April 2 – Bhagavadgita Chapter 4; Verses 4.15 (Day 93) Karma Yoga

 April 2 – Day 93

Verse 4.15

एवं ज्ञात्वा कृतं कर्म पूर्वैरपि मुमुक्षुभिः ।

कुरु कर्मैव तस्मात्त्वं पूर्वैः पूर्वतरं कृतम् ॥ ४-१५॥ 

evaṁ jñātwā kṛitaṁ karma pūrvair api mumukṣhubhiḥ
kuru karmaiva tasmāt twaṁ pūrvaiḥ pūrvataraṁ kṛitam (4.15) 

ஏவம் ஞாத்¹வா க்¹ருத¹ம் க¹ர்ம பூ¹ர்வைரபி¹ முமுக்ஷுபி⁴: |
கு¹ரு க¹ர்மைவ த¹ஸ்மாத்¹த்¹வம் பூ¹ர்வை: பூ¹ர்வத¹ரம் க்¹ருத¹ம் ||4.15|| 

15. Having known this, the ancient seekers after freedom also performed actions; therefore, do thou perform actions as did the ancients in days of yore. 

Commentary: Knowing thus that the Self can have no desire for the fruits of actions and cannot be tainted by them, and knowing that no one can be tainted if he works without egoism, attachment and expectation of fruits, do thou perform your duty.

If your heart is impure, perform actions for its purification.  If you have attained Atma-Jana or the knowledge of the Self, work for the well-being of the world.  The ancients such as Janaka and others performed actions in the days of yore.  So do thou also perform action. 

Commentary by Swami Venkatesananda:

This is the doctrine of total freedom of the Bhagavad Gītā. In the light of this doctrine, even ‘bounden duty’ is sublimated into joyous abandonment which is but a synonym of a free participation in the divine will. We seek not only freedom from external authority (and the consequent mental conditioning) but freedom from inner reaction to authority (which is an expression of vanity).

Glimpses of this freedom are seen in ourselves during sleep and during deep meditation. The inner intelligence which had, during its unawakened states known as waking and dream, foolishly bound itself to the body and the mind, which are nothing more than the bricks and mortar of its residence, realizes upon awakening that pain and pleasure and so on, which it had to endure during those two states, were the necessary sequel of its wrong identification of itself with its residence.

As in the human body, so also in the body of God called the universe. We are tiny cells in that body of God. His life pulsates in us as our immortal being. His power flows through us as will. His consciousness shines in us as intelligence. None of these is ‘ours’. Yet, if we but joyously offer our little self to the care of the great body, then even as a tiny copper wire becomes charged with formidable electric current on account of its passive contact, we too, shall share his life, power and consciousness.

Not bound to anything in this world we shall still take part in all its activity as a witness, in choiceless awareness. Realizing that both egoistical action and egoistical withdrawal are forms of the false identification of the soul of our soul with the body and mind, we shall surrender ourselves to God’s will and live in this house of God, unaffected by its construction, alteration and demolition, freely moving in it and using it in accordance with the divine will, which is natural and appropriate action. 

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