Verse 17
He who is ever free from the egoistic notion,
whose intelligence is not tainted by (good or evil), though he slays these
people, he slayeth not, nor is he bound (by the action).
“We
may confront the whole world if we like, and yet if our ego is annihilated
completely, that is, if we do not have even an inkling that we are doing the
action and feel that the Universal Will is operating through us, if
that is the case, then we may even work the destruction of things, yet no
result will follow as a nemesis of painful experience, provided we have totally
annihilated our egoism and we do not even know that we are existing, and we
always feel that the Universal is operating through us. Otherwise, we will be
bound by anything that we do.”
Let us take a
case of a Judge who has to announce the decision of hanging a convict or a
policeman who has to be harsh with a culprit.
At apparent level,
yes, they are punishing someone. But it all depends on the inner conscience, on
the motive behind their act and whether it is done with sense of doer-ship or
it is just taken up as a part of their ordained Dharma.!
Regarding the
sense of doer-ship, it is worthwhile to go through this interesting part.
It is said that Saint Tulsidas
heard of Rahim’s style of giving alms, and asked him:
aisī denī
dena jyuñ, kita sīkhe ho saina
jyoṅ jyoṅ kara
ūñchyo karo, tyoṅ tyoṅ niche naina [v13]
“Sir, where did you learn to give alms like this? Your hands are as high as your eyes are low.”
Rahim replied beautifully and in
all humbleness:
denahāra
koī aur hai, bhejata hai dina raina
loga
bharama hama para kareṅ, yāte
niche naina [v14]
“The giver is someone else, giving
day and night. But the world gives me the credit, and so I lower my eyes.” Understanding that we are not the
sole cause responsible for our accomplishments frees us from the egoistic pride
of doer-ship.
The scriptures,
the Vedas, tell us that we are not the body, we are the jiva who has to use his body and mind to perform selfless service.
Now, at the conclusion of the Vedas,
& Vedanta, we are told that we
are beyond the jiva.
One who has achieved the true
nature of the SELF, the immortal soul is not affected by material activities or
influenced by worldly conceptions.
If a situation arises on its own
accord where such a one must perform actions they never think of themselves as
the doer but consider that the Supreme Lord/Spirit is the doer of
everything.
Not even that, they rise beyond
the thought about their actions.!! Actions emanate from them and they
stand rooted in consciousness, as Stitaprajnas.
Thus they are not fettered to
actions and subsequently are not coerced to accept the resultant karma which
forces one to experience the merits or demerits of actions.
Love.
