running away from it, we must understand and implement the proper science of work, as explained by Sri Krishna to Arjuna. 

However, it is highly inappropriate if we consider work as laborious and burdensome, and resort to inaction. Becoming attached to inaction is never the solution and is clearly condemned by Sri Krishna.

Chinmaya sums up with these last lines in his commentary on this verse. 

“In effect, therefore, Arjuna is advised: "All that is given to you now is to act and, having known the cause of action to be a noble one, to bring into the activity all that is best in you and forget yourself in the activity. 

Such inspired action is sure to bear fruit, and again, it has its own reward-spiritual."

The work is the means; the Higher Self-experience alone is the Goal-Divine. 

Love.