April 20 – Bhagavadgita Chapter 5; Verses 5.08-5.09 (Day 111) Karma Yoga

 April 20 – Day 111

Verse 5.08-5.09

नैव किञ्चित्करोमीति युक्तो मन्येत तत्त्ववित् ।

पश्यञ्शृण्वन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नन्गच्छन्स्वपञ्श्वसन् ॥ ५-८॥ 

naiva kiñchit karomīti yukto manyeta tattva-vit;
paśhyañ śhṛiṇvan spṛiśhañjighrann aśhnangachchhan svapañśhvasan (8) 

நைவ கி¹ந்சி¹த்¹க¹ரோமீதி¹ யுக்¹தோ¹ மன்யேத¹ த¹த்¹வவித்¹ |
ப¹ஶ்யந்ஶ்ருண்வன்ஸ்ப்¹ருஶந்ஜிக்⁴ரன்னஶ்னன்க³ச்¹ச²ன்ஸ்வப¹ந்ஶ்வஸன் ||8||

8. “I do nothing at all”—thus will the harmonised knower of Truth think—seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, going, sleeping, breathing, 

प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि ।

इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेषु वर्तन्त इति धारयन् ॥ ५-९॥ 

pralapan visṛijan gṛihṇann unmiṣhan nimiṣhann api;
indriyāṇīndriyārtheṣhu vartanta iti dhārayan (9) 

ப்¹ரலப¹ன்விஸ்ருஜன்க்³ருஹ்ணன்னுன்மிஷன்னிமிஷன்னபி¹ |
இந்த்³ரியாணீந்த்³ரியார்தே²ஷு வர்த¹ன்த¹ இதி¹ தா⁴ரயன் ||9|| 

9. Speaking, letting go, seizing, opening and closing the eyes—convinced that the senses move among the sense-objects. 

Commentary: The liberated sage or Jnani always remains as a witness of the activities of the senses as he identifies himself with the Self or Brahman. He thinks and says, “I do not see; the eyes perceive.  I do not hear; the ears hear.  I do not smell, the nose smells, etc.”  He beholds inaction in action as he has burnt his actions in the fire of wisdom. (Cf. XIV. 19-23) 

Commentary by Swami Venkatesananda:

There is a subtle snag here; it is not as though the ‘I’ feels greatly superior to all these activities and makes this declaration as a business executive might: “I do nothing, my staff is efficient.” The ‘I’ itself loses its first person-ness, being absorbed in the cosmic being. Failure to appreciate this will land us in perversion and terrible vanity. The truth has to be discovered, not assumed and asserted. This is possible not by a physical or even psychological withdrawal from the world but by an unceasing enquiry into the source of all action – not ‘I’ but ‘God’.

Is it possible for one to be devoid of this ‘I’ and yet continue to live and act? Yes; though, in the very nature of phenomena such people are bound to be extremely rare. To give a crude analogy, they function like plants. Plants have life and perhaps wonderful intelligence. Even today scientists are struggling to discover what makes the grass green and why it is capable of manufacturing food direct from the elements, whereas man has to depend upon plants for his nutrition. The plants have no individual ego-sense. They respond to God’s nature, to his will.

Similarly the egoless man responds to God’s will – rather, he serves as a clear channel, absolutely non-resisting, for his will. But in his case the guiding factor is intuition, a ray of God’s own omniscience, which lets him do God’s will spontaneously. Since there is no egoistic intelligence in him, he is not even aware of this intuitive wisdom. But we can recognise him by the total absence of personal selfish desires in him and by the unbroken peace that he radiates. He is no longer man, but he is God.

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