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?
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:
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.
