March 2 – Bhagavadgita Chapter 3; Verses 3.04-3.05 (Day 62) Karma Yoga

 March 2 – Day 62

Verse 3.04-3.05

न कर्मणामनारम्भान्नैष्कर्म्यं पुरुषोऽश्नुते ।

न च संन्यसनादेव सिद्धिं समधिगच्छति ॥ ३-४॥ 

na karmaṇām anārambhān naiṣhkarmyaṁ puruṣho ’śhnute
na cha sannyasanād eva siddhiṁ samadhigachchhati (4) 

ந க¹ர்மணாமனாரம்பா⁴ன் னைஷ்க¹ர்ம்யம் பு¹ருஷோ‌ஶ்னுதே¹ |
ந ச¹  ஸன்யஸனாதே³வ ஸித்³தி⁴ம் ஸமதி⁴க³ச்¹ச²தி¹ ||4|| 

4. Not by the non-performance of actions does man reach actionlessness, nor by mere renunciation does he attain to perfection. 

Commentary: Even if a man abandons action, his mind may be active. One cannot reach perfection or freedom from action or knowledge of the Self, merely by renouncing action. He must possess knowledge of the Self.

Actionlessness (Naishkarmyam) and perfection (siddhi) are synonymous. The sage who has attained to perfection or reached the stage of actionlessness rests in his own  as Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute (Satchidananda Svarupa). He has neither necessity nor desire for action as a means to an end. He has perfect satisfaction in the Self.

One attains to the state of actionlessness by gaining the knowledge of the Self. If a man simply sits quiet by abandoning action you cannot say that he has attained to the state of actionlessness. His mind will be planning, scheming and speculating.  Thought is real action. The sage who is free from affirmative thoughts, wishes and likes and dislikes, who has the knowledge of the Self can be said to have attained to the state of actionlessness.

No one can reach perfection or freedom from action or knowledge of the Self by mere renunciation or by simply giving up activities without possessing the knowledge of the Self. (Cf 18.49) 

न हि कश्चित्क्षणमपि जातु तिष्ठत्यकर्मकृत् ।

कार्यते ह्यवशः कर्म सर्वः प्रकृतिजैर्गुणैः ॥ ३-५॥ 

na hi kaśhchit kṣhaṇam api jātu tiṣhṭhatyakarmakṛit
kāryate hyavaśhaḥ karma sarvaḥ prakṛiti-jair guṇaiḥ (5) 

ந ஹி க¹ஶ்சி¹த்¹க்ஷணமபி¹ ஜாது¹ தி¹ஷ்ட²த்¹யக¹ர்மக்¹ருத்¹ |
கா¹ர்யதே¹ ஹ்யவஶ: க¹ர்ம ஸர்வ: ப்¹ரக்¹ருதி¹ஜைர்கு³ணை: ||5|| 

5. Verily none can ever remain for even a moment without performing action; for, everyone

is made to act helplessly indeed by the qualities born of Nature. 

Commentary: The ignorant man is driven to action helplessly by the actions of the Gunas—Rajas, Tamas and Sattwa.

The Gunas (qualities of Nature) are three, viz ., Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Sattva is harmony or light or purity; Rajas is passion or motion; Tamas is inertia or darkness.  Sattvic actions help a man to attain to Moksha. Rajasic and Tamasic actions bind a man to Samsara.

These qualities cannot affect a man who has knowledge of the Self.  He has crossed over these qualities. He has become a Gunatita (one who has transcended the qualities of Nature).  The ignorant man who has no knowledge of the Self and who is swayed by Avidya or nescience is driven helplessly to action by the Gunas. (Cf. 4.16, 18.11) 

Commentary by Swami Venkatesananda [verses 4-5]

The vicious circle has to be broken. It is the self-perpetuating momentum of karma. Action produces reaction and the reaction serves as action producing its own reaction. Cause gives birth to result which serves as the cause for another chain-result. It is like the seed and the plant, the egg and the hen – one leads to the other in an endless chain.

Shall we sit quietly then, and refuse to have anything to do with this? This view of actionlessness appeals to some, but not to Kṛṣṇa.

Action is threefold – thought, word and deed. Action is performed by the individual at various levels of his consciousness, on different planes of his inner being. It is ignorance to think that we live only on the periphery of our personalities. Deep within are the springs of real action. Whether they take gross, subtle or causal forms, they are actions still, enough to keep the wheel of karma in motion. For, refusal is an action, as firmly based on the false ego as the performance of action. ‘Action for material achievement’ and ‘refusal to act believing that only thereby one can achieve salvation’ are both equally deceptive mental conditioning. This conditioning is bondage – neither action nor what one believes to be inaction.

As we shall see, the whole creation is the body of God and individuals live as part of his nature. The qualities of his nature will function, independent of individual will; to try to stop this is as easy as it is to chew up the stars! Kṛṣṇa’s solution to this is the yoga of the Bhagavad Gītā. It is true transcendence (naiṣkarṁyaṁ) in which the ego is stripped of its mask. All action is seen to be life, and the self is realized to be divine – Divine Life. 

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