April 4 – Bhagavadgita Chapter 4; Verses 4.18 (Day 95) Karma Yoga

 April 4 – Day 95

Verse 4.18

कर्मण्यकर्म यः पश्येदकर्मणि च कर्म यः ।

स बुद्धिमान्मनुष्येषु स युक्तः कृत्स्नकर्मकृत् ॥ ४-१८॥ 

karmaṇyakarma yaḥ paśhyed akarmaṇi cha karma yaḥ
sa buddhimān manuṣhyeṣhu sa yuktaḥ kṛitsna-karma-kṛit (4.18) 

க¹ர்மண்யக¹ர்ம ய: ப¹ஶ்யேத³க¹ர்மணி ச¹ க¹ர்ம ய: |
ஸ புத்³தி⁴மான்மனுஷ்யேஷு ஸ யுக்த¹: க்¹ருத்¹ஸ்னக¹ர்மக்¹ருத்¹ ||4.18 || 

18. He who sees inaction in action and action in inaction, he is wise among men; he is a Yogi and performer of all actions. 

Commentary: In common parlance action means ‘movement of the body, movement of the hands and feet’, and inaction means ‘to sit quietly’.

It is the idea of agency, the idea of “I am the doer” that binds man to worldliness (Samsara). If this idea vanishes, action is no action at all. It does not bind one to worldliness (Samsara). This is inaction in action. If you stand as a spectator or silent witness of Nature’s activities, feeling Nature does everything; I am non-doer (Akarta), if you identify yourself with the actionless Self, no matter what work or how much of it is done, action is no action at all.  This is inaction in action. By such a practice and feeling, action loses its binding nature. But if a man sits quietly, he may not do anything. But if he has the idea of agency or doership, or if he thinks that he is the doer, he is ever doing action, though he is sitting quietly.  This is referred to as action in inaction.  The restless mind will ever be doing actions even though one sits quietly.  Actions of the mind are real actions.  “Nor can anyone even for one moment remain really actionless, for helplessly is everyone driven to action by the qualities of Nature.” (Chapter III.5)

Inaction also induces the feeling of egoism. The inactive man says, ‘I sit quietly; I do nothing’.  Inaction, like action, is wrongly attributed to the Self.

He is the performer of all actions who knows this truth.  He has attained the end of all actions, i.e., freedom or knowledge or perfection.

When a steamer moves, the trees on the shore which are motionless, appear to move in the opposite direction to a man who is in the steamer.  Moving objects that are very far away appear to be stationary or motionless.  Even so in the case of the Self inaction is mistaken for action and action for inaction.

The Self is actionless (Akarta or non-doer, Nishkriya or without work).  The body and the senses perform action. The actions of the body and the senses are falsely and wrongly attributed by the ignorant to the actionless Self.  Therefore the ignorant man things, ‘I act’. He thinks that the Self is the doer or the agent of the action.  This is a mistake.  This is ignorance.

Just as motion does not really belong to the trees on the shore which appear to move in the opposite direction to a man on board the ship, so also action does not really pertain to the Self.

This ignorance which is the cause of birth and death vanishes when you attain Self-realization. 

Commentary by Swami Venkatesananda:

The puzzle can be solved only by ‘seeing’ the whole universe as the one body of God. Indwelling this universe is the cosmic consciousness which is the eternal witness since it is uninvolved (like space) in whatever takes place in it. In God’s body the countless cells vibrate constantly; these cells are the different worlds (and the beings in them). When they vibrate in accordance with the divine law which is the operative part of God’s divine nature, they are said to be good and to do good, and to engage themselves in right action. This attunement, however, is spontaneous and not rationalized or willed.

When the cells, on account of the inherent free-will, fall out of alignment with the divine will, the latter, in order to protect the total organism from injury, allows the rebellious cell to disintegrate by its own power – even as a palm tree defying a storm is felled, whereas a blade of grass which bows to the storm is saved; and, even as a healthy cell in our body is protected and a cell which will not cooperate with the life-force is eliminated. Vicious actions disrupt the social structure, which is the body of God. When such disruption has already taken place, the divine will employs other cells to restore harmony by quelling the rebellion – resulting in activity which partakes of the nature of the rebellious cells themselves. This explains lord Kṛiṣhṇa’s mysterious ways.

On such occasions, if our attunement to the divine will is blind and impulsive, we might at times find ourselves on the horns of a dilemma. But if our attunement is based on the right understanding that we who seem to be ever active do nothing and that it is the intangible divine will which is ever active, then we realize the unity of our own little intelligence with his, our finite will with his infinite will and our whole being with his. The ‘I’ dissolves in the all, the doer of all actions.

The impulsive man’s instinctual action and the rationalist’s selfish, clever and calculated action are in truth inaction: both of them are reactions, the former to external stimuli and the latter to circumstances. A wise man observes himself and the world around him, and this self-awareness acts spontaneously and non-volitionally. Hence true action is ‘inaction’. Self-awareness is total action. 

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