April 22 – Bhagavadgita Chapter 5; Verses 5.12-5.13 (Day 113) Karma Yoga

 April 22 – Day 113

Verse 5.12-5.13

युक्तः कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम् ।

अयुक्तः कामकारेण फले सक्तो निबध्यते ॥ ५-१२॥ 

yuktaḥ karma-phalaṁ tyaktwā śhāntim āpnoti naiṣhṭhikīm
ayuktaḥ kāma-kāreṇa phale sakto nibadhyate (12) 

யுக்¹த: க¹ர்மப²லம் த்¹யக்¹த்¹வா ஶான்தி¹மாப்¹னோதி நைஷ்டி²கீ¹ம் |
அயுக்¹த¹: கா¹மகா¹ரேண ப²லே ஸக்¹தோ¹ நிப³த்⁴யதே¹ ||12|| 

12. The united one (the well poised or the harmonised), having abandoned the fruit of action, attains to the eternal peace; the non-united only (the unsteady or the unbalanced), impelled by desire and attached to the fruit, is bound. 

Commentary: Santim naishthikim is interpreted as ‘peace born of devotion or steadfastness’.  The harmonious man who does actions for the sake of the Lord without expectation of the fruit and who says, “I do actions for my Lord only, not for my personal gain or profit,’ attains to the peace born of devotion, through the following four stages, viz., purity of mind, the attainment of knowledge, renunciation of actions, and steadiness in wisdom.  But the unbalanced or the unharmonised man who is led by desire and who is attached to the fruits of the actions and who says, “I have done such and such an action; I will get such and such a fruit,” is firmly bound. 

Lesson 5.2 (Verses 13-23)

The Enlightened Self

.सर्वकर्माणि मनसा संन्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी ।

नवद्वारे पुरे देही नैव कुर्वन्न कारयन् ॥ ५-१३॥ 

sarva-karmāṇi manasā sannyasyāste sukhaṁ vaśhī
nava-dvāre pure dehī naiva kurvan na kārayan (13) 

ஸர்வக¹ர்மாணி மனஸா ஸன்யஸ்யாஸ்தே¹ ஸுக²ம் வஶீ |
நவத்³வாரே பு¹ரே தே³ஹீ நைவ கு¹ர்வன்ன கா¹ரயன் || 13 || 

13. Mentally renouncing all actions and self-controlled, the embodied one rests happily in the nine-gated city, neither acting nor causing others (body and senses) to act. 

Commentary: All actions:-

(1)    Nitya Karmas: These are obligatory duties. Their performance does not produce any merit; but their non-performance produces demerit.  Sandhyavandana, etc., belong to this category.

(2)    Naimittika Karmas: These Karmas are performed on the occurrence of some special events such as the birth of a son, eclipse, etc.

(3)    Kamya Karmas: These are optional.  They are intended for the attainment of some special ends (for getting, rain, son, etc.)

(4)    Nishiddha Karmas: These are forbidden actions such as theft, drinking liquor, etc.

(5)    Prayaschitta Karmas: Actions performed to neutralize the effects of evil actions or sins.

The man who has controlled the senses renounces all actions by discrimination, by seeing inaction in action and rests happily in this body of nine openings (the nine-gated city), because he is free from cares, worries, anxieties and fear and his mind is quite calm and he enjoys the supreme peace of the Eternal.  In this nine-gated city the Self is the king.  The senses, the mind, the subconscious mind, and the intellect are the inhabitants or subjects.

The ignorant worldly man says, “I am resting in the easy-chair.”  The man of wisdom who has realized that the Self is distinct from the body which is a product of the five elements, says, “I am resting in this body.” (Cf. XVIII.17,50) 

Commentary by Swami Venkatesananda: 

Whether the doer of all actions is God himself, or whether it is his nature (prakṛti), it is certainly not the individual ego. The individual ego rises and falls with every action or experience; the real ego is part of God’s nature! The whole universe is the body of God in which his will prevails, guided by his consciousness. In this context, renunciation of desire for ‘fruits of actions’ is the most natural and sensible thing to do! Even the most vital organ in our body (the heart), which functions day and night, does not demand a reward! Yet we, who are little parts of a cell of the body of God do nothing unless assured of a reward! This desire is bondage. Its renunciation is liberation. When this is clearly seen, the desire does not arise at all. Even as every cell of our body receives its nourishment and life-force as long as it does its job, even so we shall receive from God what we deserve. Why beg for it?

Kṛṣṇa asks us to atomise ourselves and regard our self as the citizen of this nine-gated city, the body. The body has its own king (God) and administratrix (God’s nature or prakṛti). The citizen enjoys peace, prosperity and security by merely living in obedience to the law. It is useless on his part to suffer the king’s headaches. The same analogy can be applied to us who are cells in God’s cosmic body. He is the doer or perhaps he causes his nature to do; but we neither do anything nor do we cause anything else to do. It is the motor which rotates the many wheels, not the other way round. God is the cosmic motor. 

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